Are you hosting your own teleseminars? If you are not, what’s stopping you? In helping hundreds of people get started with teleseminars, I’ve found there are several hurdles.

1. “I don’t know why I would want to host a teleseminar.”

There isn’t a business that can’t benefit from a teleseminar. Because you are voice-to-voice with your prospects and clients, they feel they know you better. And when you bring them more information in this format they respond with increased loyalty – and sales.

2. “The technology is too complex!”

On a basic level you need a “telephone bridge line” that allows multiple people to call into a central number. Sign up for a free line, then invite your family or several friends to join you for a call so you can practice muting and unmuting the line and using the other call controls that are available. You will quickly see it is easier than you thought, with practice.

3. “I don’t know how to record the call.”

You definitely want to record the call – but you don’t have to do it yourself. There are services that will record the call for you and give you the file. They will even upload it to your website! It is generally best to have an outside service to record for you until you have a lot of experience under your belt.

4. “I don’t know what to talk about.”

The easiest solution is to interview someone else. Then you just need to ask the questions. In most cases the person you’re interviewing will give you a list of questions you can ask.

If you prefer being “the expert” take the top 10 most frequently asked questions you get from clients and prospects and answer those. You will be amazed at how much you have to say when you’re talking on a topic about which you are passionate.

5. “I might make a mistake.”

This is probably the biggest reason people use to put off hosting a teleseminar. Let’s get over it! You are not perfect. No one else is perfect. We have all done something to embarrass ourselves. But you can edit any “faux paux” out of the recording. Now you just have to worry about the live attendees. And if that’s what’s holing you back, record the teleseminar without a live audience. Then just offer the replay.

Hosing a teleseminar is too important a part of marketing your business to be ignored. Take steps this week to overcome any issues that are stopping you – and make that call!

Do you attend teleseminars? I do. Anywhere from 4 to 6 per week, either as a host, a guest or an attendee. I’m willing to invest my time and money in them because I’ve developed some ways to profit from each one. So let me share a few techniques with you.

1. Read the sales letter or announcement for the teleseminar carefully. You want to make sure the content and the people speaking are a match for your interests. The only time I was ever disappointed was when my expectations were not met – and when I re-read the sales letter I found out what I expected was not explicitly mentioned.

2. Don’t be afraid to take advantage of the multitude of complimentary teleseminars being offered. Yes, each will end with a sales pitch. But I consider 55 minutes of great content worth the 5 minute commercial. Certainly can’t get that trade-off on TV!

3. If they ask for questions before the teleseminar, send in a question. No matter how hard you have to think, come up with a good question. Many times the host is looking for good questions to get the discussion started, especially at the start of a call, so your question is more likely to be used on the air if you get it in early.

That means that if they use your question your name will be mentioned on the call. This is no cost publicity! Not only will the live audience hear your name, but everyone who listens to the replay will hear it, too. That can be years of PR.

Why do you care? Because when people are attending a teleseminar, the only thing they have to go on is a name. And the only names they are hearing are the experts who are talking – and the experts who are asking questions. Through association, you are automatically counted as one of the experts. Do this on several calls and other attendees will begin to “recognize” you. That’s good for your reputation.

4. Whether or not they ask for it, send a testimonial immediately after the teleseminar. Don’t wait till the next day. The seminar host is flying high and posting the followup page right after the seminar ends. So when your timely testimonial arrives, he/she is likely to add it to the site. You will be amazed at how many people say “I saw your testimonial on so-and-so’s site.”

A good testimonial is specific. Don’t say “great information”; instead say “I really liked the three tips you gave on affiliate traffic.” And be sure to sign your name and title and website as you want them to appear – they’ll copy and paste it if you’ve done a good job.

5. Use your testimonial as the start of your sales copy. Many teleseminars offer resale rights or affiliate programs. You’re in the perfect position to market the program – you’ve just listened to it and raved about it. Now tell your friends and colleagues about it – and make a profit as well.

So the next time you sign up for a teleseminar, look upon it as a marketing opportunity!

One of the most frequently asked questions asked about teleseminars is, “What do I talk about?” Rephrased it is “What content sells?”

Here are 5 ways to not only find something to talk about, but also find a profitable topic as  well.

1. Ask questions. Ask your potential audience what they want to know. A simple ASK campaign is the fastest way to get a lot of questions on your topic. It’s also a great way to judge whether or not a topic will sell. After all, if you can get people to ask questions, then you’ll be able to get them to listen to the answers.

On the other hand, if you can’t get any questions on the topic, then it is not likely to “sell” as a teleseminar topic.

Once you have your questions, then look for the themes. And turn these themes into the top ten questions asked. Given that, it’s easy to craft your sales letter to highlight the ten topics you’ll discuss on the call.

2. Watch the news in your field. You may want to set up a Google alert that keeps you informed of the latest news on your topic. Watch the discussion forums to see what people are discussing. You’ll quickly pick up on the hot topics.

Now it’s just a matter of deciding whether you want to set up an ASK campaign to get the questions or set up an interview with an expert to answer the questions. But you’ll know it will “sell”, since it’s already been identified as a hot topic.

3. Look for experts in your field and interview them. Everyone loves the idea of getting insider tips from the experts. So look for those experts you would most like to hear from and request an interview.

Most likely once you’ve settled on the topic you want to interview them on, they will send a list of questions you can ask on the interview. But don’t be afraid to ask additional questions or questions to clarify their answers. That’s what makes an interview interesting – those little nuggets the host is able to pull out of the expert.

4. Look for problems. Listen to the conversations your colleagues have to see what’s bugging them. Watch the discussion forums see what topics come up again and again. What problems never seem to be solved?

Look for solutions to these common problems. Research and find answers to present in a teleseminar format. That can even be the start of a product, based on the teleseminar.

5. You pick the topic. You’re already an expert in your field. You know what questions people ask. You know what they need to know to be successful in the field. Just list the topics, then create a teleseminar series. Your first teleseminar might be the “survey course,” which covers all of the topics at a very shallow depth. Then offer a paid series that goes into each topic in depth. Not only will you have an excellent home study course, but you’ll also be serving your clients by providing the information you know they need.

If you ever find yourself asking “what can I talk about,” just review this list for immediate ideas. You’ll never run out of topics again.

Teleseminars are one of the fastest ways to make contact with and build a relationship with your existing clients and prospects. No matter what business you are in, you can profit from successful Teleseminars. Here are just a few of the different ways you can benefit from Teleseminars:

• Build rapport with clients and prospects so you can deliver the products and services they want….
• Risk-free method to test product ideas– before you invest the time and money to create the product!…
• Great way to bridge the gap between email marketing and live seminars so you get more attendees, already familiar with the speakers and ready to listen…
• Incredible way to generate new customers and increase the value of existing customers…
• Fastest way to get information and judge interest from your target market. You can quickly exchange ideas with people – across the country or around the world…
• More effective way to do training than simply providing static training materials – and you can answer questions as they come up…
• Perfect way to get people together very quickly to network, discuss an issue, or even conduct market research. You’ll be able to respond to give them exactly what they want immediately…
• Easy way to create a product – in just a few hours’ time. You can literally give the teleseminar today and start selling the finished product tomorrow!
• Personal and interactive. They give you the opportunity to speak to your prospects and customers in a live setting, rather than just through email…
• Comfortable way to get people together, instead of requiring everyone to dress up and come to a formal meeting…
• Inexpensive. In fact, you can even do them free! And virtually anyone can produce a Teleseminar, regardless of your education, level of success or background.
• Quick revenue generator. You can charge from $1 to $250 for a single teleseminar.

The list could go on, but these 12 reasons should be enough to make you want to offer or expand your own teleseminars today.

Editors Note: This is the start of Teleseminar Week – a full week of articles dedicated to helping you expand your use of teleseminars. Visit every day to see the latest posts and contribute your perspective on teleseminars.

Regardless of the type of business you have, you can use teleseminars to increase your prospects and please you clients. While they are one of the most overlooked marketing tactics, they are also one of the easiest and most effective techniques you can use.

So how can you start using teleseminars?

1. Offer training sessions. You can show your affiliates how to better sell your products. Or you can answer clients’ questions on how to more effectively use a product they just purchased. In either case the recording becomes a valuable tool you can offer on an ongoing bases – as a bonus or as part of the actual product.

2. Do market research. Offer a teleseminar on a specific topic, advertising that you’ll answer the top ten questions on the topic. Let them ask questions when they register for the teleseminar. Then just answer the questions. You’ll see from the registrations whether or not there is a lot of interest in the topic. Plus the contents of the call are dictated to you by the listeners. You can decide whether or not to develop a product on the topic with these two pieces of information.

3. Add a revenue stream with teleseminar registrations. Offer at least one teleseminar per month on a “hot” topic or a *perennial* topic of interest. You can charge at least $20 for a content-filled call. In some markets, a simple call can easily be $100 – $250, although you need to research your niche to determine the best price. Be sure to add a handout for enhanced value. Even if you only have 50-100 people on the call, it makes it worth your time.

4. Offer small group coaching. You can easily handle 10-20 people on a group call. And with that level of individual attention, people are willing to pay a handsome fee. Consider, for example, a very reasonable fee of $100 per month for two group coaching sessions. Now multiply by 20 people in a group. It takes 2 hours of your time – and you’re earning $1000 per hour. Not bad for a phone call!

5. Host an open call. You can do this with an exclusive group – or a larger subscriber list. Essentially you are on the line, ready to answer questions. Anyone with an interest calls in and asks the question. Others just call in and listen, perhaps adding comments or offering an answer to a question. This tactic costs you an hour. But it really raises your level of “accessibility” in your callers’ eyes. Plus, it often triggers a product idea for you, based on the questions people are asking.

Any one of these technique can be easily implemented. Two or more combined can exponentially expand your business and enhance your bottom line.