Can Webinars Ever Really Replace Products?

Over the past few days, I've been learning the secret of fast article writing and been ultra-productive with it. I can now turn around a quality article in 12 minutes and submit it to EzineArticles within that time (and don't underestimate the time it takes to fill in all the extra fields and information on EzineArticles).

That, in itself, is going to be an interesting tutorial for another time – but this also formed the basis for a number of email messages I sent out to my list.

At the end of it all, I asked my list how they would rather I presented the tutorial to them, and a number of people graciously responded.

Would they prefer me to record everything in a product?

Or, would they like me to hold a live webinar, show them the results, and take questions?

The results are in, and they might surprise you…

Here are the percentages:

Prefer a Product – 66.7%
Prefer a Webinar – 33.3%

Now, I should qualify these numbers by saying this is a strictly non-scientific and self selecting survey. So, they might not hold water in every single list and for single niche.

Plus, a few people said they would prefer one over the other, but would be happy with either, or that they would quite like both.

But, the results are 2:1  in favour of a product, and so the 12 Minute Strategy will in the form of a product.

I want to paraphrase some of the comments, I received, to give you an idea of popular thinking about this:

Pros For A Product

• some people find it hard to clear time in their schedule to attend a webinar, and have less interest in watching a recording.
• a webinar is not suitable for people who have hearing difficulties.
• there are also international subscribers (and, I imagine, some people in more rural areas) who just can't follow webinars as the right telephone infrastructure is either not in place, or the bandwidth costs are just too expensive.

Pros For A Webinar

• people like the live nature and interactivity of a webinar.
• UK based subscribers (like me) like the idea of attending a webinar at times convenient to them.

One question I didn't directly ask, but which was raised in the comments, was whether the product would be a written or video product. I certainly envisioned this being a video product in either case (whether presented live on a webinar, or as prerecorded videos), mainly because the nature of what I intended to show was visual.

But, many of the issues raised in favour of the product solution rather preclude the idea of a video product.

The Compromise

I'm still planning on a product involving video, as this is the only way I see myself being able to provide the right information.

One, often suggested solution, is to provide transcripts. The sales of my products aren't at a stage where this is something I can deliver, unfortunately, but it's something that I hope to strive towards. This is something for marketers who are more established to seriously consider.

A transcript also provides some value for webinar recordings as well, and hopefully answers some objections.

In this case, I'm planning to include a Quick Start Guide, with the highlights of the videos, but with nowhere near the level of detail. I know that's not a perfect solution, but I hope it's of some use.

So, Are Webinars Dead?

Definitely not.

The fact of the matter is that they do appeal to a sector of the audience. It's generally impossible to meet every possible customer with every product, so a bit of a 'balancing act' is necessary.

I certainly intend to use webinars in the future where they are an appropriate fit.

And, from a personal point of view, the idea of appealing to the UK market appeals to me. The good thing about this is that, a webinar scheduled in the evening (UK time) is the afternoon (North American), so it's possible to time it well for that market too.

Some marketers like to create a product, then offer a webinar as a bonus, and that's another viable solution to consider.

 

Your Thoughts

I hope that's accurately summed the main points up, but I would be very interested in reading any thoughts or comments that I've missed recreating.

Just go ahead and post a comment below to let me know any other arguments, or simply to say if you agree.

 

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