I HATE webinars !!!!!

Most webinars all ready do that my friend, the host will usually email all the people who never attended with a link to watch the recorded version; at least that's the case in my personal experience.

Webinars aren't stupid, they are great. Most webinars contain lots of great, 'free' information.

Even better for the people who are hosting the webinar for preselling.

The problem with the video is they they save it to see it later, guess when is later? That is why webinar.

Webinars are great because you can ask questions and get answers. I missed one today because of the time difference and the daylight savings time thing and having other commitments. I was kinda disappointed.

I've seen some good webinars, but overall I prefer a short video or, even better, a concise PDF file. I just don't have the patience for most webinars.

I don't blame people for holding them, as it's theoretically a great interactive way to share information. But with hundreds of marketers (not to mention people in all sorts of other niches) holding them every day, who has the time?

Live webinars create a sense of urgency. Watch it now or miss it. Sending somebody a link to a video will never cause that type of urgency. A recorded video won't give you an opportunity to interact with the hosts either.

Love 'em or hate 'em... they work.

My suggestion to the OP is to not sign up for any. The mere fact that they exist seems to have an effect on your blood pressure. I'd hate for you to keel over because somebody has a new way of publishing Kindle books

I'm always amazed by how dominant the consumer mindset is here in the 'make money online' forum. Once you develop the mindset of an entrepreneur, saying you hate a sales tool that works as well as webinars is like saying you hate ATM machines that only spit out $20 bills.

I personally love webinars. I understand that it can sometimes be a pain to have to be in front of your computer at a specific time, but because of that, they usually hold viewers' attention better.

I agree they can be a problem for people in different time zones.

9pm EST is 2am in the UK so I always end up missing those ones

I like them! They have their place for sure. I like that they are more interactive. Very helpful when you are teaching something. As someone who just did their first webinar last week...I appreciated the fact that people could ask questions. It helped me make sure I covered everything!

I love webinars! I like being able to interact with the presenter. I'd much rather go live than watch a recording. I've been getting really into them and will even be hosting my own soon!

I tend to like them when they are done well (which isn't all that often). Often, I'm thinking to myself as I'm watching and listening, "Get to the point!" I attended one recently where the presenter kept talking over and over again in the first hour about how so many people dropped off during his webinar and how others didn't pay attention and take notes. By the end of the 2.5 hour webinar (which could have taken 10 minutes and still had the same valuable content), I wanted to send him an email and tell him people drop off or stop paying attention because he doesn't get to the point.

Well, I actually just attended my very first webinar tonight, and personally I kind of liked it and learned some very useful things out of it. Not to mention eventually i ended up right back at the website as soon as it was over. So it was good for me the consumer and they marketed it great and I guess did exactly what they wanted it to do.

If webinars did not exist. I don't know were I'd be.

I love webinars. The thing I hate is when one speaker BOOMS THEIR VOICE and the other speaker can barely be heard. Can they level out the audio?

Ok, you hate webinars but realize that they work on serious minded people who want access to the information. They make you jump through hoops to make you are serious about getting to the presentation. People who schedule time out of there day and then stick to that time are way more likely to buy what is sold on the webinar. Why? Because instead of just some You Tube video its now positioned as a important event with limited slots available.

I agree to a degree - lol, i just ryhmed that and didnt even try. Im a poet and I didnt know it. LOLLLLLLLLlllllll

Some webinars arnt even webinars, they are just pre-recorded and are played as webinars which is a bit fraudulent if you ask me.

I use to love teleseminars. Doing them, attending them.

I like webinars too.

I'm just waiting for holonars. Then I get to actually see people at the kitchen table in their underwear.

Why do people use squeeze pages, autoresponders, videos, exit pops, pop ups.... because they all make more money than just a web page sitting there, and webinars happen to work extremely well.

i always subscribed to the never make your people come to a meeting or to be on a webinar unless there is value and a need. You loose people fast when they feel like they are wasting there time

Seriously one of these threads show up on the forum each day now.

Its like someone who is having a random brain fart has nothing better do than post here.

Good job.

Here I will help you out.

1) dont like webinars DO NOT WATCH THEM!

2) If you do like webinars and they convert well (which they do insanely well) then keep using them.

I will be the first to admit that I don't like webinars and very rarely sign up for them. They are generally just a massively dragged out sales pitch. The thing I hate is all the crap at the beginning where they go through their whole life story step by step. I couldn't care less what you did when you were 17, it's not going to change the plugin you're about to sell me.

Not only that but I also dislike all the hype before the webinar stating it's going to be jammed pack full of free information and "we are only doing this to help you" and "there will be no sales pitch". Give me a break. If you didn't have something to sell me you wouldn't be putting on the damn webinar.

Maybe it's because I have a business to run and don't have a lot of spare time on my hand? Who knows.

That's not to say they don't work. They work but as someone else stated above, I can see them getting less and less effective over the next cupla years. Once these 'techniques' become mainstream they start to lose their effectiveness. Popups work as well, but they annoy the crap out of me also.

Love/hate relationship...

Love them because you can learn a lot of very valuable info (I have anyway)

Dislike because of the (usually) high ticket program/software pitch at the end
of many of them, and the lack of a replay with some.
In either case they're here to stay, for now...
Things change so fast in this online world we live in, who knows?!

A recent webinar I watched was 2 hours long (no names). The first 20 minutes contained reasonable info on the 'killer' technique that was being promised.. which I thought was great. Then the host spent the next 1 hr 40 minutes preaching about how awesome the product was...

Reminds me of a £250 Forex trading seminar fro beginners where you were supposed to 'learn how to trade'. I spent 2 days there for a grand total of 16 hours and when I left I still couldn't trade. However, I now knew the host had several courses going for around £5000!!

I wish hey would just package the video in a mp4 file and give you the link to download it or stream it. Simple, why do i need to be at my computer at a particular time. When I get home most days I am to beat. So I do my "studying" like early in the mornings 4.30am

For me, webinars are a mixed bag as an attendee. I like when you do actually get some useful, free information, then I don't mind the hyped up sales pitch. I dislike when there is ZERO information other than you should buy the product they're pimping.
I get annoyed when it takes 20-30 minutes to even get started. The other day, I was signed up for a seminar, and forgot about it until about 30-40 minutes after it started. when I logged on, they had not even announced the guest speaker yet. It made me laugh, I thought, "I guess I didn't miss much".
What I don't like is when the presenter has either a speech impediment, or mispronounces a common word. (I'm not talking about the difference between how Americans and Brits say "schedule" differently. It's more like saying "nukuler" instead of "nuclear".) After a while, I get more focussed on the words than the ideas when that happens.

Jim

webinars suck:
i hate the fact that you can not rwind or fastforward. so, i delete them right away. what happen to being considerate to your list......they are usually 20-30 minutes

Well, in order for webinars to stop being used they need to stop making gobs and gobs of money. But that's not going to happen because, well, webinars are super profitable.

I mean, have you been on a webinar? Anything that can give you that much sway over people is just...ridiculous. Without a doubt one of the most powerful marketing methods of the past 2 or 3 years.

I don't think webinars are going anywhere anytime soon. If you have a problem with them just stop watching them - That's what I did.

Webinars are great.

They let me watch and learn, and most of the
time there are replays you can fast fwd or even read the transcripts

I have done this or seen this done on every webinar I've been in...so I have no idea what you're complaining about.

I love the webinars so much because present valuable info about the subject and get answers about your questions and Interacting with.

If low % that hate the webinars, this is their problem. Believe or not the webinars are a fact and create reputation for the marketer if he/she present high quality content in.

most webinars are awful.

I've been told my free webinars are better than most people's paid ones, which is why I've had as many as 2,450 register for them. I did 91 webinars last year, and have trained tens of thousands in my webinar events during the last 10+ years. I know how they're Supposed to go.

The key is, it should have a lot of specific step by step "how to" right from the beginning. Most webinars are vague pitchfests, ineptly delivered by people who don't have a professional speaking/training background, so they are boring and poorly presented.

Take years to learn professional training and platform teaching/presentation skills, before doing webinars, like those of us who've been doing them for years, do. I've done online webinars/chatroom teaching since 2001. And had been an MBA teacher, consultant and professional trainer for decades before that. If you're gonna compete, you've gotta "bring it".

Most of my competitors' webinars are awful, so I never attend live; I wait for a replay link, scrub through it and watch at most 2-3 minutes of each 60 minute presentation (because most webinars are truly horrible, I agree). Don't waste your time watching and attending pitchfest webinars that are poorly done, just wait for the replay/download link, and scrub through to see if there's anything worthwhile in there (usually there isn't). Maybe a couple of useful tips, a few minutes out of 60.

I'm too busy to waste my time watching mediocre slow dragging pitchfests, ineptly spoken by people who don't have a professional teaching/training background, and are therefore slow, not useful, no actionable specifics, just poorly done infomercials. Bah.

Skip 'em, unless they are high energy, specific and useful. I hate most webinars too, because they stink. A great presenter knows how to deliver top quality content that's specific, useful and genuinely adds value.

That's how to keep people coming back, in doing professional webinars -- good old fashioned "learn how to speak and present like a professional, then deliver solid content that actually helps people". Too bad most people doing webinars don't "get it". Add some humor, case studies and examples people can relate to, and specific easy to understand genuine training tips.

I have attended multiple Webinars. I find them extremely useful at times, but some have been absolutely awful. I don't think they will go away any time soon though, maybe evolve though.

Whatever you call it, the "live" and "interactive" element isn't going to go away anytime soon.

Just look at Oprah's Lifeclass: live on tv + twitter + facebook + online website ... and then recorded replays on tv...

Look at all the live tweeting on tv.

Personally, I prefer to wait for the recorded version of a webinar or teleseminar for 2 reasons 1) it's difficult for me to block out the chunk of time at a given moment (it's called "life"), and 2) if the webinar is great, bad, slow, fast, whatever... I can usually (depending on the controls provided) pause, stop, replay, or even walk away for a few minutes and listen from afar.

There are a few I wish I could have committed to "live" though... but those are few and far between.

my experience is don't worry about it. Most of them provide replays. So just register and watch out for the replays.

At a local networking real estate meeting there is a local guy who give content and helps and is accessible and everyone says they love it and thank him but they never buy his course or his consulting NEVER. Then once in a while a guru flies in who they say they hate but they all buy from over and over , year after year. The webinar is the same, everyone says they hate it but they buy from it.

The webinars will die when no one watches and no one buys. Simple as that!

OP, you haven't signed up for the right webinar, my friend. when you do, you'll not only be grateful for them, but you'll look forward to the next content-filled one, AND will begin to look into holding one yourself! Feel the power of actually helping others...

Man I live off of the Q&A from the attendees...those questions are worth a ton...you get ideas for products, blog posts, and emails. I love webinars...but I think I am going to start calling them "live online training sessions" as someone suggested here....

I like them. You can ask questions, and also that sense of urgency means I do attend. A link to a video would be forever on my to-do list.

Webinars and online meetings is the next best thing to a in person training. Plus the urgency it creates. It can be one of your best marketing tools. Dive in deep and see if you can fix the issues you have with webinars and then sell the solution.

I love webinars when I run them because then I know for a fact they are jammed packed with useful information and you get your questions answered. Sure, I pitch a product in the Webinar but I don't take all day to do it.

Right now I give 85% content and 15% sales pitch. My sales pitch pretty much consists of telling you the benefits and giving you the special discount link. If you want it then great. If you got something out of my webinar then even better.

Webinars are a good tool to establish a good relationship with your list by the way!

I agree I only will watch them when they are sent out on re-play. I hate sitting there and listening to the uh... ohh... well... it takes way to much time to get through the "thinking". My attention span does not handle it!

A webinar is a great sales tool. It gets a bunch of people interested in a particular subject online at the same time. Try organizing for 15 people to meet from different parts in a better way. People can find videos all day long on the internet. BUT the actual thought of " attending a live event" is different. It had different rewards, and it makes the person feel "special" because they got invited. Also the "social proof" of a lot of other people being on the call, builds credibility for your brand. Plus I'm sure it is VERY profitable to do one sales presentation and have the "offer" at the end and have a lot of people buy it from that 1 hour worth of work. Webinars are the future.

Now I understand the frustration of the time zones, but like it was stated above, most of the time you will get the recording in an email.

I think as Google hangouts, and other live video technologies become easily accessible, webinars are only going to be more common over time. Especially in IM.

A lot of webinars are basically a video version of an hour long sales letter. They don't teach you anything, just want to sell you a push button software for $997.

Well there seems to be a few ways we can look at webinar/ teleseminar's.

A major reason vendors choose to create them is to add a sense of excitement - and feeling of high specialty value. Which should always be done in an ethical way.

Plus it allows the vendor/ interviewer(s) to interact more with the members/ customer/ or prospect - via a sometimes LIVE message board. I personally like them as long as they provide actual value and fun without being boring or 'salesey'.

Then why do you want them to send you a link to the recording?

I've never once attended a live Webinar... Nine times out of ten they shoot you a link to the recorded version anyway.

A lot of them are just sales webinars that normally consist of some guy's sob story then a demo of his software and why this is the "true" method of making money.

I'm not saying they're all like this, but every one I've watched has.

James Scholes

Are we talking from the attendee's point of view or from the presenter's point of view? From the attendee's point of view, I prefer videos (since I can control them). From the presenter's point of view, I prefer webinars (precisely because I keep the control ;p)

Speaking of old webinars, don't forget to sign up for my webinar about time travel. It will be held last Thursday.

just wait a day bro

youll get a replay in the mail.

Most webinars are recorded and uploaded somewhere to view at your own personal convenience. The exception being the webinars put out by Mike Filsaime. I never can seem to track his down after.

Great discussion. I too have a love/hate situation with webinars - especially sales webinars and I too no longer sign up for webinars for the following reasons:

* Usually very little useful content information given that people can use for which they signed up to participate in the webinar in the first place.
* Long drawn out what a wonderful person I am type scenario which could be stated in probably 2-3 minutes tops.
* Long drawn out why you should purchase this product, which again could be stated in probably 2-3 minutes tops.
* Sometimes the moderators don't answer the questions because they're so intent on giving their spiel. Some do try. However unless they have a second person watching the Questions, this can be easily missed.
* Normally the product being sold price is way over the top.
* Some vendors if you give an email automatically incorporate your email into the webinar platform email advice list which is very, very annoying - and then one gets bombarded not only via the platform's notifications but also by the vendor to attend the webinar.

And I developed the concept webinar consultations and you're wondering why I am making the above comments!!!

Webinars have become rather overused as a marketing strategy, rather than being utilised as a let's give great content strategy; in my erstwhile opinion.

Not to mention timezone differences can make it a challenge. I prefer to receive a video that I can fast forward if required to pick up the key points and then if I need or want to focus on a point or section, I can stop the video, review this section more fully.

Basically, unfortunately webinars have become in the main a whole heap of waffle, with little genuine content these days - which if webinars were utilised properly would add value to customers and really provide great content that customers can take away and implement.

Also webinars have this you have to get this now type call to action and then the person bombards their email list for days on end. To me this is just like the count down clocks - people are over them.

Webinars can be a great way to obtain feedback from customers on the products they have purchased, ideas they have for future products etc. yet, in the main vendors are not using webinars in this manner. They're more into let's sell, sell, sell rather than into quality improvement and let's hear what our customers really have to say, what questions they have and how can we provide increased content to support our customers implement the products/services they've paid us good money for.

Anyway this is my 2 cents worth.

Hope it assists.

That's unfortunate that you hate webinars.

However, I think they are fantastic!!

They provide a very low cost way of engaging people and building interest in your product or service. And as an added bonus, once the webinar is complete you have a video that you can be used for other marketing purposes

If I didn't know any better it looks like most everyone on here agrees with me

I don't see anything wrong with webinars, it's pre-recorded and the cool stuff is that you can paused , rewind, and continue, a smart strategy for me

I have a love-hate relationship with webinars. On the one hand, a well-done webinar can get you some great information. However, most of them are basically infomercials, and I can't catch a lot them anyway because of my wonky schedule.

Right now they're the new thing that everyone pushes. They convert insanely well if you know what you're talking about and who your audience is, but I always feel a bit disappointed by them when I catch them because I feel like the whole webinar is basically a sales pitch.

I just spent an hour with a client teaching him the importance of structuring a webinar the right way, so I have to disagree.

A good webinar in my opinion accomplishes something very important between the customer and the marketer...it creates a bond of TRUST if you structure it right.

So rather than trying to make it a product pitch fest, I encouraged my client to focus on building and giving value, and building trust until you absolutely have to start talking about the product, and even then you gotta keep building trust and value. That way it doesn't matter what you're selling...

like I told him....

"You want to build so much TRUST with your audience on the webinar that you could be selling HUBCAPS at the end!"

In other words, it wouldn't matter WHAT you sold because if you've done it right they trust what you say.

Of course, there's a process to go through to do that, but it's easily one of the best, and fastest ways to profitability. Especially if you automate it

I have a love/hate relationship with webinars. I love the good ones and hate the bad ones. Unfortunately, it can be difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff, especially since there is just so much chaff.

What’s worse is discovering that webinars from people you admire and expect to deliver on their promises turn out to be extremely long sales pitches and nothing more.

I don’t have a problem with someone selling their stuff. I’d be a hypocrite otherwise. But don’t promise me tons of great information and then spend 2 minutes of the 120 minutes giving me a few tips and then spend the remaining 118 flogging your stuff. And doing it even during the Q&A session by answering every question with pretty much: buy product my X, Y or Z and you’ll get your answer.

Conversely, a good webinar will keep me coming back for more. Funnily enough, I’ve attended webinars that were long sales pitches but the presenter was so good, I didn’t really care. I was learning from the pitch and the approach. But those are pretty rare.

Oooh, and what I hate even more is paying for a course, training or whatever else and then finding that said course is only a long flipping pitch for something else. I get the upsell idea, but if you want me to spend more money with you, then give me a reason to do so. Making me pay for you to pitch me even more stuff without delivering anything of value is gonna make me dislike you intensely.

Those who hate webinars wouldn't hate them if there where making money from them they are only looking from the perspective of the prospect and miss the point that they could be on the money side not the other. Just saying.

I have not yet joined ever webinars due i'll must follow their times frame, too inconvenient

To set the records straight, Webinars are not stupid. they can help you a lot as they offer a lot of free information. You can learn a lot from these from the comfort of your home/office as you do not need to go to places just to attend seminars. And nowadays many people are following this practice of sending you video links that you can watch whenever you get the time or whenever it is convenient for you. Also they rid you of getting to read books and journals as they give you the same information in far lesser time.

I like it when a webinar is recorded so it makes it easier to re-watch certain points at my convenience. I also like taking notes via. notepad. Some habits you pick up in college never leave you thank goodness.

This thread started over four years ago and webinars are more popular now than then. Look at all the webinar software that has come out lately.