Webinars are all the rage right now, and for good reason. I hosted two webinars this fall/winter and they totally helped me own my expertise, grow my list and generate new leads.

But webinars are also SCARY, especially the first time ’round. Heart racing, palms sweaty, you half-expect the entire thing to implode before it begins.

And sometimes it does.

For my first webinar, I used WebinarJam ($297/year), and didn’t have an amazing experience. About 30 of the people who opted in to the webinar via WebinarJam didn’t complete the opt-in process to get on my email list (though the rest did, thankfully). Because of the anti-spam legislation in Canada, I couldn’t move those 30 people over to my email list manually. Gone, poof!

Also, WebinarJam sent out my “webinar starting in a few hours!” and “webinar starting now!” emails late. Which meant that by the time some people got them, they were too late to be helpful.

So I asked for a refund.

I didn’t really want to give them my money anyway.

 

The second time I hosted a webinar, I went rogue.

I used free software and my own website.

And even though I’m not the most tech-savvy person on the planet, the webinar went MUCH smoother than the first time. Although my webinar setup will likely need to become more sophisticated in the future (you’ll see why), this is what I’ll continue to do for now.

Easy, free, smooth-sailing.

Which is what you want too, right?

Allrighty then.

How to set up a free webinar without relying on expensive or unreliable third-party marketing software.

1. Set up your landing page and opt-in

– Create a new page on your WordPress website with the details for your webinar. You might want to include:

• Webinar name
• Subtitle/tagline if you have one
• The top three-five points you will share in the webinar
• Date and time of the webinar including the time in a few other key time zones (if they are part of your target market)
• A beautiful image of you

– You can use landing page software like Optimize Press or LeadPages for this instead, but honestly, you don’t have to.

– Use your email marketing software to create a new list or segment for the webinar (I use Mailchimp; this was easy) and embed the opt-in in your page.

– Share!

2. Set up the webinar itself

– Verify your YouTube account.

– Set up a Live YouTube event here.

– Choose the date and time of your webinar (it can be weeks in advance, it shouldn’t be a problem). On the right, under “Type,” choose “Quick – using Google + Hangouts on Air”

– Under “Basic info” make your video Unlisted.

– Click “Go to Live Control Room.”

– In the top righthand corner, click “View on Watch Page.”

– From here, scroll down to “Share” and get the embed code for your your video.

– Create a new page on your website, ideally without the navigation bar and sidebar – you want it to be simple and clean.

– Add the name of your webinar in a headline font.

– Post your YouTube link.

– Add any call-to-action details below the video.

3. Add commenting

– If you want people to be able to ask questions in the webinar (which I’d highly recommend!), you’re going to have to use a social plugin.

– I used a free Facebook commenting app, but next time I will try Chatwing as recommended by a smart friend of mine. I’ve also heard of people using 22social (but I couldn’t quite figure it out…).

– This allows people to comment on the webinar page using Facebook or their social media network of choice.

4. Get your content ready

– Create a powerpoint slideshow. Don’t write everything you want to say on your slides! Just the highlights. You want to speak naturally and from the heart.

– Visuals are good!

– Don’t forget to end by telling folks more about you and your offer, and give them a call to action.

– This is important: set your powerpoint up so that it opens in a new window on your desktop.

5. Send reminders

– Send at least one reminder of the webinar (perhaps the day before). Remind your attendees that they’ll receive their link to the webinar room about an hour before it begins.

– An hour before the webinar, send your subscribers the link to your webinar page.

– Send another email with the link five minutes before the webinar begins.

– You might want to adjust your technique here—this is just what I did!

6. ACTION!

– Just before showtime, get your powerpoint ready to rock in its own window.

– Launch your Google Hangout On Air. This part made me freak out a little because I couldn’t figure out WHERE to start it. Turns out, you just have go back to the YouTube Live Events dashboard and click “Start Hangout On Air.”

– Now you should see your pretty face! Scroll over to the lefthand side, where “Screenshare” should be your second option. When you click it, it’s going to ask you which window you want to share. Choose your powerpoint. NOTE: If you want to start the webinar with your face, which can be fun, just hold off on this step until after you’ve started broadcasting and said hello/your intro.

– Start broadcast!

– I usually ask people to say hi if they can see and hear me (and my slides), and maybe wait a few extra minutes for people to come in.

7. Replay

– Your webinar should automatically record and save to YouTube, where you’ll be able to find it after the webinar. Make sure the event is unlisted, and send it out to those who subscribed to your webinar as a replay.

– I usually explain that the webinar will be coming down in a few days, and remind people of this in my follow-up sequence. I do this to limit sharing and also encourage people to watch it.

Downsides to this method

As mentioned, this method is free but it isn’t perfect.

For one, you can’t really track who shows up live and who doesn’t.

Second, I believe there’s a chance people can eavesdrop on your webinar via Google+ without signing up. I think that creating an unlisted Live Event may help to avoid this, but I’m not entirely sure. As you can see, I’m not that worried at the moment, and if you’re just starting out you shouldn’t be either. But I’ll keep an eye on it.

So that’s it! If I can set up and run my own free webinar, you can do it to!

Now, if you have any further technical questions…I might not be able to help you. I really have shared everything I know! Sad but true.

Um…but what about the content?!

That I can help you with! Weeks six and seven of my new copy coaching program are dedicated to creating value-packed content that will help you grow your email list, and webinars are one of the best ways to do this. Click here to learn all about my 10-week program!

In the meantime, have fun and good luck!