If you’ve picked up some CLE credits in the last year, chances are good you’ve done so through a webinar. You may have also participated in an IMS webinar. But could your estate planning and Elder Law firm be the source of a webinar for your clients? When it comes to law firm marketing, the more tools you use, the better.
The overall goal is to give your prospects and clients another way to get to know you, to demonstrate your knowledge and make it easy for them to connect with you.
Webinars don’t require a massive infusion of technology. Many offices use GotoWebinar, from GotoMeeting. Your IT person should be able to make a few recommendations, and if you have questions, submit a client support ticket for more information.
For a webinar, you’ll need a microphone and your computer. That, and a PowerPoint presentation, will do the trick. Just remember that doing a webinar for clients and prospects is different than presenting before your peers at a bar association meeting. Use everyday English, rather than complex legal terms.
Tailor your presentation to two audiences: the one that is listening live and the ones that will listen to the webinar when you post it on your website. Don’t forget to record it so that you can use it more than once!
Use a good microphone to make sure the sound quality is good.
Include a lot of images in your presentation. If you have an attorney video, you may want to include a snippet of that in your webinar.
Ask the people who have signed up for the webinar to send you questions in advance. This gives you questions to start the Q&A period and also gives you a gauge of the kind of people who will be listening to the webinar. If no one submits any questions, no need to create them.
Be mindful of “dead air.” If you stop talking for more than ten seconds, the sound can be deafening. Keep talking, unless you are taking questions.
Run at least one test before you do the webinar. Do one test with people in your office, so that you can get comfortable with all of the nuances of the webinar software. Then, do a test with either colleagues or friends from their offices to make sure that everything is working. Record the test so that you know how that function works as well.