There have been a lot of internet marketing deaths proclaimed: long copy, Google Adwords, internet gurus, etc.
There is at least some truth to all of these. Major changes are going on. Google Adwords has become much more difficult than it used to be. Long copy while not dying has started benefiting greatly from better design, added video, email series, etc.
Over the past year I’ve noticed another pretty major death occuring in internet marketing – that of seminars.
Do I believe seminars are going to die…as in not exist anymore? Nope…not in the least. I’m sure they will continue to struggle on, but I’m seeing all the evidence they’re dying a slow, painful death.
Yes, there are a few seminars with great attendances, but the majority I’ve seen have WAY MORE trouble filling the room over the past year than they did previously.
They’re spending a lot more time and money to get people into seats at events than they ever had to before.
And even with all the extra work, most of the conferences I’ve been to are running with lower attendance this year than previous years.
Even small group workshop based events appear to have problems filling up now.
People just don’t appear to be traveling as much as they used to for events. This is ONE business I definitely wouldn’t want to be in today.
But every negative like this opens up opportunities. Teleconferences, webinars, and telesummits are doing better than ever before.
And as a speaker I MUCH prefer these. I don’t have to get on a plane…don’t have to make reservations at a hotel…and don’t even have to reserve a whole day to participate in one.
In fact in a couple of recent telesummits I’ve participated on, we did my calls BEFORE the event was ever held. I did one recently where we’ve recorded my call…and I haven’t even been informed yet about full details of when it’s being held!
Talk about convenient…
And the LAST telesummit I participated in as a speaker generated more income than the last few in-person events did.
One hour of investment on the phone was worth more than 2 full days at an event. Hmmm….now this really discourages me from attending future live events. 🙁
How do these phone events work in case you want to do one of your own?
The ones I’ve participated in so far have been free upfront to listen into the calls. There was a host on the line with me interviewing me to make it flow smoother. We give great information throughout the hour we’re on and then we do a little product pitch at the end (that’s the compensation for the speakers).
The person holding the telesummit makes their money from selling the recordings of the event. You can listen in free to the calls at the time they’re scheduled to play, but if you want to download them for later use or get transcripts, you have to purchase them (they were priced at $47 to $197 from the ones I’ve been on).
The promotional plans have been for the event promoter to offer them to their lists (free to listen to with the chance to upgrade for the downloads) along with the speakers promoting them as affiliates. You’ve probably seen me send out a few of these promotions over the past year.
I’m personally amazed at how well this business model is replacing the dying seminar model.
What other variations will soon appear to make online seminars and workshops even more useful to the average marketer?
Notice how the above version relies on “interviews” and interviewing skills? If you want to become an interviewing pro…and make money from passive information products using other people’s information, check out the course I did with Fred Gleeck called the Ultimate Interview Product Solution.
Note: The above refers to seminars people have to travel to attend. From what I’ve seen seminars designed for LOCAL attendance are not suffering the same fate. And it’s not to say seminars don’t work. It’s just the investment to put them on is much more significant than it used to be and the payoffs are much lower.
