Best Telemseminar & Webinar Services

If you’re thinking about offering a webinar or teleseminar, you may be overwhelmed by the decision of what service to use.

There are new options popping up all the time and you might be wondering how to take advantage of the latest and greatest technology.

First, I want to explain the difference between a webinar and a teleseminar.

A teleseminar is conducted just by phone.  A webinar is conducted via the computer, meaning there are slides, screen sharing, or a video component.

Before looking into your options for teleseminar and webinar services, determine what features you’ll want, such as:

• Ability for callers to type in questions
• Ability to share slides
• Screen sharing
• Live, streaming video of yourself
• Ability for participants to be on screen
• Number of participants
• Ability to easily share recording
• Ability for people to call in with a phone
• Ability for people to dial in via the web
• Custom branding

While you may be excited by all of these options, you might not NEED all of them. I recommend you start with the basics, so you don’t get tripped up by the technology. Remember, you can always switch to a different service in the future.

You’ll also want to consider your budget. If you are just starting out and don’t often offer webinars, then going with a free service will probably work perfectly for you.

Basic Teleseminar Service

If you’re just using the phone and don’t need to share slides or your screen, I recommend you go with my favorite free teleseminar service, FreeConferencing.com.

This is the service I use for Deep Dive Strategy Sessions with clients because it’s very easy to record the calls.

There are a number of reasons I prefer this service:

• The maximum number of callers is 1,000!  Many free services limit your number of callers to 150.
• There is a wonderful web-interface that you can use during the calls to moderate Q & A. This allows participants to “raise their hand,” so you know they have a question and you can unmute one person at a time.
• When you record calls, they generate a URL that you can send out with the replay. (This is not ideal for sending out replays to your whole list because it won’t have your branding, but it’s great if you record coaching calls and want to send the recording to your clients.)

Upgraded Teleseminar Service that also works for Webinars

If you want your calls to be branded and want to share slides, I recommend:

Instant Teleseminar

This is the service I used to use for our webinars and group calls. Here’s what I love about Instant Teleseminar:

• It’s very easy for your participants to use.
• It is relatively less expensive than other webinar services, and you can downgrade your service, so you’re paying less, when you don’t have an upcoming webinar or teleseminar.
• Participants can call in via the phone or the web.
• You can easily create custom branded web pages for your calls.
• You can include a Q & A form on the web page for the call. This can be used to have people submit questions before, during, and even after the call.
• Participants can “raise their hand,” so you know they have a question and you can unmute one person at a time.
• You can include a call to action button on the web page. This works well when you’re giving a free preview call to promote a program.  You can use the call to action button and have it link to your sales page.
• You can record a call and then have it play later as if it is live. Want to have a call at 7pm but don’t want to work in the evening? No problem, record your call in the morning and set it up to replay later in the day.
• When you record a call, you can immediately generate a web page that has the replay available. And, you can select whether you want people to be able to download the recording or just replay it.
• Instant Teleseminar generates code that you can use to add an audio player to a page on your site. (This is very useful if you offer a free preview call and then want to add the audio to your sales page.)
• They have a backup recording of all of your calls. If you forget to record a call, you can simply ask Instant Teleseminar for the backup.
• You can set a password for calls to insure that only people registered for your program are able to access the call.
• They offer a 21 day trial for just $1. I love that my clients can try out the service and see if they like it before making a financial investment.

Webinar Service

If you want to conduct your calls online-only with live, streaming video I recommend:

Crowdcast

This is the service I currently use for some of our group calls. Here’s what I love about Crowdcast:

• You can broadcast live video of yourself so that people can both see and hear you during your presentation. You also have the option to share your desktop so you can present slides.
• The platform is fantastic when it comes to interacting with your audience throughout your presentation. Your participants can live-chat with you and other participants right onscreen.
• Crowdcast allows participants to enter questions both before and during the presentation, which is great for Q&A and for if someone has a question but can’t make the call. You can note when you are answering someone’s submitted question so that they can listen to just the part of the replay the applies to their question.
• They give you the ability to create a simple landing page for your event where people can register.
• You can use Zapier to integrate Crowdcast with your email marketing system so that participant who register on your landing page will be automatically added to your list.

All-Inclusive Service

If you want to have live streaming video of yourself AND phone-only options, I recommend: 

Zoom

This is the service I currently use for my webinars and most of my group calls. Here’s what I love about Zoom:

• Like Crowdcast, you can broadcast live video of yourself so that people can both see and hear you during your presentation. You also have the option to share your desktop, so you can present slides.
• Zoom will provide your attendees with a number to call in to if they’re unable to access your webinar on a computer or mobile device.
• As a presenter, you have the ability to show video of your webinar attendees, making your webinar feel more like a live event.
• At $14.99/mo, it’s an affordable option, especially considering all the features included

There you have it!  My favorite teleseminar and webinar services.

Do you have questions about which service is right for you?
Post your questions below and share your experience with various teleseminar and webinar services. I’d love to hear what services you love – as a presenter and a participant.