Regularly hosting teleclasses gives you an opportunity to more closely interact with your audience. It’s a way to more quickly develop a relationship with those who follow you on social media or subscribe to your newsletter. Not only do they get to learn the great content you share, they get to know who you are as a person.
Here are three options for hosting teleclasses:
1. Conference line – This is the simplest method and least expensive. A good choice if you are just getting started with teleclasses. There are many free conference call services, such as http://freeconferencepro.com and http://www.freeconferencecalling.com. When selecting a service, just make sure it provides you with a recording of the call the is downloadable in mp3 format.
2. Livestream – I’ve seen many more business owners promoting livestream calls these days. It used to be that simple teleclasses providing a simple phone connection was the standard, but this is slowly evolving. It appears people don’t just want to hear your message, they want to see you. Livestream allows participants to see you as you host the call. Many times this can allow for higher energy calls with more interaction. You can not only share content, but listeners can engage with you and each other via a chat box.
3. Webinars – This allows you to share content with viewers. Participants would not only be able to hear your voice, they can view slides/content or your computer screen as your talk. Gotowebinar.com and AnyMeeting.com are two webinar services.
There are services that provide a combination of the above. I frequently work with InstantTeleseminar.com. This is a paid teleconference service that provides bridge line(s) for your call listeners to call into and participate in your teleclass. However, they also have a webcast component. This means you can choose to listen over the computer versus calling in via the phone. As the host, you may also choose to provide PowerPoint slides viewable to those on the webcast.
Depending on the service you purchase you can provide a full multi-media experience to participants. They can hear you, see you, and view content/slides you want to share/discuss. Just keep in mind the more components; the greater the cost tends to be.
Should you use Skype for teleclasses?
I have effectively used Skype for 1 on 1 phone and video calls. I’m growing to appreciate how much it adds to a working relationship when you are able to see one another when you communicate. However, I do not recommend using Skype for large group conference calls. When I’ve used the service for 3-way calling, quality is questionable. . . and that’s only 3 people.
If you have experience hosting teleclasses, please feel free to share below. Good experiences? Bad? Conference service you especially like? Are you transitioning from teleclasses to livestreaming?
All the best,
Lisa Nelson
Lisa,
I am in the process of building the ecommerce for my website. I plan to provide webinar classes and online group and individual classes in addition to one-on-one services. I am marketing myself as an online nutrition service for those who don’t have access or desire to attend a nutrition clinic. I want to do fee for service for my classes, but you mention doing teleclasses for free. Do you feel people will not want to pay for online classes? I am just getting started and plan to market to the Dr offices in the area. Your input is appreciated.
Joanne
Hi Joanne,
Yes, in this post my focus was teleclasses for marketing purposes, which would typically be free and used as a means to grow your list. However, that doesn’t mean fee based classes don’t work. Yes, you can charge for teleclasses and make an income. However, your marketing plan will greatly influence whether or not people pay or not. . .as with anything!
All the best,
Lisa Nelson RD
http://healthpracticesonline.com