Using an evergreen webinar to get leads and make sales

One of the benefits of creating an online business is the fact it provides you with many opportunities to do work once, and then get paid for that work many times over without much or any additional effort.  When you create valuable content that gets recorded as either an audio lesson, a course module, a video, or a book, you’ve created an asset that you might potentially be able to earn income from for the rest of your life.

I’ll give you a few examples from my own life to show you what I mean and how powerful this concept is, and I’m only going to use examples from the past week.

Earlier this week, I received an email from someone who won a copy of one of my books at a conference I spoke at several years ago.  She loves the book, and every year she makes a point to order copies that she can give away to others.  She messaged me to let me know that she placed a nice-sized order this week.  That means that I just earned income for work I did back in 2017 without even lifting a finger.

This morning, just before lunch, I checked my email.  In my email, there was a nice message from someone who has enjoyed my teaching in the past and he decided to express his thanks by participating in one of my crowdfunding campaigns on “Buy Me a Coffee.”  Several days before that, another person utilized that same crowdfunding tool to thank me for my blog content.

This week, I also received a notification that someone had purchased an online bundle that included one of my courses.  Several days prior to that, I received notice that three people signed up for 48-hour passes to my online video library.

Earlier this week I also received two checks for advertising revenue connected to my podcasts.  The episodes that were advertised on were recorded years ago, but because they still have value, they allow me to earn regular income.

These are just a few examples of what I experienced this week, but each example has something in common that I’d like to highlight.  The content of the books, crowdfunding campaigns, videos, and podcasts is what we call “evergreen.”  That means it doesn’t grow old and stale.  It’s content that has ongoing value long after it’s produced.  I’m grateful for that because, from a content-creator’s perspective, I see a double benefit to this evergreen content I’m producing.

First of all, it’s helping people, and that’s my primary motivation.

Secondly, it’s enabling me to earn an income without having to repeat past efforts.  This frees up my time in the present to create more content AND to serve others without needing to request compensation for doing so.

It also contributes to a feeling of confidence when approaching my other responsibilities.  For example, I recently raised my rates for voiceover work.  I was able to do so without fear because even if my current clients don’t want to pay for that increase, I’m not worried.  I don’t have an over-dependence on that single source of income, so if it goes away or is temporarily lessened, I won’t be devastated.

But let’s take the concept of creating evergreen content a little further.  There’s something I’d like to suggest you consider if you’re someone who enjoys creating online content that has ongoing value and you’d like to gradually earn a sustainable income from the work you’re doing.

To be able to make a living from the work you’re doing online, you need to get eyes on your content and you need to develop trust with the people you’re attempting to serve.  Historically, webinars have been considered one of the most effective ways to do both.  Webinars are online seminars that are often free to attend.  A webinar is usually focused on a single subject, skill, or solution that teaches a concept or solves a problem for the attendee.  They can be highly valuable and they’re usually offered for free.

The process often looks like this:

1.  You identify a problem that you’re qualified to solve.

2.  You find an audience of people who are experiencing that problem and you invite them to sign up to attend your free, no-strings-attached webinar.

3.  When they register to sign up, you receive their email address which you can use to connect with them again in the future.

4.  You deliver your solution during an online webinar that you may host via Zoom or some other video platform.  (There are many options you can choose from).

5.  At the end of your webinar, you offer something with additional value for those who find your teaching beneficial.  You might offer a course, a coaching bundle, a membership community, a book, or some other resource.

The hardest part of this entire process isn’t producing the training content.  Rather, it’s getting people to the webinar itself.  Another challenge you’ll also experience is the fact that there will be people who want to attend, but their schedule may not allow them to be present while you’re teaching.  With that in mind, let me offer a win/win solution that should be beneficial to you and to the people you’re trying to serve.

Instead of your webinar only being available to live attendees, make sure it’s recorded and available well beyond the day it was first offered.  If you hold on to the recording, and your content is evergreen, you can still create a sign-up page on your website that allows people to register for the webinar and then view it at a time that’s convenient for them.

As they view it, several things are likely to happen:

1.  They’ll benefit from the help and advice you’ve offered them.

2.  Your trust level will increase in their eyes.

3.  You’ll have access to their email address which will allow you to contact them again in the future.

4.  You will not have a piece of evergreen marketing content that can be used in an ongoing way to point people toward the products and services you offer.

I’m bringing this subject up because this is something I’ve used in the past to great effect and I’m going to be offering more evergreen webinars in the near future.  It’s a great way to serve people for free while building trust with a new audience of potential clients and customers.

I hope you’ll give it a try and see if this idea might also work well for you.

© John Stange, 2023