Do you own a business?  Are you interested in growing that business?  Is it possible to work smarter, not harder?  I would definitely say yes to all of these questions, especially the last two.  And I'm constantly looking for ways to do both: grown my business and work more efficiently.

I've sold information products online for some time now, and I've experienced success doing it. In that time I've tried a lot of different methods for reaching more customers. Most of these methods have worked with a varying degree of success. But none has been as effective as a webinar. Have you heard of it? It was new to me even though I had conducted teleseminars in the past.

A webinar is basically an online seminar.  It's similar to a teleseminar but has some distinct advantages.  For me though, what sold me on webinars was how they grew my business with virtually the same amount of planning and effort as other methods.

Let me illustrate. For one of my products, "8 Weeks to Profits," I used a webinar to promote it. The first time I tried it, I generated $16,200 in sales over a 2 to 3 day period. Then, I followed up with the contacts I had gathered from the webinar. After using postcards, direct mail, and phone calls, I made an additional $16,800.

Sound too good to be true? Yeah, I understand what you're thinking. I wasn't sure if I'd really hit on something or if it was a fluke. Fortunately, I found out quickly after.

I presented the exact same webinar to the customers of some joint venture partners. From that webinar, I was able to make an additional $142,400 over a five-month period. As I've done the math, the results equal to a 10% conversion rate. This is 3 times the rate most marketers see. I've even heard of some businessmen seeing a 30% conversion rate from their webinars. To me, the math speaks for itself. Webinars are definitely an example of getting the most bang for your buck.

But I've seen that it doesn't have to end there.  From one webinar, I've created and sold other products.  I've videotaped my webinars and sold the videos.  I've recorded the audio and turned that into a product.  I gotten someone to transcribe the transcript of the audio and turned it into a number of articles to submit to directories.  And I've even taken the Power Point presentation and turned it into a workbook or included it as a bonus in a larger product.

There's no doubt in my mind that a webinar is one of the greatest untapped tools on the internet.  I believe their power can be applied to an online or an offline business.  Using them has transformed my business, and I really believe they could transform yours, too.