How to Go From Doing 2-3 Webinars a Month to 100+ with Melissa Kwan: An EOFire Classic from 2023

0:28Boom! Shake the room, Fire Nation. with money, helps you achieve financial success, automated webinars for you from repetition and give you back time, and work creatively, not more. Life is bigger than work and oh, so much more. And a big thank you for sparring today's episode goes to Melissa and our sponsors. NetSuite is the number one AI cloud ERP trusted by over 43 ,000 businesses. If your revenues are at least in these seven figures, get NetSuite's free business guide, Demystifying AI at netsuite.com slash fire. The guide is free to you at netsuite.com slash fire. Are you ready for the ultimate all-in-one platform for entrepreneurs, marketers, coaches, and agencies?

1:07Build funnels, automate follow-ups, manage clients, and even white label your own software. Say hello to our featured partner, High Level, and visit highlevelfire.com to start your free trial today. Melissa, say what's up to Fire Nation and share something that you believe about becoming successful that most people disagree with. What's up, Fire Nation? Thanks for having me on your show. I think if by successful, you're referring to being successful as an entrepreneur. Specifically, I'd say that I believe people have to love money in order to be successful. or if I want to say nicer or differently, I think you have to have a very positive relationship with money.

1:56I think our relationship with money impacts our success a lot in the sense that we're not supposed to love money because it's bad, right? Like money is the root of all evil. It can't buy happiness. So this kind of goes on and we're supposed to do something we're passionate about, right? Not something we want to get rich off of. And I think believing these negative connotations about money makes it pretty hard for someone to embrace their desire for financial success, which is tied to business success. And I believe that just because you love money doesn't mean that's the only thing you love and it doesn't make you a monster.

2:27I love this. And Fire Nation, ask yourself that question, do you love money? And the reality is there is a huge negative connotation when it comes around money. And it's really sad that there is. Money doesn't grow on trees. Money can't buy you happiness. I do love a quote that somebody said once, which is people who think money can't buy you happiness have never given enough away. And that to me is a really powerful quote because that kind of reframes everything of like, man, you can love money. You can make a lot of money and then you can do amazing things with that money. And tell me that it's not going to make you happy to give a massive donation, philanthropic gift, charitable donation, whatever that might be to an organization that you love that's going to make a huge impact.

3:12Like you can really do amazing things in this world when you have the means to do so. And we're talking today about how to go from just two to three webinars a month to over a hundred. And Melissa is the person to talk to about this, but I want to start by talking about webinar hell, Melissa. How can we escape this deep, dark, miserable existence? Well, I mean, I think first let's define what webinar hell is, right? Like in my definition, it's doing the same repetitive webinar over and over again. And maybe some people listening today can, can identify with that, right? Like your sales pitches, your demos, your onboarding, your training, right?

3:56Things that are just like you get super robotic about. Um, and you know, this is something that I lived with for many years in my previous startup. I was trying to escape it back then. I couldn't fully escape it because there weren't great solutions that were out there. There were definitely solutions out there, but nothing that I was really proud of using or really loved using. But right now, I don't want to sound like super, you know, what's that word? I don't want to sound promotional or anything, but the way to escape that right now is to leverage something like eWebinar that turns videos into automated webinars that you can set on a recurring schedule.

4:35Now, before we get too deep into what the power of automated webinars can really be, let's talk about the shortcoming of live webinars because a lot of people think that live webinars are the only option if they're going to have the kind of success that they want on these type of presentations. So what are those shortcomings? I mean, I think webinars are great, right? And now people are working remote, more and more people are leveraging them in their business and, you know, maybe in the personalized as well. But the limiting factor of live webinars is just inherently not scalable because someone actually has to be there to run them live.

5:13And now that the world is flat, like we don't just serve customers in six time zones, we serve customers in possibly 24 time zones. So, you know, how can we expect to be able to run enough webinars for our business, for our customers, but to do that ourselves, right? Or even with a team of people. So I think that's really the fundamental shortcoming is it's just not scalable, but it's something that is so necessary and ingrained in our business culture now. So we do hear this everywhere. Live webinars are better than automated webinars. You actually believe this is a huge misconception. So let's really dive into this now.

5:47Defend your stance. Well, first, I think it's a misconception because people aren't comparing apples to apples, right? Like what are they comparing a live webinar or like a zoom to, right? Maybe they're comparing it with what they believe is an automated webinar or like quote unquote an on-demand webinar, which is a video replay on a gated landing page. And yeah, like I agree if that's what you're comparing, you know, a live zoom to, it's pretty bad. It's a poorly recorded video with people talking over each other. And I don't know, I guess at some point, maybe some marketing genius sort of branding gated videos on landers as webinars and that kind of stuck, but it is, you know, let's call it what it is.

6:24It's a video, right? Or they compare, you know, a live webinar to like a YouTube, but that's not a webinar experience. So of course it's a par because again, it's just a video and not meant to be a webinar, which is supposed to be interactive, right? And engaging. And I think for people who say that live is better simply because an automated one is based off of video, I would argue that most people haven't even seen an automated webinar before because it's not the norm yet, right? Like a traditional Zoom. Or they definitely haven't seen what the latest webinar automation technology can do because they've seen something maybe years ago, right?

7:01Especially if you're a marketer, you might've seen something years ago and decided that that experience wasn't good enough and you never revisited it again because maybe it left a bad impression. And I think people are so obsessed with live, right? Because they think it's more personal, right? And personal is better. But like, let's dig into that a little bit more, right? Is live really more personal? Like we think about it for a second. First of all, it's not at a convenient time for me. Like it's fixed, you know, it's at a fixed time in someone else's time zone. I mean, I'm in Amsterdam, for example, there are once I joined the webinar, there are hundreds of other people in it.

7:37the connection is not always great. I may or may not get my question answered because I'm actually competing with a bunch of other messages. And then the polls and questions that come up aren't for me, right? They're for a group. So in a live webinar, the host is not just talking to me specifically, it's optimized for, you know, a group like a seminar. And that's actually where the word webinar came from, like web seminar. But an automated webinar, because it's pre-recorded, it's really designed for me it's scripted with me in mind to consume it at my own time at my convenience and the questions and the polls resources that come up are really made for me not for the group and i know that every question i send will get answered because it's not buried in a sea of other comments right because the host doesn't need to deliver it live it opens up opportunities to create so much more content that i perhaps the customer or prospect want it's almost like going into Netflix and being able to choose exactly what you like right now.

8:38And I believe that's way more personal. So is live really better? Or is that just what people are used to? So I think that's where the core of the misconception is, is the consumption experience of live versus automated is not being compared side by side thoughtfully, and definitely not being compared with the latest technology in mind. Fire Nation, Melissa brings up a really good point, because the reality is there's been such a broad definition of webinars that's been created. And there's just really this misunderstanding of what an actual webinar is. And it's just having people say, oh yeah, like I was on that and that was kind of like, you know, bad quality or that was short or that was this, that was that.

9:19Because it's different things and different conceptions of what actually a webinar is, can be, and the reality should be. And we're going to be talking about some of these things when we get back from thanking our sponsors. Let's talk about that level up mindset. You know, the one you need to take your business from comfortable to next level amazing. In this stage, the basic stuff matters, like how you communicate with customers, which is why today's episode is sponsored by Quo, spelled Q-U-O, the modern alternative to run your business communications. Quo is the number one rated business phone system on G2 with over 3 ,000 reviews.

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12:43So visit highlevelfire.com to start your free trial and see why thousands of businesses are switching. That's highlevelfire.com where marketing, sales, and automation finally come together. High level, join the revolution. Melissa, we're back. And one thing that we actually do hear a lot about is the importance of having a personal touch. Like people want that quote unquote personal touch. or at least people say they want it or claim that other people want it. So how can we automate and scale our own webinars without really losing that personal touch that people at least seem to like? Yeah, I mean, I think it starts with tailored content, right?

13:24Content is king. Like it starts with really designing your content around the person that's going to consume it, right? Whether it's your team member, your prospect, or your customer. And then the next step when you automate this content like a webinar is you have to offer people a flexible schedule. Like that is so key. Like right now, everybody wants to have their webinars Tuesday at 11, right? In like an Eastern time zone or episode time zone, but that's not my time zone. And people right now in this day and age are living on their own timeline, right? We read the same news and watch the same videos just on our own timelines.

14:02And especially now, like so many people work from home, you have to give people the option to consume it now or later, right? Something that fits into their schedule because you just have no idea what they're doing during the day or during the night. And then I think the next step is to make that experience engaging, right? Like how many times do we go into a Zoom and we're like lost into Instagram almost immediately, right? Like when you go into a webinar, if the host is engaging, that's great. If content is valuable, that's great. But a lot of times it's not, right? And it's like a one-way consumption experience.

14:36whereas when you automate a webinar you can have the software make it more engaging and interactive by creating like a two-way experience right so with things like e-webinar you can program things like polls questions contact forms things that pop up that invites you to participate so now not only is the content tailored to me the solution that is delivered through is inviting me to take part in this experience. And that just doesn't exist on a live experience. And the last part is probably the most important is you have to have an ability to chat, right? You have to give your attendee, your prospect, your customer, the ability to reach out to you when they feel like it, right?

15:19Right now we're like, Hey, we don't want to talk to anyone until I want to talk to you. Then I want you to be there. Right? So having that ability to chat with someone, um, when they need to or make people feel like they can get to you when they want. Like that's super important. And that's, I think, how you make it the most personal experience. I think that is so powerful, especially that last part you just shared of the ability to chat. Because listen, people are going to have questions throughout. They're going to want to have answers to those questions, solutions to those problems. And if they can feel heard, and if you can maybe remove that one little barrier that they have that that question is posing, then boom, you're clearing the way to that sale.

15:59And you claim that webinar automation is ideal for sales demos, training, onboarding. Tell us why. Those are the things that you are most robotic about, right? And I love to say like, if you sound like a robot doing it, just let a robot do it. Like it does not make sense for you, the founder or anyone else to do the same thing over and over again, right? Like, I don't want to claim that we're here to replace live, right? This conversation we're having right now, it cannot be replaced, right? We can't have this conversation asynchronously, but there are a lot of things that we can automate so we can free up our time, our schedule, and just our mind share so that it opens us up for doing literally anything else, even if that's nothing at all, spending more time with friends and family or just watching more TV.

16:50So I think the things that are most ideal for automation are just the things that you're not just doing over and over, but you're also wishing you could do more of it, but you're just exhausted because you physically cannot keep going. Fire Nation, tons of great points here. And I actually would even take it one step further. I'm like, you're hurting yourself if you sound like a robot and you keep doing that thing. That's just bad for your own personal brand. That's just bad for the respect of people who are like, man, you know, my CEO just doesn't have any personality, doesn't have any energy, doesn't have any vibe.

17:23So what if we wanted to dive into automating our webinars? What would you say, Melissa, is our best next steps? I think the first step is to figure out what it is you want to automate, right? Like what is one piece of content? And I always say, just start with one, right? Like don't, don't start with, I'm going to go to the gym every day and then you basically never go. Um, but just start with one piece of content that you feel like can have the, you know, the biggest benefit to your business right now. Um, you can either record your own video or use a video you already have for maybe a pre recorded replay that you have in the past and just upload it to an automated webinar solution, right?

18:03Sign up for you webinar, sign up for something else, right? Like I'm a believer that rising tide raises all boats. So to me, it doesn't matter if you sign up for us or someone else, but just give it a try, right? Like see what it feels like to be able to run a hundred webinars a month and never actually have to be there to run it live. Like that's the aha moment. And that's kind of like the movement that I want to start is, you know, you don't have to work in your business all the time in order to be successful and productive. In fact, we need to work less, not more. We need to work more creatively and find more ways to get more ROI, I guess, right out of our time.

18:44Work more creatively. That's a great takeaway, Fire Nation. Think about how you can do that in your life, in your business. Melissa, give us a big takeaway. We've talked about a lot of great things that you've dropped a lot of value bombs. What's the one thing you really want to make sure Fire Nation gets from our conversation today? We don't need to work more, right? We need to work more creatively. So in your day to day, like think about how you can work less because there are so many other things in life that you can enjoy that do not have to be related to work. Melissa, give us a call to action.

19:19Where can Fire Nation find out more about you, about your company eWebinar, and then we'll say goodbye. Yeah, if you want to connect with me, the best way to connect with me is through LinkedIn. My last name is spelled Kwan, K-W-A-N. And if you want to check out eWebinar, see what it can do for you and your business, it's eWebinar.com, spelled exactly as it sounds. Bang. That is a great URL. Congrats on that. And Fire Nation, you're the average of the five people you spend the most time with. You've been hanging out with MK and JLD today, so keep up the heat. Head over to eofire.com, type Melissa in the search bar.

19:55The show notes page will pop up with everything we've talked about, links to everything. ewebinar.com is your direct call to action. And Melissa, thank you for sharing your truth, knowledge, value with Fire Nation today. For that, we salute you and we'll catch you on the flip side. Hey, Fire Nation, a huge thank you to our sponsors and Melissa for sponsoring today's episode. And Fire Nation, over the last decade, I've interviewed more than 3 ,000 of the world's most successful entrepreneurs. And I've created a revolutionary 17-step roadmap to your financial freedom and fulfillment. I put it all into my first traditionally published book, The Common Path to Uncommon Success, personally endorsed by Seth Godin and Gary Vaynerchuk.

20:38The Common Path to Uncommon Success is the step-by-step guidance that you need to achieve the lifestyle of your dreams. Visit uncommonsuccessbook.com to order your copy today and I'll catch you there or I'll catch you on the flip side. NetSuite is the number one AI cloud ERP trusted by over 43 ,000 businesses. If your revenues are at least in these seven figures, get NetSuite's free business guide, Demystifying AI at netsuite.com slash fire. The guide is free to you at netsuite.com slash fire. Are you ready for the ultimate all-in-one platform for entrepreneurs, marketers, coaches, and agencies?

21:17Build funnels, automate follow-ups, manage clients, and even white-label your own software. Say hello to our featured partner, High Level, and visit highlevelfire.com to start your free trial today.