Virtual Event Success

Following on Michael Port & Scott Stratten’s video on what people are doing wrong with telesummits, my buddy Lou Bortone interviewed me about my views on telesummits.

In this 10-minute interview, Lou asked me:

• Why are telesummits so popular?
• To define telesummits so everyone understands what they are.
• Why the telesummit model is flawed today even though they’re so popular.
• Why templates for telesummit are both a good and bad thing.
• And what are some of the ways the telesummit model can be refreshed.

Interested in joining me November 3-5, 2010 in Atlanta, GA for more refreshed ideas? Click here to learn more about Telesummit Refresh.

I used to be very obsessed with the numbers. It started in high school. I was one of those kids you hated in math class who could carry the one (Dee you’d want to avoid me) and do fractions without a calculator.

I was the one the math teacher called on when no one else had the answer. He knew I did. Every time.

Then, social media came around and my obsession became a super obsession (no, that’s not a typo). I was in it to win it. I was competing with others to see how quickly I could get my 1,000th follower on Twitter. Or my 15th friend on Facebook. Or my 2-millionith connection on LinkedIn.

I Only Cared About How Much I Scored

When I was in university, I played 2-years of varsity basketball. At the time, I was dating this ultra-competitive guy. He too played basketball, but at the college level (in Canada, there’s a BIG difference between university and college – there’s a Wikipedia entry that explains it all).

Despite the fact that we would never, ever play on the same team due to our different genders (if you didn’t get it – I’m a gal, he’s a guy) and different collegiate playing levels, he always wanted to know what I scored after each game and how many minutes I played.

My coach liked to huddle with the team after the game ended. We would shake our opponents’ hands, tell them that it was a good game, then meet our coach at the end of the bench for a post game pep talk.

Instead of running to the huddle, I would boot over to the scorer’s table to review my points scored and the minutes played so I could stuff those hefty numbers down my (ex) boyfriend’s throat.

After doing this several times, my coach beat me to the scorer’s table after one game, removed the scorer’s sheet and promised to bench me the rest of the season if I ever checked my points before huddling with the team.

So, I stopped looking at the numbers.

And shortly thereafter, I broke up with my ultra competitive, shallow, insecure boyfriend.

But, I digress…

I got the idea for the title of this post from Milana Leshinsky’s wonderful report on how to add coaching to your business in 48-hours or less.

So, I often get asked what is the difference between a teleclass and a virtual event. The difference between the 2 is that virtual events are set up like a serial. According to Wikipedia.org, serials are:

Stories that rely on a continuing plot that unfolds in an episode by episode fashion. Serials typically follow main story arcs that span entire seasons or even the full run of the series, which distinguishes them from traditional episodic television that relies on more stand-alone episodes. Worldwide, the soap opera is a notable derivative of the serial.

With your virtual event, you put together stories that unfold with a specific beginning and end. Even though you may be interviewing different people during your virtual event, each expert is presenting material that feeds into the main story arc or theme of your event.

Also, the serialized virtual event is much more financially lucrative. Attendees keeps tuning in to each session that takes place over consecutive days and weeks to learn more. Also, attendees feel your virtual event is well worth the investment because they get a mountain of content for a low price. Think about it – if you offer 18 sessions for $497, the actual cost per session is $27 (and there’s no money spent on travel or hotel).

Therefore, a 3-min clip of you singing the Facebook blues isn’t a virtual event. It’s a video online. However, if you prepare a series of videos that explain complicated terms in plain English, they can be considered a virtual event.

Let’s take a look at other examples of virtual events you can start in the next 48-hours or less.

1. Podcasting – This is an audio or video series that’s syndicated. You produce a daily or weekly episode and share it via iTunes with your audience. Just posting a recording on your blog from your recent teleclass or posting a video to YouTube is not enough. You need to commit to a schedule and syndicate the content in order for it to be considered a podcast.
2. Telesummits – This is a series of teleclasses that feature a variety of speakers over consecutive days or hours. Examples of these are the Social Media Telesummit, Adwords Advantage or Practice Building Virtual Conference.
   
3. Virtual Workshop – This is a series of teleclasses or webinars that feature only one or two speakers who train you on a specific task. Each week is a module that leads into the next. Examples are Couples Transformations and my Virtual Event Launch Secrets program.
4. Virtual Coaching – Whether it’s one-to-one or in a group setting, you can coach your clients virtually. Just make sure to do so over consecutive days or hours so it qualifies as a virtual event. Kendall Summerhawk  wrote about a full day virtual retreat concept where you meet with your client hourly in one day and Milana Leshinsky  lists 20 exciting ways to coach your client (#1-#9 are virtual formats).
5. Virtual Job Fairs – Employers and job candidates meet virtually and share resumes and job leads. This type of event takes place over consecutive hours and may feature expert speakers. Examples are eFairJob and Monster’s Virtual Job Fair.
6. Virtual Trade Shows – Complete with exhibitors on a virtual trade show, sponsors and speakers, these huge events attract thousands of attendees. Although the cost to set up this type of virtual is high, the profit margin is equally high.

In my examples above, just remember that the tool doesn’t matter. Whether you host your virtual event over the phone or online, just make sure you don’t book a conference room. What matters, however, is the strategy.

Are there any other virtual events you would add to this list?

I often see notices from outsourcing companies promising that they can make your social media burden light by doing the tasks you don’t want to.

These virtual teams promise to:

• Ghostwrite and post articles on your blog
  
• Find and approve friends for you on Facebook/LinkedIn
• Find and approve followers for you on Twitter
• And will do this anywhere from 4-10 times per month for a few hundred dollars.

Huh? When did outsourcing your relationships become okay?

Social Media Wears Prada (Didn’t You Know?)

In the movie The Devil Wears Prada, Anne Hathaway plays a naive entry level secretary by the name of Andy Sachs. Andy heads to New York after she’s hired to assist Miranda Priestly, the editor of a New York fashion magazine, who’s all bitch and little personality (played by Meryl Streep).

In one scene, Miranda drags Andy to a charity event. The reason Miranda needs Anne is because Miranda can’t remember anyone’s name. So Andy has to walk 5 paces behind Miranda with a book that includes the names and faces of New York’s socialites. Every time Miranda shakes someone’s hand, there’s a 3 second pause as Andy quickly flips through her book and then whispers the person’s name in Miranda’s ear.

When you outsource your selection and maintenance of your social media relationships, I liken this to the book that Andy carries around. If you aren’t cultivating these relationships through Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn on your own, how then will you know who to call on when you need them?

For example, if your assistant is the one approving and finding friends and posting things on Twitter on your behalf, you’re missing out on the friendly banter that happens between friends. My pal, Scott Stratten, is always spinning tunes and sharing his playlist on Twitter. If he plays your favorite song and you’re not there to tell him so, how can you expect to build rapport with him?

Now, you may say:

“Leesa, what does sharing music on Twitter have to do with boosting my business?”

Well, you know the old adage which is people do business with those they like and trust, right? People can only like you if they know your interests and hobbies. If you can’t share these things because you’ve outsourced this task to someone who only knows you because of the amount of money you’re paying them, you’re missing out on the rapport building activities that come with using social media.

Outsource Your Relationships for Just One Week (I Double Dare You)

To illustrate my point, try outsourcing your personal relationships for one week. Hire someone who will stand in for you at home, at church or on your sports team.

• When your husband says “Honey, come to bed,” tell him that your outsourced stand-in will join him so you can finish a proposal you’re working on.
• When your mom invites you over for dinner, tell her that you can’t but that you’re sending your outsourced stand-in to fill your spot.
• If you’re dating, tell the person that you’re going to send your outsourced stand-in to join you so you can take off early to go and watch Desparate Housewives.
• When you just don’t feel like being a mom, a dad, a sister, an aunt, a brother, a husband or a wife for a day, check your yellow pages for a service where you can outsource that role for a 24-hour period.

Not realisitic you say? Of course not! The whole idea is absolutely ridiculous. Which is why I see outsourcing the relationship building aspect on Twitter, Facebook and other social media tools to be a silly idea as well.

Outsource Your Business, Not Social Media

When I worked in corporate, there was one role I loved over all others – Business Development. The person in this role was never in the office. He was out golfing or attending a networking event or flying to a conference. He got paid to schmooze and I felt he had the coolest job in the world.

Social media to me is no longer a marketing or sales tools. Social media is my schmooze tool, a place where I build rapport by giving, sharing and helping. Just like I would never outsource the relationship building aspects of a date, I would never outsource the relationships I’m building on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn.

I recommend that you outsource the administrative tasks in your business that you absolutely loathe so it frees you up to use social media as a business building tool.

When someone on Twitter says they need to get off of Twitter for the rest of the day to work on a proposal or some sales letter or some other client work, I know they don’t have an assistant or a virtual team. Someone who does is freed up to use social media as often as they want without having to take “time off” of social media.

In my business, I now just show up for my training events, teach and inspire, then go home. All the planning before and after the event is done by my virtual team. I now have free time in my schedule to develop my business using relationship building tools both online and offline.

This can only happen once you outsource the right portions of your business.

Next Steps

Before you think about outsourcing your social media tasks, ask yourself the following questions:

1. What administrative tasks in my business are more suitable for delegation?
2. How can I free up more of my time so I can use social media on my own?
3. Will delegating this particular social media task damage my ability to form a real connection with the person who’s trying to cultivate a relationship with me on ?

What Are Your Thoughts?

Leave your comments below with your thoughts on outsourcing social media tasks.

Update: At Podcamp Toronto over the weekend, I shared in Dave Fleet‘s session called Social Media Ethics that I saw nothing wrong with outsourcing your blog writing tasks to someone else. It sparked an interesting debate between myself, Dave Fleet and Danny Brown on Twitter (follow the tweets here).

I’m a true believer of delegating the tasks that you hate or are not good at, yet with social media, you need to be present to cultivate and build the relationships you’re forming.

Writing isn’t my most favorite thing to do in this world, but on the other hand, I love meeting and interacting with people on Twitter, Facebook and through my blog or video podcast.

Danny suggested that I invite guest bloggers to write for my blog instead of having someone post blog posts under my name (ghostblogging). That’s an interesting model, one I’ve never considered. What I have been thinking about is moving towards publishing more audio and video on my blog since I can whip those out in no time. It’s easier for me to do and it represents my voice better than just text alone.

Whatever I decide, one thing I’m sticking to is that relationship building cannot be outsourced. That was the point of this post. Interacting with people through my blog via the comments, on Twitter, through Facebook or on LinkedIn cannot be delegated. You have to be present and show up to build rapport with those who are following you.

Update: I’m co-hosting a teleclass on Thursday May 28, 2009 at 5pm EDT with Craig Cannings on the 5 social media tasks you can outsource and still be authentic. Craig opened my eyes on a few issues and I invite you to this free call so you can discover my a-ha moment in regards to this issue.  You’ll be quite surprised. Click here to get more info on this call and to register your spot.

I’m at the half way point of the 2009 Social Media Telesummit, I’ve been blown away by the level of content presented by the faculty. And I’m equally pleased at how quickly attendees are embracing and implementing these ideas.

Here are some highlights from the 12 speakers:

• Paul Colligan gave his tips on how he updates his status on dozens and dozens of social media websites in just 15 minutes per day.
• David Meerman Scott gave his tips on how to create triggers online and get millions of people to share your ideas. David’s advice caused one attendee to completely change his launch plan regarding one of his products. David’s advice was so profound, it caused me to question everything I’ve been told about internet marketing.
• Coach Deb shared her C.H.A.R.M. formula on how to create tribal seduction with people online.
• The session that helped the 2009 Social Media Telesummit become one of the Top 10 most popular topics being discussed on Twitter was Scott Stratten. Scott shared how to make good investments in your social currency.
• Adam Urbanski followed up with his advice on how to turn contacts into contracts. Adam’s advice went counter to what the previous speakers said because he gave a specific roadmap on how to present offers to your friends and followers online without pissing them off.
• The biggest eye opener was from Chip Lambert who taught us how to use LinkedIn in a more strategic way. Chip shared the differences between Facebook and LinkedIn and why the way you use Facebook is NOT the way you’d use LinkedIn.
• Lou Bortone started off Day 3 giving us a tutorial on how to use online videos to build your personal brand.
• The Blog Squad shared their tips on how to get maximum visibility through your blog.
• Fred Castaneda ended Day 3 teaching attendees how to create premium podcasts from information products.
• Kim Dushinski, Shannon Cherry and Des Walsh spoke today (I’ll have summaries for these 3 sessions in a bit).

There’s still time to register your spot as we have 4 days and 12 sessions still left to go through live. If you can’t call-in to the live sessions, you’ll have unlimited access to the online recordings. Depending on the plan you purchase, you can download the recordings or have them mailed to your door on a portable media player.

Now, if you think that the 2009 Social Media Telesummit is only about listening to sessions over the phone, it’s much more. Attendees and speakers interact with each other in the private Facebook group and use a hashtag to share their discoveries and reactions on Twitter. It’s a 360-degree experience.

After January 30, 2009, you will not be able to register for the 2009 Social Media Telesummit. I’m serious, if you visit the sales page on January 31, 2009, the registration links will be gone. So head on over to the 2009 Social Media Telesummit information page and register your spot.

And if you’d like to see what’s up and coming on the 2009 Social Media Telesummit schedule, click here.