The web and its surrounding technologies have made a HUGE impact on leveling the playing field for small businesses. It has positively impacted everything from company image to perception of company size to operations. 

My favorite tool for appearing big that also helps save time and money is the virtual meeting via a web seminar. These meetings can be pre-scheduled with a communicated agenda and pre-set time, or it can be spontaneous, on-demand.

Here is how it works…

1. Select a web seminar vendor. A few vendors to consider are www.gotomeeting.com, www.webex.com and www.webcastgroup.com (local Cleveland company). Some vendors offer the ability to do a full screen share which is great for training people on applications or when you need to jump around to demonstrate something. Other vendors have a presentation only mode where you can pre-load your slides.

2. Find the right pricing program for your company. Some vendors offer monthly subscriptions to host meetings for ten people or less for $39/month or you can hold large one-time events for up to one thousand people for $100.

3. Schedule your meeting through the web seminar calendar software. When you schedule a meeting, the tool generates a unique meeting URL and a conference call number. You can get a toll free number; however, most web seminar services offer free voice bridges where the caller pays the normal long distance rate.

4. Invite people to attend the web seminar just like you are planning a regular in-person meeting except use email to communicate the evenet.

5. For large meetings and planned training sessions, send an email reminder a few hours before.

6. Ten to fifteen minutes prior to the start of the meeting, log into your web meeting session and get comfortable with your virtual meeting surroundings.

7. Lastly…Smile! Even though people can’t see you, a smile significantly helps your voice inflection and delivery.