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  • How Pandemic Contributed to the Success of Zoom Video Communications?

    Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations. The content in this post has been approved by Zoom.

    The global video conferencing market size is expected to reach USD 10.92 billion by 2027, exhibiting a CAGR of 9.7% during the forecast period. Zoom Video Communications, Inc. incorporated on April 04, 2011, is a provider of video-first communication platform and Web conferencing services. In recent times, Zoom became a global phenomenon as businesses had to revert to working from home.

    The Company offers cloud-native platform, which unifies cloud video conferencing, online meetings, group messaging and a software-based conference room system, which enables users to easily experience Zoom Meetings in their physical meeting spaces.

    With the coronavirus pandemic hitting the whole world at large, face-to-face business activities had to take a plunge. That’s when this company became a savior for every online meeting that took place. We are talking about the Zoom cloud meeting which was founded by Eric S. Yuan in 2011.

    Zoom is an American company offering remote conferencing services. It is headquartered in San Jose, California. Zoom also has offices in Europe, Asia, and Australia. It primarily provides a remote conferencing service that combines other tertiary services like video conferencing, online meetings, chat, and mobile collaboration to facilitate conducting business virtually. It is one of the online meeting platforms which paved its way for success.

    Zoom success during pandemic was unexpected and it was a turning point in their organization. Read on to know more about the Zoom success story below.

    Zoom – Company Highlights

    Startup Name Zoom
    Headquarters San Jose, California, United States
    Industry Video Communication and Conferencing
    Founder Eric Yuan
    Founded 2011
    Total Funding Raised $276 Million
    Parent Organization Zoom Video Communications, Inc.

    Zoom – About
    Zoom – Impact of COVID19
    Zoom – Founder
    Zoom – Startup Story
    Zoom – Customer Acquisition
    Zoom – Mission
    Zoom – Business Model
    Zoom – Mergers and Acquisitions
    Zoom – Funding and Investors
    Zoom – Valuation
    Zoom – Competitors
    Zoom – Challenges Faced
    Zoom – Future Plans

    Zoom – About

    Zoom Video Communications, Inc. (or simply Zoom) is an American communications technology company headquartered in San Jose, California. It provides videotelephony and online chat services through a cloud-based peer-to-peer software platform and is used for teleconferencing, telecommuting, distance education, and social relations.

    The company develops a people-centric cloud service that transforms real-time collaboration experience. The Company offers unified meeting experience, a cloud service that provides a 3-in-1 meeting platform with HD video conferencing, mobility, and web meetings. The company’s cloud-native platform enables face-to-face video and connects users across various devices and locations in a single meeting. Zoom, which was founded in 2011 and is headquartered in San Jose, California, serves companies of all sizes from all industries around the world.

    Zoom Cloud meetings offer a free video-conferencing facility for up to 100 participants. It offers a communications platform that connects people through video, voice, chat, and content sharing. Zoom is compatible with Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Chrome OS, and Linux. Originally, it came with a 40-minute time limit but now due to coronavirus lockdown, this limit has been removed. If the companies want to add more participants and avail of more advanced features, paid subscriptions are available with the Zoom meeting app. Zoom’s closed source software is claimed to be compliant with FedRAMP, HIPAA, PIPEDA and PHIPA, and the GDPR.

    Initially, when Zoom was launched, it could host video conferences with only 15 participants which got increased to 25, two years after its inception. From there, it directly jumped to a participation limit of 100 in 2015 followed by 1000 for business customers.

    Users can hold one-on-one meetings or conduct video conferences with up to 500 participants. Screen sharing allows meeting participants to better coordinate within meetings and distribute information.

    The company has an easy, reliable cloud platform for video and audio conferencing, collaboration, chat, and webinars across mobile devices, desktops, telephones, and room systems.

    The worldwide adoption of Zoom is powered by its two core products: Zoom Meetings and Chat as well as Zoom Rooms and Workspaces. Zoom Meetings can be attended and held via a web browser, or desktop and mobile applications. The  Chat works as an extension to the Meeting product where users can interact through a chat with each other, share files, or create groups.

    Rooms and Workspaces, on the other hand, allows businesses to utilize hardware such as a computer, tablet, camera, microphone, and more to hold virtual meetings. The product is specifically aimed at larger-scale organizations, which need to hold meetings across different offices. To make integration with the hardware easier, Zoom even offers its own set of hardware that they developed in collaboration with other manufacturers.

    Zoom – Impact of COVID19

    COVID-19 really boosted the success story of Zoom. This is when the Zoom Success strategy worked out really well. We’ve outlined its impact below!

    • With the pandemic intensifying, lockdowns were announced in almost all the affected countries which took Zoom to an altogether new level.
    • Be it companies, schools, or colleges, all started using Zoom Video Communications to conduct business meetings and deliver lectures.
    • Zoom offered its services to K–12 schools free of charge in many countries.
    • Zoom also released a paid education plan which allows unlimited meetings for up to 300 people. Not just that, these meetings are graced with the options of recording, transcription, and various other administrative controls.
    • These activities contributed to a sharp rise in Zoom usage and contributed to Zoom success during pandemic. For example, in just a day, the Zoom application was downloaded 3,43,000 times.
    • The company gained over 2.22 million users in the initial months of 2020. This number exceeded the number of users and  Zoom had amassed entirely in 2019.
    • Consequently, by March 2020, the Zoom share price increased to US$160.98 per share. This drafted an increase of about 263% as compared to its initial share prices when it came out with an IPO.
    • Zoom also became the go-to social platform for the Millennials. During this pandemic when they couldn’t step out, they used Zoom for blind dates and recess and many more fun activities that could turn their boredom into delight.
    • The founder, Yuan, added $20 Million to his net worth in just one day. This took his total net worth to $5.6 Billion!

    Zoom – Founder

    The Founder of Zoom is Eric S. Yuan.

    Eric S. Yuan, Founder, Zoom
    Eric S. Yuan, Founder, Zoom

    Educational qualification

    Bachelor’s and master’s degrees in applied mathematics and computer science from the Shandong University of Science and Technology.

    Early life

    Yuan was working with WebEx, which was acquired by Cisco Systems and that’s when he became vice president of engineering. After that, he went on to launch Zoom Video Communications.

    Zoom – Startup Story

    Eric Yuan is a former corporate vice president for Cisco WebEx. He left Cisco in April 2011 with 40 engineers to start a new company, originally named Saasbee, Inc. Prior to starting Zoom, Yuan spent 14 years leading engineering teams – first at WebEx, then at Cisco after its acquisition of WebEx in 2007.

    At Cisco, he often saw how frustrated the company’s customers were with their inability to listen to their demands and the slow product iteration process.

    The company had trouble finding investors because many people thought the video telephony market was already saturated. In June 2011, the company raised $3 million of seed money from WebEx founder Subrah Iyar, former Cisco SVP and General Counsel Dan Scheinman, and venture capitalists Matt Ocko, TSVC, and Bill Tai.

    In May 2012, the company changed its name to Zoom, influenced by Thacher Hurd’s children’s book Zoom City. In September 2012, Zoom launched a beta version that could host conferences with up to 15 video participants. In November 2012, the company signed Stanford University as its first customer.

    The service was launched in January 2013 after the company raised a $6 million Series A round from Qualcomm Ventures, Yahoo! founder Jerry Yang, WebEx founder Subrah Iyar, and former Cisco SVP and General Counsel Dan Scheinman. Zoom launched version 1.0 of the program allowing the maximum number of participants per conference to be 25. By the end of its first month, Zoom had 400,000 users and by May 2013 it had 1 million users. In the recent COVID times, Zoom rose to worldwide prominence as many companies use it to conduct meetings and organize their work processes.

    Zoom – Customer Acquisition

    Zoom's Business Customers growth
    Zoom’s Business Customers growth

    Within just one year of inception, Zoom recorded participation of 1 million user base. In its first year, Zoom established partnerships with multiple B2B collaboration software providers which included Redbooth (then Teambox), and together created a program that was named “Works with Zoom“. This, in turn, worked for Zoom in establishing more superior partnerships with hardware and software vendors like Logitech, Vaddio, and InFocus.

    Zoom in 2014

    Zoom had already reached 10 million users by 2014. And this number skyrocketed in 2015 when it went on to 40 million individuals with 65,000 organizations subscribed to the Zoom Video Conferencing Services. By 2015, Zoom had already hosted a total of 1 billion meeting minutes since its inception.

    Zoom in 2017

    Zoom hosted Zoomtopia 2017 in the year that was Zoom’s first-ever annual user conference. During this conference, they announced a dynamic series of new products and partnerships, which also included Zoom’s Partnership with Meta. This partnership was envisioned to integrate Zoom with Augmented Reality, more popularly known as AR. Also, Zoom announced its native support for Skype for Business and its futile integration with Slack, Workplace by Facebook, and its initial steps towards artificial intelligence (AI) speech-to-text converter.

    Zoom – Mission

    Zoom’s mission statement says, “Our mission is to develop a people-centric cloud service that unifies your meeting experience and improves the quality and effectiveness of communications forever.“

    Zoom – Business Model

    The business model of Zoom is built on charging businesses a reoccurring subscription fee for the various products the company offers. On top of that, Zoom makes money from the promotion of hardware products.

    Zoom – Revenue and Growth

    Zoom's Revenue Growth
    Zoom’s Revenue Growth

    Zoom has recorded annual revenue of $953 Million in 2021.

    Zoom Video Communications’ revenue for the quarter ending October 31, 2020 was $0.777B, a 366.52% increase year-over-year. Zoom Video Communications revenue for the twelve months ending October 31, 2020 was $1.957B, a 262.29% increase year-over-year.

    Zoom has 504,900 business customers.

    Zoom – Mergers and Acquisitions

    Zoom extended its communication network and service through mergers and acquisition as listed below.

    • In 2015, Zoom announced the integration of Zoom video conferencing with Salesforce’s customer relationship management platform. This collaboration allowed the sales team to initiate such conferences with their sales leads without leaving the application.
    • In 2017, Zoom went on to launch Telehealth. This platform is a scalable product in the telehealth category which allows doctors to remotely visit their patients through video communications for consultation.
    • In 2017, Zoom Video Communications announced a partnership with Polycom. This partnership integrated Zoom’s video meetings into the partnered company, Polycom’s conferencing systems and enabled a wide array of features that included multiple screens and device meetings, HD and wireless screen sharing, and calendar integration with Microsoft Outlook, Google Calendar, and iCal.
    • In March 2020, NextTech AR Solutions acquired a software company named Jolokia. Through this acquisition, it intends to integrate Zoom into Jolokia’s Inferno platform. The highlight is that this integration will allow Zoom Video meetings to support up to 100,000 participants. Not just that, with added and advanced features like “real-time Q&A Plus immersive AR.” and additional features like the ability to start a Zoom meeting from the Inferno platform and the incorporation of closed captioning in 64 languages to meeting recordings.
    • Very recently, in May 2020, Zoom acquired Keybase. Keybase offers end-to-end encrypted chat, file-sharing, and code-hosting all based on a cryptographic platform.
    • Zoom has acquired German startup Karlsruhe Information Technology Solutions (KITES) on June 30, 2021. The company’s acquisition would bring in the knowledge of language translation via machine learning and is deemed to be a step forward to break the language barriers and speed up the work across the organizations the world over.

    Zoom – Funding and Investors

    Zoom has raised a total of $276 Million in funding over 8 rounds. Their latest funding was raised in January 2017 from a Series D round.

    Here is a list of all the funding rounds of Zoom:

    Date Stage Amount Investors
    November 2021 Post IPO Equity $130 Million ARK Investment Management
    January 2017 Series D $100 million Sequoia Capital, Emergence Capital Partners
    February 2015 Series C $30 million Emergence Capital Partners, Horizons Ventures, Qualcomm Ventures
    September 2013 Series B $6.5 million Horizons Ventures, Jerry Yang, Patrick Soon-Shiong
    January 2013 Series A $6 million Qualcomm Ventures, Jerry Yang
    June 2011 Seed Round $3 million TEEC Angel Fund, Michael Everett, Matt Ocko
    February 2010 Pre Seed Round $500K –

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    Zoom – Valuation

    The Zoom valuation is currently at $9.2 billion. It raised a total of $751 million at IPO.

    Zoom – Competitors

    There are several online video conferencing services available.

    Top competitors of Zoom are:

    Zoom – Challenges Faced

    With all this extra attention, Zoom is now facing a huge privacy and security backlash as security experts, privacy advocates, lawmakers, and even the FBI warn that Zoom’s default settings aren’t secure enough. Zoom now risks becoming a victim of its own success.

    Zoom has battled security and privacy concerns before. Apple was forced to step in and silently remove Zoom software from Macs last year after a serious security vulnerability let websites hijack Mac cameras. In recent weeks, scrutiny over Zoom’s security practices has intensified, with a lot of the concern focused on its default settings and the mechanisms that make the app so easy to use.

    Each Zoom call has a randomly generated ID number between 9 and 11 digits long that’s used by participants to gain access to a meeting. Researchers have found that these meeting IDs are easy to guess, allowing anyone to get into meetings.

    While Zoom still states on its website that you can “secure a meeting with end-to-end encryption,” the company was forced to admit it’s actually misleading people. “It is not possible to enable E2E encryption for Zoom video meetings,” said a Zoom spokesperson in a statement.

    Zoom – Future Plans

    During the vision keynote of Zoomtopia 2020, Zoom Video Communications, Inc. unveiled major developments to its platform that evolve the future of communications.

    OnZoom: A one-of-a-kind online event platform for Zoom users to create and host free, paid, and fundraising events. Hosts can grow their businesses, expand their reach into new audiences, and give back through native donation integration. Zoom users can discover these events and sign up for new experiences with additional functionality like gifting tickets and an attendee dashboard to keep tabs on favorite events and brands.

    New end-to-end encryption (E2EE) offering: This optional feature will be generally available in technical preview to free and paid Zoom users next week. It can be enabled at the account, group, and user level, and, depending on how the account admin sets up the feature, can be toggled on and off by the host on a by-meeting basis. When enabled, Zoom’s E2EE ensures that communication between meeting participants using Zoom applications is encrypted using cryptographic keys known only to the devices of those participants.

    Customizable SDK: Zoom is adding new enhancements to its SDKs, enabling developers and companies to enrich their own custom video-based applications with Zoom’s platform, available now on Android, iOS, and web. Developers can take advantage of a customizable UI and session control, making it easier for them to bring high-quality video, audio, and instant chat to their applications.

    Zapps: Zapps enable developers to create apps that power workflows before, during, and after the meeting. Zoom has brought first and third-party developed apps into the meeting experience for real-time adoption. Zapps are designed to give developers a fast and flexible web view canvas to create apps, viral distribution, and IT deployment and manageability.

    FAQs

    Is Zoom free?

    The basic plan for Zoom is free for all with no trial period.

    Who is the owner of Zoom?

    Eric S. Yuan is the owner of Zoom. He founded Zoom in 2011 in San Jose, California, United States.

    Who’s the CEO of Zoom?

    Eric Yuan is the CEO of Zoom.

    How does Zoom make money?

    The business model of Zoom is built on charging businesses a reoccurring subscription fee for the various products the company offers. On top of that, Zoom makes money from the promotion of hardware products.

    What are the competitors of Zoom?

    Top competitors of Zoom are:

    • Cisco WebEx Meetings
    • GoToMeeting
    • Google Hangouts Meet
    • BlueJeans Meetings
    • Skype
    • Webex
    • Slack
    • Adobe Connect

  • Alternatives to Zoom App while Working Remotely

    The COVID-19 pandemic has made governments across the world to take measures to contain the spread of coronavirus. Many governments have implemented lockdown. So almost all the companies are asking their employees to stay home and work remotely as much as possible to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.

    The companies are asking employees to keep in touch with one another while working in teams, with the help of phone & video conferencing. To increase the efficiency of work, the right software and tools must be chosen. Many are using video conferencing software like Zoom to get work done and talk to colleagues or family.

    Video Conferencing Software and Apps
    Video Conferencing tools have become the Need of the Hour

    Zoom is one of the fastest-growing video conferencing apps out there. It’s easy to set up and host video calls. But due to recent security and privacy concerns about Zoom, the company has landed itself into trouble. While the company promises it’s working to address those issues, one can switch to other similar apps offering the same services rather than waiting to get issues solved.

    There are plenty of video chat services, each with their advantages and disadvantages making them better suited to different uses. Some of these have free versions, some are paid while some offer temporary access to additional features if you need them. Though some are paid ones, they are worthy of spending money. This article will show you some of the best alternatives to Zoom.

    Cisco Webex Meetings

    The best alternative to Zoom is Cisco Webex Meetings. Webex is a video-conferencing app whose company was originally founded in 1995 and was subsequently acquired by Cisco in 2007. Since then, it is known as one of the best business applications and continues to focus on serving companies. It also offers a trial free version that’s worth checking out. It has expanded the features of the trial free version from 50 to 100 participants, removed of the 40-minute limit on meetings and added call-in abilities.

    Cisco Webex Meetings
    Cisco Webex Meetings

    Webex also offers premium plans starting at $13.50 per month, per host. The premium plans offer additional features like cloud storage, recording transcripts, a downloadable video file of meetings, customizable meeting room links, and more. The company also sells a range of video conferencing products for business users such as the Cisco Webex Room Kit and the Cisco Webex Desk Pro.

    It’s one of the great apps like zoom for small businesses that often hold short meetings, as the service offers a free plan. If that’s too short for you, upgrading to one of the company’s paid plans is the way to go. With Webex, one gets all the standard business-focused features one would expect.

    Key Features

    • Free Trial: Available
    • Free Period: 30 days
    • Premium Price: Starts at $13.5 per month
    • Number of participants: Up to 200

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    Skype Meet Now

    Another alternative to Zoom app is Skype. Skype is one of the few video-conferencing software that was made available to the public in 2003. It is popular for its high-quality audio and video due to its large bandwidth. It’s Meet Now feature offers free video-conferencing. Meet Now in Skype allows you to easily set up a collaboration space and invite both Skype contacts and friends or family who are not on Skype.

    How do I create a meeting in Skype?
    How do I create a meeting in Skype?

    For more professional meetings and conferences, the paid version is also available – Skype for Business that helps you manage your employee accounts with enterprise-grade security. In standard Skype, number of participants is limited to 25 people on a conference call at once but Skype for Business raises this limit to 250, making it much more suitable for large-scale presentations, meetings or live webinars. It just costs $2 per user per month.

    Key Features

    • Keeps a recording of the call for up to 30 days.
    • Can blur the background (if required).
    • Share presentations.
    • Skype for Business Price: $2 per user per month
    • Number of participants: Up to 250

    Google Hangouts & Google Meet

    If you need a google alternative to the Zoom app, we have Google Meet. Google Hangouts is a video-conferencing app by Google, which is free to use. You can use Hangouts to video chat with up to only 10 people. There aren’t a lot of features. You still have access to a text chat and can share your screen, but that’s all about it.

    If you are an existing G Suite (paid) customer, you may want to consider looking at Hangouts Meet. Meet allows a few additional features like real-time captions and support for up to 250 participants and 100,000 live stream viewers. The video conferencing service is part of the company’s G Suite subscription that includes several other features.

    Google Meet
    Google Meet

    G Suite starts at $6 per month per user and includes access to Gmail for Business and also up to unlimited cloud storage space, as well as access to all of Google’s other services such as Calendar, Docs, Sheets, Slides, etc. for your business. Thus, Hangouts Meet gives you all the business-centered tools you need to hold online meetings. You can record and then save them to Drive, easily invite people to join in via a link, and much more.

    Key Features

    • Free plan available: Only Google Hangouts
    • Free trial: 14 days
    • Meet Pricing: Starts at $6 per month
    • Number of participants: Up to 250
    • Gives access to all of Google’s services like Calendar, Docs, Sheets, Slides, etc

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    Microsoft Teams

    Another Zoom alternative is Microsoft Teams. In 2017, Microsoft replaced its Skype for Business tool with a new service called Microsoft Teams that combines messaging as well as video conferencing into one. It allows you to host online meetings for up to 250 people. You get all the business-focused features expected from a tool like this including screen sharing, instant messaging, and the ability to record meetings.

    Microsoft Teams
    Microsoft Teams

    Microsoft Teams pricing starts at $5.00 per month, per user. Microsoft’s video conferencing tool is just one part of the Google Teams subscription plan. You also get access to all Office apps, 1TB of OneDrive storage, and more. The exact features depend on the plan you go with.

    Key Features

    • Free plan available: No
    • Free trial: No
    • Pricing: Starts at $5 per month
    • Number of participants: Up to 250

    Zoho Meeting

    Zoho Meeting is a nice alternative to Zoom app. It is a great tool for online meetings as well as webinars and comes with lots of features. You can share your screen, mute the mics of the participants, and record your group chats & calls among other things. And you can easily import documents, spreadsheets, and presentations since the service is integrated with Zoho’s Office suite. Zoho Meeting pricing starts at $8 per month.

    Zoho Meeting
    Zoho Meeting

    The open-source video conferencing service allows you to host end-to-end encrypted video meetings and calls for up to 100 people. Participants don’t need to sign up for a login; they can access the meetings through a link or a dial-in via web browsers, desktop clients, or mobile apps. Zoho has even provided a handy chart comparing its product to Zoom.

    Key Features

    • Free plan available: No
    • Free trial: 14 days
    • Pricing: Starts at $8 per month
    • Number of participants: Up to 250

    GoToMeeting

    GoToMeeting is a feature-packed Zoom alternative and one of the first video conferencing services out there. The entry-level plan allows for 150 participants, while the enterprise plan can include up to 3,000. GoToMeeting pricing starts at $12 per month. It also offers a free 30-Day Trial.

    GoToMeeting

    GoToMeeting offers all the standard tools, like the ability to record meetings and share your screen. You can also have multiple meeting facilitators. And the service is accessible on web browsers, Mac, PC, Linux, iOS, and Android. Whether you’re a small business or a large company with thousands of employees, GoToMeeting has you covered.

    Key Features

    • Free Trial: Available
    • Free trial Period: 30 days
    • Pricing: Starts at $12 per month
    • Number of participants: Up to 3,000

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    Crowdcast

    When you want to offer a special member or audience the opportunity to learn from you or share the news with your fans who are excited to attend, you need to host seminar-like event. With your topic and materials on hand, all that’s left is setting up a webinar to broadcast the workshop. For this Crowdcast is a great tool.

    Crowdcast is the most engaging and easy-to-use live streaming experience on the market. It is a browser-based solution for creating interactive webinars, live Q&As, workshops, and online summits that meet your needs. Crowdcast offers a simple platform to engage with attendees via live chat, polls, time-stamped Q&As, and face-to-face calls. Beyond collecting emails, Crowdcast provides advanced data and analytics around your event and audience and much more!

    Crowdcast
    Crowdcast

    Crowdcast tries to simplify that by making webinars a teaching tool to connect with your audience. Teachers, thought leaders, and professionals can use Crowdcast to reach out and share their knowledge with their fans and followers. Whether you’re hosting a workshop or a 3-day digital conference, you can create events where interaction and conversation are necessary.

    Crowdcast costs little more due to its features at $49.00 per month. Managing live events successfully requires careful preparation and hard work. With multistream, built-in engagement tools, and quick payments for paid events, Crowdcast makes sure you only need to focus on bringing high-quality content to your audience.

    Key Features

    • Pricing: Starts at $49.00 per month.
    • Free trial: 14 days
    • Number of real-time viewers:  Up to 3,000
    • Lets you hold digital conference up to 3 days

    FAQs

    What is Zoom app?

    Zoom is the leader in modern enterprise video communications, with an easy, reliable cloud platform for video and audio conferencing, chat, and webinars.

    Is Zoom secure?

    Yes, it is secure.

    Who are zoom competitors?

    Competitors and Alternatives to Zoom:-

    • Microsoft
    • Google
    • Cisco
    • 247meeting
    • TeamViewer
    • BlueJeans by Verizon
    • Zoho

    Are there safer alternatives to zoom?

    Yes, there are safer alternatives to zoom.

    What is the safest way to use zoom?

    To maintain the security of your next meeting, our recommendations are below:

    • Password protect your meetings
    • Authenticate users
    • Join before host
    • Lockdown your meeting
    • Turn off participant screen sharing
    • Use a randomly-generated ID
    • Use waiting rooms

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  • How to Do a Webinar Your Audience will Love

    A webinar or simply web-based seminar is a great way to build your brand and promote a product you want to sell online. Webinars are educational webcasts streamed live on Internet to an audience. Although they first emerged as a remote learning tool, today webinars are widely used as powerful marketing tools. One can give presentations, perform product demonstrations and deliver world-wide messages to thousands of people at a time.

    Online webinars help make communication with employees, prospects, partners and customers easy and efficient. Webinars combine HD video, integrated audio, live polls and more to engage audiences from anywhere. And if you create webinar content that is informative and memorable, you will get great results. Follow the best practices below on how to create a webinar to resonate with your audience.

    Webinars can be hosted using a webinar software. Unfortunately,  many webinar software are quite expensive which includes popular software like BigMarker, GoToWebinar, AnyMeeting and ClickWebinar, etc. They charge about $30-$99/month based on the number of attendees and offer features like recordings, ads-free experience, and live support.

    If apart from these paid software, there are some software offering free services. For instance, Google+ Hangouts on Air, Adobe Connect, Zoho Meeting are great free alternatives. With Google+ and its suite of features, one can start a hangout without any limits on your attendees, annoying ads. Due to ongoing lockdown, many companies have lowered the charges on paid webinar software.

    What is a Webinar?

    A webinar (web + seminar) is a video workshop, video presentation or lecture hosted online, using a webinar software. Webinars are usually interactive, business-related online events can be used to share knowledge, ideas and updates virtually with people around the world.

    Also, webinars can also be used to build and nurture relationships, build authority around a brand, or demonstrate a product. Web presentations and conferences are a highly interactive form of marketing which can be used as a relationship-building tactic. One can even use webinars for internal team meetings if they are part of a remote team. Thus, the possibilities are endless.

    Planning a webinar is so much easier than organizing an actual physical seminar or lecture in real life. Mainly because you don’t need to have a big venue to host a large number of attendees. You can invite people from all around the globe, to meet in real-time. If they can’t participate live, you can record the webinar and send them the recording later.

    Here are some steps to host a effective Webinar –

    Choose the Right Topic

    First of all, think of what the purpose of your webinar will be. Choose a highly specific content idea that you can go into in great detail. This helps  focus on the topic and minimize the chance of going off track. Choosing a topic for a marketing presentation isn’t always as straightforward as it sounds as sometimes things don’t go the way you think they will. Make sure the topic will inform and motivate attendees.

    If you’re looking for inspiration for your webinar’s content, you can run through your other content’s analytics to see what drives traffic to your site and what your audience is the most interested in. This step will definitely ensure a higher engagement. Remember to be precise. It helps people understand what they’re signing up for and knowledge they will get from the session.

    Choose the Right Speakers & Team

    Webinars need to be hosted by skilled, knowledgeable experts in their field. When selecting potential presenters for your webinar, ensure that whomever you choose knows the topic thoroughly and is knowledgeable & comfortable talking on-camera. The presenter must be prepared well to answer unexpected questions raised by participants.

    Thus, while preparing for a webinar, one needs to pick a qualified presenter. Of course, your web seminar can have more than one presenter. Then, you can choose an assistant, who could admin the chat, take care of the technical side of your webinar and possibly answer some of the audience’s questions while the speaker continues with their presentation.

    Choose the Right Webinar Format

    Planning is crucial If you want to construct an online seminar that’s engaging from start to finish. Before you start creating your presentation slides, you need to decide on the right format for your chosen topic. It could be an interview Q&A-style webinar with two speakers or a panel discussion with numerous guests. should inform your choice of format.

    If you plan your webinar right, it should deliver on your promise and provide the perfect amount of content for your audience to absorb. One must take care of the content to present during the webinar with engaging slides, polls and handouts that will make a big difference.

    The content throughout the webinar should be engaging enough to keep the participants until the end. It is advisable to always start by welcoming participants and ask them where they are joining you from and you will create instant engagement. Save some time in the end for a Q&A session. Mention it at the beginning so that the audience will have time to think through the questions they want to ask.

    Related: Best Webinar Platforms

    Think about SEO and Promotion

    After choosing a webinar with great content and knowledgeable speakers doesn’t mean people will be able to find it effortlessly. It’s not just the content that makes them register, it’s how you promote it. Once you’ve settled on an idea, think about whether your topic has solid search potential.

    Create a landing page with the help of SEO with an invitation, that will encourage people to sign up and tell the audience everything they need to know beforehand. Also consider content promotion and how you’ll publicize your webinar. One can send the invitation link or promote it through social media channels or co-market with trusted partners.

    In the e-mail, first, write a short copy explaining the topic. In a few pointers highlight what the participants will take away from it. Then, place a signup form where your leads will leave their name and email, and finish it off with a register button. Don’t forget to introduce the hosts. At last, highlight the date and time of your webinar.

    Choose the Right Webinar Platform

    There are several webinar platforms to choose, with its own pros and cons. As mentioned earlier, some are paid while few are free. Some paid software includes popular software like BigMarker, GoToWebinar, AnyMeeting, ClickWebinar and Cisco Webex, etc.

    There are some free software like Zoho Meetings, ON24, Google+ Hangout on Air, Adobe Connect, etc. But they come with some limited features. Choosing the right software depends on how you want to target the audience. It depends on the number of audience you expect, whether you want to share the screen or not and want to record the whole conference.

    Webinar Platforms
    There are plenty of Webinar Platforms available

    Prepare the Studio Space

    It is necessary to pay attention to the studio space where you plant to host webinar from. If you’re hosting your webinar from a home office, ensure that your kids, pets, neighbors won’t interfere or make any noise during the webinar.

    Alternatively, if you’re running the webinar from your office, find a quiet room with a door where you won’t be disturbed. Keep your studio space clean and well organized. It is better to turn off your computer notifications, cell phone and anything else that could distract you or your audience during the webinar.

    Do a practice run

    Even after setting up things, don’t assume that everything will go smoothly during the live webinar without testing your equipment first. Do at least one run-through several days before the live event to make sure that everyone knows what they’re doing, and that all your things are functioning correctly.

    Experts say hardware such as mics must be checked regularly or the resulting audio may be tinny, distorted or faint, even if you have some decent hardware. Thus, by doing a test run using the webinar software or tool beforehand, make speakers comfortable with the webinar controls and make sure things go smoothly

    How long should a Webinar be?

    When you know the topic and purpose of your online seminar, it shouldn’t be hard to create an outline. In most cases, webinars last from 30 minutes to an hour. So, 60 minutes is enough time to have a 45 minute presentation and leave 15 minutes for answering questions the audience might ask throughout the webinar on in a designated Q&A session.

    Though average webinar lasts about 40-60 minutes, the ‘usual’ webinar length isn’t set in stone. If you have well-structured content, that may take you over an hour to present if it is really appealing to audience.

    Also Read: Lead Generation With Webinar – A Complete Guide

    Few Tips to create Great Webinars

    After following above tips, here are some additional tips to host a webinar efficiently.

    Choose a date and time

    Schedule your webinar for a time that works well for attendees in different time zones. Experts recommend Thursdays at 12:00pm PST/ 3:00pm EST.

    Customize your branding

    Choose a theme for your webinar. Pick a relevant image for your landing page and add your logo to make sure the design reflects your brand and catches the attention of visitors.

    Create a Hashtag for your Webinar

    As successful webinars require promotion, creating a hashtag is a great way.  It gives people an easy way to talk  and discuss about it on social media. Use the hashtag on social media. Get creative and you’ll get more people to attend.

    Follow up

    Check up on your attendees shortly after the webinar, preferably within 24 hours. Ask whether there are any more questions or requests. Take feedback on how the webinar was and what needs to be improved.

    Make Webinar Recording available

    A recorded webinar is a great way to keep generating leads long after you’ve finished hosting. Publishing the recording can broaden your reach and attract extra interest for the product, service or information you offer. It can attract more attendees for next webinar.

  • 6 Must Follow Tips to Work from Home During the Coronavirus Outbreak

    The COVID-19 pandemic has changed every aspect of work and life. Coronavirus spread during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic led many organizations to recommend their staff to work from home full-time; now also being known as WFH, for their safety. As more and more companies implement work-from-home policies due to the spread of COVID-19, employees are now asked for trying to be just as productive without the normal routines and resources that they get in the offices while working. While working from home sounds like a luxury, in theory, it’s certainly no vacation and being productive is not very easy.

    But to get the same productivity from work from home, some specific strategies & Goals need to be implemented. Every job is different and the amount of work one can achieve will vary between career types, employers and internal policies, but there are some key strategies to working from home when it comes to getting your tasks done efficiently. Working remotely or the practice of working for an extended period outside the formal office environment is growing steadily in popularity by using various digital tools from Web conferencing, e-mail to mobile collaboration applications and virtual event platforms to connect people and make sure the work-from-home is possible without any difficulty. “Some of the best strategies & Goals to make yourself productive without distractions are”.

    Create a dedicated Work Space
    Make sure you have Strong Internet access
    Stay Connected with colleagues
    Get used to Video Calls
    Make use of Google Docs and Sheets
    Prepare for Distractions

    Create a Dedicated Workspace

    As an employee, one needs to create a dedicated work area at home even if it is temporary during this Coronavirus outbreak situation. It can be a separate room or a space at home where you can’t get distracted. Although it’s convenient to stay in bed or on your sofa but to get in that work mode, it is always better to create a dedicated workspace. A separate workspace is healthy as well as keeping to your regular work routine, even though you are not in the office. If you don’t have a desk, one can use the dining room table which can make you feel like you’re at the office. This helps you focus on your work, avoid distractions, and maintain a work-life balance at home.

    Creating a Dedicated Workspace

    Make sure you have Strong Internet access

    Internet access is the most important thing for getting your tasks done at home. When you work at home, having a strong internet connection will be most advised as most of the work or tasks assigned to you will be over the internet. Wifi/Data Card/Hot Spot is used for better network connectivity. Having a robust internet connection is required for video conferencing and chatting will make you an active participant and also helps in finishing your tasks without difficulty.

    Strong Internet access

    Stay Connected with colleagues

    Staying connected with colleagues is very important for a professional. It helps you evaluate your work, perform well in your tasks and also social skills. If you work on a team, it is essential to keep in touch with the other team members. For this purpose, there are many platforms like WhatsApp, Slack so that people get updates for the quick task. One can also stay connected with team members with the help of email communications. Any queries, inputs must be discussed with the other teammates. Messaging programs like Slack is a good idea to set up regular check-ins via phone or video conferencing like Skype, FaceTime, or Zoom.

    Get used to Video Calls

    Working from home means a lot more video calls. On the tech front, video calls can make a remote workday feel more connected. Video calls are crucial as teams like to see each other when they collaborate for a better understanding of each other’s perspectives. For this, you need a good webcam and headset to have a comfortable and quality experience. Using your built-in webcam and basic headphones should work well enough but if you want to upgrade the experience, investing in a webcam or headset is a good idea if the worker’s base computing device does not have one. In some organizations, 720P is the minimum acceptable resolution for quality results, for which one may need to get a webcam. A high-quality headset or headphones with a mic are a must for phone or web conferencing. Apart from this, using appropriate software for web or video conferencing is important. There are many software available for connecting people on video conferencing like Skype, FaceTime, Zoom, Microsoft Teams Webex, Zoho & so on. Accounts are free for the basic plan in Zoom if your company does not already have a corporate one. Zoom is packed with features and is fast with clear audio and video.  Now, these companies are making many features free and lifting the limitations to cope with coronavirus outbreaks.

    Make use of Google Docs and Sheets

    Google docs and Sheets are used to interact & update the status or progress of the assigned task. It is advisable to use Google Docs and Sheets to keep the records and store the data. Google Docs and Sheets let teams collaborate making monitoring tasks easier and evaluating the progress without any confusion. There is one more tool named Zapier which is a web service having many features like voice typing which increases productivity and also makes the work easy.

    Prepare for Distractions

    Needless to say, working at home comes with the high possibility of distractions. Working from home is never as same as working in offices. You must realise that at home we can’t always be as productive as we are in the office with the family being at home.

    Conclusion

    The Covid-19 pandemic has changed our perspective towards many things. Work-from-home is one of them. Work-from-home can be possible and very effective if you make an effort to make yourself productive by creating your own goals and strategies. Following a strict routine and improving your skills every day can make you a better professional.