If you haven’t created your
Google+ profile yet,
Google Hangouts might be the best reason yet to go ahead. Many marketers have already caught on to the usefulness of the Google Hangout. One reason marketers love Hangouts is because they are a great way to hold low, or no-cost webinars.Google Hangouts allow up to 15 people to have a live, video conversation with unlimited viewers. In addition, it is automatically streamed and recorded on to YouTube, which allows you to easily offer replays to your audience. You can also have the video transcribed for extra value.
How to use Google Hangouts for Webinars
It is important for you to know that
Hangouts on air don’t work by themselves, primarily because they don’t allow you to schedule a hangout for a future date.Don’t despair. There are several software programs such as Stealth Seminar, Webinar Jam and EasyWebinar Plugin that offer methods for scheduling webinars, registering participants and placing them in a ‘waiting room’ before the Hangout starts.Both WebinarJam and EasyWebinar Plugin allow you to create registration pages. In addition, EWP is easy to integrate with both LeadPages and OptimizePress. It is tougher to integrate WebinarJam with LeadPages, but it features more attractive landing pages than EWP.You can present either a live webcam recording or a slide presentation at your webinar.
How to set up a Google HangoutOne reason Hangouts are becoming so popular, is that they are easy to set up and are more reliable that a lot of other webinar services. It is a good idea to use the Chrome browser for your webinar. Chrome was created by Google, so there compatibility issues will be minimal. You will also need to download and add the hangout plugin to your Chrome browser.
You can create an event through your Google+ account. You can play the webinar live through a blog post, or publish it later. You can also send people to the YouTube link for your video. You will need to make sure that your Google+ profile is associated with your YouTube account. This is how Google will automatically save the video to your YouTube channel.
To embed the video on your event page, or in a blog post, simply copy the URL by clicking the ‘embed’ link to the right of the URL. To prepare, click the ‘Start a Hangout On Air’.
You can then customize your hangout with the ‘edit event’ menu item found in the details drop-down menu. Add the free ‘Hangout Toolbox’ app so you can brand your event by adding logos and presentation slides using the ‘Slideshare’ app. You also have the option of using PowerPoint along with the ‘screenshare’ app. If you want to allow participants to comment or ask questions, you’ll need to turn on the Q & A feature. You also have the option of taking questions via your blog post comments or Google+ event page.
Google Hangouts is a free, stable alternative to expensive webinar providers. You can use Hangouts to increase your communication and engagement with your audience.
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