As more businesses look for creative ways to reach new customers as well as cut costs of communicating, the subject of webinars often comes up. What is a webinar, and what benefits can it generate for a company?

To answer the question of "what is a webinar?" one need only look to a resource that has become common to businesses of all sizes during the past ten years: the Internet. The basic answer to "what is a webinar?" is that it is simply utilizing the Internet to share visual presentations and other documents with persons who are in various physical positions around the country or even around the world. The word webinar is derived from two root words: web and seminar. A webinar is a seminar using the web and web conferencing software. When a web conference is partnered with an audio conference call, the result is a powerful communications tool that can change the way your company does business.

A webinar can be a very simple affair that is used to convey information from corporate level to outlying locations. It may also be something much more complex that involves the ability for persons to work together on a common document, interact on a common project, or stream data out to a large number of locations.

It is important to think in terms of what this can do for your business. One of the most immediate benefits of a webinar is that it can eliminate a large portion of your company's travel budget. While there will always be those occasions when a face to face meeting is a necessity, many business exchanges within your company can be handled with the use of a web conference. Meetings that once required travel by jet can now be handled via a web conference.
A web conference can also be used to connect with potential clients who are physically at a distance from your location. Even if your suggestion of holding the meeting via the Internet is first met with the question "what is a webinar?" a quick assurance that it is easy and would require less expense on their part will impress your customer. After all, you are using cutting edge technology to communicate with them and you are doing so with an eye to being respectful of their busy schedules. This is a win/win situation and it is an opportunity to raise their opinion of you and your company.

Webinars are an easy way to hold an ad hoc meeting with people in many different locations with almost no advance notice. As an example, assume you have a client that has just encountered a major problem. You know your company can bring them a solution. You simply prepare the necessary documents quickly, gather all relevant persons together for a webinar, and walk them through the solution. While this could be done with an audio conference alone, the added impact of visuals will often help drive home the effectiveness of your solution and allow your client to authorize your solution much more quickly. This could give you another opportunity to strengthen your presence with your customer.

Webinars are a tool that allows you to take persons on a tour of any web site you choose. Often, when you want to connect with a potential client who is too busy to set aside a couple of hours for a face to face meeting, you can get thirty minutes on an audio call and a session on the web. You can prepare some slides or a document to illustrate what your company can do for them; or if you have a really informative company web site, take your prospect to your company web site and point out a few facts that are prominently posted.

While we are several years away from a time when people will no longer ask "what is a webinar?" the answer will always vary, depending on what types of communication are most desirable to the person who makes the query. If it is documentation, then that is the main thrust of the response. If it is finding information on the web, the web-touring feature will be part of the answer. Should the main concern be finding time for meetings, then the time efficiency and cost savings of webinars will come to the fore. Whatever the need that is foremost in the mind of the person asking the question, there will be found the most appropriate answer to the question "what is a webinar?"