Introducing the easiest way to schedule an online meeting: Meet@AnyMeeting.com

If you know a thing about AnyMeeting, then you know we like to innovate!  We previously brought you “talk@anymeeting.com” that allows you to schedule conference calls straight from any email or calendar program with no plugins or apps required.

Well, I’m very excited to announce that we’re bringing this same innovation to online meetings and video conferences.  Starting today, you only need to remember one thing — just CC: meet@anymeeting.com in your email or calendar invite to start an online meeting.  Within seconds, we create an online meeting for you and invite everyone on your email or calendar invite.  It could not be simpler.  You don’t even require an existing AnyMeeting account — anyone can use this service.

To recap, setting up an online meeting or video conference with up to 4 people for FREE now only takes three easy steps:

1) Create an email or calendar invitation and add your recipients

2) Add meet@anymeeting.com to your email/calendar invite as well

3) Hit send.  You can even try it now – click here and invite someone!

Within seconds, everyone receives the invite to your online meeting.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on this feature — please feel free to email us at info@anymeeting.com with your thoughts.

Introducing Meeting 4.0

We here at AnyMeeting are pretty excited! Why? Because we recently launched Meeting 4.0 — a major upgrade to the AnyMeeting platform you all know and love. So what’s different about Meeting 4.0? For starters, the user interface has a brand new look, and has been rebuilt from the ground up to make it simpler to hold online meetings.

We also completely democratized the online meeting by allowing everyone in the meeting to have mostly the same rights as the host (except ending the meeting or starting recording).  For example, everyone can mute each other as needed (you’ve been in those meetings where someone walks away and you can hear their dog in the background) or share their webcams.  What we make sure to do though is to notify who muted who, in the chat area, like a log.  That way there’s a record that Sally muted John, and when John un-mutes himself, he can tell Sally that he didn’t really appreciate that.

What we wanted to do was to make the online meeting as natural as possible, like an in-person meeting, where we mostly rely on social cues to drive the direction of the conversation.  We’d really love to hear your feedback on our approach.

Other noteworthy improvements to the meeting platform include the following:

Integrated Social Media Information
Hosts with AnyMeeting Pro Plans can now click on any attendee’s name to view additional social media information, such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter profiles.

Automatic Attendee Images
Attendees will have their image automatically populated with the help of Gravatar.com.

Emojis and Chat Images
We’re proud to announce that chat now contains 868 unique emojis to have fun with ;). We also provide an image of each person chatting, and the opportunity for everyone to keep track of actions such as muting or know where to download files that have been shared during the meeting.

Meeting Notes
Meeting notes can now be edited by multiple people at once and we’ve added formatting options (for bullet lists and so on). As always, meeting participants will conveniently receive notes via email after the meeting ends.

Video Sharing And Storage On The AnyMeeting Platform
In the past, meeting hosts were limited to using YouTube to show video files within the meeting, but thanks to a major upgrade to video sharing, you can now upload videos directly to AnyMeeting. Additionally, audio from the video can now be heard by those using a phone line to attend the meeting. We also increased the content library to 1 GB of storage for presentation files and videos. And as another bonus, you can now record the video playing during your meeting to share at a later time.

Presentation Sharing For All!
Share a PowerPoint presentation with your attendees and allow them to download the content.  In addition, attendees can now easily upload share their own presentations or videos during the meeting.  Their uploaded files are deleted at the end of the meeting.

HD Video Conferencing
We now provide 720p HD video for meeting hosts and up to 5 other video participants, with highly improved picture quality. It’s almost like meeting in person!

Mobile Apps Upgrades
We’re also happy to announce that mobile apps have been upgraded for iPhone and iPad devices — with Android soon to follow! Upgrades to mobile devices includes HD audio and video, as well as chat capabilities, and anything else a web-based AnyMeeting user can do.

We strive to constantly innovate and provide products to help you grow your business. That’s why it’s important we hear from you, so we can keep building a platform to fit your needs. Let us know how we are doing by leaving us a comment below!

For more information about AnyMeeting’s simple, reliable web conferencing solution, visit www.anymeeting.com.

Feature Spotlight: Webinar Survey

A survey can be a very powerful tool; especially when paired with webinar service, like AnyMeeting, to boost your business or conduct your training sessions. Attendee feedback is essential when it comes to measuring ROI or gauging if your message was received. Moreover, it’s important to gain feedback after each of your webinars, so you can improve and evolve as a presenter, and determine the direction you’d like to go when it comes to future online presentations.

The easy-to-use and integrated AnyMeeting survey tool provides the opportunity to collect attendee demographics, gauge the performance of the webinar presenter, content, and technology, plus any other custom questions you may have for participants. Never used our survey tool? No problem. Here’s a step-by-step guide to get you started:

1. When setting up your meeting or event in the AnyMeeting app, you will be guided through the following 6 steps: Invitation, Registration, Survey, Preview, and Finish. Once you have provided basic information for your webinar invitation, you will have the option to create an attendee registration form, followed by a prompt to create a survey for your webinar audience.

2. The AnyMeeting survey form allows presenters to customize the following fields:

• Survey Header Text – Text to appear at the top of your survey, usually like an intro
• Standard Fields – Common fields like address, marketing information, and rating scale for the presentation
• Custom Fields – Allows you to add your own questions to the survey, with an option to score the custom questions as if it was a test.  
• Footer Text – Text to appear at the bottom of your survey, usually like a thank you
• Additional Options – Receiving email notifications every time someone fills out this survey, or providing a link for attendees to visit after the survey is completed. 

3. Once you have completed survey customization, you will be able to preview the survey, and if it’s good-to-go, simply click “Finish.” Keep in mind, your webinar attendees will be taken to your survey immediately following your webinar, but you also have the option to send the survey link to individuals manually — like in a follow-up email. 
4.  The results are in! Ready to check out your survey data? Locate the completed webinar in your Account Manager, and click the meeting header text to be taken to a “Meeting Details” page. Click the “Survey” tab to view survey data. From here, you have the option to view or edit the survey, and more importantly, export and download the data as a CSV file to create your own spreadsheet. Apply this information to help shape your next meeting, presentation, or training session. 

 

As a presenter, it’s important to keep your audience engaged, to know what they really thought of your presentation, and measure what they have learned. AnyMeeting’s survey feature empowers you to do just that, and it’s included with your Webinar Pro subscription — so be sure to take advantage of it!

For more information about AnyMeeting’s webinar service and robust features, visit www.anymeeting.com.

 

Exploring The AnyMeeting Public Profile

If you are an existing AnyMeeting customer, you know the value AnyMeeting brings to you and your business with its simple, affordable, and state of the art webinar and online meeting platform. What’s more, AnyMeeting’s smart features, like the “Public Profile” (located in the Account Manager), can be a very powerful marketing tool when utilized to its full potential. Whether you are an existing AnyMeeting customer who hasn’t had time to explore your profile, or a new AnyMeeting customer, take a moment to learn more about the AnyMeeting Public Profile, why it’s valuable, and how to leverage its power to boost your business.

Features

Your public profile and its URL are customizable so you can maximize the benefits of using AnyMeeting, and promote your online events at no additional cost. Once you take a moment to fill out the profile prompts, you will be able to view your personalized page by clicking “View My Profile.”

As you can see, your name appears at the top of the profile page, followed by the details you have chosen to provide, such as: About Me, Interests, Upcoming Webinars, Past Webinars. The far left side of your AnyMeeting profile showcases your selected profile photo, as well as a homepage link and any social media integrations you desire to enable (your website, your blog, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, etc.).

Benefits

Taking a few minutes to complete your AnyMeeting Public Profile is one of the easiest and quickest ways to market and promote your webinars.  Use this profile as your webinar landing page by directing interested prospects to the page with your personalized URL. To make your webinars show up on the Public Profile, when scheduling your upcoming webinars, scroll down to “Public Profile & Social Notification Settings” and select the box that reads: “Make Public.” This way, your attendees will be able to register for your event directly after visiting your personalized landing page.

Your AnyMeeting account is more than just a platform for broadcasting your message — it’s also a robust marketing tool for your webinars. Be sure to log in to your Account Manager, and take advantage of this quick and easy-to-use promotional tool.  For more information about AnyMeeting’s free webinar service, visit www.anymeeting.com.

Be A Better Speaker With These 5 Tips

Let’s face it, compelling public speaking abilities do not come naturally. Most people, both introverts and extroverts, will admit that public speaking can be scary. In fact, public speaking often tops the list of “biggest fears” for surveyed Americans. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Whether it’s your first time on an online meeting, or you want to get better at speaking to your online audience, the following 5 best practices for webinar, web conference and video conference presentations will help you nail your message delivery:

1. Create a presentation outline or script to follow: The very first thing you should do when preparing for a webinar, web conference, or video conference presentation, is to organize your material by creating an outline or script. You will most likely make several revisions, so don’t feel pressure when it comes to creating the first draft.
   
2. Practice, practice, practice: Start with simply reading the script, then record a practice run or two for your review. Listen to your recorded voice — do you sound bored or nervous? Are you rushing through your slides? Do you need to make revisions to the script? Be sure to time yourself during these practice runs. If you are practicing for a video presentation, pay attention to your body language, and where your eyes are focusing during the recorded rehearsal.
3. Speak with confidence, and enthusiasm: Yes, in reality, you might be a little nervous, but having a solid outline and practice under your belt, you will come across as credible and polished. Keep in mind, if you are interested in the presentation’s message, your audience will follow suit, so make sure your voice reflects the importance, excitement, and value of your topic.
4. Prepare for questions from attendees…and have the answers: A successful online meeting presentation includes audience engagement and participation. This could be in the form of “chat” during the presentation, or maybe questions asked during Q&A at the end of the presentation; regardless of when questions pop up, it helps to be prepared. Even the most seasoned “experts” get thrown-off by questions, and the last thing you want is to lose focus. Know what kinds of questions might be asked, and jot down informative responses. Try practicing your presentation in front of a colleague or friend, and invite them to come up with challenging questions for you to answer, so you can get a real sense of what your attendees might say.
5. Keep it light (and short): Be sure to humanize yourself by adding light humor to your presentation, or personalize your information in some way that is relatable. This will keep the audience from drifting off or multi-tasking, and ensure the presentation is memorable. It is also important to respect the audience’s time by keeping the presentation concise and to the point. Studies have revealed that the average audience member prefers a presentation that is no longer than 30 minutes, and ending early (without rushing through the material) is always a plus. 

See? Public speaking doesn’t have to be intimidating. Just remember: you are the expert, you are in control of the presentation, and AnyMeeting has your back.

 

Following-up After A Webinar: Why It Matters

Sometimes you don’t think you have time to do it. Maybe you don’t see the importance in doing it, or just don’t know the best way to do it. But regardless the reason, following-up with potential customers after your webinar is vital to your business operation. Think about it: 24 hours after you wrap-up a webinar, you have the perfect opportunity to capture your attendees’ attention while the information is still fresh in their minds.

AnyMeeting makes it simple to follow-up with attendees after a webinar concludes, with easy-to-use email and survey features. In the AnyMeeting application, you can email attendees to thank them for participating in your online event, share a link to the webinar recording, and close with a call to action and/or some sort of incentive. You can also send attendees to a survey directly following your event, to gain presentation feedback and get a sense of attendee engagement.

So, what will you get in return when you follow-up?

• An opportunity to qualify webinar leads: Savvy marketers already know that in general, webinars produce highly engaged leads.  But exactly which of your audience members are most interested in your product or service? Which are your best leads? You will know the answer to these questions once you receive responses from your follow-up efforts, and from there, you can determine which webinar attendees are the best leads to pursue.

• Attendee feedback – Using the AnyMeeting survey tool, you are provided the opportunity to gauge attendee demographics, ratings for the webinar presenter, content, and technology, plus any custom questions you may have for participants. It’s important to gain feedback on each of your webinars, so you can improve and evolve as a presenter, and determine the direction you’d like to go when it comes to online presentations.

• Webinar ROI: Ensure that time and money put into creating, promoting, and hosting webinars is worth your while. Are you attaining enough business to offset costs associated with webinar presentations? If, so, GREAT! Keep hosting webinars on a regular basis and watch your business flourish. If not, it might be time to figure out why, and work on your webinar presentation skills.

Follow-up doesn’t stop after the post-webinar email and survey. Follow-up is fluid, and should continue with the leads gathered from the initial round, through sales demos, presentations, etc. It’s now up to you and your sales team to take communication to the next level.   For that, you might need a great online meeting product… 😉

Why You Should Be Holding Online Meetings On A Regular Basis

We all know that web conferencing and online meetings are great technology. But how exactly do they improve our business, and why is it important to use this technology on a consistent basis? Here are a few specific points.

• Web conferencing promotes workplace flexibility: Research conducted by Global Workplace Analytics reveals that currently 3.7 million U.S. employees (2.5% of the workforce) now work from home at least half the time.  Video conferencing and web conferencing virtually tear down the walls of the conventional office and provide a more flexible work environment.  This growing trend also allows employers the freedom to hire the most qualified and talented people they can find, without being restricted to a limited geographic radius. Whether working remotely or working in the office down the hall, video conferencing and screen sharing vendors like AnyMeeting allow employers to easily connect with their employees in real-time.

• Video conferencing increases engagement: When you need to have a call, why settle for a phone call? Studies show that people are more likely to multi-task during phone calls vs. video calls. Video conferencing is simply more engaging because it offers real-time visuals — ensuring that your audience is paying attention. With 65% of the population consisting of visual learners, doesn’t it make sense to video conference?

• Screen sharing increases productivity: Screen sharing is another effective method to engage the team during an online meeting, because it keeps everyone on the same page (or screen). There is no room for miscommunication or important details being lost in translation when the team is seeing, hearing, and contributing to the same document.

• Web conferencing improves internal communication flow: Web conferencing fosters the ultimate team experience: meeting anytime, from anywhere, armed with a variety of tools to enhance productivity. Employees can share progress on their current assignments, discuss upcoming projects, attend training sessions, attend performance reviews, conduct group stand-ups, and more.  By providing the context of your screen or documents, your live video image, and innovative integrations like collaborative notes, web conferencing provides a rich collaboration experience that simple phone calls or a video call can’t match.

Implementing a web conferencing solution into your daily work environment is smart business. And whether working with colleagues, consulting with clients, or presenting to sales prospects, AnyMeeting provides all the features you need for a great web conferencing experience.

 

Creating Killer Presentations: 5 Shocking Mistakes to Avoid

AnyMeeting users share thousands of presentations every month (literally) with nearly 20% of all meetings including a shared presentation. That is a lot of PowerPoint! And if you’re like most people, you’ve sat through a lot of PowerPoint presentations yourself. How many of them really rocked? And how many of them were just plain bad?

To help you rock your next presentation, tune-up your current one and shine like a star, check out these terrific tips:

You Suck At PowerPoint! from Jesse Desjardins – @jessedee

AnyMeeting Launches Single Sign-On from Chrome Web Store

As you know, AnyMeeting has worked closely with Google, being integrated with the Google Apps Marketplace.  Now, AnyMeeting is integrated with the Chrome Web Store, offering an easy, single sign-on option for Google Chrome users.  If you are a user of Google Chrome, you can download and install the AnyMeeting application and have easy and instant access to AnyMeeting through your Google Chrome account.

So, install the AnyMeeting app today and see how fast and easy starting your next meeting can be.  Also, be sure to rate the AnyMeeting app and post a review of your experience.

AnyMeeting Success Story Finalist Presentation: Jeff Bartholomew, ACN

Jeff Bartholomew submitted a success story describing his experience using AnyMeeting as a tool to help grow his business as a regional director for ACN, Inc. A network marketing company, ACN is the world’s largest direct seller of telecommunications and essential services for home and business. Jeff has been using AnyMeeting for over a month and further discusses his experience with AnyMeeting as a meeting tool for his business.

“I’m on the east coast and I have a team across the country, across the North American continent, and I’m able to do webinars regularly, three, four, five times a week. I can conduct trainings, briefings, presentations, communicating with my team and it’s been an incredible tool to help build my business. There is no way I would have been able to do this without AnyMeeting.”