Okay…I realize that’s a bit of a crazy statement, but if you stick with me for a sec, I’ll show you why I’m sticking to my guns.YES, it’s true that hundreds of online entrepreneurs are generating 5, 6 or even 7 figures every time they hit “play” on their webinar.And YES, it’s also true that had you jumped on the webinar bandwagon sooner and spent thousands of hours tinkering around, testing and optimizing, you MAY have also been one of those success stories that “webinar experts” love raving about.

Contrary to what you may have heard, most people who attempt webinars (and maybe you can relate) NEVER even break even.In fact, my VERY first solo webinar resulted in a NEGATIVE RETURN of $1,500.And the funny thing is – I actually did everything right. (My content was great, I had 100 people show up for the call, and my tech set up was triple-tested and held up like a champ.)

But one tiny mistake on my end that nobody warned me about (Really? I’m supposed to include a purchase link?) sunk the whole thing in less than a millisecond.And I know that my own epic fail may sound.. well.. uncommon and unlikely.But if you’ve ever attempted a webinar yourself (or listened closely to the struggles of your entrepreneurial peers), then you’ll know that the horror show isn’t so far off from the typical webinar experience.

Or…if you don’t yet have a list, you whip up a few FB ads, tie it together with a registration landing page, and wait for the “magic” to unfold.And maybe you actually DO get a solid number of registrants. Something you feel good about.So you go to work on your content. You labor for hours wondering what you’ll share with your audience, and how you can somehow seamlessly steer the conversation into a natural sales pitch that doesn’t make you (or them) feel sick to your stomach.

But even as your write it, you can already feel how contrived it all sounds.

But you’re a bold-faced entrepreneur and you’ve already spent hundreds on ads and technology that you don’t even know how to use yet…so you plunge forward with a “screw it, let’s do it” mentality.“It’s all in my head…I’ll feel better once I’m on the call”.Sure…if you can even make it there.

But “it’s all good” you say…“I’ll make it back on my first webinar!”So you take stock of it all – microphone, webcams, screenshares, recording app, broadcast software, registration forms, hosting, etc.And breeze through the instructions – watch a few YouTube tutorials and “how to” guides, and desperately try to patch together multiple systems, programs and technologies that make assembling Ikea furniture feel like an walk in the park.

And let’s say you get lucky…maybe there’s a “tech guru” in your mastermind group who owes you a favor and steps up to the plate and delivers.

Phew. That was close

You review your notes, make some edits to the slides (“What was I thinking with that outdated, uber-corporate template?”) and do a few vocal warm-ups to make sure you’re “projecting” properly…as if any of us really know what that means.So you’re feeling good. Checkmarks. All systems go.Minutes before you go live, you peek into the webinar room and only a HANDFUL of your registrants have made it (something like 15%… with most of them being your friends and family who showed up for moral support).

What happened to all those expensive, well-earned leads?? AHH.

And are the few that made it even the right TYPE of audience?

Do they care about you or your material, or are they waiting for ANY excuse to check out and get on with their day?

But the show must go on – you can still salvage this if you convert the few people that actually DID show up, right?So you fight the flinch, hide your disappointment, and jump into a scattered mix of slides, screen shares and sales pitches.There is ZERO engagement from your audience. (What happened to all that “YES momentum” you were told would come so easy?)

And for a split second, you can swear you’re back on stage at your old middle school delivering your very first public speech to a bunch of disinterested teenagers.

You bravely give it your all and awkwardly transition into your “pitch.”

Your brain floods with negative self-talk:

“Who am I to sell?”

“I don’t want to sound sleazy or pushy!”

“My audience will hate me and never trust me again…the few people I have will unsubscribe…”

But once again, you push through it and sputter off a few words.

A Hail Mary.

Crickets.

Tumbleweeds.

Close the curtain.

Exit stage right.

You curse the so-called “webinar training” course you bought that covered only one piece of a large, intricate puzzle…and cast-off webinars as an expensive, complicated, ineffective system that has no place in your business.

You pat yourself on the back, lick your wounds and learn to live another day while waiting and hoping for webinars to die a slow, painful death. (Not like you’re spiteful or anything…)