There once was a time in the business world, where if a company wanted to convey a message to a large group of people they would hold a business conference or a seminar. The only problem with that was people were required to travel to a specific location in order to attend. Thanks to a far more powerful tool available to businesses today, this "old school" way of conducting conferences and seminars has been replaced and greatly improved.

A web-based seminar, better know as a webinar, is a way for businesses to project a message to a large audience, without asking guests to spend time and money traveling to a physical location. Webinars can be used in a variety of different ways. From hosting online conferences, seminars and lectures to sales and marketing presentations, businesses in every industry can benefit from this dynamic way of communication. Webinars can be used to:

Build-up business contacts - When a business is new to an industry, holding a webinar is a great way to introduce the business and start building a brand name. The audience can put a face with a business name as well as interact with the speaker. This builds credibility and creates a connection between attendees and presenters.

Showcase business as a recognized industry authority - In an oversaturated market, standing out from the competition is extremely important. Webinars allow a business to build-up their image as experts in their field and show they are the "go-to" guys for industry related issues.

Promote a product - Webinars are the perfect platform to sell and promote products such as books and videos. During the webinar, the speaker can reference clips from a video or pages from a book they are trying to promote. At the end of the seminar the audience can be directed to a purchase page or be given more information on how they can obtain the product.

Maintain close communication with clients - Since webinars make business more personal, businesses can use this to interact with their existing client base. Online meetings can be used to host client question and answer sessions, product release updates and client training sessions.

Keep expenses low - Webinars provide businesses with a way to save thousands of dollars on conference or seminar related expenses. Rather than renting out a convention hall or large room for the audience to gather in, a speaker can conduct the webinar from their office and attendees can watch and interact from wherever they please. It also eliminates the need for costly travel.

Add value to a business - Offering a webinar can add value to your business. When a business frequently hosts online webinars, they are building customer loyalty, adding value to the products and services they sell as well as staying fresh in the minds of prospects and clients.

Create a profit center - Businesses can make money by hosting webinars. If a business is speaking about a hot industry related topic they can charge people to attend or even offer recorded downloads to be purchased.

Capture sales leads - Hosting an online webinar is a great opportunity for marketing or sales teams to gather leads. During sign-up, businesses can make it a requirement for attendees to register. The information gathered from the registration can then be turned over to the sales team as warm leads to follow-up on.

Webinars provide businesses with an engaging way to reach out to a group of people separated by location. No matter how a business chooses to use this technology, it is a powerful tool for business growth, client retention and community outreach.

Dan Richmond is Co-founder of MegaMeeting.com. MegaMeeting provides web & video conferencing services for individuals & businesses. For more information, please call 818.783.4311 or Visit http://www.MegaMeeting.com.