9 self-help "brands" who use webinars to beam live aid to your computer

These days, the term “webinar” has cultural cachet and marketplace appeal — every motivational speaker, megachurch minister, best-selling author, wellness coach and spiritual guide claims to host one, says WSJ magazine.

But what is it, exactly?

You’ll find everything from Eckhart Tolle in crisp streaming video taking Skype calls, to more rudimentary examples: online PowerPoint presentations accompanied by a live voice, or audio-only webinars from self-help stars such as Marianne Williamson, who fields questions by email. Laura Day, the $10,000-a-month “intuitive” (that’s “psychic” to you and me), calls her twice-daily exchanges with her readers on Facebook and Twitter webinaring. “Right now it’s a niche with huge potential,” says Tamara Lowe, whose “Get Motivated!” stage shows feature guest speakers such as George W. Bush, Rudy Giuliani and Sarah Palin who draw in-person crowds averaging around 15,000. A “Get Motivated!” webinar is available on Lowe’s site for $229—but don’t expect the big-name guests. Her coaches run the events; Lowe has only appeared in “a dozen or so. 

Andrew Keen, author of “The Cult of the Amateur,” calls the webinar phenomenon part of “a shift to a more democratic media age.” And yet he isn’t surprised that so far little money has changed hands. “The Internet is an increasingly low-end vehicle for these people. They use it as a kind of giveaway and make their money in physical events.”

Even we at Stinson Brand Innovation have used this technique in our own business development.  You can click here to listen to my teleseminar on branding.