As the new year is approaching, organizations are looking for ways they can improve their experiences for audiences and consumers. One popular feature that your business may want to innovate is your webinar capabilities. Here are five New Year's resolutions you can make to keep your users engaged and make your content stand out:

1. Practice Punctuality

One of the biggest mistakes many webinar presenters make is beginning the event behind schedule. When your webinar organizers aren't ready to begin their presentations at their planned start times, your attendees will become irritated and may tune out altogether. Your webinar attendees have busy schedules; they don't deserve to have their time wasted. If your webinar is set to begin at 2:00 p.m., be ready to start at precisely 2:00 p.m.

2. Become More Mobile-Friendly

With an on-the-go audience, you shouldn't expect all of your attendees to tune into the webinar using a desktop format. Some of your webinar attendees might be interested in viewing the presentation while traveling for business or on public transportation. You may lose out on a significant amount of viewers if you don't optimize your webinar platform for mobile. Here are some ways you can make your webinar compatible for mobile users:

• Adjust the size of the text and visuals to allow mobile users to readily access any visual content.
• Provide interactive features for mobile users, if you already provide similar components for desktop attendees.

3. Generate Better Topics

If you aren't pleased with the results of your webinar attendance, you might want to consider making sure your webinar topics are interesting and relevant to your audience. There are several ways that you can develop topics that will generate an engaged audience. You might benefit from speaking to client-facing employees and inquiring about some popular topics consumers want to understand more deeply. You could also send a poll to your customer base about potential topics to get a read of what they'd like to understand.

4. Improve Your Social Media Promotion

In order to attract new users to your webinars, you'll need to move forward with an effective marketing strategy. Promoting your presentation on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and other social media outlets can attract a wider audience of engaged users. It's (usually) a free form of promotion; use it!

5. Choose the Right Webinar Platform

Finally, one of your main webinar goals for 2019 should be to find a platform that is compatible and user-friendly for both your audiences and staff members. It's essential that you get on board with a webinar platform that includes all the features you need to create engaging presentations to gain and retain users.

If you're looking for an intuitive, trustworthy platform for your webinar hosting purposes, you can trust ReadyTalk's GlobalMeet® technology to meet your needs, as well as the needs of your consumers.

According to Upwork's Future Workforce Report, hiring managers predict that 38 percent of their full-time employees will work remotely in the next 10 years. As telecommuting is on the rise, companies will use more web conferencing tech to encourage collaboration between in-office and remote workers.

Businesses are also noticing an improvement as a result of webinars. InsideSales.com reported that 73 percent of marketing and sales professionals cited webinars as one of the best ways to find leads.

Would you like to learn how to empower your consumers and employees with webinars and web conferencing? Check out some of the top trends and best practices from 2018.

Support Binge-Watchers

Having webinars on-demand is not a new practice in 2018. We're living in the age of Netflix, Hulu and the act of "binge-watching." Enterprises must create webinar archives to meet rising customer expectations. Archives allow clients to watch as many broadcasts as they'd like. If they find one they enjoy, they can share on-demand webinars with their colleagues. This customer-centric approach can promote your company and help consumers find information that is useful to them.

Chatbots and Voice-Enabled Tech

Just as AI systems assist employees in their homes, they can also speed up workers' day-to-day workloads. That said, voice-enabled software may not be the most convenient in crowded offices and meeting rooms. That's where chatbots really stand out. These text-based methods answer employees' questions, record polls, schedule meetings and provide feedback. This user-friendly software involves less human contact, making it a helpful practice in web conferencing.

Prevent Cyberattacks

Hackers show no signs of backing down from large-scale data attacks. In fact, they've improved their hacking activities over time to conquer modern security measures. Communication channels, such as web conferencing platforms, strive to improve privacy standards. Increased defense can protect companies from data breaches, phishing scams and other cyberattacks.

Decide on Your Platform

Can't decide whether to spend on web conferencing or webinars? Keep this one factor in mind: the type of collaboration. If your goal is to provide open communication, look to web conferencing. This might involve working with remote employees or holding trainings. Short of the Q&A sessions, webinars are more useful at presenting than encouraging dialogue. Call on webinars for end-of-year town hall meetings or service demos.

Ready to find out more ways to use webinar and web conference tools? Download our white paper: Webinars vs. Web Conferencing: What Tools is Best for You?

Are you looking for a way to increase your webinar audience? LinkedIn is a great place to promote your webinar to professionals in the relevant industry. Here are some best practices in using this social channel to market your webinar:

Post the Webinar Link on Your Company Page

This is the first step you should take when promoting your webinar on LinkedIn. Anyone who follows your company will see this post on their feed. People who trust and admire your business might want to tune in.

Encourage Employees to "Like" Promotional Posts

When you "like" a post on LinkedIn, it appears on your connections' feeds. This is one feature that sets LinkedIn apart from many of the other social platforms. Encourage your staff to "like" or "share" your company's LinkedIn post so their friends can find out about this webinar. This can attract a handful of engaged viewers who might not have known about your webinar.

Promote Your Webinar in LinkedIn Groups

One of the most effective ways to reach out to new audiences is to join LinkedIn groups. You should only promote webinars that are relevant to the group you are joining to avoid "spamming" other group members. For example, if you plan on promoting a webinar on B2B marketing in the tech sector, you might want to join the B2B Technology Marketing Community and post a link to your webinar in the group.

Buy a Sponsored Ad

Some companies avoid paid advertising. Others understand the value that paid ad spots can provide. LinkedIn allows companies and individuals to buy sponsored ads. You can target them toward certain job titles, industries and company locations. You can choose between a variety of ad formats, including text ads, sponsored content and InMail, according to LinkedIn Marketing Solutions.

Create a LinkedIn Blog Post

Publishing a blog post on LinkedIn is another effective way to promote your webinar. Keep in mind that you don't want to give away all of the topics your webinar will cover. Think of this blog post as the appetizer that precedes the meal: your webinar. You want to provide readers with enough information to keep them interested but don't want to fill them up, so to speak.

At the end of your post, make sure you provide the registration link and a basic idea of what extra information readers could gain from tuning in. If you plan on recording the webinar, encourage readers to sign up in case they cannot attend the webinar on the date.

Hosting a webinar takes a lot of legwork. You have to market your webinar, create a catchy title and organize the key points of the presentation. Even the most planned-out webinars can fall victim to low levels of viewership. This is not always due to lack of audience interest but may be a result of an undesirable webinar date or time. When hosting a webinar, it can be beneficial to consider utilizing the most successful days and times.

Prime time
According to Medium's webinar statistics, audiences are most likely to attend webinars at 10 or 11 in the morning. The figures this organization found included:

• 16 percent of audiences are most willing to attend webinars that are scheduled for noon or later.
• 26 percent of viewers prefer a 10 a.m. time.
• 32 percent of people consider 11 a.m. to be the ideal time to attend a webinar.

Ideal day
The day of the week that webinar attendees typically favor is not quite as clear as the timing. Medium reported that Tuesdays are the best day to hold a webinar. Meanwhile, HubSpot believes that Wednesdays and Thursdays have the highest viewer counts. Generally, webinar best practice is to host them during the middle of the week.

All of these organizations agree that Mondays and Fridays are not the optimal days to host webinars. These tend to be the busiest working days of the week and are also the days that professionals are most likely to take off.

The golden rule of webinar hosting
Medium stated that 28 percent of webinar viewers signed up to attend after the registration period ended. Additionally, time zone constrictions might prevent people from attending webinars that occur too late or early in their local time. To capture the attention of this audience, it is crucial to offer on-demand webinars if you are interested in increased viewership.

Some organizations make efforts to condense their 45- or 60-minute webinar into a 15-minute session that is edited on-demand. For some professionals, taking an hour out of their workday to watch an on-demand webinar might be tough. A 15-minute version includes the major facts in a condensed amount of time, which even the busiest executives can fit into their hectic days.

Optimize ReadyTalk's GlobalMeet Webinar technology for a professional, user-friendly webinar platform.

Innovations in technology and communication practices have caused companies to hire more remote workers than ever. The number of employees that regularly works from home has grown by 140 percent since 2005, according to Global Workplace Analytics. A total of 4.3 million people work remotely at least half of the time. Many employees enjoy the flexibility, while employers can save money by reducing in-office workers.

However, remote workers can face problems that can affect their morale and work performance. According to a Buffer survey, some of the biggest challenges fully remote workers face include:

• Loneliness
• Collaborating/communication issues
• Staying motivated
• Time zone differences

As an employer, it's your responsibility to create a productive environment for in-office and remote staff. Here are some useful tips to help you manage fully remote employees:

Create a community

If fully remote workers don't feel like they are part of a team, they might not feel motivated to complete their best work. Don't isolate your remote employers. Involve them in meetings via telecommunication. Include them in department emails. Give them as much of a voice as your in-house employees.

Set clear expectations

When you hire new remote employees, make sure you have an extensive onboarding process to provide them with proper tools for success. Even when they are fully ramped, stay in constant contact. Set weekly one-on-one meetings to make sure you're on the same page. Share examples of past projects to give remote workers an idea of your expectations. When employees are prepared, they can complete high quality projects.

Be available and accessible

In-house employees can step into your office if they need help with something. Your remote workers don't have this luxury. Make sure you stay available at all times during the working day. Prioritize emails and calls from remote staff members. Keeping them waiting could hold up work on their end.

It's important to maintain communication across your team, especially if you work in a different time zone than some of your remote employees. For instance, if you live on the East Coast, you should be available by phone or email after you leave work for the day. Perhaps one of your remote West Coast workers needs clarification at the end of their working day.

Provide reliable collaboration tools

When working alongside in-office employees, you can usually gauge their moods and opinions on initiatives. Speaking on the phone might not provide this same insight into what remote workers are thinking. Don't underestimate the power of nonverbal communication. Video conferencing combines the benefits of in-person communication with the convenience remote workers desire.

Host live video events, reach global audiences, enable video feeds and customize every event – all in HD, of course. Webcasting allow you to host your best events, accessible by your target audience at the click of a button.

Here are five ways your company can utilize webcasting technology:

1. Never leave any employees out of the fun

No employee is left behind with webcasting. That's because you can connect employees across all departments and locations through high-quality live video events. Global localization and advanced security features mean you can also confidently include your team members in different countries and time zones. Whether it's an important business announcement or companywide training, anyone can quickly join the meeting from any device – no downloads required.

2. Boost your employee onboarding experience

Don't limit your onboarding process to lunch on day one and a dry packet of information. Employees need more to feel truly welcomed and engaged in the future of their position. Webcasting allows you to effectively train and educate you workforce with a seamless, 100-percent online experience. Training videos work especially well for millennials, making webcasts a smart choice for employers interested in engaging a new generation of employees.

3. Host enterprise-level events

Want to introduce live video streaming to your corporate marketing strategy? Webcasting services can support your goals, allowing you to increase brand awareness through enterprise-level online events. In-event branding and customization features, plus HD-quality video, ensure you look your best, while its web-based nature means you can reach customers in any time zone.

4. Utilize webcast tools to engage audiences

With a multitude of features, webcasting allows you to have a conversation with audiences rather than boring them to tears by talking at them for an hour. These engagement tools include:

• In-webcast polling and surveys with live results.
• Chat window.
• Video clips.
• Q&A sessions.
• Custom widget tabs.
• Downloadable content.

5. Track your webcast habits

GlobalMeet® Webcast offers superior reporting, audience insights and analytics to track webcast usage. This information includes registrant data, survey responses, viewer conversion rates, viewing durations and more – all available in downloadable, automated reports. Use this data to improve your next video event, build out your marketing strategy or prove the power of webcasting to your boss.

Request a live demo of GlobalMeet® Webcast to see for yourself how high-impact web presentations can help your company thrive. Plus, check out how one of the world's leading travel publishers used GlobalMeet® Webcast to score and qualify leads with web-based marketing events.

Adding to the seemingly endless list of things the digital world enables us to do is the ability to work from virtually anywhere. Whether your employees are always remote or only occasionally, you can shift your leadership style to meet this change in work habits – and, of course, retain your all-star boss status.

Here's how to manage your remote employees with admirable flair:

Schedule regular check-ins

Remote employees may be out of sight, but they should still be top of mind. That means checking in with them regularly on a one-to-one basis. Even if you don't have any pressing updates, questions or assignments to discuss, don't cancel the check-in. Talking to remote employees frequently helps them feel more included and creates an opportunity to build the rapport that develops naturally with those working in the office. Don't forget: They may work in the comfort of their pajamas, but that doesn't mean remote employees can't get in on the inside jokes.

Be available

While no one expects you to answer emails at 2 o'clock in the morning, it's important to be sensitive to remote employee time zones and availability. Your local employees have the advantage of walking over to your desk and having questions answered immediately. While you'll never be able to replicate that entirely with remote employees, you can still make yourself available.

The Forbes Coaches Council defined this as treating remote as local, giving them as much access to you as possible so they don't feel uncomfortably distant. Make sure your remote employees know when they can reach you, and try to respond as soon as possible. Use multiple means of communication, such as chat boxes and instant messaging platforms, so pressing concerns and quick questions don't get lost in your inbox.

Embrace the power of video

The best way to connect with remote employees is video chatting and conferencing – just give them a heads up so they know to put on real clothes and brush their hair. Video makes it easy to collaborate with multiple team members and clients, no matter where everyone is located. Plus, video conferencing software like ReadyTalk Meeting allows you to easily present content, share screens, record meetings and customize the experience for your needs. Whether it's time for trainings, weekly check-ins, project updates or brainstorming sessions, upgrade to video for a much more inclusive, engaging experience. Odds are your remote employees will start feeling more local when they can see and interact with everyone on the team.

With a little extra effort, you'll be earning mega points with your remote employees.

Where can you find your next winning webinar host? Try looking internally.

Your employees are excellent industry resources, offering insights from their direct experiences. They all have valuable nuggets of information, but some may also have a knack for being on camera. Those are the ones who have the potential to be great webinar presenters, especially with your guidance for proper preparation and execution.

Here's how to find the star potential on your team:

Who has shining charisma?

In your workforce, there's likely the employee who always has a captivating story to tell, or the one who never fails to land a joke with perfect timing. Perhaps there's the one who always makes an enviably cool entrance, or an employee who was a thespian in college. These are the makings of engaging webinar hosts who are comfortable in their own in skin and effortlessly at ease when the attention is on them. If they can bring that charismatic energy to webinars, making viewers feel like they're having a compelling conversation rather than attending a sleep-inducing lecture, then they have the potential to master webinar hosting.

Who's comfortable on screen?

Webinar hosting isn't exactly a day in the park for a camera-shy employee. While they may have great things to say, if they can't communicate them in clear, engaging ways, you'll risk losing your audience. Plus, there's a high chance that many employees simply won't want to host a webinar. Don't force it! A mutual agreement is a better recipe for high-energy, well-produced content, considering the employee will be excited to host.

Who has ample time to prepare and record?

Ask the best webinar stars, and they'll tell you the secret to success is preparation. It takes time to brainstorm killer topics, nail down captivating headlines, organize materials and practice presentation skills. With that said, you don't want to overwhelm your employees with added responsibilities because they'll be forced to sacrifice time elsewhere – or fail to bring their all to the webinar. Choose webinar hosts that have room in their schedules to properly prepare and record without rushing or skimping on important details.

In fact, timing itself is also important for executing a successful webinar. The time at which you host the webinar, as well as how long it lasts, strongly influence engagement levels. With a winning blend of knowledge, presentation skills and availability, you'll find your webinar hosting stars.

We're all allowed to make mistakes – but when we make them during an important virtual meeting, the silent judgments float our way: She must know she's not on mute, right? Did he forget to get ready this morning? It's 2018 – do they really not know how to conduct a video conference?

We can't bear the thought of you or your team making such mistakes, so it's time to bring these common faux pas to your attention. Let's talk virtual meeting etiquette – here are 4 personas you don't want to take on:

1. The background-noise junkie

When you feverishly type up your meeting notes or chat your co-workers, everyone else gets to enjoy the distraction of keyboard tapping. Even worse than the noise of a coffee shop in the background is the oh-so-pleasant sound of chewing and sipping. Even if you're not making any of these unfortunate mistakes, there may be inevitable background noise from the office or conflicting microphones. As such, follow the No. 1 best practice of virtual meetings: Always mute your microphone when you're not speaking.

2. The bedhead superstar

Virtual meetings allow us to connect with co-workers and clients from anywhere in the world, including the comfort of our own couches when working from home. In the event that the meeting organizer uses video sharing, everyone in the meeting may soon become privy to the messy hair and ratty old T-shirt of your work-from-home look. Even if you don't think you'll need to turn on your webcam for the call, it's always a good idea to brush your hair and put on a clean shirt when you have meetings on your calendar.

3. The distracted player

When you're in a face-to-face meeting, you wouldn't dare get up and walk around or work on other projects simultaneously. While tempting, avoid doing those things during virtual meetings as well. You'll inevitably miss out on important information or get caught off-guard when asked a question after zoning out of the conversation.

4. The technical-difficulties participant

While most people are familiar with web conferencing platforms, it helps to troubleshoot your tech before joining the call. That way, you won't be the one holding up the meeting by trying and failing to join the call or get your microphone working. If you're the organizer, make sure you choose a platform that's not only intuitive for your team, but also for your clients. ReadyTalk Meeting, for instance, makes it easy for all participants to collaborate remotely.

Avoid these common mistakes during your next online call, and you'll be sure to display the utmost virtual meeting etiquette. Good luck!