I’m convinced that numerous public speakers are realizing that Zoom provides an unparalleled opportunity for them. As I mentioned in a previous post, I am self-employed and spend several months of the year delivering workshops. When the stay-at-home orders began in March I was on a speaking tour in Australia and had to leave suddenly to ensure that I could get back home to Canada. To be honest, I was very concerned that Covid would destroy my business as more than 90% of my revenue comes from delivering workshops in person. I quickly set up a video studio and began to advertise the availability of virtual workshops and my business rather than cratering, took off. This expansion is due to three things. First, Zoom workshops are not physically limited to a geographical area which provides a much larger potential audience. Second, Zoom workshops involve no travel costs on the part of attendees – significantly reducing their costs. Third, the costs associated with the venue, catering and travel are all eliminated. The margins for my business have increased dramatically, while at the same time the number of attendees has increased substantially.
I am providing the above example as I am confident that what my business is experiencing is occurring for thousands of other public speakers who have shifted to delivering training sessions virtually. While there are certainly benefits associated with in-person sessions, I am confident that virtual training will now be principal way in which many public speakers deliver training sessions. This is a form of renewable income that Zoom simply wasn’t tapping into previously.