Episode 128: Creating Interactive Webinars with Melissa Kwan at eWebinar
Melissa Kwan, Co-Founder and CEO of eWebinar, is a three-time bootstrapper, with a background in real estate technology. Born and raised in Vancouver, Melissa's entrepreneurial spirit led her to New York to grow her previous businesses. The belief that it was the real estate capital of the world inspired her bold move. However, during this time, she encountered a challenge that would later inspire the creation of eWebinar.
She sold her products to enterprise clients who expected her to conduct training and onboarding sessions after the sale. To manage this, she used platforms like GoToWebinar and Zoom, but the repetitive nature of these sessions became overwhelming as the customer base grew.
Melissa had left New York and was living her life as a digital nomad. She was conducting webinars at all hours of the day and night due to her travels. She would often find herself conducting a live session at 4:00 a.m. in a hotel lobby, and she knew there had to be a better way.
The birth of eWebinar
eWebinar was born out of the idea that webinars could be more than live events; they could be automated, interactive, and engaging experiences that revolutionized how businesses reached their audience. With a passion for product-market fit and a firsthand understanding of the pain points businesses face, Melissa set out to turn her vision into reality.
She envisioned a product that could automate webinars, providing interactive content that engaged audiences without requiring her presence. The system would allow users to run webinars 24/7. This would enable them to engage with potential customers at their convenience and receive timely responses through an asynchronous chat.
She knew she wanted to create a product-led company that could be sold through the internet alone. This would allow her to continue the life of a digital nomad. She wanted to break free from traditional one-on-one sales and deep dive into the world of inbound marketing and content creation.
Pricing strategies and mistakes
Melissa's initial pricing strategy for eWebinar involved careful consideration of positioning the product in the market. They didn’t want to be the cheapest option because she didn’t want to support customers who shop solely on the cheapest price. Those customers have proven to have a high churn rate. Instead, they priced their plans based on the number of webinars a customer would run, emphasizing the value of time saved for users with more webinars.
After two years of consistent improvement and growth, eWebinar decided to double its prices. Despite being encouraged by other, more experienced founders to raise prices for existing customers, she decided to grandfather them in at their initial price. In hindsight, she realized that decision was a mistake as platform costs and other expenses were also increasing as the company grew, and some high-usage customers were generating losses for the company. As she says, “If your founder friends give you advice on something they've done in the past, you should just do it. It's probably good advice.”
Raising prices across the board would have supported the platform's growth and facilitated the company's expansion. Another pricing mistake was not rolling out an annual subscription option from the beginning. It was not necessarily a conscious decision against having that option, but more of a lack of time and resources to develop that functionality. Having that option early would have been a tremendous help with upfront cash collection and better engagement with partners and affiliates.
Marketing and customer success
Melissa's target customers for eWebinar are SaaS and tech companies. She recognizes that these companies conduct multiple webinars and training sessions to retain and activate customers continuously. With eWebinar, they can automate these processes, allowing them to focus on customer success and foster long-term relationships. There is plenty of room for growth in those areas. As she puts it, “SaaS companies and tech companies are 30% to 40% of our business. I want them to be 90% of our business.”
Customer success is at the heart of Melissa's business philosophy. She believes companies should prioritize retention, churn reduction and potential upgrades to achieve sustainable growth. Rather than solely focusing on initial sales efforts, Melissa advocates for dedicating attention and resources to ensure customer success and continued profitability.
Facing challenges
Melissa’s eWebinar journey hasn't been without its challenges. The company struggled to attract the right audience and faced marketing difficulties during the initial phases. Melissa had to adapt to inbound marketing to build the company's brand from scratch, which required experimentation and persistence. She tried using marketing agencies but decided to learn marketing fundamentals herself and not solely rely on agencies during the company’s early stages.
She dove headfirst into the intricacies of marketing and content creation, determined to understand every aspect of her company's growth engine. The bootstrapped nature of the business meant limited resources, but Melissa's persistence and willingness to learn led her to crack the code of creating an effective inbound engine for eWebinar.
Through trial and error, Melissa discovered that product-led growth required a different approach from traditional enterprise sales. Understanding the nuances of marketing, customer journeys and content creation was pivotal in crafting a scalable and sustainable business model. As eWebinar's customer base grew, the company shed its early-stage limitations and attracted more established businesses that appreciated the platform's value.
With 30% to 40% of leads coming from search results, which she refers to as low-hanging fruit, she is looking for ways to boost customer referrals. eWebinar incentivizes customers with a cash rewards program and encourages online reviews. By focusing on relevant content, such as repurposing webinars and interactive videos, eWebinar aims to cater to the needs of its target audience and continue expanding its customer base.
Delivering value
Her focus on delivering value to SaaS and tech companies, coupled with a passion for customer success, is driving the company's growth and revolutionizing the way webinars and interactive video content are delivered. As the company continues to evolve and adapt, Melissa envisions eWebinar as a leading force in the tech industry, providing innovative solutions and creating lasting partnerships with its customers.
In the next few years, Melissa envisions eWebinar embracing its identity within the market, possibly as an on-demand or interactive video platform. Her dedication to profitability and ensuring the well-being of her team shows her commitment to building a sustainable and rewarding company.
Melissa's journey as the Co-Founder and CEO of eWebinar embodies the spirit of an entrepreneur who thrives on challenges, adapts to change and embraces innovation. Her story serves as an inspiration to aspiring founders and a testament to the power of perseverance in the dynamic world of startups.
--
Ready to get started with Rebar?
Head to rebartechnology.com or email info@rebartechnology.com to schedule a call today.
#SaaS #Subscriptions #SubscriptionBusiness #SubscriptionService
