A free cyber security webinar outline any MSP can use

YES: The world does need more webinars 😃

It might seem to you like every vendor in the channel is doing a webinar every day. But that's just the view from inside your MSP.

To the ordinary business owners and managers you want to reach, they might feel the same about the vendors in their world.

But they still have room for one more webinar on a completely different subject... cyber security.

And it should be your MSP that delivers it to them.

Webinars are amazing. They are still a reliable and robust way to:

• Reach the right people
• Get them engaged in what you have to say
• Persuade them to talk to you when they are ready to take action

As the person presenting the webinar, it enhances your reputation and perceived authority as THE local tech expert.

When I speak to members of my MSP Marketing Edge about webinars they're thinking of running, their two biggest fears are:

1. What technology to use
2. What to say

The first one is easy. I'm not going to suggest a specific platform as we all have different software preferences. But 15 mins firing up the Google Machine will give you a very good idea of all the platforms you can choose from.

Although, don't overthink it. The simplest way to do a webinar is just using Zoom. On a free plan you can have up to 100 people for a 40 min call. That's MORE than enough to get started and try/fail at your first few webinars.

So, the harder question then... what to say?

I can't write your webinar for you as it wouldn't be authentic for you to use my words.

But I can give you an outline. It's the structure of the webinar. And you can fill in the gaps to produce a cyber security webinar that's ready to roll out right now.

Swipe and adapt this cyber security webinar outline

Here's the TLDR version, then I'll add a little more meat to the bones.

• Hook
• 3 line agenda
• Who you are
• Content in 3 sections
• Social proof story
• Conclusion
• Next steps
• Q&A
• Follow-up

Hook

Your opening sentence must hook them in, make them think "I'm glad I attended this" and encourage them to stay till the end. For example:

20 minutes from now you'll be armed with 3 simple things you can do to protect your business from a cyber attack. These work for any business anywhere, and you need them - since we started this webinar there's been a cyber attack on another business.

Every 39 seconds a business somewhere is infected with ransomware, another kind of malware, or falls for a phishing attack. Let me tell you what all of these things are and how to protect your business from them.

A cool thing would be to have a Cyber Attack Counter on screen that goes up by one every 39 seconds! Not quite sure how you'd do that, but it would certainly help you get your point across.

3 line agenda

Once you've hooked someone in, well done - you've convinced their heart to stay on the webinar. Now you need to give their brain some evidence that it's worth investing the next 20 minutes of their life with you. That's what the three line agenda is. For example:

Here's what we're going to talk about.

• First, I'll explain the 3 main dangers facing your business today, those things I just mentioned. Let's get inside the mind of the criminal, explain what they're trying to get out of you and why, and tell you common ways they'll try to trick you and your team.
• Then I'll tell you about your defences. And how they're a mixture of protection from software and things that humans can do.
• Finally I'll summarise what we've been talking about and give you some quick wins to increase your protection today. I promise everything I'm going to talk about will make sense no matter what level your tech ability. And right at the end we'll do a Q&A where I'll answer any question you have.

Who you are

This is about establishing your credibility. Give them a few lines on your background, how many businesses you work with and your passions (such as protecting business owners from cyber criminals, and showing how technology makes everything easier).

Content in 3 sections

Here's the bulk of your webinar content. You organise it into 3 sections to give it structure and make it feel understandable and highly valuable. Trust me, it's too easy to bore a webinar audience by talking too much. Let's say you are talking about ransomware, other malware and phishing. This is how your 3 sections could be structured. Spend 2-3 minutes talking about each one.

• Let me tell you why cyber criminals are interested in your business. These are their most wanted outcomes (stealing money, stealing data, or creating disruption).
• They have 3 primary ways of doing this (ransomware, other malware and phishing). Let me show you examples of each one and let's see if you would have spotted the telltale signs. I'll also show you how it's getting harder to detect attacks because of AI.
• The best defences are a blend of software and humans paying attention. Here's a mix that we recommend and how we train people in a way that's fun and not boring.

Social proof story

If you have one, present a story of a real client of yours that you saved from a cyber attack (but anonymise them, of course). If you don't have your own story then ask your MSP peers for a story you can borrow.

Don't use a "big business" story as business owners and managers find it very hard to relate to big businesses being attacked. Don't think that you need huge $$$ numbers to get them to pay attention. If a business their size has been attacked and was down for three days, that's a thousand times scarier to them than a very large business losing $10 million.

Conclusion

Summarise what you've been talking about. And then you need to give them what you promised earlier: Some quick wins to protect their business today. These could be a simple as guidlines on checking emails more carefully before they click on links or download attachments.

I would be very cautious of giving them security software that they can use, as really you want them going through a full appraisal with you before you recommend solutions.

Next steps

This is the call to action; the thing you want them to do off the back of attending this webinar.

Ideally, you would have something available that they could commit to at low cost or no cost. I believe low-cost works better for this than something that's free, as it's an indication of true commitment.

For example you could do a $99 mini security audit. This is your prospect buying some of your time to look at what they're doing well and not so well. Make sure a feedback consultation is built into that audit. So for their $99 they are actually buying an indepth sales appointment with you. Yes please 😃

Q&A

You leave this till the end because a number of people will drift away during a Q&A. Some will hang around because they want to discuss the security audit or just ask you a question. That's okay, make sure you answer every single question even if it's just you and one person left at the end. The more value you give in a webinar the better.

Follow-up

You should phone everyone who attended the webinar but didn't buy the security audit, and ask them for some feedback on the webinar. You want to get them talking about security and how they feel about it. You may get one or two extra sales from that. Some people always need time to think about things, even if it's spending as little as $99.

It's also worth emailing a recording of the webinar to those people who didn't show up. You'll only get around a third of people who registered actually turning up for the webinar. But don't ignore the two thirds who didn't attend. With some work there are possibly a couple of extra sales hiding in there for you.

And if not, you just need to be patient, because they will attend a webinar at some point. That's why you should be repeating webinars regularly, ideally once a month.