Running a webinar is a fantastic way in which you can share information, and hopefully make money as a result (or perhaps just feel good about yourself). Of course, you need to ensure that everybody is on the same wavelength and has software at their disposal otherwise it won’t work. The best way in which you can do this is through free tools. There are a plethora of free tools online which are great for this purpose. Although the majority have been designed with web conferencing in mind, they still work great as a webinar tool.

Adobe ConnectNow

The free version has ‘limited features’  but it should be fine for a basic webinar. You can share your screen using the online software, chat with people in the webinar (ideal for taking questions) as well as share audio and video. As a result you will end up with a pretty interactive piece of software. You will be supplied with your own meeting URL for the webinar, just share this with your ‘viewers’.

YuuGuu

This is nowhere near as fully featured as Adobe ConnectNow, but it is great if you are looking to run a smaller webinar or conference. It enables you to have up to five participants in the meeting, along with chat and real time screen sharing. Whilst the free version doesn’t support video conferencing, it does support audio, and the audio that this baby pumps out is some of the best I have ever heard.

OpenMeetings

This a free piece of software courtesy of the Open Source Community. As it is open source you can expect a plethora of features as a result. This includes desktop sharing, video and audio capabilities, whiteboard, document sharing, moderating systems and public and private conference rooms. Basically anything that you need in a web conferencing tool can be found in openmeetings, and for that reason it is certainly worth checking out!

WebHuddle

WebHuddle is a fantastic piece of software. The benefit of this is that you can either incorporate it into existing technology that your company has, or simply use WebHuddle’s Voice Over IP (which you do need to pay for). Unlike some of the other software this offers recording capabilities. It therefore makes it easy to record the webinar and sell or share on at a later date. Something which is incredibly important if you are looking to make money from the technology. Sure it isn’t as featured filled as the other software listed above, but it is still incredibly useful and worth taking a look at!

Mikogo

The last piece of software I want to draw your attention to is probably the most feature packed of all of them. Unlike some of the others it has ‘cross-platform’ support for the majority of its features, which means that it is perfect for webinars. It doesn’t have Linux at the moment, but that will be added in the future. It is set up for multiple meeting participants, scheduler, ability to transfer files, whiteboard, desktop sharing, remote keyboard control, recording etc. Basically, this is the best of all the software I have listed. Couple this with the clean interface and you won’t need to look at any other software.