Telemarketing has gotten a pretty bad rap and rightly so. The telephone, however, is still a great marketing tool when used to provide educational content in a lead conversion setting. Workshops and seminars have always been a powerful tool for providing prospects with a heavy dose of information in a non-selling, expertise environment. But, it's getting harder and harder to get people to come out and attend these events. Teleseminars, in a variety of flavors, just may be the answer.

At its core a teleseminar is nothing more than a seminar presented over the phone. (I recommend Conference Calls Unlimited for this) Attendees are provided with a conference call line and the presenter gives the advertised information via the conference line. Technology has come along in the past year that also allows you to more easily add webinars, or web based visual presentations, to supplement your presentations. Look into applications such as GoToMeeting and Skype.

From a return standpoint, teleseminars have much to offer. Your investment in terms of money and time is generally much small than it might be to rent a room and buy drinks and snacks. A teleseminar can be a success with a handful of attendees while a hotel room with the same number would look like a flop.

Below I've listed some ways to use teleseminars in your small business to get your mind humming.

One to one seminar ? When you create a webinar or sales presentation using a service such as GoToMeeting you can invite someone who calls in to jump online and walk through the archived presentation on the spot.

Peer to peer seminar ? Get two or three happy clients to agree to be panel members for a discussion about the problems in their business or industry and gently explain how your business or product is addressing this for them. The key here is transparency. Don't let your guests sell. Make it a thoughtful, meaningful discussion among peers that you just happened to host.

Live with you ? If you've got a workshop or seminar you are currently presenting, take it to a teleseminar. Invite clients and prospects to attend via the phone. Create an ongoing series and watch attendance climb.

Interview an expert ? You would be surprised at the quality of guests from around the world you can convince to present to your clients and prospects. It's a win for all involved. You get great content and the presenter may get added exposure for a book or other project with little time investment on their part.

Co-branded panel ? Gather up a couple related businesses and put on a panel discussion on a hot topic. Everyone on the panel invites guests and everyone gets exposure.

Sponsored show ? Go out and find a sponsor who would like exposure to your audience and allow them to promote in and around your teleseminars. For instance, if you are a CPA with a series of tax savings presentations for small businesses maybe Intuit would sponsor your sessions. There are lots of businesses out there that want to jump into this kind of marketing but don't want to do it themselves. Give them the opportunity to help you.

Q and A time ? Set a time each week, say Friday at 2 pm and advertise an open line to get your burning questions answered about a topic. Maybe it's interior design trends, best software tips and trick for business or anything of interest related to your business. You promote the free time, hang out on the line and answer questions when they come in.

Another powerful benefit of systematically presenting information in events of this nature is that you can and should record the events and interviews you conduct and archive them on your website or turn them into an audio CD to distribute through other forms of marketing. You might even consider creating a podcast from your material.