Is your website working FOR you or do you feel like you’ve wasted your time with it? As a designer, I feel like a website, if done properly, should feel like an employee that is constantly benefiting you.
If you are frustrated with your website (or just ignoring it all together), here are some helpful additions that could elevate your professional speaking website.
Video Testimonials
While all testimonials are great, they are not always created equal.
The best kind to have are video testimonials for a few reasons. First, there is power in watching someone speak highly of a person that feels more sincere and convincing.
Another huge benefit is that you can take the video, transcribe it, and use the words as visual graphics elsewhere like social media.
New Headshots and Photos
This is the hill that I will die on: Your website can only be as good as your photos.
Pixelated photos that are cropped awkwardly are going to hurt you the most. Bright, clear, powerful photos are what your readers are going to connect with. Having professional pictures (and not just selfies) show that you take yourself and your business seriously.
If you are a professional speaker, the best way to communicate is through your photos. Having professional shots of you on stage in front of a crowd shows your reader that you are the real deal. A meeting planner (your target audience) wants to be extremely confident that you know what you are doing and people are going to love it.
This leads me to my next point:
Video of You Speaking Live
Any event planner that has done their job a couple of times has seen some bad speakers. I’m guessing most people have had to sit through a talk that wasn’t particularly great.
You want to show someone looking to hire you that you are capable of doing the job. Having a few minutes of your most popular presentation is good or even a highlight reel of when you got to a punchline and can hear the audience laughing.
If you aren’t already, you should be recording your speeches (with the event planner’s permission) for your promotional content. I hired a speaker once that actually required that we had his presentation recorded. I totally understood why because you want a lot of proof that you are an expert and you never know when you are going to need a particular angle or audience shot.
That particular speaker used small shots of each speech he gave in his highlight reel to demonstrate his demand, which was quite effective in building his momentum as a speaker.
Just starting out? Get dressed up at home and record yourself giving your keynote or simply record and introduction aimed at your future audience.
Downloadable Media Kit
This is something that may be a little more hidden on your website, but it is still something I highly recommend.
After you are booked, sending a link to your Media Kit page will save everyone a lot of time. Have your favorite headshots, introduction, or other marketing material like social media posts ready to be downloaded so the organization can start promoting you!
I suggest making a Google Drive folder that you link to. This way, you can edit and add content as you develop without having to take the time to reupload files to your website. Your Google Drive folder’s link will always stay the same.
Tour Dates
There are a few benefits to putting your booked dates on your website. It’s more social proof that you are in-demand, so you must be good right? It also helps a planner see immediately if you are available on their event date.
Where You’ve Spoke
Have you been hired by a recognizable company? Put their logo or a testimonial from them as prominently as you can. Again, our goal is for your website to be your ultimate hype-man.
Something I’ve also seen is after a while, speakers putting a map on their website and highlighting all the states that they’ve spoken in. You may find that this makes an audience in an unvisited state selfishly want to be the person that you color that state in for. I will warn you that if you haven’t traveled a lot, this might be an idea for later down the road so that your map is more impressive.
Your Story
Have you ever met someone and because instant friends because you have so much in common? And not just surface-level things like you both have dogs, but you’ve both struggled with the same issues or grew up in similar environments. It can be scary sometimes to be vulnerable in our businesses, but you are a professional speaker because you have a story or background that others want to learn from.
Why you became a speaker and the reason you do what you do should be the main points of your about page… not several paragraphs about your kids, spouse, and iced coffee addiction.
A Lead Magnet
Social media followers are nice, but honestly, a social media platform could lose steam and shut down or change direction at any time (looking at you, MySpace, Tumblr, etc.) Having email addresses to reconnect with your audience is key.
When thinking about a lead magnet, there are a million different ways you could go about this. Is this something you’ll be pitching on stage for your audience to go and download that would potentially lead them to coaching or a course you have? Then make sure it provides value for that audience so they are impressed and look forward to hearing from you in the future.
Looking for a recommendation for a way to collect and contact these leads? I have tried several and my favorite by far is ConvertKit.
Not sure what lead magnet you should use? Click here to view a masterclass replay that includes 17 lead magnet ideas. It is not made specifically for professional speaking websites, but it can definitely inspire you to come up with ideas that will work for you.
A Blog or Podcast
There are SO many benefits to blogging on your website.
First, the more content you have on your site, the better your website’s SEO, or search engine optimization. To get on the coveted first page of your audience’s searches, Google needs to know who you are and what you speak about.
Creating content that is helpful to your audience also builds trust with your potential clients.
“People buy from people they know, like, and trust” is Marketing and Sales 101. People will get to know you through your personal stories, like you Because of your personality, and trust you because you’re making an effort to share more about your industry and the things that are important to you.
The bonus benefit of writing a blog is that if you want to write a book further along in your career, you’ll have already put in so much time and work that the material may already be written.
Are you someone that struggles with writing? I would also recommend looking into starting your own podcast. The beauty of this is that you can still get all the benefits because you can have your podcast transcribed without any extra effort on your part. You’re a speaker, so your voice is most likely your best asset anyways.
Does your professional speaking business need a website?
Now more than ever, businesses need a website. With so many illegitimate and fraudulent scams out there, people need to trust someone before giving them a sum of money. Having a beautiful website increases your value, builds trust, and positions yourself as a serious business.
If you are looking for a website designer, I would love to chat about how I can help you create a one-of-a-kind professional speaking website.
