You want to increase your speaking revenue…
Hmm.
Well, you should improve your speech, earn more stageside leads, and refine your negotiation skills.
But while you're working on all that, there’s an easier way to increase your revenue… build a professional website!
(Emphasis on the word “professional.” A lot of websites aren’t doing their owners any favors.)
I actually just launched my own new website after months and months of work. Designer Sienna Roman and her team helped me include a number of important revenue-increasing elements that we’re going to go through today.
Your website is the place every prospect eventually ends up after they’ve seen you speak or received a referral. Before viewing the site, they probably have some number in mind for your rate.
“Oh, that speaker probably charges a thousand bucks… let me go check out their site and learn more.”
Then they land on your professional site. Suddenly, their thoughts change…
“Gosh. She looks amazing! She's is obviously worth a lot more than I thought. I have to have her at my event!”
That’s the power of your professional speaking website. It helps you increase the amount of revenue you’ll earn because it displays you and your speech in the best possible light.
Here, I’m going to go over ten characteristics of a great speaker’s website. You’ll also see some estimated “impact” numbers. In other words… the amount you can increase your fee when that aspect of your site is done well.
It’s not an exact science – just guestimates. But hopefully, this helps you understand the potential waiting behind that glossy computer screen.
Showcase Your Credibility
Your website has to showcase your professional speaking credibility.
In fact, it needs to even enhance that credibility.
This helps instill confidence in your client and increase their likelihood of booking with you. That increased trust is going to lead to increased revenue.
I don’t have an exact number on this one because credibility is hard to measure. But this is definitely a very substantial increase.
Brand Image
Every speaker needs a strong brand image to back up their speaking. You can’t just look like every other Bob, Joe, and Sally on the circuit. Instead, your brand image should set you apart from other speakers.
This brand image also has to set you above those other competitors – making you look like the premium choice. Prospects should see your branding and think, “This looks better, feels better, and is a stronger, more reputable brand than the others.”
An impactful brand image will give you a 10% increase.
So, if you were getting a gig for $1,000 before, a stronger brand image should allow you to add a hundred bucks to your fee.
Visual Appeal
Your site has to capture people’s attention – in a good way!
This leads to increased engagement and conversion with your prospects. A conversion, in this case, is simply having that prospect put a date on hold or starting a conversation with you about a possible gig.
Great visual appeal is a big piece of making them more likely to explore all the sessions you offer and engage with the videos on your site. And that’s what translates into higher revenue.
Visual appeal will boost your potential earnings over a competitor who doesn’t have a visually appealing website by around 5-15%. That’s substantial!
Display Your Expertise
The bulk of a website’s purpose is to showcase your expertise. This helps position you as an authority… an expert…and a visionary all at once.
Your site visitors need to get a flavor of how you speak and what you speak about. They need to see examples of your time on stage and get a sense of the feelings you inspire for your audience.
This is about showing, not telling.
You’ll want to demonstrate why you’re different here… your speech is different… your knowledge is different… your ideas are different… your experience is different.
They need to see what makes you different enough – and special – so you can command a higher fee because of the value you’ll bring. Showcasing this difference is the key to increasing revenue with your website.
Expertise is the one that really makes your site visitors see you as more expensive than others… I’m talking 20%. A fellow speaker who doesn’t showcase their talent and experience – through videos, writing, and more – will not command fees as high as yours.
Clear Messaging
I see problems with this one all the time…
Many speakers take the time to build elaborate websites, but their messaging is about as clear as mud.
Their messaging is confusing, very broad, or just plain hard to figure out. These speakers don’t do a good job of explaining who they speak to, what their value is, or what types of events they are targeting.
Instead, take the time to define very clear messaging so your audience understands your speeches and the value you can provide.
Depending on how clear your competitors’ messaging is, you can expect this to have an impact of 5-10% on your fees.
** And don’t forget, all of these small percentage increases are adding up in the mind of the person visiting your site. That’s how we’re going to increase your total revenue.
Social Proof
I can’t overstate how powerful social proof is… this one’s a whopper.
Social proof should include more than just individual quotes from happy clients. It also includes the volume.
When you see lots and lots of accolades for someone, you immediately start to think:
“Holy smokes, this person is amazing! They’ve built trust with so many people and delivered so many great speeches. Wow!”
That’s the feeling you need to inspire with the social proof elements on your site. Social proof doesn’t just need to be testimonials. It can also include:
- Tweets people have posted
- Instagram posts from events
- Client logos
- Success stories
All of these help build trust and credibility with a potential client. And that increased trust translates into higher revenue because your prospect feels so confident that their decision to book you is an easy one.
After all, you’ve got a proven track record of happiness from clients and audience members. And that’s really powerful.
Social proof is probably 10-15% more. That means if a prospect is looking at two websites and one has six really amazing testimonials while the other has an endless list of them, they will feel like the person with the giant list is worth 10-15% more than the other speaker.
User Experience
User experience is a bit of a complicated topic, so let’s boil it down to this… you want your prospect to have a seamless experience on your website.
It needs to feel a bit like they’re on an adventure with a clear path toward their goals. You don’t want to overwhelm them with 30 navigation options or long blocks of text that feel like too much work to read.
Instead, your site visitor should be able to spend 5 minutes on your site and still feel like they’re enjoying the content. They’re spending the time happily watching videos, reading session descriptions, and daydreaming about inviting you to speak at their event.
That’s what user experience is all about. When you have a good user experience, it allows people to easily explore your site and increases the likelihood you’ll get booked – with higher revenue overall!
Your percent increase here depends on how great and seamless that user experience feels. It will result in 5-10% of your revenue over another speaker because you will attract and retain more people.
Lead Generation
This is a key one because the whole goal of your website is to get people to engage… put a date on hold, or start a conversation with your team. Both of these actions lead to a signed speaker agreement and their inviting you onto their stage.
Tell your prospect exactly what you want them to do on your site. If you only tell your prospect to “call me for consulting” or “set up a time to chat,” then you’re missing your lead generation opportunity. These instructions are too unclear and vague.
Instead, make it clear that you do ONE thing, and you do it really well… you speak! So they should go ahead and put a date on hold so they can begin the process of securing your time for their stage. That’s how I want you to think of that lead-gen opportunity.
Speakers who have a really clear lead generation strategy definitely convert more people to that first client theme call. This also increases your potential revenue based on the perception of what you do.
They’ll perceive your value as a speaker differently from someone who is less clear on what they offer – those who are also consultants, those who are happy to chat, or those who offer five other services besides speaking.
Strong lead generation will probably result in a 5-10% more perception of value immediately. So make sure you have a simple way to generate more leads than the other speakers. And the more focused you look on speaking, the better!
Differentiation
This is one I see a lot… speakers in similar categories tend to all look and sound the same on their websites.
Your website should feel different, look different, and sound different than other people your prospect might be considering.
(There’s that word again… different!)
This helps justify a higher fee and increases your overall revenue.
This is a big one. When your website makes you seem “different,” you can increase your revenue by 15% or more.
Commitment and Dedication
This last one is a bit fuzzy to define, so I’ll do my best…
A professional speaker website that covers all the items listed above conveys a sense of investment in the speaker’s brand and business. It makes you look dedicated to your craft.
This sense of commitment and dedication on your part actually leads to higher revenue because clients are more willing to invest in a speaker who takes their work seriously. They don’t want to hire a speaker who looks like they slapped up a website from a free WordPress template overnight.
Perception is everything.
That perception that you are more professional than anyone else they might be considering increases your revenue by 5-10% or more.
What’s Your Total Revenue Increase?
We just covered ten characteristics that you should include on your professional speaker website.
Sure, most of them only resulted in incremental increases.
And sure, they are all made-up numbers based on my perception of how it works in the marketplace…
But each item can still help contribute to higher revenue overall. And those 5% and 10% increases all add together to create real results!
Your individual results on specific line items will vary, but package them all up, and you’ll increase the overall effectiveness of your professional speaker website.
If you’re a Premium Member, check out the second part of this article, and you’ll read about 10 very specific things you should include on your website to increase your revenue.
Part two of this article covers the following:
- The most important thing you’ll need on your site to strengthen your lead generation,
- “Three lists of threes” you’ll need to enhance your credibility and build a visually appealing site,
- How to demonstrate your high demand in the marketplace to site visitors,
- How to overwhelm your site visitors with evidence of your expertise,
- And some guidance on which awards and accolades really deserve to be included on your professional speaker website. (This one might surprise you!)
Remember, the advice that got you here won’t get you there. It’s time for a massive move.
It’s time for a Monumental Shift.
Thanks for reading!
Andrew
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