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I’m gonna start because it’s 1201
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and I’ll, I’ll be letting people in.
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I won’t have to do this one.
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Um, I’m really excited to introduce you to Ben McCullough,
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um, who we have the same last name.
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Uh, Ben’s my son. And, uh, to make a long story short,
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Ben was working for, uh,
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a pretty big oil company here in Houston years ago.
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He was, he was, um, one of their IT directors.
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And when the, i, when oil
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and gas started doing some of the, uh, some of the trimming,
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so to speak, um, Ben was with, uh, had a little bit
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of time on his hands, so I asked him if he would redo my
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website, and that was the beginning.
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Um, when I got my website back
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and he started making corrections.
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It wasn’t just a web guy, it was somebody
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who understood technology who went into the back end.
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And when he saw my computer, he just,
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when he saw my website, he said it was a mess.
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And, um, I said, well, you know what?
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And I kind of gave him the idea to start doing websites,
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and he said, I’m gonna be honest with you.
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He said, that’s not my thing.
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Um, but over the years, it’s become his thing.
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Uh, Mark Hunter and Ben, I hope I’m not saying anything out
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of, out of, uh, no,
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but Mark Hunter quoted that he’s not just a web guy,
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he’s a true speaker coach.
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He understands the business
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and he understands how to get, uh, how to get you, um,
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up there so that you look your best.
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Let me put it that way. So, without further ado, I’m going
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to turn the meeting over to Ben,
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and we’re gonna talk about marketing and websites and, um,
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and all of things.
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Well, thank you. Um, I think the last time I spoke
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to the group, it was very structured,
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and today I’d like to just have more of a open conversation.
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So there’s a few key topics or things that we’ll hit on,
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but, you know, if you have any questions, anything that,
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that you’re thinking of that we wanna open up, I mean,
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just feel free, let’s keep it sort of open.
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But I think where, when you
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and I, Karen, uh, yes, we’re talking, um,
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you know, we’ll just start with structure.
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We’ll start with a few of the key things
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that websites need to have.
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And when we’re talking about speaker websites, I think,
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you know, kind of
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to your point about when I first started working
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with speakers, a lot of the reason why I had apprehension
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of it, one, I didn’t realize how many speakers there were.
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Um, but two, it’s different.
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It’s a different industry.
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And if you’re coming from, you know, a corporate background
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or you’re coming from small business, there’s ways
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that you would structure a website that go counter to what
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I think you’re gonna be told, um,
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and how your, your speaker website needs to,
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uh, needs to be built.
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The other thing to consider, I think, is the structure
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of the speaking business.
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You know, there’s different levels and, you know,
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we’re aware of the, the fee levels that you’re shooting for.
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And depending on where you fit, all
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of the fundamentals are still gonna be there.
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But there might be things
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that you might not have at a certain point,
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but that might work for that level.
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So I’m gonna be talking about it and,
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and referencing that, um, as we go through it.
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But the core components
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that I think any speaker website needs to follow is,
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number one, the structure.
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Um, you have to make your site structured in a way
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that is familiar to the buyer, right?
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And I, and I’ve had a client recently that wanted
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to just completely reinvent how we do a speaker website
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and try all these tricks and all these new cool things.
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And while it would look interesting and look cool
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and fresh, you know, I cautioned him.
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’cause I said, look, you’re, you’re making it harder
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for the buyer to figure out your site.
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Like, the reason why, if you look at a lot of my sites,
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structurally, they might, they might look similar.
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And that’s intentional
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because you want that event planner,
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that meeting professional to know how to quickly navigate
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and get to the information,
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especially if you offer other services, right?
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You don’t want it to become cluttered, um,
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and hard to navigate.
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And that’s pretty straightforward.
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Um, um, the second component is gonna be the copy, right?
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So what you actually put in there, the message,
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the messaging, and, you know, we can talk about that.
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And then the third component is the design itself.
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And all of those pieces need to work together.
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Um, so if one of those is lacking, you know,
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you’ve got a beautiful website,
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but it’s not working, you know, look at the copy,
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look at the, the structure is, are you making it harder
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for the buyer to figure out how to navigate?
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Are you, you know, you hear about like, frictionless design.
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Like you want to make it as easy for them to figure out how
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to book you and to get to, uh, the message
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that you present, um, as quickly as possible.
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Um, so I think one of the things that you wanted me
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to talk about, Karen, was the challenges that I face.
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Like what are the biggest challenges when I’m working
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with someone, um, that makes it harder
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or easy, you know, for me to, to work
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structure’s an easy one, right?
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So we, we talk through that,
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and that’s something that I’ve,
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I’ve figured out over the years
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of working with speakers that works.
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The two areas that I have the most difficulty when working
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with clients, number one, um, content,
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if they don’t know what they’re speaking,
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like if they haven’t fully developed a newer
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speaker, that is evolving.
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But those things can be worked out.
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I would say the biggest challenges that I face, um,
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really revolve around the design, the look,
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and that would be number one photos, right?
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So people will look at sites I do
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and say, I want Mark Hunter’s site,
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or I want, you know, this site.
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But if you don’t have photos that are high quality
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professional, whether they’re stage shots or studio shots
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or a combination, um, it’s gonna make it harder to get
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that level of site.
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The thing that I would say is, you know,
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I’ve seen it firsthand, it’s an investment.
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Your website is an investment that will pay off.
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Um, if you are competing at a fee level, you need
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to look like the best in that fee level that you can, um,
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especially in the lower fee levels
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because there’s more competition in that space.
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But as you move up, then there’s gonna be different things
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that you’re gonna wanna do.
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Um, but if you’re in, let’s say a, you know, three to five
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or three to $6,000 fee range, you don’t have
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to look like a $15,000 speaker.
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You wanna look like an $8,000 speaker.
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You wanna look like a, and then get it to that point.
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If you’re in the, let’s say, six to 12,
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then you wanna look like you’re that 15 to 20, right?
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You want to, so that you stand out
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and that it makes it easier for you to move up to
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that next fee level when you’re ready.
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And a lot of that, that comes down to photos.
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Do you that we wanna look a little better
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than than our fee?
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Well, yeah, because there’s a lot of competition.
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So if you think about how you get booked, a lot of times,
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you know, you’re not, you’re not gonna be the only
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speaker they’re looking at, right?
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Right. So if, if they’re in a committee,
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they’re looking at three
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or four speakers, they printed out all your stuff,
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make it easy for you to stand out for them
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to look at your stuff and go, okay, this is,
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this is a no-brainer, this is the speaker we want
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to focus on solely by them just looking at
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your marketing materials, right?
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I, I’ve worked with everyone from a beginning speaker
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to hall of fame speakers
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and some of the speakers that have been speaking for years
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that are at the top, you look at their website
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and go, how have they gotten here?
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Right? And a lot of it is, um,
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maybe their name is out there enough and they don’t need it.
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But if you really want to elevate and,
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and get to that level, you know,
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especially if you have those materials,
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you gotta show it off because right, the, the thing
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that’s gonna be going on in that meeting professional,
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that bureau that, that’s looking at it, they’re gonna say,
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can I see them on my stage?
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And if you are billing you
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as having high energy interactive,
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and your site isn’t giving that, then
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it’s gonna be much easier.
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If someone else that they’re looking at in competition
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with you has that level, then it’s a safer bet to go, well,
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I’ve heard good things about the speaker,
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but I can’t tell that from their website.
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But this speaker I can tell.
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And then I’ve also heard good things.
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So it’s just one more checkbox to push you into the yes.
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You know, the, the maybe the, at least the maybe pile, but,
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but pushing you towards that. Yes.
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So when you talk about photos, I’ve heard you say, I’ve,
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they’ve spent all this money on
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photos, but they’re not smiling.
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Oh, I haven’t had that. What do we want our,
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what do we want our photos to show
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Engagement?
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Like, you want to, like, you want that person looking at it
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to go, I wanna meet this person.
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I’m curious. I want them on my stage.
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They have energy, they look fun, they look,
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even if it’s a serious topic, you want it to,
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you know what we are.
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We, we talk a lot. You know, things are heavy today.
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You know, the news is heavy, the work environment is heavy.
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There’s a lot of stress, there’s a lot of, you know,
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even if you’re very content driven in your approach
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to speaking, they want to feel
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energy, they want to feel good in that hour,
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they want to feel right.
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And so that’s really what’s gonna drive, um,
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you getting booked is the, is is that that content mixed
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with that inspiration, with that push, that, that fun,
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that feel, because it gives people, um, in the audience,
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you know, an opportunity to sort of let go
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for an hour and learn.
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But you don’t want to be seen as
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with everything else that’s heavy.
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You are overly heavy as well.
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That’s not, you know,
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and I know today it’s hard, like things, you know, I,
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I hear a lot of speakers talking about how it’s, you know,
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the competition’s getting, getting tighter
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and budgets are going.
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So you really wanna up that so that you push yourself, um,
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you know, give yourself as much opportunity, uh,
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to get booked as you can. Um, so what
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Do you, what do you see when you get these speakers in?
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What do you see overall as the biggest mistake
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that you think speakers are making on their website?
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I mean, biggest mistake. Every,
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I mean, everyone’s different.
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Um, you know, I’ll get, I’ll get clients where
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their copy’s really good, but their photos,
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and we talked about photos, little mistakes.
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I wouldn’t say these are the biggest mistakes,
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but things that make it hard for me to do my job.
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Um, brand books are great if they’re good.
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Um, but a lot of people will spend money on a brand book
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and then come to me and they’ll come to me
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because they like the creativity
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and they like what I come up with.
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Um, but if, if you have a brand book
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where the colors don’t translate well to a website,
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I’ve had this a few times, it makes my job tougher, right?
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I like vibrant colors that pop, that give depth,
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that make you, and if it’s like, you know, um,
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mustard or rust
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or those colors might be your brand,
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it might be good, but that makes it harder.
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You just gotta think about how is this gonna
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translate digitally?
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So are you telling people not those are flat on it?
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There’s not a lot of contrast.
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You wanna have contrast where it’s like
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things feel like they’re popping, so that button
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that they can click comes out, those photos are gonna sort
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of pop out of the screen more.
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So, um, a lot of times when I have that, I’ll go back
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and say, I know this is your brand book.
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I know, but can we tweak it a little bit to get it? What
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I gonna Ask you with what’s gonna show, go
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Ahead. If you have, do
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people, you know, they’re, they, they,
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I hear a lot of people do get their colors
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and their brand book before they even do their website,
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they start, would you prefer people
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to not spend the money on a brand book, kind
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of pick the colors with you?
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No, it depends. Um, I mean, there’s a lot
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of really good designers out there, um,
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that just do brand books.
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And it makes, like I said, it can make my job easier
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or some of the easiest, like the projects where I,
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I get the most creative or when I have that,
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it’s just when you get locked in.
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Okay. So just be, when you’re, when you’re working
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with someone, if you are gonna go down that road,
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just be mindful of like,
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how are these colors gonna translate digitally?
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How is this gonna look? Is this gonna pop?
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Is this gonna give that energy or is this gonna feel heavy?
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Is it gonna feel, and again, you know,
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and I think a lot of times, especially people
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that come from the corporate world, think very corporate,
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like to sell to corporate, I have to look corporate.
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And the reality is, if they wanted to hire themselves,
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like if they wanted to hear their own stuff,
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they would just get up there and speak.
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They’re looking for a different perspective, right?
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Looking for fresh. They’re looking for someone to come in.
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And I think those old rules of, you know, corporate blues
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and, and, and navy and red, red,
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and, you know, if that’s your thing, that’ll work.
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But I don’t think you have to play that.
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Like I would, I would lean more into your own personality
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and if that clicks great, but if not,
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and then that’s gonna be, you’re gonna be the best pick for
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that audience that’s looking for it. Um,
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Courtney has a question. Yeah,
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go ahead. Yeah, just curious, Ben, so when,
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when you work with a client, do you,
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can you also create the brand book?
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Is that one of your offerings?
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Or do you, is that separate from what you do?
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Um, ICI can create a brand book.
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It’s not gonna be as elegant or
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’cause but, but I’ll do that.
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Like, so I have clients that’ll come to me with, with,
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and they say, let’s just go, let’s, let’s create something.
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Yeah. Um, we’ll pick the fonts together, you know,
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and fonts are very important, right?
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Yeah. That’s a way to accentuate and be different.
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And there’s a lot of cool options now for fonts.
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So that’s fun to sort
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of get away from the typical Google font
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that everyone’s got, like to find something.
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So I’ll work with clients to do that.
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Um, and then at the end, you know, color codes, any
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patterns or textures or stuff, I’ll package that all up.
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It’s not gonna be necessarily as pretty as a brand,
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you know, like where everything,
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but all of that information.
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Absolutely. Um, I’ll give to you. Yeah.
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Okay. That’s cool. Well, I was just curious like,
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’cause I know it goes hand in hand
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and it’s like chicken or the egg.
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Like I’m, I’ve been like toying with what do I do first,
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but I have some, I know which direction I wanna go
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with the brand and my colors and things like that.
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I just don’t have the ability to create it myself. So
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Yeah, and I think that’s like thinking of what you like
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and then being open to work with the, the designer
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or whatever to pick the thing.
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Because a lot of times what, you know, you like
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that looks cool, but then when it’s actually in a website,
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it might not have the same punch that you thought.
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So there could be another option that’s similar, but um,
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before you have all
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of your marketing materials printed up on that.
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And then, you know, the biggest reason people don’t want
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to deviate obviously from their brand book is, well,
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I’ve got a million things with that on it with that color,
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and now I’m gonna have to go back and change it.
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And I get that. Um,
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and most of the time I can work around it,
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but there are a few times where I’m just going, oh
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yeah, I wish.
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And there’s a couple sites where it’s like, you know,
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I wouldn’t have chose that color.
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It still looks great, but if we picked a different color
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man, it would pop a lot more.
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Yeah. Okay.
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Cool. Okay, Rob,
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Well, first I want to give an unsolicited testimonial
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’cause Ben did my website and I think it’s fantastic.
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I was so ecstatic with the end product
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and the process of working
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with Ben was really, really great.
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I mean, it was an iterative process
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and there was no time, no matter
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how many more things I asked for massaging
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that any other than Ben just did it and made it look great.
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And on the branding, I had a little bit of stuff
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that we used, but then he took it in a used a little bit so
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that there was continuity there,
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but then made everything way, way better.
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Um, but I actually do have a question, Ben. Sure.
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I know, like right when we were first talking about doing my
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website, I think you told me you did a done Donald Miller’s
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StoryBrand stuff.
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Yes. And I would love, we never talked about it very much,
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but I think that’s what made my website great
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and effective that you built that into it.
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So I’d love to hear you talk just a little bit about that
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and how you bring that to the table. Thanks.
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I would too, before you get into it, I would too,
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because you, because I think you’re, I love your work,
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but I love your writing
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because so many of us can’t write anything.
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I’m being really honest and you can interview us.
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I mean, you put so much time into the content
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and I don’t think you’re giving yourself enough credit.
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Well, I was gonna shift back to that, right? So, okay.
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I mean, that’s what made my website powerful.
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I agree, Rob. And you know, Ben, we, I kind
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of wrote it in my terms and I, and I spoke it in my terms
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and Ben really listened.
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And then what came back on the website was
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it was bullseye just dialed in so nicely.
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Nice. Yeah, thank you.
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Um, I mean, it really is a one-two punch.
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I’ve seen beautiful websites that I love the design that
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don’t convert.
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00:17:39.535 –> 00:17:43.215
And it’s because the website itself
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is like the frame of the picture, right?
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You want it to be elegant, you want it to be be, you know,
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look expensive.
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You want it to, but you don’t want it
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to overshadow the picture.
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And the picture inside is the content itself, right?
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And so if the content isn’t clear,
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if the content doesn’t clearly articulate, articulate who,
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like, what, what your promise is,
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who you are working with, you know, all of that needs
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to be very clearly defined quickly and concisely.
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Um, so
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that all those other pieces have a context, right?
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So that, so I’m seeing photos of you on stage
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that are great, but I’m also picturing you on my stage
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talking about the thing that the messaging is referring to.
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So with Donald Miller, you know, I mean,
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there’s a lot of frameworks out there.
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I follow Rory Vaden.
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Um, you know, I, I borrowed a few things from, you know,
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brand builders, you know, it’s, there’s,
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there’s other frameworks out there as well.
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And most of them all go back to the same thing, which is,
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you know, focus on your audience.
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What are they struggling with? What is the thing?
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And, and I think, you know, one of the things that, um,
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I sort of borrowed from, from
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brand builders was the promise.
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And I love that, right?
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You, when you get on stage,
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you are promising something to your audience.
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And I know, Karen, you’ve talked about this.
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Um, and that promise needs to be, that’s, that’s,
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that’s the top of the pyramid when you’re talking about
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your, your messaging.
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Everything should roll up under that
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to reinforce that promise.
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You know, why that promise is so important,
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because of what they’re, what problems they’re struggling
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with, how, what your perspective and,
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and the way that you solve that, whether it’s
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through a framework or whether it’s through just the,
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the takeaways from your, from your keynote, all
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of those stories that you have, how that rolls back up
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to reinforcing that.
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Um, and then it has to be done in a, in a concise way.
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So we’re not overwhelming ’em with just a wall of words.
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The way that I structure a website on the homepage,
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you’ve got your above the fold.
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And that’s gonna have that, you know,
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very concisely like what you speak on
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and who your audience is, and,
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and frame it right through a, through a headline.
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And if that headline’s catchy
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and fun, then you need to anchor that
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with something more direct.
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And, and you know, below that, right?
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So, um, I think like Tammy Evans speaks on levity
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and we had a concern that’s like, well, that’s a little,
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that word is a little like, what does
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that not everybody’s gonna quickly connect
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with that and know what that means.
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So if we want to use, you know, lighten up with levity
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or something like that, like, then below that we have
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to anchor it with something very concrete that says, this is
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why you need levity
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and this is why Tammy is the one for you.
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But again, concise ’cause it’s above the fold.
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And then a call to action below that, you know, we want
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to talk about what I’ll call the,
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we’ve talked about this in the pa your problem solution
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section where we concisely sort of lay out what the,
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what the struggle, the pain point is and position you.
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And as we’re positioning you as the solution, then we’re
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introducing you as, and then we can go deeper.
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And so a website, the copy as I scroll, should kind
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of go a little more detail, a little more detail.
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Like they’re giving you permission as they scroll to,
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to learn more about you.
479
00:21:20.205 –> 00:21:23.905
So, you know, instead of putting everything you want them
480
00:21:23.905 –> 00:21:27.345
to know about you above the fold, you’re creating curiosity
481
00:21:27.525 –> 00:21:29.865
so that they’ll scroll and then you give ’em a little bit
482
00:21:29.865 –> 00:21:31.265
more to create more curiosity.
483
00:21:31.405 –> 00:21:32.465
And then they scroll,
484
00:21:32.965 –> 00:21:35.745
and as they’re scrolling, they’re giving you permission
485
00:21:35.765 –> 00:21:39.905
to tell them more about you and it’s building.
486
00:21:40.165 –> 00:21:42.025
And if they can get to the bottom, then
487
00:21:42.025 –> 00:21:43.265
that means they’re highly engaged.
488
00:21:43.445 –> 00:21:45.105
So I’ll have a section at the bottom
489
00:21:45.105 –> 00:21:46.345
that’s like a personal message,
490
00:21:46.405 –> 00:21:48.145
that’s really your why you do
491
00:21:48.145 –> 00:21:50.425
what you do, reinforces that promise.
492
00:21:51.245 –> 00:21:54.425
Um, and then maybe another call to action right under that,
493
00:21:54.425 –> 00:21:55.865
because if they’ve gotten that far,
494
00:21:56.285 –> 00:21:57.385
you gotta give ’em something to do.
495
00:21:57.925 –> 00:22:00.345
Um, whether that’s, you know, book you
496
00:22:00.345 –> 00:22:02.065
or download something, get ’em on your list.
497
00:22:02.485 –> 00:22:04.585
Um, and I like that the typical structure.
498
00:22:04.725 –> 00:22:07.345
And then you sprinkle in authority throughout all that.
499
00:22:07.365 –> 00:22:10.705
And authority could be your client logos, you know,
500
00:22:10.705 –> 00:22:14.745
really solid testimonials, um, certifications
501
00:22:14.925 –> 00:22:16.265
or, you know, all that sort of stuff.
502
00:22:16.325 –> 00:22:17.785
And you, not all at once,
503
00:22:17.925 –> 00:22:19.425
but you sort of sprinkle that in
504
00:22:19.425 –> 00:22:21.105
between sections to reinforce.
505
00:22:21.805 –> 00:22:24.825
Um, so for example, if you’ve got a block that lists your,
506
00:22:24.825 –> 00:22:25.985
your three keynotes
507
00:22:26.005 –> 00:22:28.025
or your services, so maybe it’s keynotes,
508
00:22:28.305 –> 00:22:29.905
coaching consulting, right?
509
00:22:29.905 –> 00:22:32.825
Under that, you wanna have testimonials that show
510
00:22:33.935 –> 00:22:35.745
this is why you need these services.
511
00:22:35.765 –> 00:22:37.545
And this is not from my words, this is from,
512
00:22:37.925 –> 00:22:40.025
and those could be video testimonials,
513
00:22:40.025 –> 00:22:41.265
they could be written, you know,
514
00:22:41.425 –> 00:22:43.225
testimonials or a mix of them.
515
00:22:43.385 –> 00:22:45.425
I like to use different stuff throughout.
516
00:22:46.615 –> 00:22:48.675
But hey Ben, take a break. Can we have hands up?
517
00:22:48.735 –> 00:22:51.035
We got two hands up. This is really good
518
00:22:51.305 –> 00:22:53.115
because I think the biggest mistake
519
00:22:53.115 –> 00:22:55.715
that I do see is people put everything at the top.
520
00:22:56.455 –> 00:22:58.995
And I like this whole idea that as we scroll,
521
00:22:59.055 –> 00:23:01.355
we get more curious and you’re getting people
522
00:23:01.455 –> 00:23:02.755
to learn more about you
523
00:23:03.095 –> 00:23:04.715
and you’re sprinkling in testimonials.
524
00:23:04.795 –> 00:23:06.155
I think that’s really good.
525
00:23:06.625 –> 00:23:08.355
Jasmine, you had your hand up first.
526
00:23:09.755 –> 00:23:11.295
Hi Ben. Hi Karen. Hey Jasmine.
527
00:23:11.395 –> 00:23:14.895
How everybody, um, I will say that, Ben,
528
00:23:14.975 –> 00:23:19.695
I loved hearing you say that the website should,
529
00:23:19.915 –> 00:23:22.375
um, be worth a little more than
530
00:23:22.375 –> 00:23:23.415
what we’re currently charging.
531
00:23:23.735 –> 00:23:26.175
’cause you know, I, I get excited, Ben did my website
532
00:23:26.475 –> 00:23:27.975
and I love it when people call me
533
00:23:27.975 –> 00:23:29.895
and they’re like, we don’t know if we can afford you
534
00:23:29.895 –> 00:23:30.975
based on your website.
535
00:23:31.075 –> 00:23:36.015
It makes me smile and I always send Ben a note saying that.
536
00:23:36.635 –> 00:23:38.615
Um, but two quick questions.
537
00:23:39.275 –> 00:23:42.415
One, I love what you said, just like Karen agreed,
538
00:23:42.415 –> 00:23:46.125
like building curiosity as we go down our website,
539
00:23:46.585 –> 00:23:48.525
people love to critique my website
540
00:23:48.525 –> 00:23:50.125
and give me unsolicited feedback.
541
00:23:50.185 –> 00:23:52.445
And they’re like, you need to have your video
542
00:23:52.735 –> 00:23:54.525
above the fold, blah, blah, blah.
543
00:23:54.715 –> 00:23:57.485
What are the things that you think need to be
544
00:23:57.775 –> 00:23:59.005
above the fold?
545
00:24:00.065 –> 00:24:01.245
So every speaker’s different.
546
00:24:02.025 –> 00:24:06.125
You have to lean into the thing that you’re, what you have
547
00:24:06.125 –> 00:24:07.285
that’s your best, right?
548
00:24:07.945 –> 00:24:10.065
So I’ve heard
549
00:24:11.875 –> 00:24:14.185
mixed reviews from people like I’ve, I’ve talked
550
00:24:14.185 –> 00:24:17.985
to a couple bureaus who said, I hate when there’s video
551
00:24:17.985 –> 00:24:19.505
above the full ’cause I wanna see your face.
552
00:24:19.605 –> 00:24:22.865
And then I’ve heard other people say, the video proves
553
00:24:22.865 –> 00:24:24.305
that you are on big stages.
554
00:24:24.405 –> 00:24:28.025
It gives you an opportunity to show different that you’ve,
555
00:24:28.085 –> 00:24:30.065
you’re not just on one, you know, one event,
556
00:24:30.085 –> 00:24:31.265
but you’ve got big stages.
557
00:24:31.355 –> 00:24:33.625
Maybe you, you know, you’ve got more intimate,
558
00:24:33.725 –> 00:24:35.305
you can mix it up.
559
00:24:36.045 –> 00:24:38.705
And, um, so I don’t think there’s any rule to that,
560
00:24:39.885 –> 00:24:41.865
but I don’t also think there’s a rule that you have
561
00:24:41.865 –> 00:24:43.185
to have your video above the fold,
562
00:24:43.185 –> 00:24:46.505
especially if you don’t feel like it puts your best foot
563
00:24:46.505 –> 00:24:47.985
forward, because that’s the first thing
564
00:24:47.985 –> 00:24:49.145
they’re gonna see, right?
565
00:24:49.525 –> 00:24:50.825
Um, when they hit your site.
566
00:24:51.285 –> 00:24:52.545
For example, I don’t know if y’all know
567
00:24:52.545 –> 00:24:55.295
Justin Patton, I did his site.
568
00:24:55.555 –> 00:24:57.535
He has amazing photos.
569
00:24:57.965 –> 00:25:01.895
He’s got, I mean, I think every event he gets more photos
570
00:25:02.155 –> 00:25:03.455
and they come in and I’m just like,
571
00:25:03.515 –> 00:25:04.735
oh, I want to use all these.
572
00:25:05.355 –> 00:25:07.255
Um, and he is got great video,
573
00:25:08.785 –> 00:25:11.485
but the photo that he chose to put on his homepage
574
00:25:11.485 –> 00:25:13.405
above the fold is not him on stage.
575
00:25:13.755 –> 00:25:15.245
It’s not him is a video.
576
00:25:15.315 –> 00:25:18.605
It’s like a a, a shot that he did in, in a studio
577
00:25:18.765 –> 00:25:22.045
because he felt like that gave his best energy.
578
00:25:22.225 –> 00:25:26.165
It was him really welcoming, um, and he wanted to use that.
579
00:25:26.545 –> 00:25:27.925
And it’s, it works for him.
580
00:25:28.345 –> 00:25:31.805
And then we use it again, it’s creating enough curiosity
581
00:25:31.905 –> 00:25:34.285
to go, okay, I want to know this guy, so I’m gonna scroll.
582
00:25:34.395 –> 00:25:37.005
Then there’s video. If you hit the, that above the fold,
583
00:25:37.385 –> 00:25:40.445
and it’s just like me, it’s every other speaker
584
00:25:41.025 –> 00:25:43.125
and I don’t scroll, then I never see all
585
00:25:43.125 –> 00:25:44.525
that other great stuff, right?
586
00:25:44.705 –> 00:25:47.325
So I, I know there’s a lot of people
587
00:25:47.325 –> 00:25:48.685
that have definitive rules about,
588
00:25:48.685 –> 00:25:50.565
you’ve gotta have a video or you’ve gotta have this.
589
00:25:50.825 –> 00:25:54.295
And I, my advice would be, especially
590
00:25:54.875 –> 00:25:57.815
if you don’t have all of the different assets, right?
591
00:25:57.875 –> 00:25:59.975
Not everybody has an amazing speaker reel yet.
592
00:26:00.035 –> 00:26:03.775
Not everybody has a major amazing big stage shots yet.
593
00:26:04.155 –> 00:26:06.535
So whatever you’ve got at the moment
594
00:26:07.075 –> 00:26:09.295
and for that fee level, right?
595
00:26:10.945 –> 00:26:13.425
Leverage that and put the, your best foot forward.
596
00:26:13.735 –> 00:26:15.705
They wanna see your face, right?
597
00:26:15.845 –> 00:26:17.545
So a lot of people will say things like,
598
00:26:18.185 –> 00:26:20.905
I wanna use this big wide shot of me on stage.
599
00:26:21.145 –> 00:26:23.345
’cause it shows how big this stage is in the audience,
600
00:26:23.485 –> 00:26:26.105
but you’re like a peanut, like, I can’t even see you.
601
00:26:26.645 –> 00:26:28.745
And they’re gonna say, well, that’s great you spoke to that,
602
00:26:28.745 –> 00:26:30.105
but I can’t, I wanna see your face.
603
00:26:30.565 –> 00:26:32.825
So I would save that big wide shot
604
00:26:32.965 –> 00:26:35.465
for something else in the site.
605
00:26:35.885 –> 00:26:38.025
Um, that would be my only advice, really.
606
00:26:38.045 –> 00:26:40.185
Let them see you and see your personality.
607
00:26:40.665 –> 00:26:43.765
Perfect. Okay, one other last quick question. Oh, sorry.
608
00:26:43.945 –> 00:26:46.805
Um, one question. Oh, can I, can I do
609
00:26:46.805 –> 00:26:47.765
The call? No, go on. Go on.
610
00:26:48.545 –> 00:26:50.725
So, you know, I worked with you, Ben, I can’t remember,
611
00:26:50.725 –> 00:26:52.805
like three years ago, maybe two years ago.
612
00:26:52.805 –> 00:26:53.805
Yeah. Love this site.
613
00:26:53.805 –> 00:26:55.965
Still getting booked from the site, but Karen
614
00:26:55.985 –> 00:26:57.485
and I were like, oh yeah, Ben’s gonna need
615
00:26:57.485 –> 00:26:58.605
to redo your site.
616
00:26:58.905 –> 00:27:01.845
So I was thinking that I might need a refresh, you know,
617
00:27:01.845 –> 00:27:04.285
because we’ve been talking about like a refresh on another
618
00:27:04.285 –> 00:27:06.085
site, but some other stuff coming up.
619
00:27:06.545 –> 00:27:08.765
But when do we know we’ve outgrown our
620
00:27:08.765 –> 00:27:10.285
site? Oh, that’s a great question.
621
00:27:10.795 –> 00:27:12.005
That is a great question. Um,
622
00:27:12.575 –> 00:27:15.805
Money, Most people,
623
00:27:16.685 –> 00:27:19.685
I would say the motivator for most people connecting with me
624
00:27:20.265 –> 00:27:22.645
is either a,
625
00:27:23.435 –> 00:27:25.605
like they built the site themselves, right?
626
00:27:25.665 –> 00:27:28.285
So when you’re starting out, I get it, it’s a big investment
627
00:27:28.345 –> 00:27:30.645
and frankly, you might not be ready yet for that.
628
00:27:30.645 –> 00:27:33.765
Like, and I know we talked about this, Karen, about
629
00:27:35.195 –> 00:27:37.375
making sure we address that for anybody
630
00:27:37.375 –> 00:27:40.135
that’s thinking about, well, how do I build a site myself
631
00:27:41.115 –> 00:27:42.815
and should I build a site myself?
632
00:27:44.035 –> 00:27:46.055
If that’s what you’ve got? Absolutely.
633
00:27:46.165 –> 00:27:47.895
I’ve like a lot of my clients, they’ll come
634
00:27:47.895 –> 00:27:49.975
to me when they say, okay, I’ve had this site
635
00:27:49.975 –> 00:27:52.215
for four years, I built it myself
636
00:27:53.715 –> 00:27:55.255
and it’s gotten me this far,
637
00:27:55.755 –> 00:27:57.855
but I’m ready to get to that next fee level
638
00:27:58.035 –> 00:27:59.655
and now it’s not working anymore
639
00:27:59.855 –> 00:28:01.415
’cause it doesn’t fit for that fee level.
640
00:28:02.275 –> 00:28:06.295
And then, but they’ve had time to gather photos
641
00:28:06.595 –> 00:28:09.015
and all like, and build that stuff up,
642
00:28:09.715 –> 00:28:11.415
and then I’ll see the site and they’re embarrassed.
643
00:28:11.435 –> 00:28:12.615
I’m like, look, don’t be embarrassed.
644
00:28:13.195 –> 00:28:17.255
The site o obviously got you here, you’re successful.
645
00:28:17.475 –> 00:28:19.375
You are like, but you’re right.
646
00:28:20.045 –> 00:28:22.135
It’s not gonna get you into that next fee level.
647
00:28:22.305 –> 00:28:25.695
We’ve gotta, and that’s a very obvious time of when you need
648
00:28:25.695 –> 00:28:27.095
to upgrade, right?
649
00:28:27.515 –> 00:28:30.255
If the site’s working for you and you’re booking.
650
00:28:30.255 –> 00:28:32.895
But the, the other thing would be, um,
651
00:28:34.555 –> 00:28:37.015
if you’ve just got a lot of great new assets, right?
652
00:28:37.555 –> 00:28:39.975
You know, you got a lot of cool photos that,
653
00:28:39.975 –> 00:28:42.855
that look a lot more elevated than you were three years ago.
654
00:28:43.035 –> 00:28:44.335
Or you’ve got more video
655
00:28:44.435 –> 00:28:47.135
and you’ve got, like, once you start getting all of
656
00:28:47.135 –> 00:28:49.735
that stuff and you wanna show it off, um,
657
00:28:50.035 –> 00:28:51.215
you could do one of two things.
658
00:28:51.275 –> 00:28:55.805
We could either go in and just refresh certain parts of it.
659
00:28:56.545 –> 00:28:59.045
For example, I, I mentioned Justin Patton,
660
00:28:59.345 –> 00:29:01.325
he has me going in page by page
661
00:29:01.825 –> 00:29:04.965
and just redoing a page at a time.
662
00:29:05.205 –> 00:29:06.805
’cause he wants to change some of his branding.
663
00:29:06.805 –> 00:29:08.725
He wants to change. To me it kind of,
664
00:29:08.845 –> 00:29:10.605
’cause it looks a little hodgepodge when you go from one
665
00:29:10.605 –> 00:29:13.205
page to another and they’re not, but he’s okay with it.
666
00:29:13.265 –> 00:29:15.205
And he is like, let’s just, but,
667
00:29:15.305 –> 00:29:17.485
but that’s, so you could do it one of two ways.
668
00:29:17.585 –> 00:29:21.445
You, we can kind of, like, if I did the site, I can go in
669
00:29:21.445 –> 00:29:24.045
and refresh it a little bit, you know, page by page.
670
00:29:24.045 –> 00:29:27.285
But if you want a whole new look, then, then I would say,
671
00:29:28.125 –> 00:29:29.765
I don’t think you need a whole new look,
672
00:29:29.765 –> 00:29:31.765
Jasmine, just being honest. I love your site
673
00:29:31.765 –> 00:29:32.765
Too. No, I don’t. I love my
674
00:29:32.765 –> 00:29:33.285
site too,
675
00:29:33.385 –> 00:29:34.845
but I think we need to, I mean,
676
00:29:34.845 –> 00:29:36.325
we talked about there, there’s new stuff.
677
00:29:36.445 –> 00:29:38.165
I mean, and I’m gonna talk to you about this offline,
678
00:29:38.265 –> 00:29:40.645
but you know, be you and Karen, we’re gonna powwow, oh,
679
00:29:40.695 –> 00:29:41.845
Sorry, I didn’t mean to, but I
680
00:29:41.845 –> 00:29:42.925
do think we’re gonna get together.
681
00:29:43.085 –> 00:29:44.365
I didn’t wanna then sorry for the,
682
00:29:44.825 –> 00:29:46.925
but Ben, I do think that when people wanna go
683
00:29:46.925 –> 00:29:49.245
to the next level, I think you gotta
684
00:29:49.265 –> 00:29:50.265
Do a repeat. Yes. That’s the most,
685
00:29:50.265 –> 00:29:51.685
that’s, that’s the most obvious.
686
00:29:51.875 –> 00:29:53.765
Well, you’re saying, okay, I’m ready to go to 15,
687
00:29:53.905 –> 00:29:56.205
I’m ready to, people are saying I’m ready to jump to 20,
688
00:29:56.315 –> 00:29:58.965
then look, you’ve gotta really look that fee.
689
00:29:59.935 –> 00:30:01.785
Yeah, the first thing they’re gonna see when they hire
690
00:30:01.785 –> 00:30:02.865
you is your website.
691
00:30:02.885 –> 00:30:06.505
So if you’re jumping from say, 12 to 16,
692
00:30:07.365 –> 00:30:09.985
you’re in a whole different pool now,
693
00:30:10.685 –> 00:30:12.385
and you’re gonna be up against people.
694
00:30:12.565 –> 00:30:13.985
And if, if they’re looking like
695
00:30:13.985 –> 00:30:17.825
what worked at 12 might not work at 16, what worked at six
696
00:30:18.475 –> 00:30:20.185
might not work at 10, right?
697
00:30:20.365 –> 00:30:23.545
And so, you know, a lot of times when people jump up,
698
00:30:23.655 –> 00:30:25.545
they say, oh wow, I, I wasn’t ready
699
00:30:25.545 –> 00:30:26.865
or I’m not getting the bookings anymore.
700
00:30:27.205 –> 00:30:31.025
But it might be that they just didn’t position themselves at
701
00:30:31.025 –> 00:30:33.585
that level, um, before they moved up there.
702
00:30:34.175 –> 00:30:35.305
It’s, I real quick.
703
00:30:35.425 –> 00:30:38.225
I have, I, everybody told me to raise my fee, raise my fee,
704
00:30:38.225 –> 00:30:39.505
but I didn’t change my website
705
00:30:39.845 –> 00:30:42.345
and I raised my fee trying to live with my, and,
706
00:30:42.345 –> 00:30:43.505
and I didn’t get it.
707
00:30:43.505 –> 00:30:46.065
And I was very, very depressed. I had no idea.
708
00:30:46.645 –> 00:30:48.465
And I realized that when you do that,
709
00:30:48.485 –> 00:30:49.825
you also have to improve.
710
00:30:49.925 –> 00:30:51.105
You have to look like the fee.
711
00:30:51.685 –> 00:30:54.145
So I think that’s good advice. Okay.
712
00:30:54.145 –> 00:30:57.985
Cricket got her hand up and three others. Do you mind Ben?
713
00:30:57.985 –> 00:30:59.945
Yeah, no, I don’t mind. Okay. No, this makes it easy.
714
00:31:01.835 –> 00:31:02.415
Go on Cricket.
715
00:31:06.395 –> 00:31:07.115
I think you’re muted.
716
00:31:07.555 –> 00:31:09.235
I think you’re on mute. All right. Too many mics.
717
00:31:09.435 –> 00:31:11.875
Sylvia was before me. Okay. Sylvia.
718
00:31:12.335 –> 00:31:15.035
Oh, thank you Cricket. Um, thank you Ben
719
00:31:15.055 –> 00:31:16.435
for this, this insight.
720
00:31:16.435 –> 00:31:17.595
Uh, quick question for you.
721
00:31:17.775 –> 00:31:19.795
Um, do you have an opinion about,
722
00:31:19.795 –> 00:31:22.475
because I just, my speaker reel just came out yesterday.
723
00:31:22.625 –> 00:31:24.155
Well, I haven’t yet to post it,
724
00:31:24.155 –> 00:31:27.755
but, uh, Vimeo versus YouTube for that, you know, the watch,
725
00:31:27.965 –> 00:31:29.755
watch you, you know, the, the typical video
726
00:31:29.755 –> 00:31:30.915
you’d have on your homepage.
727
00:31:31.335 –> 00:31:33.515
Do you have an obviously ads versus not,
728
00:31:33.575 –> 00:31:34.835
but then yeah, you know,
729
00:31:34.835 –> 00:31:36.515
you lose some of the viewership and stuff.
730
00:31:36.515 –> 00:31:37.915
So I’m, I’m curious about your perspective.
731
00:31:39.715 –> 00:31:41.305
Personally, I like Vimeo and,
732
00:31:41.365 –> 00:31:45.245
and for me it’s more, um,
733
00:31:46.065 –> 00:31:47.245
the elegance of it, right?
734
00:31:47.305 –> 00:31:49.325
So Right. No ads. I have more control.
735
00:31:49.985 –> 00:31:51.445
Um, and you could say,
736
00:31:51.445 –> 00:31:53.685
but I’m not, I don’t get the views, frankly.
737
00:31:53.885 –> 00:31:57.365
I, I don’t like when you embed a YouTube video, a lot
738
00:31:57.365 –> 00:32:00.805
of times those views, I don’t see ’em making it back right
739
00:32:00.825 –> 00:32:01.845
to YouTube anyway.
740
00:32:02.425 –> 00:32:05.465
Um, that might have changed,
741
00:32:05.565 –> 00:32:08.265
but I mean, I know that a lot of clients that do have it
742
00:32:08.485 –> 00:32:10.465
and I see the views and I’m like either no one’s ever
743
00:32:10.465 –> 00:32:13.265
looking at that thing, but I know it plays especially,
744
00:32:13.365 –> 00:32:14.665
you know, like the background video.
745
00:32:14.685 –> 00:32:16.505
But I think that’s muted anyway.
746
00:32:16.505 –> 00:32:19.825
There’s, um, to answer your question,
747
00:32:19.985 –> 00:32:22.705
I like Vimeo over over YouTube for that.
748
00:32:23.285 –> 00:32:25.105
Um, I think that it’s a space where
749
00:32:28.235 –> 00:32:30.165
YouTube is so crowded to begin with.
750
00:32:30.485 –> 00:32:33.405
I don’t see like your speaker reel going viral to what,
751
00:32:33.405 –> 00:32:35.085
like based on the views to
752
00:32:35.085 –> 00:32:36.565
where I think it does a better job.
753
00:32:37.105 –> 00:32:38.325
But again, those are things that
754
00:32:38.325 –> 00:32:40.555
to me, it’s your preference.
755
00:32:40.935 –> 00:32:45.365
Um, I don’t think that’s gonna, I like to focus on things
756
00:32:45.365 –> 00:32:47.485
that I think are going to move the needle in terms
757
00:32:47.485 –> 00:32:49.325
of like getting you booked or not booked.
758
00:32:49.545 –> 00:32:51.325
And while there probably are pros
759
00:32:51.325 –> 00:32:53.365
and cons, I don’t think either of those things are going
760
00:32:53.365 –> 00:32:55.165
to get in the way of you getting booked or not booked.
761
00:32:56.025 –> 00:32:57.915
Okay, thank you. Yep.
762
00:32:59.765 –> 00:33:03.465
Very good. Okay, so my question, that was perfect, Sylvia,
763
00:33:03.465 –> 00:33:04.985
my question follows video as well.
764
00:33:05.005 –> 00:33:07.305
We were talking about the idea of whether we use video
765
00:33:07.355 –> 00:33:09.385
above the fold, and I’ve been working on mine
766
00:33:09.405 –> 00:33:11.665
and kind of follow, I’m following the StoryBrand format.
767
00:33:12.295 –> 00:33:16.345
What I know for me personally is I don’t like a silent video
768
00:33:16.495 –> 00:33:18.065
with words on top of it
769
00:33:18.065 –> 00:33:19.905
and all the movement while I’m trying to read the words.
770
00:33:21.175 –> 00:33:24.705
What I’ve learned is, like you said, some people want video
771
00:33:24.885 –> 00:33:27.665
and not, but I wanted your thoughts on the idea
772
00:33:27.805 –> 00:33:29.545
of when they click on the video.
773
00:33:30.175 –> 00:33:31.425
Something I’ve been told is
774
00:33:31.425 –> 00:33:33.865
that if the video’s already running when they try to load,
775
00:33:33.865 –> 00:33:35.505
it takes longer to load
776
00:33:36.845 –> 00:33:39.345
and that becomes a deterrent versus click here
777
00:33:39.365 –> 00:33:42.265
to watch video and it goes simple.
778
00:33:42.365 –> 00:33:43.505
So do you have thoughts on that?
779
00:33:44.045 –> 00:33:45.505
Yes. So generally,
780
00:33:45.965 –> 00:33:47.385
and I a hundred percent agree with you,
781
00:33:47.825 –> 00:33:51.825
I don’t use your speaker reel as the, the,
782
00:33:52.405 –> 00:33:54.905
the video that goes behind, you know, the background.
783
00:33:55.335 –> 00:33:56.705
What I’ll do is I’ll go in
784
00:33:56.705 –> 00:33:58.865
and edit out the clips
785
00:33:58.865 –> 00:34:00.745
where there aren’t testimonials showing up
786
00:34:00.745 –> 00:34:01.905
or words showing up, right?
787
00:34:01.985 –> 00:34:05.495
I just want to get clips of you on stage that look good.
788
00:34:05.495 –> 00:34:08.095
And so I’ll sort of make a more condensed version
789
00:34:08.235 –> 00:34:12.135
of the speaker reel that only highlights those key areas.
790
00:34:12.355 –> 00:34:17.255
Now also remember it’s like a, maybe like I’d keep it
791
00:34:17.255 –> 00:34:18.375
to 20, 30 seconds.
792
00:34:18.435 –> 00:34:21.575
People aren’t gonna sit at the above the fold
793
00:34:21.755 –> 00:34:24.575
and watch that entire, you know, uh,
794
00:34:24.595 –> 00:34:26.655
silent reel plane in the background, right?
795
00:34:26.655 –> 00:34:27.695
It’s just for that impact.
796
00:34:28.435 –> 00:34:31.815
Um, but in terms of then if you have a button
797
00:34:31.955 –> 00:34:34.375
or you have an embedded video that they’re gonna click on,
798
00:34:34.835 –> 00:34:36.455
it wouldn’t be the same video, right?
799
00:34:36.515 –> 00:34:38.295
So it’s not like when you’re clicking on it,
800
00:34:38.325 –> 00:34:40.175
it’s then gonna load the background video.
801
00:34:40.955 –> 00:34:43.495
Um, I would have that as a button
802
00:34:43.495 –> 00:34:44.815
that loads up a separate video.
803
00:34:45.515 –> 00:34:47.005
There’s a lot of different ways to do it.
804
00:34:47.305 –> 00:34:51.365
Um, there’s different things
805
00:34:51.365 –> 00:34:54.765
to consider when you’re embedding video into a site, right?
806
00:34:54.785 –> 00:34:58.125
So a lot of times what you want to do is, um,
807
00:34:59.225 –> 00:35:00.925
la let’s call lazy loading the video
808
00:35:01.605 –> 00:35:03.615
because it could slow your site down,
809
00:35:03.615 –> 00:35:06.095
like when the page loads, it has to go out to Vimeo
810
00:35:06.095 –> 00:35:08.375
or go out to YouTube and load that video in.
811
00:35:08.835 –> 00:35:10.695
And you might not notice it on desktop,
812
00:35:10.715 –> 00:35:13.415
but on, on a, on a mobile device, you could notice
813
00:35:13.415 –> 00:35:15.135
that it could really slow your site down.
814
00:35:15.835 –> 00:35:20.575
So generally what I’ll do is, you know, we’re getting kind
815
00:35:20.575 –> 00:35:25.115
of technical, but, but put like a thumbnail over the video
816
00:35:25.625 –> 00:35:27.595
that looks with a, with a play button.
817
00:35:27.655 –> 00:35:30.315
And then when they click it, it opens up a light box
818
00:35:30.505 –> 00:35:32.275
that they click to play the video.
819
00:35:33.005 –> 00:35:36.635
Right? Um, there’s, the problem with
820
00:35:36.635 –> 00:35:37.765
that is they have to click twice.
821
00:35:38.195 –> 00:35:40.285
Yeah. But if they click it
822
00:35:40.545 –> 00:35:43.165
and you wanna autoplay it, it’ll autoplay it silent.
823
00:35:43.515 –> 00:35:47.005
It’s just, anytime you autoplay a video, it’s going to that,
824
00:35:47.005 –> 00:35:48.005
that’s a browser thing.
825
00:35:48.035 –> 00:35:52.045
It’s not even like a, um, that’s
826
00:35:52.065 –> 00:35:53.085
how I do it generally.
827
00:35:53.345 –> 00:35:54.345
Um,
828
00:35:54.775 –> 00:35:56.675
But do you, like, lemme go back to the beginning
829
00:35:56.835 –> 00:35:59.155
’cause I, I’m getting myself lost in my own
830
00:35:59.355 –> 00:36:00.635
question with the answer here.
831
00:36:00.875 –> 00:36:01.915
I’m thinking of too many things.
832
00:36:02.375 –> 00:36:05.155
Do you like the silent video right, when it loads
833
00:36:05.225 –> 00:36:07.675
with the words, like somebody’s headline on
834
00:36:07.675 –> 00:36:08.715
top of it, or no?
835
00:36:09.875 –> 00:36:11.165
Yeah. I mean, I do that quite a bit,
836
00:36:11.465 –> 00:36:13.005
but again, I’ll edit up the video.
837
00:36:13.475 –> 00:36:15.605
Okay. Oh, so what you’re saying when you say the words
838
00:36:15.995 –> 00:36:17.245
Over, like, like there’ll be a,
839
00:36:17.245 –> 00:36:20.285
there’ll be the silent video muted or playing in black
840
00:36:20.285 –> 00:36:21.765
and white or something in the background,
841
00:36:21.905 –> 00:36:24.405
and then the words of the headline are on top of it.
842
00:36:24.705 –> 00:36:26.805
Yes. I I get what you’re okay. Sorry, I misunderstood.
843
00:36:26.965 –> 00:36:29.165
I thought you meant, ’cause a lot of speaker reels,
844
00:36:29.165 –> 00:36:31.045
they’ve got testimonials popping in.
845
00:36:31.045 –> 00:36:33.125
Yeah. Words and stuff, and I get rid of all
846
00:36:33.125 –> 00:36:34.125
That. This is for, this is for the
847
00:36:34.125 –> 00:36:34.965
top of the website.
848
00:36:35.305 –> 00:36:38.125
Yes. Um, but I’ve seen people use
849
00:36:38.125 –> 00:36:39.245
their actual speaker reel.
850
00:36:39.245 –> 00:36:40.245
Yeah. The top of the website
851
00:36:40.265 –> 00:36:43.085
and then it gets, it looks really cra like, like noisy.
852
00:36:43.865 –> 00:36:45.325
So that’s another thing.
853
00:36:45.425 –> 00:36:47.685
If you’re gonna use your speaker reel, cut it up to get all
854
00:36:47.685 –> 00:36:50.645
that stuff out, and then use that as your background.
855
00:36:51.185 –> 00:36:53.285
And then I’ll generally put an overlay over it,
856
00:36:53.285 –> 00:36:55.125
like a darker overlay so that it’s,
857
00:36:55.785 –> 00:36:58.795
that video in the background is subtle, you know,
858
00:36:58.795 –> 00:37:02.315
like you see it, but the words will pop out if you don’t put
859
00:37:02.315 –> 00:37:04.475
any overlay and you just put the words right over the,
860
00:37:04.475 –> 00:37:07.395
the video, it’s gonna, there’s no contrast.
861
00:37:07.495 –> 00:37:10.435
So you have to put a dark overlay over that video.
862
00:37:10.865 –> 00:37:12.155
Yeah. Um, in order for,
863
00:37:12.155 –> 00:37:14.115
Well, I know for me, I don’t like it when I look at
864
00:37:14.115 –> 00:37:16.715
things, but I’m trying to make sure it’s not about me.
865
00:37:16.995 –> 00:37:17.995
I mean, it’s partially about me,
866
00:37:17.995 –> 00:37:20.515
but it’s about the person looking at it to book me
867
00:37:20.515 –> 00:37:21.795
and what they would do.
868
00:37:22.455 –> 00:37:26.255
It goes back to put your best foot forward.
869
00:37:26.595 –> 00:37:27.655
If your video’s amazing
870
00:37:27.915 –> 00:37:31.695
and you’re like, I want them to see it, then, you know,
871
00:37:31.795 –> 00:37:32.935
you might have to do that.
872
00:37:33.025 –> 00:37:36.335
Right. Um, there’s other ways to do video as well.
873
00:37:36.715 –> 00:37:38.175
Um, I didn’t do this site
874
00:37:38.715 –> 00:37:40.015
and I don’t like everything about it,
875
00:37:40.035 –> 00:37:43.465
but if you’ve seen like Ryan Leak, he uses video a lot.
876
00:37:43.535 –> 00:37:47.905
Like where it would be an image, normally he uses like, uh,
877
00:37:48.525 –> 00:37:51.025
you know, just a looping video background inside of
878
00:37:51.025 –> 00:37:54.225
what would look like and then he’ll mix like static
879
00:37:54.245 –> 00:37:55.665
images overlaid.
880
00:37:56.205 –> 00:37:59.465
And, um, so I started doing some of that somewhere.
881
00:37:59.465 –> 00:38:01.185
But it can get a little crazy sometimes.
882
00:38:01.345 –> 00:38:04.745
I think he overuses it, but, um, there’s other ways to use
883
00:38:04.745 –> 00:38:07.945
that video if you don’t want it above the fold.
884
00:38:08.355 –> 00:38:11.915
Right. But, um, if the video’s your best thing
885
00:38:12.255 –> 00:38:13.555
and you really wanna show it off,
886
00:38:13.705 –> 00:38:14.955
then that should go above the fold.
887
00:38:15.375 –> 00:38:17.235
And then if, if you’ve got a really great stage shot.
888
00:38:18.215 –> 00:38:22.035
We got so many questions, can we move? Do you mind? Okay.
889
00:38:22.035 –> 00:38:26.255
Who is next? I think, Jen, were you next? There’s,
890
00:38:27.005 –> 00:38:28.905
I’m not sure, but I’m just looking.
891
00:38:29.495 –> 00:38:32.345
Yeah, yeah. My question is, I know that I need to,
892
00:38:32.825 –> 00:38:34.625
I know I’m ready for a website update.
893
00:38:35.145 –> 00:38:38.325
The challenge that I came into is that initially I became,
894
00:38:38.525 –> 00:38:41.485
I started my business as a coach like over 10 years ago.
895
00:38:41.545 –> 00:38:44.085
And so I have a coaching website with a domain that posts
896
00:38:44.085 –> 00:38:45.485
that way, and then I have a speaking
897
00:38:45.485 –> 00:38:46.885
website with a different domain.
898
00:38:47.665 –> 00:38:50.005
So I don’t know if that’s even something
899
00:38:50.005 –> 00:38:52.325
that you help people with, like merging websites,
900
00:38:52.425 –> 00:38:53.925
but the question that I have is
901
00:38:53.945 –> 00:38:57.165
how do you merge websites without losing your SEO?
902
00:38:57.745 –> 00:38:59.765
And then how many true domains can point
903
00:38:59.765 –> 00:39:02.085
to a website without eroding your SEO?
904
00:39:02.505 –> 00:39:03.965
And could you even help me with this?
905
00:39:03.965 –> 00:39:06.605
Because this is the biggest thing that I struggle with,
906
00:39:06.605 –> 00:39:09.365
with being able to update mine, is that I know I need
907
00:39:09.365 –> 00:39:10.965
to make one single point,
908
00:39:11.825 –> 00:39:13.245
but I don’t wanna lose the,
909
00:39:13.885 –> 00:39:15.845
I don’t wanna lose SEO on one even though I
910
00:39:15.845 –> 00:39:16.925
want the domain from the other.
911
00:39:19.085 –> 00:39:21.385
Got it. So I will preface this by saying,
912
00:39:21.435 –> 00:39:22.865
while I know about SEO
913
00:39:22.885 –> 00:39:26.345
and I’m pretty knowledgeable about it, I’m not an SEO expert
914
00:39:26.635 –> 00:39:29.025
where, so take all this sort of the grain of salt.
915
00:39:30.205 –> 00:39:33.505
Um, I, I might be wrong,
916
00:39:33.525 –> 00:39:35.905
but I would assume that your SEO is stronger
917
00:39:36.045 –> 00:39:38.265
for the consulting business than for the speaking business.
918
00:39:38.315 –> 00:39:39.585
Would that be a safe
919
00:39:39.585 –> 00:39:40.585
Example? Yeah. ’cause I’ve had it
920
00:39:40.585 –> 00:39:40.945
for longer,
921
00:39:41.045 –> 00:39:42.745
so I still get a ton of traction on it.
922
00:39:43.935 –> 00:39:45.665
Yeah. And without going down a rabbit, like
923
00:39:46.445 –> 00:39:48.455
I’ve rarely seen SEO work very well
924
00:39:48.715 –> 00:39:50.855
for the speaking industry itself,
925
00:39:50.915 –> 00:39:52.575
unless you’ve been in the industry for,
926
00:39:52.635 –> 00:39:54.695
and have had stuff for a long time, there’s just
927
00:39:54.695 –> 00:39:59.415
so much competition over very specific keywords that it’s,
928
00:39:59.525 –> 00:40:00.615
it’s, it’s a challenge.
929
00:40:00.915 –> 00:40:03.415
But for consulting, I could definitely see
930
00:40:03.415 –> 00:40:04.735
that, that, that working.
931
00:40:05.395 –> 00:40:08.555
Um, so you want your speaker domain with,
932
00:40:08.775 –> 00:40:10.995
But maybe the better refined question that would,
933
00:40:10.995 –> 00:40:12.155
to simplify it would be
934
00:40:12.295 –> 00:40:14.395
how many domains can point to a website.
935
00:40:16.335 –> 00:40:18.715
So you can have as many domains pointing to a website
936
00:40:18.715 –> 00:40:23.595
as you want, but they’re not going to get all like one,
937
00:40:23.595 –> 00:40:25.195
you don’t want them all getting indexed
938
00:40:25.385 –> 00:40:27.835
because then yeah, you are actually creating duplicates
939
00:40:27.835 –> 00:40:29.635
of your own content that’s competing
940
00:40:29.635 –> 00:40:31.955
with yourself across each domain that you have.
941
00:40:32.285 –> 00:40:35.355
Right. What I would suggest to look into,
942
00:40:35.855 –> 00:40:38.755
so this is a possible solution, I’m not saying this is,
943
00:40:38.975 –> 00:40:41.275
is yes, you could merge the websites
944
00:40:41.615 –> 00:40:43.675
and by merging, I don’t want to imply it’s simple.
945
00:40:43.745 –> 00:40:45.595
It’s basically creating a new website
946
00:40:45.595 –> 00:40:48.155
where you take copy from one and copy from another
947
00:40:48.175 –> 00:40:50.835
and you design it and you, you build out that new website
948
00:40:51.295 –> 00:40:54.875
and let’s say your speaker website domain is the domain
949
00:40:54.875 –> 00:40:56.195
that, that primary domain
950
00:40:56.265 –> 00:40:59.795
that this new website’s gonna have, then you’re gonna need
951
00:40:59.795 –> 00:41:02.755
to go back to your consulting domain
952
00:41:03.765 –> 00:41:06.065
and redirect everything that you want.
953
00:41:06.415 –> 00:41:09.705
Like so pages. So you can set all that up for
954
00:41:09.985 –> 00:41:14.875
whenever anyone hits a certain URL from
955
00:41:14.875 –> 00:41:17.435
that old domain, you’re forwarding it over
956
00:41:17.435 –> 00:41:19.115
to the appropriate place on the new site.
957
00:41:19.425 –> 00:41:23.595
That way you don’t break any of your, your current indexing.
958
00:41:23.775 –> 00:41:27.075
So if something comes up on, um, you know, on Google
959
00:41:27.535 –> 00:41:30.395
and they click it, it’s not broken, it just passes
960
00:41:30.395 –> 00:41:32.595
through to the new domain. Okay.
961
00:41:32.955 –> 00:41:34.365
I’ll talk to you more about it offline,
962
00:41:34.545 –> 00:41:35.685
but that is my Yeah.
963
00:41:35.685 –> 00:41:36.885
Challenge in finding someone
964
00:41:36.885 –> 00:41:40.525
to help me is like just knowing my domain without doing the
965
00:41:40.525 –> 00:41:42.045
duplication and SEO
966
00:41:42.385 –> 00:41:43.725
and for those, like, I don’t know if,
967
00:41:43.725 –> 00:41:45.285
does anyone else have multiple domains?
968
00:41:45.575 –> 00:41:48.725
Maybe? Yeah. Like I’m like, I, so I didn’t want to ask it
969
00:41:48.845 –> 00:41:50.725
’cause it’s specific, but I figured some people might
970
00:41:50.725 –> 00:41:51.885
have multiple domains.
971
00:41:51.885 –> 00:41:53.125
So you might have those challenges too.
972
00:41:53.225 –> 00:41:54.285
No, that does come up
973
00:41:54.665 –> 00:41:57.125
and you know, I think in the past people were told to buy
974
00:41:57.675 –> 00:41:59.365
different domains and put things,
975
00:41:59.385 –> 00:42:01.085
and I think what they found is, well now I have
976
00:42:01.085 –> 00:42:03.045
to maintain three different websites or whatever,
977
00:42:03.045 –> 00:42:05.005
and I have to build up SEO on all three of ’em.
978
00:42:05.005 –> 00:42:07.245
And then all of a sudden they’re like, either that
979
00:42:07.465 –> 00:42:10.155
or, um, I will say this,
980
00:42:10.345 –> 00:42:13.635
this question does come up a lot about do I have separate
981
00:42:13.755 –> 00:42:16.355
websites for my consulting business versus my speaking
982
00:42:16.635 –> 00:42:17.835
business, or do I combine them?
983
00:42:18.735 –> 00:42:22.555
And the answer to that question is, if across the board,
984
00:42:22.555 –> 00:42:25.835
across all of your services, everything will roll up
985
00:42:25.855 –> 00:42:27.595
to one core message.
986
00:42:28.445 –> 00:42:31.515
Definitely. You want one website, right?
987
00:42:31.515 –> 00:42:32.795
Because it’s not even,
988
00:42:32.795 –> 00:42:35.595
the homepage isn’t about you speaking in that point.
989
00:42:35.745 –> 00:42:39.155
It’s about you solving this problem through that,
990
00:42:39.155 –> 00:42:42.435
that message that you have in speaking, consulting,
991
00:42:42.955 –> 00:42:45.915
coaching, training, courses, books, all
992
00:42:45.915 –> 00:42:48.155
of those things are just different media,
993
00:42:48.345 –> 00:42:50.435
different ways to solve that problem.
994
00:42:51.015 –> 00:42:53.235
So when I’m coming there, whether I’m looking to hire you
995
00:42:53.235 –> 00:42:54.995
as a consultant or I’m looking to hire you to speak
996
00:42:55.015 –> 00:42:57.515
or a coach, the message makes sense.
997
00:42:57.785 –> 00:42:59.955
It’s just how do I wanna solve the problem? Mm-hmm.
998
00:42:59.955 –> 00:43:01.395
And that’s how I would position it
999
00:43:01.395 –> 00:43:04.955
and then it all works. Does that help? Thank you.
1000
00:43:05.345 –> 00:43:07.795
Yeah, Gina? Yeah, it, I’ll talk to you offline.
1001
00:43:07.975 –> 00:43:11.015
I’m gonna, okay. Yeah. Um, okay.
1002
00:43:11.135 –> 00:43:12.335
I said Regina and then Mark.
1003
00:43:12.725 –> 00:43:17.105
Yeah. Thank you. Uh, I am a big fan
1004
00:43:17.105 –> 00:43:21.665
of the McCullough family and, uh, I attribute my new success
1005
00:43:21.665 –> 00:43:22.705
to the McCullough family.
1006
00:43:23.645 –> 00:43:27.305
And I, I wanna, um, just say a few words about working
1007
00:43:27.305 –> 00:43:30.905
with Ben and I had a Regina lark.com website
1008
00:43:31.735 –> 00:43:34.315
and it was just s**t I slapped on there
1009
00:43:34.315 –> 00:43:36.675
because they, that’s what they wanna see.
1010
00:43:37.535 –> 00:43:42.095
And what I had on there were
1011
00:43:42.745 –> 00:43:45.895
talks that I’ve been giving for a decade or more,
1012
00:43:47.435 –> 00:43:51.835
and what Ben did is I, I hired Ben
1013
00:43:51.895 –> 00:43:54.515
to redo all the copy on my site
1014
00:43:56.045 –> 00:43:57.785
and what he did, and
1015
00:43:57.785 –> 00:44:01.185
because of his work, this is Regina’s, you know,
1016
00:44:01.285 –> 00:44:02.465
the world according to Regina,
1017
00:44:03.215 –> 00:44:07.865
because of his work with speakers, he really understands
1018
00:44:08.335 –> 00:44:10.385
what language is being spoken out there.
1019
00:44:11.365 –> 00:44:16.345
And what he did with my work was uplifted and elevated.
1020
00:44:17.215 –> 00:44:20.555
He used the language for stuff I’ve been saying for a decade
1021
00:44:20.775 –> 00:44:25.075
or more and gave it a higher elevation
1022
00:44:25.775 –> 00:44:28.555
to allow me to charge the fees that I am.
1023
00:44:28.795 –> 00:44:32.725
I am, um, I’m asking for, I’m getting, I got,
1024
00:44:33.375 –> 00:44:34.565
She’s getting booked, Ben.
1025
00:44:35.065 –> 00:44:36.445
And it’s, and,
1026
00:44:36.665 –> 00:44:39.705
and the day
1027
00:44:39.975 –> 00:44:42.425
that my website speaker reel in one sheet
1028
00:44:42.425 –> 00:44:45.465
that up Ben also worked on, was released,
1029
00:44:46.305 –> 00:44:51.025
I booked my first giant many figures
1030
00:44:52.185 –> 00:44:54.825
200 book sales keynote.
1031
00:44:56.595 –> 00:44:59.935
And, and I know it had everything to do with
1032
00:44:59.955 –> 00:45:01.495
how I appeared on the page
1033
00:45:01.765 –> 00:45:05.845
because you gave it a a, a better
1034
00:45:06.665 –> 00:45:10.125
you, you uplifted and elevated the language and,
1035
00:45:10.225 –> 00:45:13.165
and used words that never in a million years
1036
00:45:13.165 –> 00:45:14.365
would’ve crossed my mind.
1037
00:45:15.185 –> 00:45:17.285
And I, and then when I first read it, I said to you,
1038
00:45:17.305 –> 00:45:19.565
I’m like, I don’t know, this doesn’t sound like me.
1039
00:45:20.025 –> 00:45:21.205
And then I read it again.
1040
00:45:21.345 –> 00:45:23.685
I’m like, this sounds exactly like me if I
1041
00:45:23.685 –> 00:45:24.845
had known to use these words.
1042
00:45:26.335 –> 00:45:29.995
So it’s just bringing in a professional like you
1043
00:45:30.255 –> 00:45:32.915
who has the experience with other speakers
1044
00:45:33.175 –> 00:45:34.475
and you’re looking at other sites
1045
00:45:34.495 –> 00:45:35.715
and you’re seeing the words.
1046
00:45:36.885 –> 00:45:37.895
Well, thank you. What
1047
00:45:37.975 –> 00:45:41.415
I, I really am so impressed with, with what you produced
1048
00:45:41.645 –> 00:45:43.375
with both of you is the McCullough,
1049
00:45:43.835 –> 00:45:45.415
the McCullough crew, that’s all
1050
00:45:45.415 –> 00:45:46.415
What I wanna say. Learned it
1051
00:45:46.415 –> 00:45:48.175
from her. What I wanna he did.
1052
00:45:48.485 –> 00:45:51.615
What I wanna say though is that what I think
1053
00:45:52.185 –> 00:45:54.375
these are just the things that I notice about Ben
1054
00:45:54.445 –> 00:45:56.655
that I don’t see with other people is
1055
00:45:56.655 –> 00:45:58.335
that he listens to your keynote.
1056
00:45:58.475 –> 00:46:00.575
So he wants all your video and he is listening
1057
00:46:01.115 –> 00:46:03.735
and he’s taking the words that you use in the keynote
1058
00:46:03.915 –> 00:46:05.335
and he’s putting your words.
1059
00:46:05.875 –> 00:46:07.855
And sometimes we don’t know what our words are,
1060
00:46:08.395 –> 00:46:10.455
but I feel like authenticity,
1061
00:46:11.665 –> 00:46:13.465
I feel like you’ve gotta really be you.
1062
00:46:13.485 –> 00:46:15.465
And that’s what I talked about in the keynote,
1063
00:46:15.965 –> 00:46:19.705
but it also has to then transfer into your marketing
1064
00:46:19.705 –> 00:46:22.465
and into your website because you wanna do you
1065
00:46:22.645 –> 00:46:24.905
and you want the words to be your words.
1066
00:46:25.775 –> 00:46:27.825
Everybody’s using the same words.
1067
00:46:28.525 –> 00:46:31.985
And so when you can capture and hear your differentiator
1068
00:46:32.365 –> 00:46:34.145
and then actually put it into your
1069
00:46:34.145 –> 00:46:35.545
marketing, you’ve got something.
1070
00:46:36.005 –> 00:46:38.865
And I think that we’re not putting enough time into thinking
1071
00:46:38.865 –> 00:46:41.825
about how we’re really showing up besides giving. Well,
1072
00:46:41.825 –> 00:46:45.825
The only differentiator I believe most people in this,
1073
00:46:45.825 –> 00:46:50.625
in like you really have is your story, your personality,
1074
00:46:50.935 –> 00:46:53.865
your presence on stage, your right, a lot
1075
00:46:53.865 –> 00:46:57.835
of content while it is, uh, maybe a unique perspective
1076
00:46:57.855 –> 00:46:58.955
and it’s a, I mean it’s like,
1077
00:46:58.955 –> 00:47:00.515
but ultimately it boils down
1078
00:47:00.535 –> 00:47:02.475
to the messenger on stage, right?
1079
00:47:02.775 –> 00:47:04.635
Who it is that’s giving the message
1080
00:47:04.855 –> 00:47:07.595
and why I want to actually listen this time as opposed
1081
00:47:07.595 –> 00:47:09.795
to tuning out, right?
1082
00:47:09.895 –> 00:47:14.035
So it’s that ability to get people to listen to the message
1083
00:47:14.035 –> 00:47:15.115
through your personality.
1084
00:47:15.215 –> 00:47:17.555
And I think that that is like, tell ’em who they’re getting,
1085
00:47:17.625 –> 00:47:20.355
like be as authentic a as you can when you’re,
1086
00:47:20.895 –> 00:47:22.275
you know, use your language.
1087
00:47:22.315 –> 00:47:23.955
I like to write a lot in the first person
1088
00:47:24.295 –> 00:47:25.435
on the website, right?
1089
00:47:25.435 –> 00:47:27.955
Because, um, and so I’ll mix it up,
1090
00:47:28.015 –> 00:47:31.965
but having sections where it’s coming from, from you
1091
00:47:33.235 –> 00:47:35.535
so they hear your voice in the words.
1092
00:47:36.645 –> 00:47:37.945
Did I miss anybody? Mark.
1093
00:47:38.335 –> 00:47:39.505
Mark Marquette isn’t, yeah. Mark.
1094
00:47:39.695 –> 00:47:41.545
Yeah. Um, actually
1095
00:47:41.905 –> 00:47:42.985
a lot of my questions have been answered.
1096
00:47:43.015 –> 00:47:44.545
I’ve been listening. So I I have one question.
1097
00:47:45.105 –> 00:47:47.265
I noticed a lot of your sites, it’s a little more technical.
1098
00:47:47.425 –> 00:47:52.225
A lot of your sites have like big background, full width,
1099
00:47:52.225 –> 00:47:54.585
background images and big bold fonts
1100
00:47:54.585 –> 00:47:56.065
and not a lot of like white space.
1101
00:47:56.645 –> 00:47:58.225
Is that intentional?
1102
00:47:58.285 –> 00:48:00.465
Is that, are those recommendations
1103
00:48:00.485 –> 00:48:03.105
or is that for speaker websites or, I was just curious.
1104
00:48:03.925 –> 00:48:04.145
Um,
1105
00:48:08.275 –> 00:48:09.565
it’s a style thing.
1106
00:48:09.565 –> 00:48:12.045
Like, so I like to have negative space, right?
1107
00:48:12.225 –> 00:48:15.045
So, you know, I just like when you say no white,
1108
00:48:15.045 –> 00:48:17.365
like there’s padding, but you’re right.
1109
00:48:17.365 –> 00:48:20.125
Like I’m not, like most of the websites that I do, just,
1110
00:48:20.515 –> 00:48:25.445
there’s not, um, they’re not a lot
1111
00:48:25.445 –> 00:48:26.725
of white, right?
1112
00:48:26.795 –> 00:48:28.645
Like white backgrounds, right? That’s
1113
00:48:28.645 –> 00:48:29.645
What I mean.
1114
00:48:29.785 –> 00:48:32.865
And just flat white, I don’t necessarily like,
1115
00:48:32.905 –> 00:48:35.705
I want contrast and so I’ll even a flat white,
1116
00:48:35.775 –> 00:48:38.545
I’ll put a little bit just to kind of maybe a texture
1117
00:48:38.645 –> 00:48:39.705
or something to give it.
1118
00:48:40.325 –> 00:48:42.305
Um, to me it just elevates it.
1119
00:48:42.305 –> 00:48:44.345
I think sometimes with just a,
1120
00:48:45.235 –> 00:48:46.945
maybe it’s a style thing, right?
1121
00:48:47.015 –> 00:48:49.185
Like a traditional sort of
1122
00:48:50.875 –> 00:48:54.465
white background within a colored back like color background
1123
00:48:54.465 –> 00:48:57.745
on top of it can feel very corporate.
1124
00:48:58.005 –> 00:48:59.265
And I’m just, you know,
1125
00:48:59.285 –> 00:49:01.585
to me it just separates it a little bit, um,
1126
00:49:01.875 –> 00:49:04.065
gives it a little more depth, gives it a little more.
1127
00:49:04.725 –> 00:49:07.785
Now also when you’re, when you’re using those images
1128
00:49:08.005 –> 00:49:10.985
and you really wanna show ’em off, having that full width
1129
00:49:11.725 –> 00:49:13.185
can show how the audience,
1130
00:49:13.185 –> 00:49:14.585
and it also gives this perception
1131
00:49:14.585 –> 00:49:16.025
of even if it was a small event,
1132
00:49:16.685 –> 00:49:18.785
if you can drag it all the way across the screen,
1133
00:49:19.125 –> 00:49:22.905
people don’t know as it fades out, what, like,
1134
00:49:22.905 –> 00:49:25.625
it just makes it feel like maybe the event was a lot bigger.
1135
00:49:26.865 –> 00:49:29.525
Um, and so when you do that,
1136
00:49:29.705 –> 00:49:31.245
you can’t really do it on white.
1137
00:49:31.515 –> 00:49:32.805
It’s gotta have a darker back.
1138
00:49:32.905 –> 00:49:35.005
So, you know, I like to contrast.
1139
00:49:35.065 –> 00:49:37.565
So if I have a dark section, a lot of times I’ll then want
1140
00:49:37.565 –> 00:49:40.045
to contrast into a, a lighter even white section,
1141
00:49:40.345 –> 00:49:42.485
but it’s just more, I think of a preference.
1142
00:49:42.485 –> 00:49:47.165
But I do, that is a big thing is don’t like, have space
1143
00:49:47.165 –> 00:49:49.365
between your sections for the sections to breathe.
1144
00:49:49.965 –> 00:49:51.845
A lot of times people just sort
1145
00:49:51.845 –> 00:49:53.325
of pack one section over another
1146
00:49:54.105 –> 00:49:56.405
and so everything seems very, like, I can’t distinguish,
1147
00:49:56.405 –> 00:49:57.525
even though there’s a color change
1148
00:49:57.525 –> 00:50:00.005
or something, it all just feels on top of each other.
1149
00:50:00.005 –> 00:50:04.325
So I’m big on negative space. Was
1150
00:50:04.325 –> 00:50:05.805
That, it was all very helpful. Thanks, Ben.
1151
00:50:06.435 –> 00:50:07.965
Does anybody else? I don’t see anywhere.
1152
00:50:07.995 –> 00:50:12.885
Does anyone else have a question? Okay. Carl. Carl.
1153
00:50:13.315 –> 00:50:14.315
Carl.
1154
00:50:15.295 –> 00:50:17.535
Okay. Thank you Karen. So Ben,
1155
00:50:17.555 –> 00:50:19.495
can you say something about, uh, good information
1156
00:50:19.495 –> 00:50:21.535
to include on the, uh, meeting professional?
1157
00:50:22.575 –> 00:50:24.985
Yeah, that’s actually, that’s, yes.
1158
00:50:25.405 –> 00:50:26.705
Um, yeah,
1159
00:50:26.705 –> 00:50:30.095
and this is a page that sometimes can kind of
1160
00:50:30.965 –> 00:50:34.815
just feel like a, a templated page that everyone, um,
1161
00:50:35.475 –> 00:50:38.895
the things that you definitely need to have are gonna be,
1162
00:50:39.275 –> 00:50:43.635
um, your intro, your bio,
1163
00:50:45.275 –> 00:50:47.575
and your promotional photos, right?
1164
00:50:47.575 –> 00:50:48.615
Because those are gonna be things,
1165
00:50:48.615 –> 00:50:51.055
especially if you’re talking to associations they’re gonna
1166
00:50:51.055 –> 00:50:53.135
want access to, so they can start marketing the event.
1167
00:50:53.155 –> 00:50:54.695
So they’re gonna use your bio to market,
1168
00:50:54.695 –> 00:50:55.855
they’re gonna use your intro
1169
00:50:55.855 –> 00:50:57.415
to introduce you, they’re gonna use your photos.
1170
00:50:58.315 –> 00:51:00.415
And then if you have any sort of requirements,
1171
00:51:00.775 –> 00:51:03.335
AV requirements, you have any sort of stage requirements,
1172
00:51:03.715 –> 00:51:05.535
you want that document there as well.
1173
00:51:06.915 –> 00:51:09.445
Sometimes when I first started doing this, you know, I just,
1174
00:51:09.485 –> 00:51:12.405
I have a problem with just like putting out a Word doc
1175
00:51:12.405 –> 00:51:14.565
that just is like not designed at all.
1176
00:51:15.185 –> 00:51:17.205
Um, but I’ve seen a lot of people doing that
1177
00:51:17.205 –> 00:51:21.325
because people will print out the intro at the event.
1178
00:51:21.325 –> 00:51:23.845
They don’t want a lot of pictures and stuff embedded in it.
1179
00:51:23.905 –> 00:51:27.165
So I think there, it’s safe to just have it be a, a,
1180
00:51:27.325 –> 00:51:30.005
a plainer document so that when they’re printing it out,
1181
00:51:30.345 –> 00:51:31.765
or maybe have a printable version
1182
00:51:31.945 –> 00:51:34.005
and a more fancy version if you want to do that.
1183
00:51:34.425 –> 00:51:37.805
But just things to consider, like the bio, the intro,
1184
00:51:37.855 –> 00:51:39.485
those are probably documents they’re gonna print.
1185
00:51:39.945 –> 00:51:43.005
So, um, then
1186
00:51:43.625 –> 00:51:46.645
you can add additional stuff if you’ve got like, um,
1187
00:51:47.405 –> 00:51:49.565
a pre-event questionnaire, right, that you need
1188
00:51:49.865 –> 00:51:51.325
to fill out or some sort of process.
1189
00:51:52.025 –> 00:51:53.525
No, you’re saying no, don’t do that anymore.
1190
00:51:53.985 –> 00:51:55.725
I’m not, because I do the conference call
1191
00:51:55.745 –> 00:51:56.805
and nobody fills ’em out.
1192
00:51:57.345 –> 00:51:59.165
Nobody wants pre event, I have a,
1193
00:51:59.165 –> 00:52:02.165
you could have a discovery call like a button, right?
1194
00:52:02.225 –> 00:52:04.125
So that they can schedule their discovery call.
1195
00:52:04.465 –> 00:52:05.965
You could have, I mean, just think about
1196
00:52:06.265 –> 00:52:08.125
beyond those things that you have to have.
1197
00:52:08.905 –> 00:52:12.385
Um, then it’s like, do you want
1198
00:52:12.385 –> 00:52:14.145
to include testimonials?
1199
00:52:14.565 –> 00:52:18.425
Do you want to include video or your, or remind them this?
1200
00:52:18.725 –> 00:52:22.265
So I tend to, some people put that there as like filler.
1201
00:52:22.805 –> 00:52:25.025
You gotta think at this point when they’re on that page,
1202
00:52:25.495 –> 00:52:27.265
they’ve probably booked you, right?
1203
00:52:27.285 –> 00:52:28.705
So you don’t need to sell again.
1204
00:52:29.405 –> 00:52:31.225
Um, however, some people might click on it
1205
00:52:31.285 –> 00:52:35.315
before they book you just to see what I would do,
1206
00:52:37.095 –> 00:52:39.965
especially if you have a book
1207
00:52:40.065 –> 00:52:42.125
or if you have other services, right?
1208
00:52:42.185 –> 00:52:45.485
So people that you know, you speak to, get consulting gigs,
1209
00:52:45.985 –> 00:52:47.365
remind them about the other things you
1210
00:52:47.365 –> 00:52:48.445
do at that page, right?
1211
00:52:48.665 –> 00:52:52.325
So have a place to order your book in bulk, right?
1212
00:52:52.325 –> 00:52:54.205
So if you’re gonna bring it to the event, right,
1213
00:52:54.435 –> 00:52:56.925
have a section about that, like click here to,
1214
00:52:56.925 –> 00:52:59.205
to get my book in bulk for your event.
1215
00:52:59.945 –> 00:53:03.445
Um, you know, don’t forget, we also do like, have a list
1216
00:53:03.445 –> 00:53:07.485
of other services that you might, um, offer as well so that
1217
00:53:07.485 –> 00:53:10.205
after the event, you know, it can open up that conversation.
1218
00:53:10.905 –> 00:53:13.165
Um, I mean, aside from that, there’s other things.
1219
00:53:13.365 –> 00:53:14.525
I mean, you could look at any of my sites
1220
00:53:14.545 –> 00:53:16.565
and look at like the meeting professional page.
1221
00:53:17.525 –> 00:53:18.605
I don’t think there’s any rule,
1222
00:53:18.625 –> 00:53:20.605
but those things that I mentioned at the beginning,
1223
00:53:20.905 –> 00:53:23.245
you’ll find that some, some sites, that’s all they have.
1224
00:53:23.995 –> 00:53:25.995
Thank you for those. Thanks. Yeah.
1225
00:53:28.085 –> 00:53:30.425
So Um, I think we’re done with the questions.
1226
00:53:30.725 –> 00:53:32.145
You know, we’ve, we’ve got a little bit
1227
00:53:32.145 –> 00:53:33.625
of time if people wanna hang on.
1228
00:53:34.005 –> 00:53:35.705
Um, what about, there’s a lot
1229
00:53:35.705 –> 00:53:38.185
of people in the academy right now that are kind of in that,
1230
00:53:38.185 –> 00:53:40.305
between one to five years of speaking
1231
00:53:40.365 –> 00:53:42.985
or maybe even less, you know, what do you tell people
1232
00:53:42.985 –> 00:53:46.615
that really are just trying to get a website up?
1233
00:53:47.035 –> 00:53:48.855
Um, their fee is 5,000,
1234
00:53:48.905 –> 00:53:52.135
let’s say in the $5,000 range or below.
1235
00:53:52.645 –> 00:53:54.335
What would you suggest that they have?
1236
00:53:56.075 –> 00:53:59.375
So I have no, like, I would never try
1237
00:53:59.375 –> 00:54:02.455
to push someone into buying a package from me if I didn’t
1238
00:54:02.525 –> 00:54:05.455
feel that it was going to be worthy of their investment.
1239
00:54:06.145 –> 00:54:09.015
Right? So, and I’ve had people inquire
1240
00:54:09.015 –> 00:54:13.015
and I basically said like, you’re at a stage right now where
1241
00:54:14.865 –> 00:54:17.875
it’s not gonna benefit you to invest in this yet.
1242
00:54:18.535 –> 00:54:21.435
So if you’re, if you’re able to build it yourself,
1243
00:54:21.505 –> 00:54:23.115
some people want to build their own website
1244
00:54:23.735 –> 00:54:27.195
or you can hire someone at a lower fee to build it out.
1245
00:54:28.635 –> 00:54:30.725
That still, like I, you know, uh,
1246
00:54:30.725 –> 00:54:32.565
there’s other platforms like I do WordPress,
1247
00:54:32.705 –> 00:54:36.365
but like Squarespace, Wix, um, they’ve gotten much easier
1248
00:54:36.505 –> 00:54:38.965
to do those, uh, types of nicer websites yourself.
1249
00:54:39.785 –> 00:54:41.725
Um, I would never say don’t do that.
1250
00:54:42.625 –> 00:54:47.525
And, um, most clients that I, that I get in that range
1251
00:54:47.555 –> 00:54:51.245
that are moving from that to, uh, to that more middle tier
1252
00:54:51.245 –> 00:54:53.405
that you’re talking about, that’s really
1253
00:54:53.405 –> 00:54:54.605
where they started, right?
1254
00:54:54.635 –> 00:54:57.085
They, and like I said, they’re, they’re like, oh,
1255
00:54:57.085 –> 00:54:59.325
don’t look at my website and look, I’ve, I’ve seen them all.
1256
00:54:59.745 –> 00:55:02.325
But the reality is it obviously got them to
1257
00:55:02.325 –> 00:55:03.725
that middle tier and beyond.
1258
00:55:04.935 –> 00:55:06.435
So it works, right? Right.
1259
00:55:06.495 –> 00:55:08.955
So at that tier, you have to ask yourself,
1260
00:55:09.015 –> 00:55:10.035
who am I competing against?
1261
00:55:10.105 –> 00:55:12.915
There’s a lot of speakers in that, in that tier,
1262
00:55:13.495 –> 00:55:15.595
and most of them have not invested thousands
1263
00:55:15.595 –> 00:55:19.315
and thousands of dollars on this totally elevated website.
1264
00:55:19.855 –> 00:55:22.075
So if you can take sort of some of the, the,
1265
00:55:22.075 –> 00:55:23.315
the things I’m telling you today,
1266
00:55:23.615 –> 00:55:25.235
you can invest in it in some photos,
1267
00:55:25.385 –> 00:55:26.555
that would be the number one thing
1268
00:55:26.555 –> 00:55:27.555
before you do the website.
1269
00:55:27.755 –> 00:55:29.035
’cause I can’t build you a website
1270
00:55:29.055 –> 00:55:30.955
that’s amazing without some great photos.
1271
00:55:31.495 –> 00:55:34.595
So really invest in those things first and then use that
1272
00:55:34.775 –> 00:55:35.955
and build something out
1273
00:55:35.955 –> 00:55:37.795
that might not be your dream website,
1274
00:55:37.795 –> 00:55:38.835
but it’s gonna get you booked.
1275
00:55:39.085 –> 00:55:42.275
Right. Right. By looking at your content, looking at your,
1276
00:55:42.735 –> 00:55:45.275
you know, using some of these ideas to build that out.
1277
00:55:45.935 –> 00:55:48.115
And then as you grow your business
1278
00:55:48.495 –> 00:55:51.235
and you build it up, then you say, okay, now I’m looking
1279
00:55:51.235 –> 00:55:52.235
to get to that next tier.
1280
00:55:53.765 –> 00:55:55.905
And then, you know, we, you know, you go from there,
1281
00:55:57.415 –> 00:55:58.415
Jen.
1282
00:55:59.755 –> 00:56:02.455
Yes. How often should you be updating new
1283
00:56:02.455 –> 00:56:03.615
copy on your website?
1284
00:56:05.325 –> 00:56:07.665
Uh, um, some people I think update it too much.
1285
00:56:07.965 –> 00:56:10.545
Um, some people never update it. Um,
1286
00:56:11.725 –> 00:56:13.265
He told me, I, I tried to update.
1287
00:56:13.325 –> 00:56:14.585
He just said, relax,
1288
00:56:15.245 –> 00:56:16.585
You gotta sit long.
1289
00:56:16.885 –> 00:56:20.105
I’m reading that. Um, you know, I’ll have some,
1290
00:56:20.115 –> 00:56:21.145
every time you go out
1291
00:56:21.145 –> 00:56:24.165
and speak, someone will say something like,
1292
00:56:24.185 –> 00:56:25.485
oh, you should include this.
1293
00:56:25.485 –> 00:56:26.925
And like, oh, brilliant. I need to do that,
1294
00:56:26.925 –> 00:56:28.125
or I need to add another topic.
1295
00:56:28.905 –> 00:56:32.955
Um, I think a,
1296
00:56:34.495 –> 00:56:36.915
you know, a lot of that is just you’re trying stuff.
1297
00:56:36.915 –> 00:56:38.475
You’re not sure what’s working, what’s not working.
1298
00:56:38.575 –> 00:56:41.955
And so you’ve gotta give what you have a chance
1299
00:56:42.095 –> 00:56:43.275
to see if it works or not.
1300
00:56:44.135 –> 00:56:48.515
Get feedback from like, when you get booked, ask them what,
1301
00:56:48.985 –> 00:56:51.675
what worked on your web, like what they resonated with.
1302
00:56:51.935 –> 00:56:55.945
Or, um, if you’re not getting booked
1303
00:56:55.945 –> 00:56:56.945
for a particular topic
1304
00:56:57.445 –> 00:56:58.745
and you’ve had it up there for a while,
1305
00:56:59.615 –> 00:57:01.145
then maybe it’s time to change it.
1306
00:57:01.315 –> 00:57:05.355
Right? Um, if, you know, we’re going
1307
00:57:05.355 –> 00:57:06.755
through a time right now where a lot
1308
00:57:06.755 –> 00:57:08.195
of things are changing, right?
1309
00:57:08.455 –> 00:57:11.115
Um, you know, I’ve had a lot of, uh, clients
1310
00:57:11.185 –> 00:57:12.435
that speak in DEI
1311
00:57:12.435 –> 00:57:13.915
that have called me over the last year
1312
00:57:13.915 –> 00:57:15.155
saying, well, you gotta tweak some stuff.
1313
00:57:15.375 –> 00:57:17.155
So there might be times when it’s like, whether you want
1314
00:57:17.155 –> 00:57:19.275
to change it or not, you gotta change it
1315
00:57:20.055 –> 00:57:21.795
and you just gotta adapt to that.
1316
00:57:22.655 –> 00:57:27.555
Um, but I wouldn’t change your core content very often.
1317
00:57:27.615 –> 00:57:30.475
If, if you’re happy with it, once you’re happy with it
1318
00:57:30.475 –> 00:57:32.675
and it’s, and you’ve spent a lot of time going through it
1319
00:57:32.675 –> 00:57:34.235
and you feel confident that it’s doing
1320
00:57:34.545 –> 00:57:36.235
that job, then let it do it.
1321
00:57:36.235 –> 00:57:39.195
Like let it sit. And then the content that you want
1322
00:57:39.195 –> 00:57:43.275
to add would be, you know, articles, posts, videos like
1323
00:57:43.275 –> 00:57:45.035
that, external content that sort of,
1324
00:57:45.035 –> 00:57:48.075
but I wouldn’t tweak your core content very often.
1325
00:57:49.175 –> 00:57:52.715
And would you update the articles weekly, like biweekly?
1326
00:57:56.385 –> 00:57:58.055
Again, this is all like, it depends.
1327
00:57:58.555 –> 00:58:00.135
Um, that’s sort of a bigger question.
1328
00:58:00.405 –> 00:58:05.375
Like do you have a decent following to your,
1329
00:58:05.445 –> 00:58:06.695
your article content?
1330
00:58:09.205 –> 00:58:13.385
Yes. Um, how,
1331
00:58:13.385 –> 00:58:15.545
what’s your current frequency that you’re putting stuff out
1332
00:58:16.385 –> 00:58:17.385
A week? I
1333
00:58:17.385 –> 00:58:18.425
just wanna make sure I’m fine.
1334
00:58:18.625 –> 00:58:19.785
’cause everyone says with AI
1335
00:58:19.785 –> 00:58:21.145
that you could be doing it daily.
1336
00:58:21.285 –> 00:58:23.145
And that seems insane to me.
1337
00:58:23.685 –> 00:58:25.705
Um, to too put out that much content
1338
00:58:26.445 –> 00:58:27.445
Day least too much. No one’s
1339
00:58:27.445 –> 00:58:28.425
gonna read all that.
1340
00:58:28.685 –> 00:58:31.545
Um, I think weekly, if you’re doing it weekly consistently,
1341
00:58:31.545 –> 00:58:32.705
then you’re better than most.
1342
00:58:33.085 –> 00:58:37.325
Um, I, you know, and then be careful with AI
1343
00:58:37.325 –> 00:58:40.325
because while it can do it quickly, it’s like,
1344
00:58:40.335 –> 00:58:41.805
where do you think it’s getting it from?
1345
00:58:42.715 –> 00:58:44.255
You know, it’s getting it all from the web.
1346
00:58:44.675 –> 00:58:48.655
So how are you going to get indexed in SEO when you’re just,
1347
00:58:48.885 –> 00:58:51.095
it’s sort of regurgitating back what’s already.
1348
00:58:51.475 –> 00:58:55.695
So be careful. Like in, I’ll tell you, here’s
1349
00:58:55.695 –> 00:58:57.695
how I’ll write articles and I’ll use AI to do it.
1350
00:58:58.675 –> 00:59:02.215
I’ll have an idea and either I’ll have a friend,
1351
00:59:02.245 –> 00:59:03.295
someone I work with
1352
00:59:03.715 –> 00:59:04.775
and say, Hey, you got time
1353
00:59:04.775 –> 00:59:06.815
to jump on like a 20 minute zoom call.
1354
00:59:06.815 –> 00:59:08.335
Or I’ll just jump on Zoom myself
1355
00:59:08.905 –> 00:59:10.735
after I’ve sort of written out some core
1356
00:59:10.975 –> 00:59:12.015
questions that I’d want to answer.
1357
00:59:12.035 –> 00:59:13.055
And I’ll kind of go through it
1358
00:59:13.075 –> 00:59:15.615
and I’ll talk it out while I’m recording on Zoom.
1359
00:59:16.525 –> 00:59:19.855
Then I download the transcript, then I put that into AI
1360
00:59:19.955 –> 00:59:22.405
and say, okay, this is an idea that I’m having.
1361
00:59:22.765 –> 00:59:23.765
I want you to leverage
1362
00:59:23.765 –> 00:59:25.805
what I’m talking about here to come up with.
1363
00:59:26.345 –> 00:59:29.925
And then I’ve, I’ve already sort of planted a seed of
1364
00:59:30.485 –> 00:59:33.085
authenticity and originality in that.
1365
00:59:33.465 –> 00:59:34.685
So it’s not just going out
1366
00:59:34.685 –> 00:59:37.325
and searching for what all these other people said about it.
1367
00:59:37.925 –> 00:59:40.685
I had a chance to say my thoughts and my perspective
1368
00:59:40.745 –> 00:59:42.085
and whatever and it will embed.
1369
00:59:42.225 –> 00:59:45.955
So that way, even though AI’s writing it, it’s using
1370
00:59:47.095 –> 00:59:48.395
my my thoughts
1371
00:59:48.395 –> 00:59:50.515
to write it not something it went out and searched for.
1372
00:59:51.065 –> 00:59:54.475
Love that. Thank you. Yeah, that is genius Mark Kenny.
1373
00:59:54.495 –> 00:59:57.155
That’s how we got where we got yesterday. Mm-hmm.
1374
00:59:57.975 –> 00:59:59.475
So when I talk, when we’re talking
1375
00:59:59.935 –> 01:00:01.755
and pulling all this stuff outta you guys,
1376
01:00:02.495 –> 01:00:05.115
you say brilliant things that you don’t even know you say.
1377
01:00:05.895 –> 01:00:07.195
And that’s what I started doing
1378
01:00:07.195 –> 01:00:09.155
with the coaching. Thanks to Ben.
1379
01:00:09.425 –> 01:00:11.915
Another tip, and I’m probably giving away to me.
1380
01:00:12.135 –> 01:00:13.555
No, don’t give it away. They need to,
1381
01:00:13.555 –> 01:00:14.755
they need everything they can get.
1382
01:00:15.425 –> 01:00:18.755
Yeah. Um, and I got this from another speaker.
1383
01:00:19.295 –> 01:00:20.595
Um, you’ve probably heard this then
1384
01:00:20.795 –> 01:00:22.475
’cause it’s probably going around, but creating your,
1385
01:00:22.505 –> 01:00:26.675
your virtual oh advisory board that’s really cool on,
1386
01:00:26.695 –> 01:00:30.435
on Chatt BT So for me, it’s marketing people, right?
1387
01:00:30.455 –> 01:00:33.075
So I’ll look at someone who’s got more of an SEO background,
1388
01:00:33.075 –> 01:00:35.555
someone that’s got a personal branding mark,
1389
01:00:35.775 –> 01:00:37.035
you know, uh, background.
1390
01:00:37.035 –> 01:00:38.795
Someone like that are, you know,
1391
01:00:38.795 –> 01:00:41.795
it could be like Rory Vaden, Seth Godden, like these people
1392
01:00:41.825 –> 01:00:45.715
that are sort of the, the, the experts in those fields.
1393
01:00:46.535 –> 01:00:50.635
You tell Chad GBT that you want to create a advisory board
1394
01:00:51.055 –> 01:00:53.275
and you ask it to like, who would be of all this list
1395
01:00:53.275 –> 01:00:55.155
of people, like who would be the best
1396
01:00:55.155 –> 01:00:56.315
to be on my board and why?
1397
01:00:56.775 –> 01:00:57.835
And then you could look at like
1398
01:00:57.835 –> 01:00:58.955
what they’re gonna bring to the table.
1399
01:00:59.105 –> 01:01:00.155
Pick like five of them
1400
01:01:00.155 –> 01:01:02.035
and say, okay, going forward, this is my board.
1401
01:01:02.505 –> 01:01:04.515
Then any question you ask, you could say,
1402
01:01:05.135 –> 01:01:07.555
how would my board think about this from each
1403
01:01:07.555 –> 01:01:08.595
of their perspectives and why?
1404
01:01:08.655 –> 01:01:09.995
And it’ll, instead of just giving you one
1405
01:01:09.995 –> 01:01:11.195
answer, it’ll give you five.
1406
01:01:11.385 –> 01:01:14.515
Like Rory says blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, this one.
1407
01:01:14.535 –> 01:01:16.755
And then you’ve got all these different sort
1408
01:01:16.755 –> 01:01:18.395
of angles at how you’re looking at something.
1409
01:01:19.335 –> 01:01:20.595
That’s been pretty helpful to me.
1410
01:01:21.535 –> 01:01:23.515
How, how do you keep that board in there?
1411
01:01:24.615 –> 01:01:26.795
Uh, if you’re paying for chat DPT it
1412
01:01:27.105 –> 01:01:28.635
just remembers from all your chats.
1413
01:01:28.635 –> 01:01:30.915
Like it, it puts it in the memory. Got
1414
01:01:31.115 –> 01:01:32.115
It. Yeah.
1415
01:01:32.115 –> 01:01:32.115
1416
01:01:36.055 –> 01:01:37.235
You’re, you’re muted.
1417
01:01:38.075 –> 01:01:39.495
Um, Karen, you’re muted.
1418
01:01:39.715 –> 01:01:41.135
Um, I’m blabbing away here.
1419
01:01:41.665 –> 01:01:44.055
These are just little amazing tips
1420
01:01:45.025 –> 01:01:47.875
that can just get your content better,
1421
01:01:48.255 –> 01:01:49.835
but it can also get your keynote better.
1422
01:01:50.035 –> 01:01:52.435
’cause you start to look at other ways other, you start
1423
01:01:52.435 –> 01:01:54.115
to bring in how other people are thinking
1424
01:01:54.815 –> 01:01:56.035
and you go, I like that idea
1425
01:01:57.385 –> 01:01:58.385
For that advisory board. You
1426
01:01:58.385 –> 01:02:00.565
gotta pick someone that’s pretty well known so that
1427
01:02:00.595 –> 01:02:01.765
that way it has a lot of cop.
1428
01:02:01.765 –> 01:02:02.845
Like, if it’s so
1429
01:02:02.845 –> 01:02:04.165
Just like Brene Brown
1430
01:02:04.225 –> 01:02:06.405
or how would Brene Brown look at emotions?
1431
01:02:06.635 –> 01:02:08.965
Yeah. How would Brene Brown handle this situation?
1432
01:02:09.435 –> 01:02:12.245
It’s just interesting just to see it. It’s a lot of fun.
1433
01:02:13.805 –> 01:02:16.545
We got that from Ben. Okay. Mark. Mark.
1434
01:02:16.645 –> 01:02:18.365
One more question, two more
1435
01:02:18.565 –> 01:02:19.565
Question. Um,
1436
01:02:19.565 –> 01:02:23.775
you said invest in photos before your website.
1437
01:02:24.555 –> 01:02:26.055
So if you have a lot of good photos,
1438
01:02:26.235 –> 01:02:27.255
but you feel like you’re,
1439
01:02:28.035 –> 01:02:29.375
you don’t have all the good photos.
1440
01:02:29.715 –> 01:02:32.655
Do you have any advice as to, uh, how
1441
01:02:32.655 –> 01:02:34.945
to quickly close that gap?
1442
01:02:34.975 –> 01:02:36.185
Like how, how would you do that?
1443
01:02:36.245 –> 01:02:37.305
Um, obviously there’s speaking
1444
01:02:37.325 –> 01:02:38.865
and having somebody take pictures
1445
01:02:38.865 –> 01:02:40.065
of you while you’re speaking, but do you
1446
01:02:40.065 –> 01:02:41.185
ever stage photos or,
1447
01:02:41.725 –> 01:02:42.725
That’s a great question. That was
1448
01:02:42.725 –> 01:02:43.745
something I wanted to address.
1449
01:02:43.965 –> 01:02:45.145
So thank you for bringing that up.
1450
01:02:45.285 –> 01:02:48.615
Um, I’ve seen it work and I’ve seen it not work.
1451
01:02:49.235 –> 01:02:53.695
Um, it depends on how you are in front of a camera, right?
1452
01:02:53.795 –> 01:02:55.975
And it depends on how you can get that background.
1453
01:02:56.005 –> 01:02:59.095
Like if I, if even like on a, a green screen
1454
01:02:59.195 –> 01:03:02.495
or in a studio, like I can put a background behind you
1455
01:03:02.565 –> 01:03:06.655
that feels like have lighting coming from different places
1456
01:03:06.795 –> 01:03:09.255
and use texture to make it feel like there’s an audience.
1457
01:03:09.255 –> 01:03:11.695
Even that, like you see sort of shadow of a silhouette web
1458
01:03:11.695 –> 01:03:15.015
of an audience and you know, you can make it feel realistic,
1459
01:03:16.235 –> 01:03:19.935
but if some people look very stiff when they know it’s
1460
01:03:19.935 –> 01:03:22.175
staged and it’s like, even though that looks good,
1461
01:03:22.235 –> 01:03:23.815
you’re, it doesn’t look real.
1462
01:03:24.795 –> 01:03:28.895
So, um, you know,
1463
01:03:28.895 –> 01:03:31.295
holding a microphone is not probably how you are.
1464
01:03:31.315 –> 01:03:35.015
So like, try to make it as realistic of how you would be
1465
01:03:35.015 –> 01:03:36.455
and then just try to get loose.
1466
01:03:36.615 –> 01:03:38.055
I mean, it’s hard when someone says, okay,
1467
01:03:38.055 –> 01:03:40.375
now pretend you’re on stage saying something right
1468
01:03:40.375 –> 01:03:42.975
and spiteful and you’re like, oh, like it just feels staged.
1469
01:03:43.485 –> 01:03:45.135
Some people can make it work, some can’t.
1470
01:03:45.235 –> 01:03:48.455
If you can, I’ve definitely seen it bridge the gap
1471
01:03:49.075 –> 01:03:50.415
and then what happens then you get,
1472
01:03:50.415 –> 01:03:54.375
and you just replace those as you get ones you like better.
1473
01:03:56.145 –> 01:03:59.085
But that’s really I think an up to up to
1474
01:03:59.105 –> 01:04:00.525
how you can be in front of a camera.
1475
01:04:03.685 –> 01:04:06.785
To that point, one thing that COVID did was sort of
1476
01:04:07.705 –> 01:04:10.115
normalize studio shots, right?
1477
01:04:10.115 –> 01:04:11.555
Where I think in the past everyone felt
1478
01:04:11.555 –> 01:04:12.955
everything had to be of them on stage.
1479
01:04:13.335 –> 01:04:14.555
That’s true. You know,
1480
01:04:14.555 –> 01:04:17.795
having good studio shots are also very useful.
1481
01:04:17.815 –> 01:04:19.315
And then just using a mix of them.
1482
01:04:19.555 –> 01:04:20.915
’cause again, it’s about your personality.
1483
01:04:21.425 –> 01:04:23.075
They want to know you’ve been on stage
1484
01:04:23.095 –> 01:04:26.075
and that’s sort of that authority to show those stage shots.
1485
01:04:26.815 –> 01:04:28.555
But if your stage shots aren’t great
1486
01:04:28.555 –> 01:04:30.875
and you wanna make ’em smaller on the screen, so
1487
01:04:31.035 –> 01:04:32.395
’cause the the quality isn’t great,
1488
01:04:32.735 –> 01:04:34.955
but you need to have that then, then have really,
1489
01:04:35.065 –> 01:04:38.075
like whatever you the, that gap is,
1490
01:04:39.095 –> 01:04:41.225
make sure you’ve got something to counterbalance that.
1491
01:04:41.245 –> 01:04:43.105
So if your stage shots, you have them,
1492
01:04:43.105 –> 01:04:44.825
but they’re not the best quality, you’re not,
1493
01:04:44.975 –> 01:04:49.305
then get really good studio shots to, to balance that out.
1494
01:04:49.305 –> 01:04:50.305
Right.
1495
01:04:54.905 –> 01:04:59.155
I think we’re good. Is there something, um, that you,
1496
01:04:59.265 –> 01:05:00.595
does anybody have another question
1497
01:05:00.735 –> 01:05:03.155
before I ask them to kind of close it down?
1498
01:05:04.225 –> 01:05:05.235
Fine. I have one more.
1499
01:05:05.335 –> 01:05:07.435
Should you make it interactive or not?
1500
01:05:07.755 –> 01:05:09.155
Actually, I’m just gonna be talking to you anyways,
1501
01:05:09.155 –> 01:05:10.155
so I don’t even know why this matters.
1502
01:05:10.295 –> 01:05:15.215
But like, you have a flat one or should it be interactive or
1503
01:05:15.965 –> 01:05:17.365
What do you mean by interactive?
1504
01:05:18.065 –> 01:05:19.285
The whatever it asks.
1505
01:05:19.285 –> 01:05:22.445
Like when just having movement in it. Yeah.
1506
01:05:22.585 –> 01:05:24.645
Um, when you’re seeing it, like, does that matter
1507
01:05:24.645 –> 01:05:26.005
because I, I don’t have a lot
1508
01:05:26.005 –> 01:05:27.685
of movement built into my sites,
1509
01:05:28.025 –> 01:05:30.445
but does that matter if it’s static?
1510
01:05:30.545 –> 01:05:31.925
Is that the word static versus
1511
01:05:33.105 –> 01:05:34.105
No. Okay. But I get what you
1512
01:05:34.105 –> 01:05:35.165
mean. I, when you say interact,
1513
01:05:35.285 –> 01:05:37.325
I wasn’t sure if it’s like a chat bot
1514
01:05:37.355 –> 01:05:39.565
that like you’re talking like Right.
1515
01:05:39.665 –> 01:05:44.385
But what you mean, you know, more animated, I guess,
1516
01:05:44.485 –> 01:05:45.945
or like using animations
1517
01:05:45.945 –> 01:05:48.025
and using, okay, so again,
1518
01:05:48.185 –> 01:05:50.385
I you’re gonna hate these answers ’cause it’s like, it depends.
1519
01:05:50.805 –> 01:05:54.985
Um, I’ve seen it done well and I’ll use movement.
1520
01:05:55.175 –> 01:05:58.145
I’ll, so for example, um, Tammy Evans, again,
1521
01:05:58.565 –> 01:05:59.625
her whole thing’s levity.
1522
01:06:00.005 –> 01:06:02.505
So I wanted things to feel like it
1523
01:06:02.505 –> 01:06:03.585
was light and it was moving.
1524
01:06:03.685 –> 01:06:05.065
And so I could have a background,
1525
01:06:05.065 –> 01:06:07.225
but I, I like to do it subtly, right?
1526
01:06:07.345 –> 01:06:09.425
I don’t, you know, there’s some sites that I’ve looked at
1527
01:06:09.445 –> 01:06:12.125
of, you know, I, I just, that’s my,
1528
01:06:13.025 –> 01:06:15.005
my weird hobby now is looking at speaker sites,
1529
01:06:15.505 –> 01:06:17.565
but I have a collection of them that I’ll look at.
1530
01:06:18.145 –> 01:06:21.485
And there’s some that just went a little too far trying
1531
01:06:21.485 –> 01:06:23.685
to do really cool stuff with animation that
1532
01:06:23.685 –> 01:06:25.525
as I’m scrolling it can get glitchy
1533
01:06:25.545 –> 01:06:28.165
or it doesn’t always like, oh, why did it jump like that?
1534
01:06:28.305 –> 01:06:33.245
Or it just feels noisy or, that’s where you gotta be careful
1535
01:06:33.345 –> 01:06:38.205
and edit to where the, the trick doesn’t take over.
1536
01:06:38.345 –> 01:06:41.325
You know, you don’t want the frame again, overpowering the,
1537
01:06:41.345 –> 01:06:42.365
the picture inside.
1538
01:06:43.105 –> 01:06:44.365
Um, so I would use it,
1539
01:06:44.365 –> 01:06:48.965
but use it in a way that’s, that feels seamless, right?
1540
01:06:48.985 –> 01:06:51.885
So if it feels heavy then, then, or, or,
1541
01:06:51.885 –> 01:06:55.605
or like, like it’s taking over, then I’d be skeptical.
1542
01:06:55.625 –> 01:06:56.845
But again, these are my opinions.
1543
01:06:57.075 –> 01:07:01.995
I’ve seen it work, I’ve seen people do it. But um, yep.
1544
01:07:05.625 –> 01:07:08.715
Everybody wants a way to differentiate with their website
1545
01:07:08.815 –> 01:07:10.715
to not be the typical speaker website.
1546
01:07:10.775 –> 01:07:13.155
And so I think that’s really where you’re going, Jen, is
1547
01:07:13.155 –> 01:07:15.355
to say, how do I break out of that?
1548
01:07:16.185 –> 01:07:18.435
This isn’t the standard typical
1549
01:07:19.425 –> 01:07:23.465
speaker website structure mold.
1550
01:07:25.065 –> 01:07:26.465
I think you’re giving me way too much credit.
1551
01:07:26.965 –> 01:07:29.625
I’m just, I’m just trying to think like, do,
1552
01:07:30.145 –> 01:07:31.505
I mean a lot of you’re thinking about that.
1553
01:07:31.815 –> 01:07:33.705
Like, how do I stand out from that?
1554
01:07:33.725 –> 01:07:36.185
And I would just be careful the way you, the the way not
1555
01:07:36.185 –> 01:07:38.225
to stand out would be what I said at the beginning,
1556
01:07:38.225 –> 01:07:40.065
like reinventing the wheel with the structure
1557
01:07:40.525 –> 01:07:44.065
and trying to build the non-speaker speaker site.
1558
01:07:44.385 –> 01:07:46.065
I think that just in the end, while it could
1559
01:07:46.935 –> 01:07:49.345
look visually cool, it might end up confusing
1560
01:07:49.485 –> 01:07:52.745
and doing more damage because I don’t know how to book you
1561
01:07:52.745 –> 01:07:54.025
or I don’t really understand what this is.
1562
01:07:54.085 –> 01:07:59.045
How do I navigate it? So really it’s, it’s a lot
1563
01:07:59.045 –> 01:08:00.925
of the, the visual elements
1564
01:08:00.925 –> 01:08:04.355
that are gonna Yeah.
1565
01:08:04.465 –> 01:08:05.465
Carl.
1566
01:08:06.135 –> 01:08:07.985
Yeah. Ben, can you tell us a little bit more, maybe some
1567
01:08:07.985 –> 01:08:11.195
of your top tips, uh, thoughts about, uh,
1568
01:08:11.385 –> 01:08:13.795
your StoryBrand book or the StoryBrand approach?
1569
01:08:15.395 –> 01:08:17.125
Yeah, um, that’s right. Sorry.
1570
01:08:17.145 –> 01:08:19.885
You, you brought that, um, I kinda deviated from that,
1571
01:08:19.905 –> 01:08:24.265
but, um, I mean to boil it down,
1572
01:08:24.925 –> 01:08:25.945
um, and then maybe it’s,
1573
01:08:26.025 –> 01:08:27.585
’cause I’ve been doing it for a long time
1574
01:08:27.605 –> 01:08:31.265
and it’s, it’s, it’s a framework that, um,
1575
01:08:31.795 –> 01:08:33.985
helps structure how you write content that
1576
01:08:33.985 –> 01:08:35.585
that can sell, right?
1577
01:08:35.925 –> 01:08:36.945
And I think a lot of,
1578
01:08:37.045 –> 01:08:38.425
and most speakers, I don’t know,
1579
01:08:38.425 –> 01:08:41.025
even if you know you’re doing it or you’re just doing it
1580
01:08:41.025 –> 01:08:43.785
because that’s the trend, the trend has been lately
1581
01:08:44.005 –> 01:08:47.465
to follow more of a copywriting StoryBrand style,
1582
01:08:47.795 –> 01:08:49.385
which is leading with the problem.
1583
01:08:49.595 –> 01:08:51.905
Don’t make yourself the hero. Right?
1584
01:08:52.285 –> 01:08:54.865
Um, and I think most speakers, websites
1585
01:08:54.865 –> 01:08:58.665
that I’ve seen now really do emphasize that the thing that I
1586
01:09:00.605 –> 01:09:02.975
sort of like, I don’t do everything from StoryBrand
1587
01:09:02.975 –> 01:09:05.975
because it, it’s not a perfect fit to the speaking industry.
1588
01:09:06.355 –> 01:09:09.855
You, I mean, as a speaker, you are gonna be the thing that’s
1589
01:09:09.855 –> 01:09:11.015
above the fold where they
1590
01:09:11.015 –> 01:09:12.135
would say, put your audience there.
1591
01:09:12.245 –> 01:09:13.255
It’s like, that doesn’t make sense.
1592
01:09:13.605 –> 01:09:14.975
Like, I’m not, like,
1593
01:09:14.975 –> 01:09:16.255
I’m not gonna get hired if I put a picture
1594
01:09:16.255 –> 01:09:17.775
of my audience above the fold.
1595
01:09:17.835 –> 01:09:19.375
I’m gonna get hired if, if you see me.
1596
01:09:19.755 –> 01:09:21.535
So there’s certain rules, if you follow a
1597
01:09:21.535 –> 01:09:22.655
StoryBrand, you’re gonna have to break.
1598
01:09:23.355 –> 01:09:27.765
Um, the other thing with StoryBrand,
1599
01:09:27.785 –> 01:09:30.005
if you read the book and you follow it, it’s very easy
1600
01:09:30.825 –> 01:09:33.335
to do the formula.
1601
01:09:34.275 –> 01:09:35.455
And it’s like, okay,
1602
01:09:35.525 –> 01:09:37.335
this sounds good ’cause I followed the formula.
1603
01:09:37.575 –> 01:09:39.935
I check all the boxes, I have the, the problem,
1604
01:09:40.095 –> 01:09:41.655
I have the solution, I have what’s at stake.
1605
01:09:41.815 –> 01:09:45.105
I have the, but when you really look at it,
1606
01:09:45.485 –> 01:09:46.505
it, it’s at the surface.
1607
01:09:46.615 –> 01:09:47.705
Like you didn’t go very deep.
1608
01:09:47.735 –> 01:09:51.945
Like if you’re gonna use StoryBrand, like really try
1609
01:09:52.025 –> 01:09:54.825
and make the problem you solve, go as deep as you can so
1610
01:09:54.825 –> 01:09:57.145
that it, then what’s gonna happen is it’s gonna open
1611
01:09:57.145 –> 01:09:58.305
up, it’s gonna be a a problem.
1612
01:09:58.415 –> 01:09:59.865
It’s gonna be the problem that the
1613
01:09:59.865 –> 01:10:01.065
problem is based on, right?
1614
01:10:01.065 –> 01:10:04.905
They’re gonna go, oh, you’re not just saying, um, you know,
1615
01:10:04.905 –> 01:10:05.985
people are burnout and stressed at
1616
01:10:05.985 –> 01:10:07.065
work, which leads to this.
1617
01:10:07.065 –> 01:10:10.545
It’s like everybody’s saying that, right? Go deeper.
1618
01:10:11.255 –> 01:10:14.665
Like what does that really mean to the, to the individuals,
1619
01:10:14.685 –> 01:10:16.625
to the corporation to like try
1620
01:10:16.625 –> 01:10:18.945
and really think about it and present it.
1621
01:10:19.045 –> 01:10:20.905
Not just saying the thing that,
1622
01:10:21.345 –> 01:10:22.425
’cause that’s what everyone’s gonna say.
1623
01:10:24.595 –> 01:10:26.655
That’s the hard part. That’s the hard part. Can I,
1624
01:10:26.755 –> 01:10:28.015
Can I ask one quick follow on?
1625
01:10:28.075 –> 01:10:30.335
It shouldn’t take less than a minute. Yeah.
1626
01:10:30.475 –> 01:10:33.215
Uh, can you say something about commercial value?
1627
01:10:33.315 –> 01:10:35.215
How, of course, like an SEO you know,
1628
01:10:35.215 –> 01:10:36.855
there’s this thing about buyer intent.
1629
01:10:37.045 –> 01:10:39.735
What keywords have the buyer intent versus just being
1630
01:10:39.735 –> 01:10:41.695
general information gathering?
1631
01:10:42.235 –> 01:10:45.575
So how do you, how do you, uh, you’re into content.
1632
01:10:45.655 –> 01:10:47.495
I have a feeling you’re, you’re kind of a word nerd
1633
01:10:47.495 –> 01:10:48.855
and all that and I’m too,
1634
01:10:49.675 –> 01:10:54.215
and um, so how do you get down to knowing you’ve got
1635
01:10:54.915 –> 01:10:56.575
the good like commercial value?
1636
01:10:56.775 –> 01:10:58.375
I, I’ve asked chat GPT
1637
01:10:58.375 –> 01:11:00.535
and Gemini, you know, I ask them that sometimes.
1638
01:11:00.605 –> 01:11:02.455
Tell me which
1639
01:11:03.075 –> 01:11:05.495
of these choices has the best commercial value.
1640
01:11:06.475 –> 01:11:08.855
What’s, what is your compass on that, please?
1641
01:11:10.915 –> 01:11:14.325
A lot of that is gut. So as, I mean from my perspective,
1642
01:11:15.185 –> 01:11:18.245
if you come to me, you know, you’re hiring me
1643
01:11:19.595 –> 01:11:23.015
to do your speaker website and messaging and,
1644
01:11:24.035 –> 01:11:25.535
but I’m not a speaker coach.
1645
01:11:25.605 –> 01:11:29.105
Like, I’m not gonna say to you, I might, I might say,
1646
01:11:29.325 –> 01:11:32.465
you know, hey, that topic, we might need to reframe
1647
01:11:32.565 –> 01:11:33.705
how we do it if you want it.
1648
01:11:33.705 –> 01:11:35.785
But, but overall, your topic’s, your topic,
1649
01:11:35.885 –> 01:11:38.345
I’m not gonna tell you that that topic’s not, so
1650
01:11:39.495 –> 01:11:42.715
I’m not looking at it to say, is this commercially viable?
1651
01:11:42.815 –> 01:11:45.155
That’s, that’s, that’s you’re, you’re the speaker.
1652
01:11:45.215 –> 01:11:46.275
You picked that topic, right?
1653
01:11:46.815 –> 01:11:50.635
And so I’m gonna try and frame it as best I can knowing
1654
01:11:50.745 –> 01:11:52.235
what I know about industry.
1655
01:11:52.335 –> 01:11:54.115
That’s more what I mean is like how would you,
1656
01:11:54.615 –> 01:11:58.515
how would you spin it, you know, toward
1657
01:11:58.545 –> 01:12:00.515
what people are looking for. Gimme
1658
01:12:00.735 –> 01:12:01.875
You gotta have your ear to the ground.
1659
01:12:02.155 –> 01:12:03.715
I mean, it’s just listening. So I have a lot
1660
01:12:03.715 –> 01:12:04.835
of friends that are in corporate.
1661
01:12:04.915 –> 01:12:06.315
I listen to what they complain about.
1662
01:12:06.435 –> 01:12:07.595
I listen to what they talk about.
1663
01:12:07.775 –> 01:12:11.355
My wife is a head of HR at a oil and gas company.
1664
01:12:11.555 –> 01:12:15.315
I hear what she talks about, listen to podcasts, listen to
1665
01:12:16.185 –> 01:12:19.515
just pick up on the things that are happening out there.
1666
01:12:19.855 –> 01:12:22.075
And it’s a lot of it is sort of intuitive.
1667
01:12:22.145 –> 01:12:25.755
Like it’s, it’s, it’s like if you see this is happening,
1668
01:12:25.755 –> 01:12:28.875
then you, what’s the next logical thing
1669
01:12:28.875 –> 01:12:29.995
that’s gonna go wrong, right?
1670
01:12:30.215 –> 01:12:34.075
What’s the next, and I wouldn’t go too deep with it.
1671
01:12:34.075 –> 01:12:35.915
Most people, it’s like they’re not over,
1672
01:12:35.945 –> 01:12:37.475
they’re seeing what’s in front of ’em.
1673
01:12:37.475 –> 01:12:39.875
They’re not necessarily seeing five levels down.
1674
01:12:40.335 –> 01:12:41.915
And I mean, I guess that contradicts a little bit
1675
01:12:41.915 –> 01:12:43.635
what I said about the problem, but it’s really about
1676
01:12:44.145 –> 01:12:47.395
what the problem will lead to if you let it go.
1677
01:12:47.665 –> 01:12:48.915
Like what is gonna happen?
1678
01:12:49.745 –> 01:12:51.635
Make sure it hits emotions, right?
1679
01:12:51.705 –> 01:12:54.455
Make, but I,
1680
01:12:56.825 –> 01:12:58.945
I will say this about the problem.
1681
01:12:59.765 –> 01:13:01.825
If they’re coming to hire you to speak,
1682
01:13:02.455 –> 01:13:03.585
they know what their problem is.
1683
01:13:04.465 –> 01:13:07.955
Like they’re not all of a sudden going, we need a speaker.
1684
01:13:08.015 –> 01:13:10.355
And I don’t know, we’re gonna look at five different topics
1685
01:13:10.675 –> 01:13:11.795
’cause we’re not sure what our problem is.
1686
01:13:11.795 –> 01:13:13.795
Like if they’re looking for someone for retention
1687
01:13:13.935 –> 01:13:15.555
or they’re looking for someone for burnout,
1688
01:13:16.025 –> 01:13:17.155
they know that’s the problem.
1689
01:13:17.305 –> 01:13:18.355
What they want to know is
1690
01:13:18.355 –> 01:13:21.235
that you know why it’s a problem, right?
1691
01:13:21.235 –> 01:13:23.035
That you know what they’re struggling with.
1692
01:13:23.095 –> 01:13:24.835
So when you’re repeating that problem back, you don’t have
1693
01:13:24.835 –> 01:13:25.875
to sell ’em on the problem.
1694
01:13:26.735 –> 01:13:28.195
You just need to un let them know.
1695
01:13:28.255 –> 01:13:33.025
You understand empathetically how, you know,
1696
01:13:33.315 –> 01:13:37.345
being stuck in this problem is creating lots of additional
1697
01:13:37.975 –> 01:13:40.345
just fallout, right?
1698
01:13:40.765 –> 01:13:43.265
And that you get it and that you have a path forward.
1699
01:13:47.645 –> 01:13:50.605
Does that help? Yeah, that’s good.
1700
01:13:50.685 –> 01:13:52.925
I think if you were to follow a StoryBrand, Carl, it would
1701
01:13:53.685 –> 01:13:55.445
probably give you the impression that you need
1702
01:13:55.445 –> 01:13:56.845
to sell them on why they have a problem.
1703
01:13:56.915 –> 01:14:00.445
Like as a corporation, you know how, but, but,
1704
01:14:00.505 –> 01:14:02.245
but the problem is you can’t do it
1705
01:14:02.405 –> 01:14:03.725
’cause everybody’s, it’s like they get
1706
01:14:03.725 –> 01:14:05.045
that they know it, right?
1707
01:14:05.075 –> 01:14:07.925
Yeah. You just need to go, hey, when everybody’s like
1708
01:14:08.885 –> 01:14:11.085
stressed out and there’s conflict
1709
01:14:11.145 –> 01:14:14.005
and people are le you know, how are you
1710
01:14:14.005 –> 01:14:17.405
Even get, you know, like I could, I mean,
1711
01:14:17.405 –> 01:14:18.405
I can suffer on both sides.
1712
01:14:18.485 –> 01:14:19.885
I can suffer on overthinking it
1713
01:14:19.885 –> 01:14:23.325
and I can suffer on not connecting the dots enough and,
1714
01:14:23.385 –> 01:14:26.085
and uh, you know, I catch myself in that sometimes.
1715
01:14:26.595 –> 01:14:28.945
Yeah. Often maybe. And then,
1716
01:14:29.005 –> 01:14:31.425
and then Karen tells me, Hey, you’re, you’re overthinking it
1717
01:14:31.845 –> 01:14:32.985
or be clear.
1718
01:14:34.385 –> 01:14:37.545
I mean, ask them when you have your discovery calls,
1719
01:14:37.765 –> 01:14:39.665
ask them what the bi biggest challenges they’re facing
1720
01:14:39.665 –> 01:14:42.705
around your topic so that you get, I mean that’s really
1721
01:14:42.705 –> 01:14:43.545
where you’re gonna hear it from,
1722
01:14:43.565 –> 01:14:44.665
is you’re gonna hear it from your clients.
1723
01:14:46.535 –> 01:14:47.695
Absolutely. Great. Thank you so much.
1724
01:14:48.845 –> 01:14:50.185
So we have 15 minutes left.
1725
01:14:50.345 –> 01:14:51.585
I just wanna bring up one little thing
1726
01:14:51.705 –> 01:14:53.345
’cause we really have, you started on video
1727
01:14:54.045 –> 01:14:55.345
and then we went into all of this,
1728
01:14:55.345 –> 01:14:56.385
which is, you’ve been great.
1729
01:14:56.845 –> 01:15:00.105
But I wanna I wanna say something that, that you thought of
1730
01:15:00.105 –> 01:15:01.265
that has really helped me.
1731
01:15:02.355 –> 01:15:03.705
We’re trying to define ourselves.
1732
01:15:03.705 –> 01:15:05.345
We’re trying to differentiate who we are.
1733
01:15:05.465 –> 01:15:07.225
I mean, this is what I’ve been listening to the whole time.
1734
01:15:07.645 –> 01:15:09.145
You know, putting yourself out there.
1735
01:15:10.285 –> 01:15:13.745
Ben suggested that I put video clips on my homepage.
1736
01:15:14.425 –> 01:15:16.625
I think they’re on my homepage, three video clips.
1737
01:15:16.925 –> 01:15:20.025
And they are moments, they’re funny, they’re moments that,
1738
01:15:20.685 –> 01:15:22.465
um, they weren’t just videos of me.
1739
01:15:22.485 –> 01:15:23.505
We actually went in
1740
01:15:23.505 –> 01:15:25.305
and found cool little areas
1741
01:15:25.435 –> 01:15:27.825
where they differentiated me as a speaker.
1742
01:15:28.755 –> 01:15:30.665
Every time I speak they say, we just sat out
1743
01:15:30.665 –> 01:15:32.625
and we watched those videos and it’s those three,
1744
01:15:32.625 –> 01:15:35.465
those three little videos you put on my homepage. Yeah,
1745
01:15:35.465 –> 01:15:36.585
We need more. We got
1746
01:15:36.585 –> 01:15:37.585
More. They don’t, I know
1747
01:15:37.585 –> 01:15:38.145
he wants more,
1748
01:15:38.165 –> 01:15:40.545
but they’re not saying, I watched your demo video.
1749
01:15:40.545 –> 01:15:42.865
They’re wa they watched the three clips he put on,
1750
01:15:42.905 –> 01:15:44.305
I don’t have a video at the top.
1751
01:15:44.785 –> 01:15:46.985
I have a video of me being kind of fun
1752
01:15:47.215 –> 01:15:49.945
because I want you to know that you’re gonna hire me.
1753
01:15:49.945 –> 01:15:51.745
Everybody speaks on the generations,
1754
01:15:51.765 –> 01:15:53.505
but you’re gonna get a different viewpoint.
1755
01:15:53.845 –> 01:15:57.025
So we made a decision to put a different picture up there,
1756
01:15:57.395 –> 01:15:59.545
which has become my signature stupid
1757
01:15:59.545 –> 01:16:00.745
picture, but it’s me doing this.
1758
01:16:00.815 –> 01:16:03.385
They put it on every slide when they introduced me.
1759
01:16:04.045 –> 01:16:05.785
So obviously it meant something.
1760
01:16:05.915 –> 01:16:08.345
Watch what people are using, watch
1761
01:16:08.345 –> 01:16:10.505
what they’re pulling from your website. But,
1762
01:16:10.685 –> 01:16:14.665
But to you, to that point though, just like, again, that,
1763
01:16:14.665 –> 01:16:15.945
that’s just a perfect example
1764
01:16:15.945 –> 01:16:17.425
of it’s not a one size fits all.
1765
01:16:17.425 –> 01:16:18.665
Like right. A rule.
1766
01:16:19.045 –> 01:16:20.865
You always have a video, you always,
1767
01:16:21.335 –> 01:16:23.185
it’s just we leaned into
1768
01:16:24.195 –> 01:16:25.925
Personality That we had be that,
1769
01:16:25.925 –> 01:16:28.205
that picture we knew like that’s gonna,
1770
01:16:28.545 –> 01:16:30.325
and it’s like we have to have that, right?
1771
01:16:30.425 –> 01:16:33.085
So just, you’re gonna know when you’re looking at stuff,
1772
01:16:33.195 –> 01:16:36.125
what is the best you’ve got, like what pop, but look
1773
01:16:36.125 –> 01:16:40.405
For video clips of you being a unique and put them up.
1774
01:16:40.405 –> 01:16:42.445
Don’t be afraid to put them on your homepage. That’s,
1775
01:16:42.685 –> 01:16:44.365
I don’t know, you’ve probably heard about all this, uh,
1776
01:16:44.365 –> 01:16:46.845
but Opus clips is really good at that.
1777
01:16:46.905 –> 01:16:49.565
So if you take like, uh, like let’s say you get video,
1778
01:16:50.285 –> 01:16:52.725
a whole hour keynote, that was awesome.
1779
01:16:52.835 –> 01:16:54.765
Like, you were like, man, the, the audience was great.
1780
01:16:55.085 –> 01:16:56.765
I did take that raw video.
1781
01:16:57.945 –> 01:17:00.685
Um, opus clips, have y’all heard of that?
1782
01:17:00.865 –> 01:17:05.255
You can upload it there and it will just create clips
1783
01:17:05.355 –> 01:17:07.095
of across your entire keynote.
1784
01:17:07.515 –> 01:17:11.565
So you can end up with 18 clips where it’ll put the,
1785
01:17:11.665 –> 01:17:13.885
the cool little subtitles that pop up
1786
01:17:13.885 –> 01:17:15.325
that look like TikTok or whatever.
1787
01:17:15.495 –> 01:17:18.165
It’ll do all that for you. And then you just download ’em
1788
01:17:18.305 –> 01:17:20.045
and uh, you’re good.
1789
01:17:21.645 –> 01:17:24.085
I think that guys is such a smart way to go.
1790
01:17:24.195 –> 01:17:25.565
Just little things like this.
1791
01:17:27.095 –> 01:17:29.765
Well Ben, thanks for doing this.
1792
01:17:31.135 –> 01:17:32.735
I, uh, I think it’s important
1793
01:17:33.035 –> 01:17:34.295
and I think that, you know, just
1794
01:17:34.295 –> 01:17:37.095
because you’re related to me, I think you’re the best.
1795
01:17:38.235 –> 01:17:41.335
Um, so anyway, I I I wanted to bring ’em in
1796
01:17:41.495 –> 01:17:43.175
’cause I felt like you’d hear the truth about,
1797
01:17:43.175 –> 01:17:44.415
about, uh, websites.
1798
01:17:44.995 –> 01:17:48.055
So, um, any closing words you wanna say?
1799
01:17:50.145 –> 01:17:51.835
Just, uh, you might be able to tell.
1800
01:17:51.835 –> 01:17:54.315
I love talking about this kind of stuff, so if anybody wants
1801
01:17:54.315 –> 01:17:56.715
to just have additional questions, I think Jen,
1802
01:17:56.715 –> 01:17:57.835
you were talking about, you know
1803
01:17:57.905 –> 01:17:58.905
Yeah. What’s your contact
1804
01:17:58.905 –> 01:17:59.355
info?
1805
01:18:00.095 –> 01:18:01.915
Um, right, so my website,
1806
01:18:01.935 –> 01:18:05.275
it is McCree marketing group.com.
1807
01:18:05.415 –> 01:18:09.395
So M-C-R-E-A marketing group.com.
1808
01:18:09.535 –> 01:18:10.915
You can schedule a call from there.
1809
01:18:11.415 –> 01:18:13.515
You don’t have like, if you just want to talk
1810
01:18:13.515 –> 01:18:14.675
and ask questions and,
1811
01:18:14.735 –> 01:18:17.315
and have a call, I’m happy to, to do that.
1812
01:18:17.315 –> 01:18:19.435
Right. So don’t feel obligated that we have to.
1813
01:18:19.825 –> 01:18:24.315
He’s a talker. Yeah. So I like talking to speakers.
1814
01:18:24.895 –> 01:18:26.515
You know, that’s another thing, Carl, that’s
1815
01:18:26.515 –> 01:18:27.835
how I get my perspectives as well.
1816
01:18:28.985 –> 01:18:32.945
I speak to speakers all day, so I hear what every I get.
1817
01:18:33.145 –> 01:18:34.345
I, you know, I think that’s,
1818
01:18:34.345 –> 01:18:37.385
sometimes when you’re speaking it’s, it’s hard
1819
01:18:37.695 –> 01:18:39.945
because you’ve, you’re in one lane
1820
01:18:40.125 –> 01:18:42.865
and you’re not getting a lot of, I mean, I hear it
1821
01:18:44.265 –> 01:18:46.355
from all the different topics and what’s,
1822
01:18:46.415 –> 01:18:49.535
and so, you know, I I guess I didn’t think about it
1823
01:18:49.535 –> 01:18:51.015
that way, but I get a lot of perspectives.
1824
01:18:51.015 –> 01:18:53.095
Yeah, your your hands-on experience. Yeah.
1825
01:18:56.465 –> 01:18:58.805
So we’ll have this recording on the, on the site
1826
01:18:58.805 –> 01:19:00.125
so you can listen to it again if you want.
1827
01:19:00.125 –> 01:19:02.725
We’ll Ben, we’ll do that for, so we’ll have,
1828
01:19:03.065 –> 01:19:04.645
so he gets all of our clips up there.
1829
01:19:05.845 –> 01:19:10.845
M-C-C-R-E-A-M-C-C-R.
1830
01:19:11.615 –> 01:19:14.235
Yes. Uh, long story, when I first started this,
1831
01:19:14.555 –> 01:19:16.345
I was trying to hide it.
1832
01:19:16.345 –> 01:19:17.785
Like I didn’t, I didn’t own it.
1833
01:19:17.905 –> 01:19:19.665
I didn’t know if I was gonna go back to corporate,
1834
01:19:19.665 –> 01:19:23.725
so I just didn’t use my, my actual, like, everyone’s like,
1835
01:19:23.725 –> 01:19:25.045
why aren’t, why isn’t it Ben McCullough?
1836
01:19:25.045 –> 01:19:26.525
Or why isn’t it McCullough marketing?
1837
01:19:27.185 –> 01:19:29.885
Um, and this was even before I worked with speakers.
1838
01:19:29.925 –> 01:19:31.605
I was just doing websites. So
1839
01:19:32.345 –> 01:19:34.205
He didn’t wanna do these. I had to push him.
1840
01:19:34.425 –> 01:19:35.805
No, it took me like three years
1841
01:19:35.805 –> 01:19:36.885
to even update my LinkedIn.
1842
01:19:37.005 –> 01:19:38.845
’cause I, I always thought this was sort of temporary,
1843
01:19:38.845 –> 01:19:41.285
but it, it’s turned into a pretty nice business.
1844
01:19:43.335 –> 01:19:45.475
Anyway, guys, well thank you all. Thanks.
1845
01:19:45.775 –> 01:19:47.595
Um, it was a great turnout today, Ben.
1846
01:19:47.595 –> 01:19:48.835
Thanks for, uh, being the drama.
1847
01:19:48.835 –> 01:19:50.315
Yeah, no, it was fun. Sorry if I,
1848
01:19:51.305 –> 01:19:53.645
Our next guest speaker’s gonna be Kim Becking.
1849
01:19:54.225 –> 01:19:57.205
Um, uh, you guys can look, I know Kim, Kim
1850
01:19:57.205 –> 01:20:00.765
and I are great friends and she only had like 20 gigs this
1851
01:20:00.765 –> 01:20:03.165
month and she said she’s got some time in June.
1852
01:20:03.705 –> 01:20:04.805
So she’s gonna come in
1853
01:20:04.805 –> 01:20:08.365
and she’s gonna talk about, um, how not to grind.
1854
01:20:09.095 –> 01:20:10.325
She’s, she’s gonna talk about
1855
01:20:10.325 –> 01:20:13.205
how she gets her work without grinding it out in marketing.
1856
01:20:14.605 –> 01:20:16.425
So that’ll be good. I’ll, I’ll send you as soon
1857
01:20:16.425 –> 01:20:17.665
as I get we get the date.
1858
01:20:17.665 –> 01:20:20.425
I’ll send that to you. Um, so, um,
1859
01:20:20.445 –> 01:20:22.185
and I think I opened up another, um,
1860
01:20:22.745 –> 01:20:25.185
I another session this week, I think check.
1861
01:20:25.185 –> 01:20:27.425
There’s another one. So Yep. I’m
1862
01:20:27.425 –> 01:20:28.785
Booked To me with your problems.
1863
01:20:28.975 –> 01:20:31.585
Come to me with your stories. Let’s work on your keynotes.
1864
01:20:31.595 –> 01:20:33.625
Let’s, let’s start to create some of those moments
1865
01:20:33.625 –> 01:20:35.545
that we get great video to put on your,
1866
01:20:35.645 –> 01:20:38.515
on your new website. So thank you guys. I’ve
1867
01:20:38.515 –> 01:20:39.515
Got good time today.
1868
01:20:39.545 –> 01:20:40.555
Have a, have A good, I
1869
01:20:40.555 –> 01:20:41.675
just saw the AI headshot comments.
1870
01:20:42.065 –> 01:20:45.875
Yeah. I said I just saw the AI headshot comments.
1871
01:20:46.665 –> 01:20:48.835
Yeah. The funny thing about that, Ben, is it’s a site
1872
01:20:48.835 –> 01:20:51.315
that I like this guy’s site and he said he didn’t have,
1873
01:20:51.375 –> 01:20:54.115
and it’s a, it’s not a fake, like I’m on stage picture.
1874
01:20:54.625 –> 01:20:56.515
It’s actually a great photo.
1875
01:20:56.695 –> 01:20:58.955
So I’m like, and it’s not saying he’s on stage,
1876
01:20:59.735 –> 01:21:02.115
so I’m ki I haven’t done it. I’m kind of in the mix,
1877
01:21:02.495 –> 01:21:03.955
You know, I mean, if you mind saying who it was,
1878
01:21:05.205 –> 01:21:06.345
Um, it’s one of,
1879
01:21:06.375 –> 01:21:09.225
it’s one on Ken Miller’s site. Ken Miller’s. Okay.
1880
01:21:09.225 –> 01:21:11.745
That’s who I thought it was. ’cause I did his site and he,
1881
01:21:11.805 –> 01:21:14.465
and I didn’t want to, those were the pictures he gave me.
1882
01:21:14.465 –> 01:21:16.175
And I’m like, oh, but I actually,
1883
01:21:16.195 –> 01:21:17.195
But they look good. I
1884
01:21:17.195 –> 01:21:18.695
mean, I don’t, I don’t know if the one on the ca
1885
01:21:18.695 –> 01:21:20.295
with the stage behind him is real,
1886
01:21:21.075 –> 01:21:23.975
but he commented that it was a headshot, not a,
1887
01:21:25.115 –> 01:21:26.535
The stage shots are real.
1888
01:21:27.045 –> 01:21:28.935
Yeah. Um, the one,
1889
01:21:29.715 –> 01:21:32.095
and if he talked to you about this then I don’t think he
1890
01:21:32.095 –> 01:21:34.575
minds and, and I, um, he,
1891
01:21:34.795 –> 01:21:36.375
He spoke about it in a group, so yeah,
1892
01:21:36.375 –> 01:21:38.535
I don’t think he minds, um, based on, but,
1893
01:21:38.555 –> 01:21:42.015
but the, the, the stage shots, those were all real.
1894
01:21:42.375 –> 01:21:44.895
I think. Um, they might be staged,
1895
01:21:45.035 –> 01:21:46.495
but they were real, the only,
1896
01:21:46.675 –> 01:21:49.255
I’m just noticing I’ve been wa I’m following his site
1897
01:21:49.315 –> 01:21:52.575
for my site and I’m just noticing it says McCray
1898
01:21:52.575 –> 01:21:53.615
marketing on the You
1899
01:21:53.615 –> 01:21:55.215
Did it. That’s funny.
1900
01:21:55.275 –> 01:21:56.695
That’s funny. Funny.
1901
01:21:56.695 –> 01:21:58.295
Oh, I love and I got a couple people
1902
01:21:58.325 –> 01:21:59.895
that found it randomly and,
1903
01:21:59.915 –> 01:22:01.455
and we’re like, we love Ken Miller’s site.
1904
01:22:01.695 –> 01:22:03.975
I love it. Um, we had other pictures.
1905
01:22:04.535 –> 01:22:07.015
Honestly, the ai, they do look good.
1906
01:22:07.035 –> 01:22:08.095
It looks a lot like him,
1907
01:22:08.315 –> 01:22:10.815
but I, it was the first one someone asked me to do that.
1908
01:22:11.015 –> 01:22:13.335
I was like, uh, I mean, I’ll do it,
1909
01:22:13.475 –> 01:22:15.015
but it, I wasn’t sure I was gonna look,
1910
01:22:15.445 –> 01:22:17.535
What I like about his site is how clean it is.
1911
01:22:17.535 –> 01:22:19.895
And that’s what I was saying. I don’t like the moving video
1912
01:22:20.195 –> 01:22:23.015
at the top when I’m trying to read or see if, whatever.
1913
01:22:23.075 –> 01:22:26.495
And so I liked how clean his site was, which is why when I,
1914
01:22:26.495 –> 01:22:28.935
someone told me about it, I, I’ve kind
1915
01:22:28.935 –> 01:22:30.655
of modeled mine about as that format.
1916
01:22:31.205 –> 01:22:32.205
Yeah.
1917
01:22:32.925 –> 01:22:34.805
Cool. All right.
1918
01:22:34.805 –> 01:22:36.525
Well I pre thank, thank you for having me.
1919
01:22:37.385 –> 01:22:39.405
We love you Ben. Thanks for coming. Thank you guys.
1920
01:22:39.495 –> 01:22:40.765
Thank you so much. Thank you.
1921
01:22:41.175 –> 01:22:43.165
Thank you Ben. We’ll put this up on the site soon.
1922
01:22:43.165 –> 01:22:44.445
We’ll get it done. Thank you.
1923
01:22:44.595 –> 01:22:46.125
Alright, bye-bye. Awesome. Have a great
1924
01:22:46.125 –> 01:22:47.125
Weekend. Thank you. You
1925
01:22:47.125 –> 01:22:47.445
too.
