I just downloaded the 2013 Speakers Report posted on the National Speakers Association Facebook page. Many thanks to Karen McCullough for making it available. The first item that jumps out at me is the top three sources when organizations start a search for speakers.
Recommendations from peers, from members and from staff. Speaker bureaus are 5th and Search Engines are 6th. More fuel for the fire that mobile and social have taken the visibility crown away from SEO.
I am tickled to learn that the report team adopted the term Web presence over Website to describe the current state of online marketing for speakers. Their conclusion: "...professional speakers who have a strong Web presence (often buoyed by book publication and social media activity) are better off.)
In an October post, 5 Reasons Why Your SEO Has Left the Building I outlined the fundamental shift, not in technology but in audience. Those organizations you serve best have migrated from desktop search to social apps on mobile devices to gather research on speaker candidates.
A Plan For Your Extraordinary Future
- Download and read the 2013 Speakers Report.
- Identify where your clients have gone, then go find them!
- Review your Web Presence by taking a road trip from Social (PR), to Content (Marketing), to you Spectrum of Services (Sales).
- Create a Path of Engagement that ties those three destinations.
- Develop a single brand vision for your entire Web Presence.