The question "Did you read any of the site or just a glimpse?" was an honest question to establish whether the lack of understanding was based upon first impressions only or BOTH the first impression and following subsequent reading. Sorry if this sounded harsh or accusatory or judgemental as it was meant as a literal question to help my understanding of the judgement being provided.

I really do appreciate your feedback and will be using all of it to work on this in the coming months. Thank you! (and thank you too for explaining my mis-communication)

Yes, this is exactly what was pointed out to me and I know that the criticism has merit. Funny that knowing and expressing one's own personality is about the hardest thing one can do (easier to do for other people).

This is interesting and something for me to consider. Really, I have been purposely working to increase my work and credibility in the speaking field while simultaneously reducing (gradually) my work in the entertainment field (there is still a mix of both elements in all of my programs). If I were to say to you that I desire to attract more speaking clients and reduce my entertainment work (without completely abandoning it - at least for the time being) as my specific goal, perhaps your opinion of the site and it's emphasis might change??? Perhaps I also failed to say that this is my goal. What I am hearing from you is that the effectiveness of the site will be different based upon my goal of (a) being the magician people are looking for vs. (b) being the speaker people are looking for.

I respect your decision to not accept phone calls, so I looked at your "contact me" page and found that if I did want to make contact with you, I need to fill out nine boxes and give you details of the event.

O would think some of the larger corporate bookers are far to busy to complete the form and will just move on.

I also respect your feedback and understand your reasons (which I agree with). I appreciate that people like yourself took the time to find a detail like that. In addition to the contact form, in the small amount of text above the form, my direct email is provided as an option. Thanks!

Scott, I think your site is great. Looking at it from an optimized point of view I like it. Your headline of your home page has all the keywords you need. I think the 2 site thing is silly. I'm currently struggling with this as well as I do a bit of motivation in my corporate programs (I also talk about corporate culture change). I think if you were a children's magician and speaker yes get 2 sites. I have 3 sites for this very reason.

Corporate producers want more value than ever before, so if they got their "pile of prospects" together and compared everyone and saw you make your talks more entertaining than the other guys you could get the job over them.

I just want to ask 1 question and give a suggestion: Are you happy right now with the number of leads and events you're performing at? If you are don't change anything!

Here's my suggestion: Ask the people that hire you and give you money what their thoughts are on this. Set up a separate/hidden page in your site and when you're done with a show send an email to the event planner and ask them to take a few minutes to fill out your survey form on this special page. Not only will you get valuable feedback, all your burning questions will be answered.

Josh

Wow! This is absolutely amazing to me. So what are you saying, that most contact you online? Through email or a web site form? What is the number one way they contact you? I am really interested in this as I find this hard to understand. Do they ask all their questions online? How do you them sell them personally or are you leaving your site to sell them?

I understand this must be kids parties and not corporate, but still this is hard for me to grasp and am very curious about this. Thanks.

I engage in phone conversations following the initial contact when we can set up an appointment to have a conversation. I do my needs analysis and we agree upon the goals of my participation etc at that time.

Scott, you are getting some mixed advice here especially from those with little or no experience in the markets and level you are serving and with what you are trying to accomplish.

Once again magician's thinking like magicians is at work here.

For what you are doing one site is perfect and preferred by the industry.

This is NOT a magician seeking magic bookings. This is NOT someone seeking general bookings. This is NOT an entertainer seeking consumer-level bookings. This is NOT a speaker with a general topic. Some of the opinions and perspectives Mike and Herr Brian Tabor may be better suited for the kids and family markets, lower level corporate parties and other consumer-level markets and marketing, it is not best suited for your needs. I know you know and comprehend this, but others aren't.

In your professional market at the level you are working and seeking, having one site with both aspects to your business model will actually assist and compliment each other, resulting in more bookings and additional bookings from the same client for their different needs. You are positioning yourself in relationship-based marketing to serve these customers and their needs. They will hire both your speaking AND your entertainment performance for both of their needs more than likely without even considering other outside resources. It is one of the beauties of operating on this level. This is rarely understood by those not operating on this level or in professional (non-consumer) and high level markets.

This is not meant as offense to these guys and others, but simply pointing out that guys often comment only based on their knowledge, perspective and situation. It may very well be Scott your evolvement and the growth, positioning and branding of your business (which has been a pleasure to watch and be part of) has outgrown the interests and levels of most here on the Café.

Scott, just curious, is this your only web site or do you have a AF site for corporate bookers/agencies?

Yes, the only site. Do you have an example of someone who has an agent friendly site to mirror their own site? Is this what you would prefer (a 2nd site) if you were to work with someone like me? Thanks!

Hey Mindpro,

After looking at my actual summer bookings, closer to 75% of my correspondences occur over e-mail as opposed to over the phone. I really never intended for it to be this way, it sort of evolved for a number of factors. For one, a good portion of my marketing is done by e-mail as it is quick, easy, inexpensive, and I can reach many people with the click of a button rather than going through the process of printing and mailing, not to mention the cost. E-mail marketing either alone or in conjunction with other material has been the most effective for me. For this reason, clients more often than not simply respond to the e-mail message with inquires rather than calling me. People generally ask a lot of the same questions over e-mail as they do the phone, (how much, are you available, what do you do, etc.) and I answer them in a similar manner.

My main goal in my response is to re-sell the show to them, even if they have already seen me perform. My message is very similar to my phone sales pitch. I want to reinforce how my show is perfect for their needs and not like other shows in the area. I describe all the features of our show and then quote them a price, saying that the quote includes our entire show and all of our expenses. I have done quite well with this approach so far. I am personally not a fan of "contact forms" on my website as I have always hated them as a customer of other products on other websites. I can see how others might see them as effective, I just am not a fan.

Another advantage I see in e-mail is that I can include direct links to my website and videos, pictures, etc. rather than asking them over the phone to go to my website. I can also include pictures right onto the e-mail so they can visually see what our show is like.

In my particular case, I am extremely busy with school and volunteer work during the school year that I am often unable to answer the phone or return phone calls promptly, so e-mail is a perfect solution as I can respond late at night, early in the morning, whenever, and they will still receive it and respond when they would like. I have noticed that people often will not return voice-mail messages and I need to keep calling and calling until they finally answer, or it can turn into a game of phone tag. E-mail is much more reliable in these cases.

Here is the biggest reason that e-mail correspondence works well for me... I can think about how I want to approach a particular situation before I respond. Over the phone clients may ask me a question you weren't expecting that may throw me off guard, while in e-mail I always have the chance to think before I speak. This may not be a benefit to the more experienced performers, but for me it helps.

I recognize that there are certainly situations where selling over the phone is more effective than over the internet, just in my particular case e-mail has always seemed to work great.

For birthday parties, community events, fairs, etc. I would say that it is about a 65-35 split between e-mail and phone inquires, but almost all of these requests come from people that have already seen our show and have their eye set on us, not just shopping around.
I currently do not offer set packages, so that simplifies the decision process a bit. After the booking, I follow up with a confirmation e-mail and offer goody bags and kits at that time. I am considering moving to package offerings based upon other discussions here, so that might change communications for me as well.

I would be interested in thoughts on others thoughts on the +/- of the different ways to communicate with clients.

Scott,
I like the idea of your "Welcome" video as a way to introduce yourself to potential clients. I don't care for the moving shot. You move in and out of light and focus, and consistent sound is much harder to maintain on the move. Find a nice location, light it, stand still and make your pitch. It took me a few minutes to "get" the mountain-climbing photo. "Ohhh....motivational speaker." I may be more dense than your prospective clients.

All valid points Greensboro. Thanks for the compliment. I'm surprised you didn't mention the woman in the background of the video who isonly wearing a towel (not planned).

Scott....I like that you included testimonial videos. The only problem I saw was that there was no indication on any of the videos as to who these people were or what companies they were with. Trying to take them from the perspective of a potential client...I would think that you could have videotaped anybody anywhere. I think credibility would be increased if you added labels to your videos.

Bob Phillips