Virtual Event Success

Most of the advice on this blog is directed to helping those who host virtual events do it better. So, I’m taking a slight departure to offer sage advice to those who speak at virtual events.

I’m constantly dismayed by the look of virtual event and telesummit sales pages out there. I wish I could start a virtual event and telesummit sales page hall of shame to completely rip to shreds every mistake the host is making with their content.

But why should I? They didn’t ask for my help, right?

What’s even more disconcerting is who I see speaking at these type of virtual events. Internet marketers, online superstars, best selling authors and millionaire coaches damaging their brands speaking at a virtual event or telesummit where the sales page looks like the host knows their way around Frontpage (is that still around?) or Dreamweaver.

How Virtual Event Hosts Can Ruin Brands & Piss Off Speakers

I recently went to a social media virtual summit sales page and it was hideous. Here are some of the mistakes:

• The sales page was hosted on a WordPress page (nothing wrong with that) with all the links still intact in the top navigation and the sidebar (a basic copywriting mistake that can easily be avoided had the person invested in a course where she would’ve learned that)
• It didn’t have a powerful headline – none. The “powerful” headline was listing the names of the speakers presenting at the telesummit.
• The content listed the speakers’ names, photos, session titles and times they were speaking – that was it
• And, to access the call-in details (which is offered for free), you had to opt-in via a Google Docs sign up box (ok, how is this host going to follow up with attendees? Using the BCC option in an email?)

It was yucktastic.

So, imagine my surprise when I saw two millionaire coaches speaking at this virtual event. My jaw dropped. I just couldn’t believe that these individuals would not only say yes, but would continue to participate in a virtual event where the sales page is so ugly.

Why I Recently Pulled Out of a Virtual Event

I pulled out of speaking at a virtual event once because the sales page looked like crap. I said yes to speaking at her virtual event because I knew her and she had a platform in the marketplace.

But once the sales page went up, I was horrified. I just couldn’t believe that someone who gave the impression that she was a big deal online could produce a sales page that was so bad. There was a disconnect.

The first problem was the color she used on her page. She chose this hideous blue. It wasn’t the dark blue that American Airlines uses. It was a light blue. And not even baby blue. It was a smoky blue that just looked awful.

On top of that, the sales page content looked wonky in Firefox. The first third of the page rendered well, but as I got midway down, the page started to look weird. To be exact, my profile overlapped another speakers in Firefox, yet looked fine in Internet Explorer.

I knew that this was an HTML problem, something to do with nested tables, so I grabbed a screenshot of the page and sent it over to the host. I expected that her tech team would know how to fix it, so I waited. After a couple of days, I went to the sales page. Her “tech team” fixed it alright by putting the following sentence at the top of the sales page:

“This page best viewed in Internet Explorer.”

I pulled out. I sent her an email asking that my picture be removed and that I wasn’t going to participate as a speaker. I told her that the sales page didn’t look right and my list wouldn’t respond.

Did I burn a bridge? Probably. She has gone on to host additional telesummits using the same ugly blue. The improvement is that her pages now render well in Firefox.

However, I just couldn’t promote my participation in a virtual event knowing that the host cared so little about how her telesummit looked online. If she cared so little about how her telesummit was being perceived in the marketplace, what else will she care so little about and how would that affect my brand?

Why Pulling Out After You’ve Said Yes Will Save Your Brand

It’s so important that as a speaker, you align yourself with virtual event hosts who care about the product they’re promoting in the marketplace. If you agree to speak at a virtual event, take some time to review the sales page so you’re sure that the style, copy and tone aligns with the sophistication and elegance of your brand.

If a sales page doesn’t yet exist for the virtual event you’re being invited to speak at, ask to see the sales pages for other products and services that the host created in the past. If the telesummit or virtual event is the hosts first online program ever, ask to see an example of a sales page that the host will model or pass on speaking.

And don’t feel bad if you have to pull out. I know one bestselling author who stopped speaking at virtual events and telesummits 2-years ago because they were being done so poorly. He felt that his list had come to expect a certain level of professionalism and sophistication from him, so he could no longer promote virtual events that didn’t match his level of excellence.

At the end of the day, if a sales page for a virtual events looks awful and doesn’t follow even basic copywriting rules, it means that the hosts isn’t in a right place financially or professionally. The virtual event host is cutting corners to save a buck and will damage your brand in the process.

Because if the host couldn’t get the sales page right, chances are the host won’t know what she or he is doing managing the rest of the telesummit or virtual event.

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