6 Hidden Benefits Of Speaking On Virtual Summits
You’ve probably heard of virtual summits and have been told how great they are for getting your name out there…
Most of us view opportunities in a very linear way, rather than dynamically.
We just view things like “If I post 100 posts on social media, be a guest on 5 podcasts, and speak at 2 events… I’ll get more sales”.
There’s nothing wrong with thinking like that, but there’s more to it than just getting conversions… there are layers to everything we do, whether you like it or not.
Have you ever wondered why some people do really well with their marketing efforts, and some people do things very similarly and don’t get great results?
Sure, some of it may be luck… but chances are the person who is doing well understands the different layers and how to take advantage of the opportunities they’re given in a way that’s a little deeper than just getting a conversion.
Today, I’m going to talk about speaking on virtual summits, and some of these additional layers you should consider.
Backlinks For SEO
Search Engine Optimization(SEO) is very important if you’re using a blog to drive traffic. A HUGE part of proper SEO is having backlinks from other websites linking to yours.
This lets Google know that you have content worth sharing, and that you provide enough value for people to want to link to you as a resource.
When you’re a regular speaker on virtual summits, you’ll be building up backlinks from the summit hosts, which can add up over time.
Additionally, you’re going to come into contact with a lot of other business owners who are also speaking, each with their own websites, so there’s a potential to reach out to them for guest posting opportunities… which will provide an even greater variety of backlinks for your website.
Speaking of reaching out to other speakers, that leads us to our next benefit…
Networking with potential partners
Strategic partnerships are important for large-scale growth. It’s much harder to get where you want to be if you do everything alone… and often it’s virtually impossible, or even harmful, to meet ALL of your client’s needs.
If you’re speaking on well-run virtual summits, the hosts will invite a well-rounded panel of speakers… all of whom offer different areas of expertise and services.
Networking with other speakers can lead to mutually beneficial partnerships and you don’t even have to really seek these people out… they are being brought to you directly by the host of the summit.
This doesn’t mean you should work with every person you come across… but just keep your eyes open for other potential partners who can fill in the gaps that you can’t.
Potential for affiliate commissions
One of the most effective parts of the Virtual Summit business model is the way it’s marketed.
Instead of a singular speaker sending out content to their own list a summit essentially combines the reach of every speaker.
To incentivize people with larger lists to want to share their reach with other speakers and to convince other people to promote the summit, the host will typically offer commissions for sales of the summit admissions tickets, or whatever compensation scheme the host is using.
A lot of people get excited about just the prospect of speaking to an audience and reaching other people’s lists, but affiliate marketing is a HUGE part of online business these days and shouldn’t be underestimated.
There are plenty of people making a ton of money JUST off of affiliate marketing alone, so make sure you’re taking advantage of the opportunity to make a little extra cash.
Free Attendance/ Learning Opportunities
“Earning is a product of learning. You’re only one letter away from earning more.”
― Richie Norton
When you’re invited to speak on a summit, or at any event with other professionals speaking, you get free access.
People pay money to attend these things because learning is the best way to increase your earning potential.
Having access to really smart people with experience is valuable so don’t just view a summit as a platform for you to get your sales pitch out there… that’ll happen too, but try to actually grow from it by paying attention to what other people are saying.
They just might know something you don’t.
List Growth
As crazy as it sounds, a lot of people don’t really think too much about Email lists, particularly how to grow one effectively.
I mean… sometimes running a business just has a LOT of other things going on and it’s understandable to not really care too much about something as boring as Email marketing.
But that doesn’t mean they can’t start building a list.
As I mentioned earlier, summits combine the reach of all of the speakers… so if you’re trying to grow an Email list speaking on virtual summits is a great way to do it.
Insight Into Running Your Own Summit
Anyone can plan an event, but it’s not as easy to make a GOOD event without actually being involved in one, or even multiple…
By speaking on a variety of virtual summits you can pick up all kinds of ideas for hosting your own.
For example, the host of the most recent summit I’m involved in made a ton of promotional materials for everyone to use, which makes advertising the summit REALLY easy on us speakers.
Here’s one of the promo materials she built for us:
Each host is going to have strengths and weaknesses, and many of them will gladly talk to you about the whole process if you ask.
So if you ever plan on hosting your own virtual summits, do yourself a favor and get actively involved with other people’s summits to build experience.