There’s a lot of talk online about creating a brand and a business that helps you attract your ideal clients, your dream clients. But let’s talk about creating a business that attracts clients that share the same values as you, by creating a website that shows inclusivity and diversity. And today, I want to talk specifically about having a website that really reflects the values that you hold as a business owner, and attracts clients that share those same values. And I want to preface this by saying this is not an exhaustive list. This is not a perfect list.
And I’m going to link to several DEI educators down below so that you can learn more, this is not just something we put on our website and call it good.
This actually needs to be something we live out in our businesses. But I want to talk specifically about putting on your website, because I’m seeing a lot of business owners who say stuff on social media, but then their website doesn’t have that same messaging, they haven’t taken that those messages and those beliefs, and put them on their website. And I think we need to do that.
A few recommended DEI educators:
– https://www.dynastihunt.com/
– https://www.ericacourdae.com/
– https://trudilebron.com/
– https://www.accordingtoweeze.com/
Include your values and inclusivity and diversity statements
So the first and easiest thing that I would recommend is putting your core values on your website. And this usually lives on your about page. And you want to put this out there so that people know what you believe in what you stand for.
And this should include anything relating to anti-racism, being diverse, being inclusive, those kinds of things. I’ve also seen a lot of people put their values in job descriptions so that the candidates know these are things that we stand for at this company. So if you want to work here, you need to align with these values. Also, if you have a clear DEI statement that you’ve written for your business, this should also be in that same area on your about page.
Talk about the give-back component of your business
Another really great thing that you could list on your website, if this is something that your business does is talk about your give-back component, a lot of business owners have decided to give a percentage or monthly donation or quarterly donation or whatever that looks like to certain organizations, sometimes that changes per month, sometimes it change s per quarter.
Sometimes it’s just this is my chosen organization, I donate a percentage every month, every year, whatever. And put that on your website so that people know who you support, talk about why you support them, and then even invite them to also support whether that’s through buying your courses, and then they know a percentage goes there. Or you can just say, Hey, here’s how you can also give to blink. And especially if you are doing a specific give-back component for a particular launch or a particular course or offer.
Maybe it’s not the whole business, maybe it’s like, hey, this workshop, we are giving all the proceeds to this organization, make sure that’s on the sales page signup page so that people know that you are giving back and this isn’t to gloat or boast that you’re giving back. But just so that people know what you’re about and what you believe in.
Highlight diverse and inclusive resources
Now, let’s move on to the resources page. Usually, this is a page that business owners list things. They’re an affiliate for free resources, books, they recommend to clients, all those kinds of things. This is a great place that you can show a diverse round-up of resources. For instance, books, this is an easy thing that you can have a diverse lineup of, we specifically look for authors of color that you can recommend on your resources page. podcasts, there are podcasters of color that you can recommend. Make sure you are representing a diverse lineup of people on your resources page.
Highlighting the diversity of your clients
And speaking of having a diverse lineup of people, make sure you are showing a diverse lineup of clients. Now sometimes we don’t show pictures with our clients. So there’s not really a way to know. But if you can have a diverse lineup showcase a diverse lineup of clients, whether that’s videos, pictures, whatever, make sure people know that you work with a variety of people. That’s a great way to show that you are an inclusive and welcoming business and this diverse range of people that can also show up in who’s on your podcast, who’s guest blogging for you anything like that. You want to make sure that you are being an inclusive and welcoming business and that includes your content, resources, everything on your website. We don’t want to just talk about this on social media.
We want this to be apparent on our website. Again, this is not an exhaustive list. It’s not a perfect list. There are many more things that we could probably be doing and different ways to do them. If you have questions, let me know in the comments.
