February 2010 Newsletter

I was recently asked a very good questions concerning marketing your business or organization. It had to do with that “elevator thing”.

The “elevator pitch” as it is known is something that describes your business, service or market within 5-8 seconds. About the length of time you would spend meeting someone new in an elevator.

There are a lot of ways to market your business or organization but one of the most effective ways is to develop your “elevator pitch”. Imagine yourself at the upcoming Tradeshow or Energy Conference. You are out there busy networking and promoting your business but how often have people asked you what you or your organization does and you either a. go on for 20 minutes giving a detailed description of the company, its services and personnel or b. draw a blank and miss an opportunity? Well, here is a surprise, even if you nailed everything in the 20 minutes, you lost them after the 8 second mark. There is a way too much to distract them!

What would be some key aspects of a good elevator pitch? Here are a few:

• A short but concise description of what you do. Make it very easy to understand.
• Important facts about your business or your organization. Examples are:
“ We focus on business management practices and specialize in assisting companies to merge with others.”
o Our organization services 1000 clients per month and provides specialized services for parents struggling with literacy”.

Practice in the mirror and remember that practice makes perfect so continue to practice and refine your pitch. Ask for some healthy feedback from your spouse or staff. Tell them you need to be the best you can. Consider your body language too, where are your hands; are you smiling or scowling? The key here is to have that pitch for any elevator taking you another level in your business.