How's Your "Elevator Pitch?"

30 Second Infomercial Revisited
 
You may know that I am a big proponent of having a strong "Elevator Speech" or "30 second Infomercial"  basically that is how you answer the question: "What do you do?"
 
Today I want to revisit this topic for a few minutes and really get you to stop and think...how would YOU answer the question, "What do you do?"  Really, write it down quickly on a piece of paper...go on, I'll wait.
 
Got it?  Good.  Now look at what it says.  If someone ELSE had just told you that exact same thing, would your response (with your inside voice of course) have been "Who Cares?"  I'm serious!  Think of how many people you meet every week that when they tell you what they do you think to yourself "Who Cares!"  You've just made the decision to never do business with them.  Ever.  Do you want people thinking that way about you?  Didn't think so.  So here's some tips:
 
You've GOT to get their attention and make a good impression...you don't have SECONDS to convince them to do business with you, but you DO only have seconds to get them to want to learn more about you (i.e. schedule an appointment!)
 
People do business with people that they like and people like people like them.  Be friendly, smile big, vary the inflection of your voice (don't be monotone) and be "approachable"  I also like to wear a color that stands out if I'm going to be in a large crowd.  This helps the visual people (like me!) find me later out of the crowd..."I've got to find the lady in the purple suit...I want to meet her!"
 
We use 30 seconds as a title, but you may have 10 seconds, 20, or 60, so be prepared to shorten or lengthen as needed.  One of the worst things you can do is go over your time, for example at a networking meeting where you each stand up and have 30 seconds to introduce yourself...if you take longer, the others in the room will have just lost a certain level of respect for you, and if you go WAY over, they'll start groaning and then you will never get business from them.  Period.
 
And lastly, don't tell them HOW to get in touch with you, tell them WHY they want to get in touch with you.  Keep this tip in mind when you're ordering your next business cards too!
 
I hope these tips are improving your business...I recently read that 60% of your business in a down market will come from networking and from your sphere of influence.  I pledge to help you tap into that 60% and the next tool that I've found for you is coming up this Thursday at 3pm.  Larry Benet has "connected" with some of the top entrepreneurs in the world and he's going to share his secrets on Thursday.  By the way, his vision is to raise $1 Billion for worthy causes through his "connections".  Isn't that awesome?

FREE Webinar on Growing Your Business through Networking, Thursday, July 24th, 3pm eastern.  To register, go to https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/937224979