Personal Branding Weekly – The Quick and the Dead

Today’s consumers are always on the move, and they love to get hold of any information the fastest way that they can. If you have a potential customer with very limited time to listen to take in a sales pitch, what will you say to make a memorable impression? How are you going to create a lasting impact that can convince them to buy your brand?

Elevator pitch

An elevator pitch is a powerful marketing tool that tells your story in less than a minute. And, while you might think the term is from days gone by it still applies. Call it the parking lot pitch, the dropping off and picking up pitch, or even the pitch that might happen as you’re walking into an event, concert or movie. It is a brief statement about who you are, what your business does, and why it is special. It is an ice-breaker that must have a hook to your audience that will capture their attention to know more about you.

However, condensing all your life’s achievements in a less-than-60-second speech is a hard task to cover. In creating your elevator pitch, there should be balance on what to include and what to leave out, with the aim that you won’t look boring or too pushy. The key here is to adapt your speech to the situation that you have.

Networking without goals is a waste of time. [tweet this]

Here are some tips in crafting your elevator pitch:

Figure out what is unique about you that apply to the audience. There is definitely something that stands out about you. But it doesn’t always appeal to all audience members. In line with this, you have to know who you are speaking with. Start it with information that your audience will most care about.
Know what you are trying to accomplish. Always remember that while you are trying to sell yourself, it is not about you. Your elevator pitch must address the concerns of your audience. Offer a solution to their problems that they cannot resist.
Keep your speech short and succinct. Avoid unnecessary details that will veer your audience away from listening to you. Also, be conversational. Do not use terms or jargon that the audience is unfamiliar with. Otherwise, this will bore your audience if not come across as trying too hard.

An elevator pitch is a great word of mouth marketing tool. It is very helpful in creating relationships and in making brief and compelling introductions especially when you are using social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook. It doesn’t require a lengthy paragraph or essay to let others know what you do. But keep in mind to include your website link so that your audience will be able to know more about you. Basically, the same approach as mentioned above applies in your online elevator pitch.

Your elevator pitch is a way for you to introduce your brand in the hope that your audience will catch your attention and will love to learn more about you. Be ready at all times. You never know whom you may run into in an elevator!

Here are last week’s post from your Personal Branding authors: