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I interview many people for the freelance writer part of my business, and I always ask my interviewees to describe their business to me in two or fewer sentences—their elevator pitch.
You’d be surprised how many veteran business owners vapor-lock on me when asked that. It may sound petty, but it’s handy to sum up your business (whatever it may be) quickly and succinctly.
Picture yourself in an elevator taking a ride to the top floor. Picture, standing next to you, is the ultimate Ideal Customer. Picture Mr. Ideal Customer turning to you and asking, “So, what is your business about?” In a nutshell, you have that little window of time from the bottom floor to the top floor elevator ride to snag Mr. Ideal Customer’s attention and make him want to know more and say something like, “Hey! I could really use your____.”
What is an Elevator Pitch?
It’s the ability to describe what you do in two sentences or less. It’s the to-the-core-of-your-business-what of answering the question, “So what do you do for a living?” a succinct (yet informative) message that entices the asker to counter with, “Tell me more.”
My elevator pitch has morphed over the years. Still, right now, my answer to “What do you do?” is, “I am an author, blogger, Project Manager for Multicultural Children’s Book Day, and a virtual assistant specializing in marketing assistance for authors.”
How to Create an Elevator Pitch
Here is the quickest and easiest way to create your very own elevator pitch:
**Pare your business down to the core. To the heart. To the Lowest Common Denominator (LCD). What do you do in the simplest of forms? Now, add why I (if I was a business person) I should give a crap.
Hint: BE SPECIFIC. Don’t just say, “Oh, I write a travel blog.”
NOOOOOOOO! This is your elevator pitch; “My name is ___, and I write a blog about foreign travel with small children.” Isolate it. Narrow it down to your LCD and give people something to latch on to. You want the person inquiring to be able to say, “Wow, that’s cool…tell me more”. You want to break down your service or product into its basic form.
Example:
“Hi, I’m Rebecca. I am a freelance writer specializing in business topics, blogging, and creating amazing About Pages or online bios for individuals and businesses that turn visitors into customers.”
Or “ I’m Rebecca and I am a virtual assistant specializing in writing, blogging, and social media. I work behind the scenes to help your business shine.”
WHY IS THIS SO IMPORTANT? We encounter business possibilities every day and in various places. Having your elevator pitch in your back pocket, poised and ready to wow your potential clients, is a simple and “doable” business strategy.
Having an elevator pitch prepares you for the opportunity to make new and potentially valuable connections and broaden your readership. Or, in networking terms, it’s called expanding your Circle of Influence.
So…what’s your elevator pitch? If you are stumped on how to create yours, leave me a comment below, and I will help if I can.
MOM BOSSING
MOM BOSSING: The Freedom to Create the Business You Love is a book filled with personal stories, resources, support, wisdom, and encouragement from a solopreneur who has worked as a mom boss. This step-by-step guide shares the truth, fears, tears, and cheers of being a mom building a business empire on her own terms. If you are looking for a new career for the “second half of life,” venturing into direct sales, rocking a home business, or dreaming of leaving a dead-end job, this book provides the building blocks needed to move forward with a healthy dose of humor authenticity. In many ways, this book could also sport the tagline of Building a LIFE on Your Own Terms.
I was lucky to have Becky Flansburg join us at Multicultural Children’s Book Day when we first began our nonprofit. She was the “head elf, ” meaning she did everything from project management to helping us get sponsorships. In the early years, we couldn’t keep her busy for more than a few months a year, and even that was very part-time. Becky’s contribution to the team helped us grow our nonprofit, and, in turn, we could keep her busier. Now, as a “mom boss,” Becky shares her journey and wisdom for moms who want to try solopreneurship. It’s particularly helpful for anyone who wants to become a VA (Virtual Assistant) author and mompreneur, Mia Wenjen
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