What's Your Elevator Pitch Say you're on the tenth floor going down to the lobby and you meet a mover and shaker on the way down. Can you explain to that mover/shaker what you do by the time you hit the lobby? Figure you have about 150 words in which to explain yourself. One of my elevator pitches is "I have three lines of business. In my publishing line I publish an email newsletter called Web Digest For Marketers read by over 150,000 people monthly. I'm also the author of the bestseller "Essential Business Tactics for the Net." I have a speaking practice here and in Europe, and I consult on marketing, when there's time." That self-description was actually 56 words. I find people appreciate it when you respond in less time than they anticipated. It telegraphs that you are clearly focused and waste no time getting to the point. I once asked a colleague to define more clearly what he did. He said I'd need to read his book. That's a pretty high cost of entry to get to know someone. Perhaps we should all wear hyperlinks on ourselves so people can click on them with their hands when they want to read more deeply into our FAQs. Of course, if we did start turning into walking/talking html files, people could then pull down your View menu and see "Source." All of your hidden agendas and text would be exposed. That could be a good thing, or that could be a bad thing, depending on what's there. The point is, we ourselves are interfaces to the outside world, and some of our interfaces are as confusing as some websites we've seen out there. This is why I think designing a website, either for oneself or a company, is somewhat therapeutic because it forces these issues, namely, your face (or presentation) to the outside world. Most people and companies design from the inside out, when what's really needed is to design from the outside in. |
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