Anatomy of a Killer... Elevator Pitch

You have successfully acquired your target, and you have less than 60 seconds to deliver the package. The pressure mounts as you attempt to seize the brief window of opportunity for success before the advantage goes back to the other side. You're hoping for shock and awe. Instead, you realize...it's a dud. Also known as your elevator pitch, because it refers to the challenge should you meet a prospective client on an elevator, your 30 – 60 second opportunity to clearly communicate how your company is the answer to someone's problem can be critical to your next sale.


I'd like to share my top 10 “killer pitch” points that can help put you on top the next time your elevator ride comes along.

1. Remember - it's about them. You may be asked, “What do you do?”, but pretend they asked, “What's in it for me?” Let them know you identify with and understand their problem or challenge, then explain how you are the solution.
2. Tell a story. A real world tale beats facts, figures and bullets any day.
3. Be sincere and passionate. They will see right through a phony or uninspired speech.
4. Stress your UVP (Unique Value Proposition). Make sure your conclusion gets across the very reason they can not get what you offer anywhere else or not as good.
5. Practice with different versions in front of different audiences. Your listener will identify and tune in when it comes across naturally without sounding too rehearsed.
6. Sleep on it. What sounded like a platinum album yesterday may more closely resemble moldy cheese a few days later.
7. Give it some sizzle! Use the power of words and play to your strengths to help the wow factor.
8. Take out the tech. Yes, you're an expert, but you'll lose them if the terminology is over their heads.
9. Get unbiased feedback online. With less than a minute to speak, you can't be too clear and concise. Try your pitch in a LinkedIn group or other online community and ask for honest, candid responses.
10. Write down what you do. I know it sounds obvious, but it's often not easy writing about yourself or your business. Start with lots of ideas and points, then whittle them down to the best ones.

Remember, time is valuable and attention spans are short, so you must grab them quickly or lose them forever.

Do you already have a killer pitch? Whether you do or not, we'd love to hear them, so please add them by commenting here.

Essentials to Effective Email Marketing

With so much spam being circulated and people going to great lengths to eliminate it, many questions are being raised about the effictiveness of email campaigns.


In a recent roundtable study by MarketingProfs (www.marketingprofs.com), email marketing continues to be one of the most successful and cost-effective methods of growing your business. If you are embracing email as an important marketing tool, here are some tips to make sure your readers receive your valuable offers.

• Go for quality over quantity. Start with a good list and know your recipients. If you’re trying to obtain new customers, manage your list well to ensure your recipients are quality prospects. 
• Identify yourself and your business clearly. It is in violation of spam laws to omit or mislead your recipients as to who is sending the message.
• Be a good writer. Put in the time or hire a professional to write your creative copy. Compose your subject line carefully.
• Use your “real estate” wisely. The effectiveness of your subject line and first sentence determine whether recipients will continue to read your message. Put your offer “above the fold” so readers don’t have to scroll down to determine the value of your message.
• Be personal. Greet your readers by their first name or Mr./Ms. as you would in an individual letter.
• Have a concise call to action. Your primary objective is to prompt a response, so give plenty of information to act upon.
• Use short and distinct links back to your website. URLs that wrap may cause problems for some readers. A unique link (www.mysite.com/offer) that exists only for your particular offer allows you to track activity.
• Text vs. HTML. If possible, allow your readers to choose. HTML messages to text-only recipients will give them a message filled with unformatted web code. Also, avoid using too many images. Email and spam filters often block images, so designs that communicate only through graphics will not be seen.
• Offer an online version. For recipient’s who may not be able to read the entire message or in it’s intended format, create an online version of your message and make sure to include a link at the top in plain text to read the full message online.
• Turn one reader into more. Offer easy methods to forward and share your message with friends and associates.
• Provide a way to opt out. Spam laws require you give your recipients a method to be removed from future solicitations.
• Be consistent in design. Create a design template that you can modify each mailing campaign to give your readers a consistent and familiar look.
• Is it “stamp worthy”? The misconception that email is free can cause us to be lax in quality and substance. Ask yourself if your message is valid and offers value to your recipients.

If your message does not reach your recipient’s Inbox, none of the above matters. When your message is ready to launch, test your message using several popular spam filters. Your marketing professional or a service such as “Return Path” (www.returnpath.net) can assist you in evaluating your message’s spam “score” or likelihood of being blocked, so you can make adjustments before pressing that send button.

What the best online ad size? The answer may surprise you.

When you advertise, the first order of business is to get noticed. So you may think you need to place the largest ad you can justify in your budget. Not necessarily so when advertising online, says marketing research firm, Dynamic Logic.


According to a recent study, a smaller, less expensive ad can actually perform better. After studying thousands of ad campaigns over the last three years, ads as small as 180 pixels by 150 pixels outperformed larger and higher profile ads.


The most prevalent reason cited for the smaller ad’s success seems to be that smaller ads can integrate better with the overall content of the page. This does have logic to it. We know that ads seen as pure advertisement are more easily tuned our especially in a younger more web savvy demographic.


I also agree with DL’s study in that the creative quality of the ad is really a driving factor. We are constantly overrun with advertising content and audiences tune them out, especially when we see a lot of the same techniques used.


The study found that video content in ads increase its success. Flash-based animated ads are the most used methods and it stands to reason those are becoming less and less successful.


Whatever your strategy for advertising online, you don’t have to break your budget to get your money’s worth.


Be smart, focus on your message, know who you’re up against and aim above them!

In a Trust Economy, PR Should Rise to the Top

With warm regards to the tongue-in-cheek saying about public relations - “hey, any PR is good PR”, we can now say, “Oh Yeah?” I am suggesting we officially call the remainder of this decade The Era of the Low I.Q. Executive”.

General Motors (GM) and American International Group (AIG) leaders will run away with the prize. We get to run away with much lighter wallets. My anger and disappointment, however, exists is the damage of trust that deepens in the eyes of the customer for the entrepreneur.

For AIG, a company in an industry based on the ability to assess risk, has not only failed in that category as no corporation in history has, but failed as no business ever should. In the process, they broke the cardinal rule of sales and marketing … do not destroy the trust of your customers. We’re not going to get into the reasons and politics surrounding these geniuses, except to say – this was the pinnacle of one of the worst moves imaginable in public relations for a company beaten down by its own zeal for growing profits who is now the largest corporate recipient of our hard earned money. Even though small segment of AIG is responsible for their demise, they now have a much bigger task in establishing the public’s trust if they are to recover.

We have entered an era of a “trust economy”. We have becoming increasingly weary of spin, false advertising and downright lies. We drank enough of the “kool aid” and will seek out more credible sources when choosing who we choose to do business with. Thus, effective public relations will be of paramount importance in building and enhancing credibility with our clients and stakeholders.

And so, a challenge has been laid before us. How do we make sounds decisions on our marketing investment that will foster an honest and trusted relationship with our clients?
The answer resides in one simple fact – getting valuable and factual information in the places it needs to be. A good public relations strategy that builds a reputation of fact over fiction will determine the winners of our new era. The game has changed. An information savvy society will no longer tolerate a “blind trust” offered in traditional advertising.

History will tell whether AIG can restore credibility. Somehow I think GM will be back selling us mediocre transportation better than ever. And when they do, I know PR will be a central part of it. Let’s hope they back it up with substance.

In the words of Errol Flynn, "It isn't what they say about you, it's what they whisper.”