My elevator pitch—without the elevator
Elevator Pitch—definition
A slang term used to describe a brief speech that outlines an idea for a product, service or project. The name comes from the notion that the speech should be delivered in the short time period of an elevator ride, usually 20-60 seconds. –Investopedia
Since PostRanger.com is pretty much—for now anyway—a bootstrap venture, practicing my pitch in elevators or anywhere else is not something that occupies a lot of my time.
However, I do find myself explaining a lot to friends and associates just what this thing is and what it does.
Some of the major highlights I usually try to cover:
- A social blogging network
- Offers the opportunity for free guest authoring
- A wide and expanding list of topics
- Builds traffic through link back to contributors’ sites
Here’s where a friend interrupted me during a recent phone conversation.
“I get it. So if you had, say, a place that does alternative medicine you could do articles on alternative medicine and then leave a link back to your site.”
“Yes. That’s exactly right,” I thought. Then I thanked him for his input.
I know a lot of people have written a lot of things about the perfect pitch—how long, how short, what to emphasize, how to start and finish.
To me it comes down to just one thing. Does the person you’re pitching to understand the idea? Can they grasp it and buy into it fully? It’s something that I think has as much to do with the idea as with the pitch.
If you’re having trouble with your pitch maybe there’s something wrong with your concept as well. A good idea should be it’s own pitch---to an investor or a user.
As Seth Godin suggests “Make it remarkable enough for them to pay attention.” Then hopefully they’ll spread the word.
Photo Credit: Michelle Kwajafa, MorgueFile
