Starting an internet business includes the task of working up your 60-second response to our culture’s number one small-talk question.
Since Evan and I started working online we’ve had a lot of opportunities to spout a succinct description of what we do. Saying it over and over again helps to hone it down to the main ingredients. However, you can probably find a faster way to figure out your elevator speech.
If you already have a mission statement, edit it down to a bite-size version. Think of the way you spend your time, the results you get, your style of interaction.
- Do you primarily consult?
- Teach a method?
- Who needs or desires your service or product?
Blanche, 90, is a retired yacht designer who works out at our gym (I know. People. Don’t you just love ‘em?). She is nearly deaf, but the fact she can’t hear never stops her from engaging in conversation.
She furrowed her brow when I said we worked online. She wanted to know what we did. I fumbled, resorting to sign language. She watched me for a minute and then burst out laughing. “What can you do for me?” she asked.
“Nothing,” I said. I’m pretty sure Blanche doesn’t want to start a cleaning business, which is one of the things I teach people to do online. She’s not in our audience.
But she taught me a key thing. Picture your customer asking “What can you do for me?” When you can answer that, you’ve got your elevator speech.
Keep a couple different versions of your speech on-hand. When a person asks what you do for a living, it’s usually possible to size up their level of interest.
A lot of people are sincerely looking for ways to be financially independent, and when they hear you make a living online they may try to imagine themselves doing what you do.
A smart elevator speech helps them put themselves in your shoes.
