Word of Mouth: Sell yourself!

Telegram.  Telephone.  Tell-a-person!  You are the best marketing and advertising resource for your company.  Yes you!  Relationships build small businesses.  People do business with personalities that they can connect with and relate to.  The difficulty is understanding how to quickly sell yourself to someone without coming off as pushy or desperate.  In order to do that you must practice.  Each day you should spend time in the mirror practicing your "elevator pitch."  Essentially an elevator pitch is a short and simple set of talking points that you can easily, comfortably, and effortlessly rattle off to anyone at any place or anytime about your organization.  This speech is important because it is the first introduction that a potential customer or client has to the work that you are doing.  The key to a successful elevator pitch is to keep it simple.  Do not use any trade or industry language that people outside of your profession will not understand.  Also make sure that you answer any specific questions you are asked.  In other words if someone asks "exactly what does your company do?"  Do not go into when you were founded, how many employees you have and where you are located.  Answer their question first then provide some simple background information to support your description.  Also, always make sure that you have something to put in their hands such as a personalized ink pen or a business card.  It is very inexpensive to have pens produced and each time they look at the pen or write with it they are reminded of your company and the work you do.  An effective elevator pitch has these basic components: who your organization is, what you do, how you positively impact your customers/clients, and how a potential customer/client can get in contact with you.  Once you have a speech that you are comfortable with try it out on people who work with you to see if you are forgetting anything.  Also try it out on friends/family who are not as familiar with your work just to make sure your making sense.  Also understand that the pitch should not be written in stone.  As you deliver it more and more it should evolve, it should stay fresh.  If you realize that everyone's body language shifts negativly at the same point each time you share your pitch- CHANGE IT!  Go ahead and tell-a-person about the great work your doing today!  You never know what new business you will receive! -Derek A. Terry, Principal Consultant, www.ConsultingDAT.com