Here’s something everyone should consider in recession times: How to present who you are and what you’re doing in 15 seconds which is a really short elevator ride or time you typically have when you meet someone (new). Think about how you could stimulate fun conversations about what you’re doing and possibly create new relationships and generate new deals along the way. Think about increasingly short attention span of people who are thinking about something also every 5 seconds… OK, I might be exaggerating. ;-)
Here’s an excerpt of Steve Pavlina’s blog post about this self-marketing approach: “When someone asks what you do for a living, imagine they’re really asking, “What are you here to contribute, and why should I care?”
The mistake I made was that I used labels to describe my work (blogger, author, etc), but I didn’t convey the real value I delivered to people. If you tell people you’re a blogger, consultant, real estate agent, or salesperson, most people simply won’t care. Your answer doesn’t do anything for them. There are millions of people doing all of these things, and you’re just another professional with a boring job title. You may still get some business this way, but you could be doing much, much better if you had a more effective marketing message. This is especially true during a recession. ”
I would add that your 15 second marketing pitch should be delivered with passion. Watch Gary Vaynerchuck of Vine Library fame to understand what I’m talking about.
p.s. As it has been the case so far, I’m not promoting any online get-rich-fast schemes. I’m passing some interesting ideas to you, my dear reader. :-)
