Verbal Marketing: Is Your Networking Message On Queue

As the owner of a small business coaching and consulting business, I rely on other people who know me and recommending their colleagues to me. It's time consuming but less expensive than buying news print or magazine placements. It also insures that people continue to see me, especially in the role of an experienced business coach. I've learned that as long as people see you out and about working your business, they know you are still in business. It's one of the most difficult things a small business has to achieve during the early years of operation- visibility.

Of course, if you are consistent with your message and the delivery of your product or service, visibility will lead to credibility. Now, none of this activity is of much value if you have difficulty telling people what you do. Helping small business owners develop highly effective marketing strategies so they can grow their revenues, client base and profits is something I can't afford to mess up on when another person says, "tell me what you do"?

Every networking event that I've been to incorporates common activities to get the crowd comfortable with each other. And of course, we're all there to find business so making introductions seems to be the best way to accomplish both. Here's where I find many business owners losing ground in the message and credibility department.

No one knows your business as well as you do. So, if you have difficulty explaining who you are and the benefit of what you do in 30 seconds or less, how can you expect other people to know what to look for. My best referrals have come from people who know exactly what I do, how I do it and what the benefit is to the small business owner. They know this because they have worked with me or been associated with me for a period of time. In a networking meeting, you don't have the luxury of time. You have to peak the interest of strangers and entice someone to ask, "wow, how do you do that".

It's called a 30 second commercial or an elevator pitch. Either way, it's what you say to someone who asks you what you do. Here are a few techniques for perfecting your pitch.

1. Start with something that lasts about 10 seconds. Identify a problem or issue that your target client has and state what you do to address it. The reason I say start with 10 seconds is because you want to be able to remember it so it sounds natural when you say it.

2. Don't be concerned about getting every detail out in 30 seconds. I hear this all the time and it end up being so rushed, jumbled up and unclear, you lose your audience. People's attention spans are about 8 seconds on a good day. If you don't capture their interest right up front, you've missed it.

3. The purpose of a commercial or elevator pitch is to pre-qualify your listener. In networking environments, the challenge is meeting people who can help you find more clients. If they're not interested in you, don't waste time on them. You can find this out in 10 seconds by how they respond to your commercial.

You can have the best business in the world and if you can't clearly tell others who you are and why they should do business with you in 10 seconds or less, consider investing in magazine ads and newspaper listings. And save money of the networking events to.

Steve Smith is the OneCoach Business Partner for Saddleback Valley-CA, where he now coaches and mentors small-business owners and entrepreneurs, helping them get the answers they need to grow the businesses they want.

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