How and why to create a short marketing pitch

You have many chances to quickly tell people what you do. Most of us just stammer or ramble our way through those opportunities because we don’t have a ready summary of our business.

An elevator pitch is the generic term for a short, potent marketing message. With a great pitch, you can present yourself professionally not only in elevators, but also in phone calls, in print, at meetings, and whatever situation life throws at you.

Our friend Laura Allen helped develop the 15 Second Pitch concept. The online 15 Second Pitch Wizard can walk you through a simple process to create a simple and compelling pitch. The site also includes community tools.

To test it out, I created this pitch for myself as publisher of Small Biz Survival:

My name is Becky McCray and I am an entrepreneur and publisher specializing in small town small business. I share my own insights, rural economic development stories, small business articles, and personal stories from rural entrepreneurs. Supporting and developing entrepreneurs is the most promising strategy to save rural communities. That’s why I am passionate about sharing the best resources, tools and technologies. Share your entrepreneurial successes in our weekly brag basket.

Laura wisely encourages you to focus each pitch like a laser on a single topic, saying “a pitch for every niche.”

Try your marketing hand at the 15 Second Pitch Wizard.

Update: watch the ABC News video of Laura explaining the 15 Second Pitch.

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About Becky McCray

Becky started Small Biz Survival in 2006 to share rural business and community building stories and ideas with other small town business people. She and her husband have a small cattle ranch and are lifelong entrepreneurs. Becky is an international speaker on small business and rural topics.