[…Imagine Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” playing in the background…]
Look, if you had one shot…
One opportunity to seize everything you ever wanted…
One moment…
Would you capture it…
Or just let it slip away?
Yo, his Palm Treo is sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy…
There’s Starbucks on his business coat, it’s a spilled Tazoberry…
He’s nervous, but on the surface he looks calm and ready…
To drop an Elevator Pitch, but he keeps on forgetting…
Look, if you had one shot…
One opportunity to seize everything you ever wanted…
One moment…
Would you capture it…
Or just let it slip away?
Yo, his Palm Treo is sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy…
There’s Starbucks on his business coat, it’s a spilled Tazoberry…
He’s nervous, but on the surface he looks calm and ready…
To drop an Elevator Pitch, but he keeps on forgetting…
Alright, maybe dropping an elevator pitch isn’t that extreme, yet it’s an important business tool for any entrepreneur to have. According to Wikipedia,
An elevator pitch is a brief overview of an idea for a product, service, or project. The pitch is so called because it can be delivered in the time span of an elevator ride (say, thirty seconds).
A team can offer you much more insight into how to use a podcast to power a real business. Is Consistent Quality Paramount? Most hobby podcasts will get on just fine with lower quality audio and a little inconsistency. Your listeners know the situation, and they love the content enough to stay the course. To be clear, you cannot take a 30-second excerpt from a popular song and play it in the background to jazz up your personal or corporate website and call that 'fair use.' You can't use a five-second excerpt, either! There is no blanket exemption for samples of any length.
When I was first asked to write an elevator pitch, the first thing that came to my mind was,
Why is an elevator pitch so important? I’m bootstrapping my business – I don’t need any funding so why should I even care about an elevator pitch?
Well, I later came to find out that the process of formulating an elevator pitch brings to light many basic things that an entrepreneur must consider about their business. Even if you’re not looking for funding, an elevator pitch can help you figure out what’s at the core of your business.
There are numerous ways to formulate an elevator pitch; one thorough and useful method is K. Stone’s How to Craft a Killer Elevator Pitch That Will Land You Big Business. Yet as I mentioned before, many methods exist so search for one that makes the most sense to you. I found the following tips to be useful when I wrote my 30 second elevator pitch:
- First, avoid the cookie cutter – “insert your name here” templates that you’ll find littered all over the net. You want your pitch to stand out and be unique, so give it life and personality by allowing your pitch to paint a picture or tell a story.
- If possible, use a tag line yet avoid sounding cheesy – your elevator pitch isn’t a sales pitch.
- Stick to hard facts and numbers! Avoid assumption or BS’ing; you’ve got to instill integrity in your message.
- Make the pitch easy to understand; avoid acronyms or any jargon that your intended audience won’t comprehend.
- Focus on the opportunity/problem you’ve encountered and why your solution is the most unique in providing value and benefit to the customer. *This part will comprise the bulk of your elevator pitch, so be sure and spend some time figuring out why your product stands head and shoulders above the competition.
- If possible, mention the size of your market and who would be willing to pay for it.
- If you’re pitching to an investor, mention their return on investment and how much funding you’re seeking.
- Last but not least, make sure it’s only 30 seconds long. Doing so will force you to trim the fat from the pitch and only focus on what’s really at the core of your message.
Once you’ve created your elevator pitch, memorize it completely and try it out on your friends, family, and colleagues (try cornering them into a cubicle). When reciting your elevator pitch convey passion, confidence, and instill some of your personality into the pitch. It really makes a difference when your message has some feeling to it.
Now onto an example, here’s one from Intel for employees to use,
“Intel, the world’s largest silicon innovator, creates products and technologies that change the way people live, work and play. Whether it’s a mobile lifestyle or a new way to enjoy entertainment at home, Intel is helping people all over the world accomplish things they never before dreamed possible.”
As I mentioned before, there are hundreds upon hundreds of examples out there if you look for them. So instead of repeating them here, I will point you to one of the nicest sites for Elevator Pitch examples that I’ve come across on the web, Aaron Post’s Your Elevator Pitch site. [Updated 04/19/2008] Unfortunately, YourElevatorPitch.com is no longer accepting or displaying pitches due to changes being considered by the site creators; I will update this blog if and when the site is functional again. For now, you can try out these resources for elevator pitch advice and examples:
- TechCrunch Elevator Pitches is a community video project that allows entrepreneurs to pitch their business idea to the general public and have it voted and commented on by viewers. Please note that this particular project allows one minute pitches, yet there are lots of submissions and examples so be sure to check it out.
- Twitpitch is an idea by Stowe Boyd that forces entrepreneurs to really focus their message by constraining their elevator pitch to fit within Twitter’s 140 character limit. You can see some of the early Twitpitches here: Web 2.0 Expo Meeting Scheduling: Twitpitch Me!
- Indiana Entrepreneur Bootcamp’s March 20th 2008 competition is a humorous live recording of three elevator pitches given by Purdue University students.
- Vator.tv is a video site featuring a rather non-traditional spin on the elevator pitch. The site navigation is a bit lacking in my opinion, but there are plenty of video pitches by numerous companies and entrepreneurs.
- StartupNation’s August 2006 Pitch-Off Contest is a 30 minute podcast featuring six entrepreneurs competing for StartupNation’s best elevator pitch of 2006.
- Last but not least, you can find additional elevator pitch resources on my del.icio.us elevator pitch tags
If you have an elevator pitch resource that you would like to share, feel free to mention it in the comments below!
Sincerely,
The Closet Entrepreneur
![How much charge for 20 seconds podcast intro 2017 How much charge for 20 seconds podcast intro 2017](https://cdn.zencast.fm/download/Podcast%2Fartworks%2F142%2Flarge%2Fd4ee9f58e5860574ca98e3b4839391e7a356328d4bd6afecefc2381df5f5b41b%2F7ms-iTunes2.jpg)
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Radio advertising is a powerful way of reaching consumers in your local area or even on a national level. Even though 30 seconds might not seem like much time to get a marketing message across to a listening audience, this format can be used with success. There are a few things you need to include in this brief ad spot to make sure that it is as effective as possible.
Mention the Product
The product should be introduced immediately at the beginning of the radio commercial. Ideally, it should begin with creating or identifying a need. For example, if you are selling a headache remedy, your 30-second radio spot could start with, 'Do you suffer from crippling headaches? Headache Away is the solution you've been looking for.' With this strategy, you have managed to introduce the need and the product within the first 10 seconds of the ad.
The beginning of the ad always should grab the listener's attention by offering to solve a problem. This helps the listener pay attention to the rest of the message.
Discuss Its Benefits
![2017 2017](/uploads/1/2/4/8/124801792/473858334.png)
Now that you have your listening audience's attention, it is time to quickly discuss the benefits that your product has to offer. Focus on the main benefits to consolidate what you have to say. You don't want to rush through your ad and have the information come out jumbled.
You could say, 'Headache Away has been a proven solution for tension, migraine and sinus headaches for 20 years. It even helps ease back, joint and muscle pain.'
Offer an Enticement
After you have told your listening audience what your product does, you need to offer the listener an enticement. This can be a special offer that is only available to those hearing your 30-second spot on the radio. For example, 'You can try Headache Away today and take advantage of our radio-only special offer. Get two bottles for the price of one.' Make your enticement a powerful incentive and make sure to remind the listening audience that only they qualify for this special deal.
The Call to Action and Reminder
Lastly, you need to close your ad with a quick call to action and a reminder about what your product does. For example, 'Call our toll-free number right now to claim your free bottle of Headache Away before it's too late. You don't have to suffer from crippling headaches and pain anymore.' You have closed with a reason for the listeners to call you.
They don't want to miss out on your offer, and you have reminded the listeners what your product does. Make sure that your toll-free number is easy to remember or use the corresponding letters on a phone keypad to make it even easier. Many listeners might be in their cars and unable to write down your information. Some companies specially order toll-free numbers that can be given as phrases, such as 1-888-End-Pain.
References (2)
About the Author
Kate McFarlin is a licensed insurance agent with extensive experience in covering topics related to marketing, small business, personal finance and home improvement. She began her career as a Web designer and also specializes in audio/video mixing and design.
Cite this Article Choose Citation Style
McFarlin, Kate. 'What to Say for a 30-Second Radio Advertising Spot.' Small Business - Chron.com, http://smallbusiness.chron.com/say-30second-radio-advertising-spot-10065.html. 08 March 2019.
McFarlin, Kate. (2019, March 08). What to Say for a 30-Second Radio Advertising Spot. Small Business - Chron.com. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/say-30second-radio-advertising-spot-10065.html
McFarlin, Kate. 'What to Say for a 30-Second Radio Advertising Spot' last modified March 08, 2019. http://smallbusiness.chron.com/say-30second-radio-advertising-spot-10065.html
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