Umm, Who are You Again?

You've established who you are and what you do. You've got friends championing for you and you've landed those first clients. Your confidence and brand attitude is high. You're beaming!

Great!

While networking, you're asked: Who are you and what is your company about?

Uh oh.

Part of completing your branding efforts is perfecting your 30-second commercial or "elevator pitch." And, honestly, 30 seconds is a little generous. How about 15 seconds. That gives you enough time to say about 38 impressively chosen, or clumsily muddled words (the rule in broadcasting is we speak about 2.5 words per second).

The best way to craft your elevator pitch is to use your company's mission statement. Build a paragraph from there. This doesn't have to be eloquent, as we speak more casually than we write. Plus, you don't want to get tounge-tied on a $100 word when you could've used a one dollar word! Once you've written your paragraph, whittle away at the excess until you've got about 35 to 40 words.

Memorize. Repeat. And, don't forget to hand out business cards or coupons!