5 Engaging Alternatives to the Elevator Pitch

With more opportunities today to get your message out, sales experts say it's time to re-think the time honored "30-second elevator pitch." In the many faceted world of digital communications, trying to engage a prospect in the 65 words you can say in half a minute seems downright verbose. The different ways available to instantly connect with one another require us to be brief and creative when pitching our idea, product, service or company. It's important to remember that you're not trying to make a sale. You just want to offer a proposition so compelling that it starts a conversation. Here are five ways to go. 1. A one-word pitch. You want to break through in a world of short attention spans? Come up with the one word that defines your brand. "Search?" That's Google. "Priceless?" MasterCard. President Barack Obama got elected in 2008 by equating himself with the one word, "hope." The one-word approach takes discipline and requires you to be clear about what it is you provide your clients. 2. A question pitch. A question can create a very powerful pitch. Giving equal time to the other political party, we'll reference President Ronald Reagan's 1980 campaign. He connected with voters struggling with a poor economy by asking the simple question: "Are you better off now than you were four years ago?" Pitching with a question can be way more powerful than pitching with a statement. Just make sure the facts are on your side. 3. A Twitter pitch. The late Steve Jobs was a master at this. His Apple product pitches neatly fit within 140 characters, long before Twitter exploded on the scene. In October 2001, Jobs introduced the iPod with the line, "1,000 songs in your pocket." A few years later came the MacBook Air, "the world's thinnest notebook." These Twitter pitches aren't a substitute for a whole presentation, but they can be a very powerful way to get people's attention and have them start asking questions. 4. A subject line pitch. Research into which emails get opened and which do not has uncovered some key findings on what makes a good subject line. A subject line that gets people to open an email can be a great subject line to get people to listen to your story. So what did the researchers find? The best subject lines offer up either a benefit or a promise to the recipient, drive curiosity, or share very specific information. Focus on those areas to create a subject line pitch people will open up to. 5. A rhyming pitch. It may sound corny to put your message into a rhyme, but the fact is, rhymes make ideas easier for people to understand and buy into. That's why they show up in advertising slogans. Pillsbury: "Nothin' says lovin' like something from the oven." Timex watches: "It takes a licking and keeps on ticking." "See the USA in your Chevrolet." "An apple a day keeps the doctor away." Rhymes have sold plenty of products and the right one could do the same for you. Keep in mind that you're not trying to make some profound statement that will blow people away. You just want to make the most of an opportunity to motivate a person to find out more about what you could do for them. Instead of that 30-second sales pitch you would use in an elevator, get creative. Try one or more of the five alternatives here to make what you do stand out in your marketplace. Here's to your continued success, as you keep putting together your best year ever.... Enjoy a great month!