Improve your marketing in 60 seconds

Imagine you have to stand up in front of a crowd and tell them about your business.

You have 60 seconds to explain what you do. And why people should buy your product or use your service.

You need to be persuasive. And make your audience remember you.

So what are you going to say? And how are you going to say it?

Those are challenges I used to face every Tuesday night.

I belonged to a business referrals network* where members have 60 seconds to sell their services at every weekly breakfast meeting.

You couldn’t just read the same script each week either.

You had to be different and interesting.

As a copywriter I was used to writing 60 second radio commercials for advertisers.

(Although these days, with tightened budgets, the ads aren’t usually longer than 30 seconds.)

But I’d never had to advertise my service this way.

It was a good exercise, which I recommend to you.

Whether you own a small business or you’re a brand marketer who would normally use an agency to write your ads, I think you’ll find it helpful.

The benefits of writing a 60-second talk on your business

• It focuses your mind on your business. With so little time, you have to avoid waffle, and decide on the important things to say.

• It forces you to think who your customers are and what they want.

• You have to describe what makes you different from, or better than, your competitors.

• You can see the strengths and weaknesses of your sales proposition. (Do you have a USP? How can you make your proposition more compelling?)

• It forces you to be clear and simple so that your audience understands you.

I’ve met many business people who are unable to describe what they’re offering simply, clearly and succinctly.

At least one was a director of a well-known brand.

The fact he couldn’t explain his brand clearly did make me wonder how it survived.

Go on and write your 60-second sell.

Read it to yourself and ask if you’d buy the service or product you’re describing.

Then try it on a friend.

You might be surprised by what you discover.

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*The referrals network which I belonged to was BNI.