Okay, let's play a memory game. You've got 5 seconds, try to remember everything from both lists:
| List 1 | List 2 |
| Green Alligator | Red Balloon |
| Capsicum | |
| Yellow Jello | |
| Pink Fuzzy | |
| North Dakota | |
| Digital Barometer | |
| Ripe Tangerine | |
| V8 Engine | |
| Anthropomorphism |
How did you do? Which list did you do better on? Ridiculous question, I know, but we do it every day to total strangers. We'll meet somebody in a business setting or a networking event and we'll rattle off a whole list o' things we do and just assume the other person in the conversation is going to listen with rapt attention and memorize the list. Think how much trouble we have remembering names. How is that poor person going to ever remember your list? They're not. They're busy forgetting the list before you've finished rattling it off.
We're often proud of what all we services we can perform or equipment we can sell, but you're actually shooting yourself in the foot. You've got to be brief and focused if you want the other person to have any chance of remembering what you do.
This is especially true if you're like many entrepreneurs. Through our experiences, many of us have multiple specialties. There may be a lot of things that we can do for our future customers, but right now, that's all they are: future customers. Don't chase them away by sounding confused, distracted, or even desperate. (Not that I've ever done any of that!)
If your business card or "elevator speech" is starting to sound like the fictional Buckaroo Banzai's (particle physicist, samurai, race car driver, neurosurgeon, and rock star) you're probably costing yourself more business than you're gaining.
People won't remember you if they can't remember what you do. Even if you have multiple areas of expertise, choose one thing and sell that. Let the other areas be support services of your "One Thing". Make it easy for other people to remember what you do.
Oh, and our "One Thing" is: “Helping businesses define and express their brand”
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http://BusinessIdentityFactory.com
“Helping businesses define and express their brand”
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