Small Business Summit Center

Laura Allen, 15SecondPitch

[Laura Allen helps people explain their businesses in 15 seconds. Having a niche business (like Jill Vegas) makes that easy; anyone who does lots of things should read on for Laura's advice. - Andrew]

AB: Three-part question: When someone wants to upgrade their business's "elevator speech" how much of the improvement has to do with understanding their own basic company positioning, delivery and confidence?

LA: Many of the small business owners I work with make the mistake of trying to be all things to all people. They use what I like to call the “kitchen sink” pitch. That means they throw every skill and capability they have into their pitch. It’s much better to find a niche that you can own and create a pitch. About delivery: What I hear all the time is, “I don’t want to create a pitch because I want to be spontaneous. Once you know your core messaging you can change it up and be more spontaneous. However, if you are trying to create your pitch on the fly every time, what will happen is that your message will be inconsistent and confusing. A confused customer never buys. As for confidence, every one of my clients lacked confidence when they came to me. It’s very common. If you were an actor and you didn’t know your lines each night when you went on stage, you’d be a nervous wreck. Once you know what you need to say, it becomes a lot easier to deliver your clear, concise and compelling message about your business.

AB: How do most people fall short with a 15-second pitch?

LA: Most people fall short because their pitches are too long and most are boring! I meet a lot of professionals who APOLOGIZE when they tell me what they do! They say, “I’m JUST a financial planner.” That introduction makes me think you might be in the wrong line of work and it is going to cost you sales. People want to hire the best experts they can afford to solve their problems.

AB: Running a small business for the first time means lots of new challenges. What part of entrepreneurship have you worked hardest on?

LA: I have spent a lot of time focusing on this very narrow niche, the 15SecondPitch. If people ask me to go and speak about a three minute elevator pitch, I politely decline. I’m all about the 15SecondPitch.

AB: What would you do if you weren't in business for yourself?

LA: I’d be working at a Silicon Alley start-up helping someone else build their business until I had the resources and opportunity to start my own thing. In fact, that’s exactly what I did before I started 15SecondPitch!

Business Bio

15SecondPitch.com provides tools and services that help individuals and businesses market themselves more effectively using the 15SecondPitch. Our exclusive online Pitch Wizard makes it easy to create a great pitch in just 5 minutes. Co-founder Laura Allen trains people to pitch better through her coaching practice and frequent public speaking appearances, and recently premiered a series of web-based eLearning videos on the entrepreneurs page of About.com.

Laura has a number of videos on About.com on creating a pitch, networking, and finding a niche. Also see her interview on ABC News.