How to Craft an Elevator Pitch That Attracts Customers

Guest Blogger - Maggy Sterner

Here’s what I love about elevator pitches: They’re not just something you use to say what you do out
loud so people want to hire you. 

A pitch is like a Swiss Army knife: It contains all the part of your brand AND you can use it as the basis
for all your marketing content, from your website to your social media profiles. 

Here’s the structure of a pitch the way I teach my clients: 

“You know how hard it is to just tell people what you do in a short-and-simple way? Wish you felt
super confident whenever you have to describe your business? I’m Maggy Sterner and I’m a
brand and business coach. I help small businesses and entrepreneurs get laser clarity about
what they offer and find the words to talk about it so they’re magnetic to their ideal clients. My real
job is to connect you to the heart of your brand message.”

That’s pretty much it. In 25 seconds I’ve told people I know what their big struggle is, what they’ll pay anything
to have, what I do, and the results I deliver. 

I don’t talk about my services, my coaching programs, where I went to school, what I used to do, or how long
I’ve been in business. That information isn’t relevant in a pitch.

I use the words my ideal clients use when they need the help I uniquely offer, solving the ONE problem
my people have and delivering the ONE solution that solves all their other problems.

Here’s how to craft yours. It’s a fill-in-the-blanks way to have a pitch that’s conversational and clear:

THE WHAT: The problem you solve for the people you serve. 

You know how …. AND/OR

Wish you felt/had … 

WHO YOU ARE: Your title, what you call yourself using words that make sense. Keep it SHORT.

I’m Maggy Sterner and I’m a brand and business coach.

THE WHO: Your target audience and/or your niche. 

I help small businesses and entrepreneurs … 

SO THAT … This is why people will hire you, not because you have 12 degrees, 25 years of experience,
and a million certifications. The “so that” is the moneymaker part of your pitch.

… so that they’re magnetic to their ideal clients. 

THE KICKER: This is your real job. You’re not selling coaching, consulting, or widgets. You’re selling the
thing people really want when they need help. I call it “My real job … “ or “I’m the go-to girl for … “ This is
what you’re known for, what people say about you when they refer someone to you.

My real job is to connect you to the heart and essence of your brand message.

You can put that pitch straight on your LinkedIn or other social media profiles, your website’s About page,
all your marketing materials, and everyone will understand what you do.

More importantly, so will you.

LOSE THE QUARANTINE 15! IMMUNE HEALTH      CHILDREN'S IMMUNE HEALTH

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Maggy Sterner // https://maggysterner.com  is a brand & business coach. She helps entrepreneurs and sm
all business owners discover the ONE magical sentence that perfectly describes their brand. When they
have that, they feel confident telling people what they do and their perfect clients know where to get help. 

8 SEO Tricks You Can Implement for Free

Want to rank higher on Google? Not sure where to start? Don’t spend money on Google Adwords unless you are taking advantage of the free internet marketing tools that help boost your website organically. Here are a 8 SEO tricks you can implement for free:

Update your website. Commit to reviewing one page of your website per month. Take time to update the wording on that page and change picture, graphics, and/or video(s) that are on that page as well. 

Write a Blog. Write an article with free, helpful tips to educate or inform your target audience. Use and re-use this content on other platforms.

Post on Facebook. How often do you update your Facebook business page? Facebook is the fastest changing content management media online. Updating your page daily, gives Google information on the relevance on your company and keeps you ranked higher.

Tweet on Twitter. Twitter changes every second. It’s used by large brands multiple times a day. If you want to compete or keep up with those larger brands, get to tweeting.

Network on LinkedIn. Whether you are doing business-to-business networking or business-to-consumer networking, jump on LinkedIn and start connecting with colleagues and customers. You can also write articles on LinkedIn. So, take advantage of this by re-using your blog in a LinkedIn article.

Get on the Google Map. Want to rank well on Google? Get your business on the Google Map. Click here to get started on Google my Business.

Create Video. Start on Youtube and create a channel. Make some educational, informational, and/or entertaining videos for your channel. You can re-use your blog content for the video and add the video to your website.

Work Smarter on Instagram. Instagram doesn’t need to be intimidating, but Instagram is the fastest growing social media platform. If you want to rank as being relevant, get on Instagram.

Ranking on Google involves many factors and constantly changes. However, the most popular websites, brands, and businesses take advantage of all the tricks mentioned above. Your business should be using them too!

As always, if your SEO is icky, call Rikki!

What is Google Adwords?

After you launch your website, the next step is typically Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Search Engine Marketing (SEM) or Google Adwords. Next question, what is it and what’s the difference?

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) ensures that your business ranks high on search engines like Google and Yahoo when a consumer is looking for a specific product or service. SEO tasks include site keywords, page titles, headings, page descriptions, and many more ways to make you stand out from the crowd. It is a way of earning traffic through unpaid or free listings. Learn more about SEO by watching this video.

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is paying to rank high with Google. Search engine giant Google offers its paid AdWords service to businesses who wish to enhance their Internet marketing efforts. It’s like buying traffic through paid search listings. This video explains Google Adwords in greater detail.

Webgirl Technology works in partnership with websolutions by maWebCenters. As digital marketing coaches and consultants, we can help educate you on the next steps for your website.

Digital Marketing Strategies for Financial Services: Accountants, Financial Planners, Tax Professionals, Bookkeepers

In today’s fast-paced world, more people are searching online and asking their “friends” for recommendations more than ever before. So, how can your business be easily recommended online? It’s simple, if you have a digital marketing strategy that makes you easy to be found and lets your customers be heard online.

To accomplish this, your business should implement a combination of blogging, social media, and email marketing to connect with potential clients who might be interested in your services.

Did you know the first place a potential client visits is your website?  It should be engaging, compelling, and mobile-friendly.  A responsive design is critical to online success, as more users are accessing the internet through a mobile device than laptop/notebook or desktop computers. Did you know that Google will lower your rank if your site is not mobile-friendly?

However, it’s not just your website anymore.  How can a visitor get the most up to date, relevant information about your business?  A blog give you a place to post new, fresh, content on a consistent basis.  Therefore, content marketing is king! Blogging can also drive traffic to and from other communication channels, such as your website, social media sites, and even produce leads for an email marketing campaigns. It sets you as an industry authority, and someone who is credible and trustworthy. You have individuals, businesses, and corporations looking to have you manage their finances.  Therefore, it takes an enormous amount of trust in you and your brand.  Building the 

relationship is important.  People do business with people they know, like, and trust.  

Once you have a lead or a client, on-going communication and interaction is important to maintain that relationship, letting clients know of any important changes in the industry that may impact their financial situation.  However, what about those that don’t know about you.  Where can you find them?

Search Engines

Chances are your prospects are looking for your products and services, and they are searching for services that you provide.  Therefore there are 2 locations you need to pay special attention to: SEARCH and SOCIAL.  Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Search Engine Marketing (SEM) are the most important place for you to create inbound traffic to your website or blog.  People using search engines are looking for local businesses to work with, and you want to be in those results. In fact, people don’t search to search, they search to find.  And the fastest they can find the results or answers they are looking for, the better.  What keywords, products, services do you provide that you want to be sure your prospects know you offer?

Google currently leads the digital marketing world with 31.1% of the total space. Make sure your business information and location is accessible to your customers via Google search, Google Maps, and Google Plus. 

Pay-per-call advertising on Google is another great feature that allows mobile customers to call your business directly from the ad. If users are searching for accountants from their mobile devices, it is highly likely they will turn into a potential customer and call you directly from their smart phone. Even Google says that 70% of all mobile searches lead to a phone call. (https://www.canopytax.com/blog/digital-marketing-and-your-tax-practice/)

Are you leveraging these words and related content in your online marketing efforts: blogs, website, social posts? And if you are struggling to compete in the natural, organic results, then it is advised to get in the paid advertising part of search.  You don’t have to pay to be there, but you must be willing to pay when the listing is clicked.  Google AdWords has as tremendous ROI for those that have invested time in creating a strategic campaign.  Have you recently thought of your SEO and SEM programs?

Investing in Google AdWords, Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising, and Cost Per Acquisition (CPA) advertising are still the most reliable ways to get your marketing message in front of qualified leads. Yet most firms don’t even bother to invest the resources into trying paid search.

Social Media

And what about social media?  The online communities present a unique opportunity to get your message and brand in front of decision makers and any target market in a social environment.  Whether it is managing your social channels, such as, Linked In, Facebook, and Twitter, or paying for Sponsored Ads on these networks, it is a fact that social media is a growing marketing opportunity. The challenge….no one likes ads.  Therefore, content, ad copy, and target marketing is important to consider.  Have you identified your target demographic?  Have you clarified their household income and spending?  DO you know their interests and likes?  Are you currently collaborating with other businesses or brands?  These are important to consider your organic reach but also any sponsored listings.

Inovautus Consulting and SocialCPAs collaborated on a study found that only 50% of firms track leads they earn from social media, and only 20% of firms use social media to advertise.

Your audience lives on social media and they’re using platforms like Facebook to find you. If you’re not there to meet them, you’re missing a huge portion of your audience. Worse still, you’re missing opportunities to address complaints, answer questions, and figure out what your clients want from you. (http://www.madtownagency.com/blog/digital-marketing-accounting/)

“Your capabilities may lead the marketplace, but without a digital marketing strategy, you can’t reap the rewards of your hard work and great ideas. The key to your growth is building a digital marketing plan that you can execute internally, or with an agency to drive sales and build your lead funnel. Without it, you’ll be unknown to the market.” (https://www.newnorth.com/7-things-need-know-digital-marketing-financial-advisors/ )

Email Marketing

Email marketing is a fantastic way to promote your firm, your services, events, webinars, new products or latest practice news. Many accountancy practices revert to rather, dull, uninspiring generic email newsletters. Insight specialize in providing either email templates or customized bespoke emails to send. (http://www.salesforaccountants.com/websites/) Again, it comes down to content.  Are you providing valuable content in your messaging?

In summary, here’s a short list of things to consider:

Website

§  Development and Maintenance: Responsive website design, updated quarterly or seasonally

§  Photography: Lifestyle shots

§  Top Informational Pages: Services, experience/education/licenses, resources, online forms, testimonials, FAQs, appointments, scheduling, existing customers/clients

§  Interactivity: Request quote, book an appointment, newsletter signup, forms, social media feeds/follows

Traffic and Engagement

SEO: natural rank based on Page Titles, Descriptions, Keywords, and Page Content

SEM: Paid search based on keywords, geography, and advertising budget

Email Marketing: Great for promoting specials, events, offering loyalty rewards, and staying in touch

Content Marketing/Blog: Fresh, relevant, valuable industry-related content to build your audience.

Social Media: Client Engagement. What networks are you on?  Who is representing your brand? What’s being said?

If your business needs a review, please contact me at rikki@webgirltech.com. 

What is Social Media?

Do I Really Need to be on Social Media?

Social Media are websites like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest. These websites have become incredibly important to communication channels for sharing information and staying in touch.

Did you know that millennials check their phones more than 157 times per day?

Americans spend an average of 5.2 hours per day online with the most popular activity being social networking.

20 years ago, people went to printed periodicals for up-to-date news and referrals, but today they go to social media which is why businesses need to have a social media strategy.

There are 1.65 billion active mobile social accounts globally with 1 million new active mobile social users added every day.

85% of customers expect businesses to be active on social media.

71% of customers who have a good social media customer service experience with a brand are likely to recommend it to others.

So, my question to use is....
Why aren't you on social media?

For more information on our social media packages, contact me, Rikki at (443) 871-9227.

And, remember, If your website is icky, call Rikki!