Welcome to Day #1 of the 31 Days to Build a Better Blog Challenge. As on each day of this project today I’d like to present you with two things:
- Some Teaching/Theory
- A Task to go away and Do
Teaching
Today’s task (outlined in full below) is to develop an Elevator Pitch for your Blog. Let me explain why.
What is an Elevator Pitch?
“An elevator pitch is an overview of an idea for a product, service, or project. The name reflects the fact that an elevator pitch can be delivered in the time span of an elevator ride (for example, thirty seconds or 100-150 words).” – Wikipedia
Many business and self improvement type courses teach students to develop an elevator pitch for their business (and even for themselves). The idea is to have something short and sharp that you can say about yourself when the opportunity arises instead of bumbling your way through explaining what you or your business does (and miss an opportunity).
The goal is both to communicate what you do and to get the person you’re communicating it to to want to know more.
Elevator Pitches for Bloggers
While the idea of an elevator pitch is usually something that start up entrepreneurs are encouraged to do when looking for investors – developing an elevator pitch for your blog is also a smart move also.
One of the most important reasons to do this exercise is that to develop an elevator pitch YOU as a blogger to have thought through and crystallised in your mind what your blog is about.
If you’re fuzzy on what your blog is about it’s unlikely than anyone else will have much of an idea either.
Knowing what your blog is about helps you in developing every aspect of it including:
- Writing Content
- Promotion and Finding Readers
- Search Engine Optimisation
- Networking with other Bloggers
- Branding
- Design…. the list can go on.
In fact almost every task that we’ll be doing in this next 31 days should flow from this task.
Other Reasons for Developing an Elevator Pitch
Of course coming up with an elevator pitch is not just for your own benefit. Once you’ve got one it is brilliant for communicating what your blog is about to readers (both the ones you already have and potential ones), other bloggers, potential partners, media/journalists, advertisers and even to friends and family members who might not get what you’re doing.
Once you’ve got your blogs elevator pitch there’s no limit to the places and situations that you can use it (either part of it or in its entirety). Here are a few that come to mind:
- Your blogs tag line – having a short, sharp and descriptive ‘tag line’ for your blog can be a powerful technique for quickly communicating to new readers to your blog what it is all about. Readers who don’t get a sense for what your blog is about are in danger of leaving quickly – so a tagline that is displayed prominently on your blog can be a great way to hook them in.
- Your about page – the about page of a blog (if you have one) is one of the most read pages of a blog by first time visitors. It is an ideal place to communicate what you’re about and to ‘sell’ to potential readers why they should subscribe and come back.
- Real Life Conversation – whether it be at a conference, in business interactions or just in everyday conversation, the topic of your blog is likely to come up from time to time and these interactions can be an ideal moment to pull out the elevator pitch to describe what your blog is about.
- Business Cards – I get a lot of business cards given to me at conferences and to be honest at the end of the day I can’t remember who gave me most of them. Adding an elevator pitch to a card can help trigger who you are and what you do in the mind of those you chat with at these busy types of events.
- Pitching to Media – One of the things I’ve noticed about many journalists is that they’re very busy people who are constantly being pitched with ideas for stories. Having a thought through and effective ‘pitch’ can help you get noticed and give a journalist a reason to listen to what you’ve got to say.
- Pitching to Other Bloggers – Similarly, I find that if I’m being ‘pitched’ to as a blogger that I take more notice if the person pitching to me gives me a brief insight into who they are and what they do.
- Email Signature – many people have links to their blogs in their emails, but a link can be somewhat meaningless on its own. Why not add your elevator pitch? Similarly signatures in forums can be a good place to have a short description of what you do to motivate people to check you out further.
- Social Media Profiles – the same thing goes for all those social media profiles that you have. Why not use them to not only point people to your blog but to give them a reason to go there!
Where else would you use an elevator pitch? I’m sure there are so many more times to pull them out! Feel free to share other places you’ll be using yours.
Your Task for Today
Take some time out today to develop an elevator pitch for your blog. If you’ve already got one take a few minutes to review and refine it.
How to Write an Elevator Pitch for Your Blog
I’m sure there has been much written on the topic online but here’s some starting points that I use when doing this type of thing.
- Solve a Problem or Need – I’m a big believer in developing blogs that fulfil real needs and solve problems that people have. The problem need not be a big one (like World Peace) but you should be attempting to create something that people need on some level. Communicate this in your elevator pitch.
- Define Your Audience – who is your blog for? Who are you attempting to attract? IF your blog is targeting a certain demographic or type of person (and it may or may not) – include this in your pitch. If your blog is for teens, don’t develop a pitch for grandparents – target the reader you want.
- Be Clear – don’t leave people second guessing what you mean or interpreting jargon – make your elevator pitch crystal clear.
- Keep it Short – People have limited attention spans and capacity to absorb lots of information. Get to the point, eliminate unnecessary words and make it punchy!
- Stand Out – be willing to use humour or powerful imagery to grab the attention of those that hear your elevator pitch.
- Be Intriguing – your elevator pitch is unlikely to ‘convert’ people to read your blog all on its own – but it should entice them to learn more. You don’t need to say everything in it – but attempt to write something that is still in the mind of those who hear it long afterwards.
- Be Energetic but not Hyped – you convey more than just dry information when describing your blog – but you also convey what YOU feel about it. This is important – if you ‘pitch’ someone with language and a voice that is dry and uninspired you’re unlikely to convert anyone into a reader. Show people that you love what you’re doing, that you’re passionate and that you care about your topic. But don’t go too far and hype it up beyond what it is!
- Consider Using a Question – people are wired to answer and engage with questions. Ask them, even just rhetorical ones, in your pitch and you’ll hook people in.
- Be Ready to Expand Upon Your Pitch – at a recent conference I had someone come up and give me what seemed like an elevator pitch about their blog. It worked really well, they got me interested – so interested that I asked them to tell me more. The problem was that they didn’t really have much else to say about their blog. See an elevator pitch as a conversation opener – something designed to lead into further interaction with people. You don’t have to say it all in your initial pitch – but you should be ready to say more if people are interested.
These are just the thoughts that come to my mind on elevator pitches (what would you add?). Not everyone will be able to incorporate all of the above points but I hope that some of it will help you to develop yours.
My Elevator Pitch
I have a couple of elevator pitches my blog here at ProBlogger. One’s short (just 6 words) and one’s a little longer (a minute or so). I use one or the other of them depending upon the circumstances and opportunity to share.
My short one is very simple – ‘ProBlogger helps Bloggers Build Exceptional Blogs’. I’ve used others over the life of this blog (and continue to evolve it) but have settled on this one for the time being because it is so simple, to the point and clear.
The longer version expands upon this and shares some of the ways that the blog helps bloggers improve their blogs by talking through a few of the main topics I cover.
Write Your Elevator Pitch
Once you’ve got an elevator pitch for your blog write or print it out and put it somewhere near your computer so that as you blog you can be reminded of it. You might also like to start to incorporate it into your blog as a tagline or in your about page – or even to write a post about it on your blog to communicate to your readers what you’re on about (the appropriateness of writing it as a post will of course vary from blog to blog).
Once you’ve done that – feel free to share what you’ve come up with in comments below. I’m looking forward to reading yours.
Tomorrow on the 31 Days to Build a Better Blog Challenge – tomorrows task is a writing task that will have you writing a particular type of blog post to use on your blog in the next few days.
Sign up for 31DBBB
If you’re not already signed up for the 31 Days to Build a Better Blog challenge you can find more information on what it entails here.
Update! Get feedback on your results, and see what others are doing over at the forum: Day 1 – Create an Elevator Pitch for Your Blog
Want More?This task is a sample of one of the tasks in the 31 Days to Build a Better Blog Workbook – a downloadable resource designed to reinvigorate and revitalize blogs. Join over 14,000 other bloggers and Get your Copy Today. |
OK, here we go:
Zen Life
Bringing Zen Into Your Life
Welcome to Zen Life – a blog that helps you to add calmness, consciousness and awareness into your life.
Zen Life is a pure and honest life, without fancy clutter, without distractions, without deceit. Sometimes it gets uncomfortable to be honest with oneself. But the benefits are greater than living like a blindfolded person. Focus, connection, awareness, empathy, honesty, truth should be our path.
But why so serious? Life is also about fun. More specific it should be the biggest fun of all times, because with have only this single chance on earth to live.
So if you feel your life is one big rush and you are not able to keep up with it, Zen Life is just the blog for you.
I just increased visitors to my blog, 92% in March, by implementing one single tip from your ProBlogger book… so I just had to take my blog in for a revision.
That is why I’m following your challenge. Thank you Darren!
And I have started off with a post on my blog about adapting an elevator pitch for international blogs.
Looking forward to the rest of the challenge.
http://codeclimber.net.nz
“CodeClimber helps developers climb the cliffs of web development on the .NET platform using the best practice tools and principles.”
Hope it’s clear enough :)
Many thanks for the challenge & delightful first task, Darren!
Here’s my take:
You deserve a brilliant website: exciting design, inspiring content, and outstanding promotion. Our courses will help you create the online project of your dreams with WordPress.
I have several blogs which are doing very little for me – and I have zero time this month to devote to overhauling – so I’ve chosen my Twitter blog as my test case. I’m most active there and what I learn in this course I can apply to the other blogs (or create a new one).
So assignment #1 got me to change my announcement about my Twitter blog on Facebook and in my email signature to “my up-to-the-minute cultural producer stream: what’s crossing my desk & my mind” . (Before this I had a graphic Tweetie bird which invited people to follow but gave no info about what they would find if they did. Plus, for non-twitterers being invited to ‘follow’ can sound presumptuous.)
For a longer statement I can append this to my mini-bio – “I’m a cultural writer and multimedia producer focusing on women, travel, and history” and my blog is “an up-to-the-minute stream of what’s crossing my desk & my mind”.
Going longer, I can add: “I share resources for writers and travelers, expats, Turkophiles and culturati of all stripes”
Thanks Darren for a simple exercise bringing true value to both bloggers and their audience!
hmm, i submitted my elevator pitches, and they aren’t here… did they get caught in the spam filter?
Aloha and don’t forget those of us at the END of the time zones…I still have an hour and a half here in Hawaii to finish my assignment on time ;)
So my pitch came together so much easier with your instructions Darren…Big Maui Mahalo to you!
Here it is:
“Ever wonder how to heal a stressful relationship with eating? Self compassion! I help people see their lives from a higher more compassionate perspective greatly accelerating their recovery from disordered eating.”
Let me know what you all think….I feel great about it right now/
see you in class tomorrow.
OK… here’s what I’ve come up with (with the sentence in bold being my short version):
Epic Edits is a resource and community for photography enthusiasts of all experience levels. We explore many aspects of photography through discussion, example, and participation in group projects. Topics span from digital to film, capture to post-processing, camera gear to computer parts, and inspiration to execution. The community of Epic Edits is most important, and reader comments, messages, websites, and photos are highlighted as often as possible in order to give others a chance to be recognized for their efforts. In general, the concept of Epic Edits is to explore the medium of photography and learn from each other as we make our way through this hobby and profession.
I cannot agree more, actually I wrote a similar post weeks ago
Edward
Frontier Blog – No one ahead, no one behind
http://www.hwswworld.com/wp
I can already see that this 31 day challenge is going to change my blogging experience (given that I follow through with the challenge!). The first task alone completely realigned and made me think of how much my blog had strayed and went out of focus from my original thesis: Kalesa ni Maria is a web site catering to the Filipino migrant community with primary focus on disseminating information about consular services and assistance to Filipino nationals in different regions.
Under Philippine law, each embassy or consular office of the Republic of the Philippines is mandated to provide assistance and help to Filipino nationals regardless of their immigrant status.
But in so many instances, Filipinos are hesitant to seek embassy help especially if they have problems with their papers.
Kalesa ni Maria not only lists contact information but also announcements and other news from Philippine Consular Offices in different regions affecting immigrant Filipino communities.
Cool. http://development.tobiasopdenbrouw.nl/post/2009/04/07/Welcome-to-the-SolutionBrewery!.aspx
IT SolutionBrewery
Sweet mashups and bitter hacks in ASP.NET, Delphi and SQL
This is Tobias op den Brouw’s blog about development and my development area of BlogEngine.NET – my SolutionBrewery! The blog’s purpose is to share the sweet and the bitter I run into in my coding and IT projects, because it just might be useful to someone. I also air (IT) thoughts/trends that I think won’t hurt adding my voice to. They may be original to me, they may not be, but unless I air them, I’ll never know who else out there (dis)agrees, right?
My elevator pitch:
European School of Makeup
High quality education at low tuition costs. Don’t dream it, be it. Become the makeup artist you always wanted to be. Bring us your passion and we will give you the tools you need to help you succeed within the makeup industry. Learn from the best and become the best.
Comments are appreciated:)
Thanks for Day 1:
Blog now has a new Elevator Pitch.
—
Peter J. Coburn Reflections:
Inspirational Reflections, for all intrigued by Christianity, derived from 50 Years in the School of Life and tempered with wisdom from the Holy Bible.
—
Thanks for the intentional focus that fine tunes the blog.
Thanks for Day 1:
Blog (http://blog.Coburns.biz) now has a new Elevator Pitch.
—
Peter J. Coburn Reflections:
Inspirational Reflections, for all intrigued by Christianity, derived from 50 Years in the School of Life and tempered with wisdom from the Holy Bible.
—
Thanks for the intentional focus that fine tunes the blog.
My Tagline: My Views & Skews
I am a Marketing Analyst by profession, a quizzer by passion, a non-conformist by birth, a misfit through the eyes peers and an absolute rebel. Everybody in this world is opinionated and I am everybody. So I am opinionated about the world around me. From Politics to Poverty, Movies to Murders you can plethora of articles which has my views and also my skews.
Hi Darren,
Great post. You’ve got to the heart of every blogger! I came up with my tag line for my business which is focused on Internet Business Profits:
“The path to helping businesses profit online”.
I am eager to apply the elevator pitch on other parts of my blog, like the about me page and so forth.
Also to mention I’ve found that writing a business time line seems to help introduce my blog to people as well and helps build a relationship with them. Somehow I am going to try to incorporate an elevator pitch in there.
Thanks
Great starting off task and really made me think.
Elevator pitch:
Our Hiking Blog:
We have fantastic adventures on our hiking trips and so can you.
Frank and Sue help you have great hiking and backpacking trips into the wilderness.
Experienced Aussie bushwalkers share their experiences and advice so anyone can enjoy multiday hiking trips that are well planned, safe and above all else, fun.
“I make treasure maps. Is your life an adventure?”
(Great post Darren and I am very excited that the 31DBBB is off and running!)
So the series has started. Nice tips but could you keep it simple. Beginners out there might have difficulty understanding everything.
Thank you for day 1 regarding the elevator pitch. We already have a tag line for our main real estate business which is “Protecting and Growing Your Wealth” but for the blog I am now thinking of revising it to “Growing Your Wealth Through Real Estate” . Our longer version would “Our blog is about connecting with all people involved in Real Estate…buyers, sellers, consumers, Realtors, investors by sharing our experiences to help build, grow and protect your wealth.”
We think it still needs tweaking but it is a starting point for day 1 .
Great place to start! I just added this page to my blog:
—–
Tagline: The story behind the photographs
Elevator Pitch:
There is a story behind every photograph.
It can be a story about the situation: located in time, place and emotion, or a story about the photographer: the thought processes behind the image and what was learned from the experience.
This blog tells both types of story, as well as highlighting information I have found useful for improving my photography.
When saw this was the topic of the first day, I felt a little skeptical about how well it would fit my blog. My blog is very much just an informative blog, where I share my experiences/experiments in programming, and generally publish solutions to problems I encounter.
I figured because I wasn’t selling anything, or trying to push an agenda, that an elevator pitch wouldn’t be that helpful.
However, it’s really helped me realise just what I should be posting there, and just how irrelevant some of the things I’ve been posting. I’ve manage to figure out exactly what I’m trying to say, and why I’m writing, and the clarity is refreshing.
So, this comment is to anyone reading, thinking that an elevator pitch probably isn’t compatible with their kind of blog – do it anyway. You’d be surprised.
My elevator pitch is the following:
Anticipate and meet the information requirements of people in Malta and around the world.
What a great start to the series. This is definitely something that I have neglected.
My tagline is currently “household management for the postmodern age” and this is the full elevator pitch:
“Beyond Beeton is about one woman’s attempt to juggle a career, marriage and household while getting back to her pre-marriage weight (with occasional success).
Here you will find information on budgeting, cooking, eating, weight loss, housework, shoes and surviving the corporate world in Perth, Western Australia, all smothered in a generous serve of failure, hypocrisy and sarcasm.
Life is not easy beyond Beeton!”
I don’t think it is the best snapshot of what I predominantly blog about – which is food, healthy recipes, balancing career/home. My current audience likes the recipes but I’m in a fairly crowded space there. I have a series on meal planning and fridge/pantry management coming up, along with some more weight-loss stuff, so it is possible that my focus will adjust somewhat.
I guess I’m not sure how to decide how/when to focus.
I have a lot of work to do, and I’m very grateful to you for running such a great course.
Tag Line: Leveraging the Synthesis of Video and Social Media for the Church
Using Video and Social Media (blogs, twitter, facebook, vimeo, youtube, etc) to interact, connect and learn. For the purpose of Glorifying God and promoting his work.
I love dropping in this site, How wonderful she is. although I
don’t understand at all sometime.
Thanks for offering this series and making me do this! This is especially helpful for newbie bloggers like me.
I’m using an “elevator pitch” that I had already used in some blog directory descriptions but have not been using as a caption for my blog. Publishing it really helped me narrow the focus of my blog, and I think will clarify its purpose for readers.
Practical Paralegalism’s elevator pitch is:
“Celebrating the paralegal profession (and sharing a few cautionary tales)”
Very good tips. Wow. I am going home tonight and writing down an elevator pitch. If I can’t I am starting a whole new blog!
Thanks Darren. This has helped me align my 2 blogs to my personal tagline – “I am passionate about helping people to live healthier and wealthier lives”. The “healthier” blog’s tagline is “Building a more muscular you”. The “wealthier” blog’s tagline is now going to be “Helping you build a more effective online presence”.
I’ve struggled to workout what my “wealthier” blog is really about, but this post really helped me get clarity. Thanks.
Day #1 – Task:
This was great. i thought about this for a full 24 hours and it really brought my blog, and it’s purpose in to focus. In thinking of my elevator pitch, I actually ended up changing my blog title as well. Once I did that, it all fell in to place.
I changed my title from “Open Mic” to “Operamouth” which is just that much more catchy! Then, my elevator pitch line was “Finding a voice in the singing business” – I went back and forth from “a” to “my” and thought “a” would be more enclusive. I’m still a little worried about the genre being too limited by my using “opera” but I think it works because “opera” can have many side meanings.
I must say we are excited about the challenge here at ExcitedByLife.
This is the short version of our elevator pitch:
“ExcitedByLife shows people why life is exciting; latest discoveries, fun adventures and daily habits to achieve lifetime health and happiness.”
Were we supposed to get an email on this?
I sign up but didn’t get any email.
“Old fashion service, with Rockin technology”.
It use to me modern technology…but that seemed like such a boring word.
I’ve used it for years.
Now I need to expand on it on my about page.
I’ve been noodling for a while on an elevator pitch for a new blog project. Thanks for the clear and concise overview of the why’s and how’s. You’ve got me revving my blogger-girl engines with new enthusiasm.
Even more than providing a blogger with something to tell other people, developing an elevator pitch is a great way to FOCUS INTERNALLY on what it really is that you’re trying to do. It’s easy to say “I want to start a blog,” but nailing down exactly what you want to do with that blog is a little more difficult.
In addition, this exercise can help you define WHO YOU ARE WRITING FOR. Getting a good grasp on who your audience is will help you deliver the content they want. Critical to your success whether your a hobby blogger or a professional.
So excited that you’re offering this program – have been turning all my blogger and blogger-wannabe friends on to it … not to be missed. Thanks!
Here’s my pitch:
And it Feles Like Home chronicals my initial impressions and evolving understanding of what it’s like to move to and live in London. Nothing is above or below notice: people, customs, history, architecture, art, graffitii, public transic….it’s a never ending list.
Thanks for doing this, Darren. Day #1 was a great exercise, so I can’t wait to do more.
My blog: Living With Lindsay
Tagline: …it’s more difficult than you can imagine.
Elevator statement:
Living With Lindsay chronicles my adventures in decorating our home. With my trusty glue gun at my side, I guide you through the pleasures and pitfalls of turning your home into a space you’ll love without breaking the bank. Along with my sometimes unwilling accomplices – my husband, Tom, and our 3-year old son, Zack – I have experimented my way into creating livable design elements that anyone can replicate.
Done & Done. Took ages! You’re really going to put us through the ringer, aren’t you?
I wrote two pitches yesterday, a short version and a longer version. The short version is:
“Encouraging families to get outdoors and experience adventure.”
The longer version can be seen at the top of our about page:
http://www.adventureinprogress.com/about
Thanks very much for this, Darren!
Mine:
http://yourinsuranceanswerman.blogspot.com/
Thanks, Darren for this series and the 1st one is already very, very good. Mine is linked above – thanks for the push to stand out!
For my dual community site:
For Home Owners … roadmap and tools to plan and implement your home projects with confidence
For Home Professionals … roadmap, training and tools to market your business cost effectively
Thanks for this project. So far, so good… at least I understand what is going on. It’s the technical issues that stump me. As a small business owner I understand the need for an elevator pitch. The plan for my first blog (very new to the whole blog/twitter/facebook thing) is intended to be far more casual and “fun” for me, however, I hope to take the skills and tips learned from this project to a business professional level also. Thanks again.
Oops, deleted yesterday’s email in the usual Monday rush. Better late than never.
My blog is the Embrace Pet Insurance blog that covers topics on pet health, pet insurance and Embrace. The elevator pitch is: Embrace puts the trust back in pet insurance, one pet parent at a time.
Thanks Darren!
The biggest problem with my fairly-young blog is that it’s unfocused. Right away, the 31-Day Challenge inspires me to give it a real focus. I will spend some serious time on this, and I really look forward to working on the challenge for the rest of the month, as it will clearly be worthwhile!
(Additionally, I’ve just taken over the blog for my company (literally– my very first post was Friday), so I’ll be using your advice for both blogs. Very exciting!)
This is the first time I hear about this. I think I am gonna try something easier first.
Tagline for my blog, Musing Out Loud, is: Random thoughts on marketing and making a difference.
Elevator pitch: My blog shares insights and information about marketing and social change strategies and campaigns for marketers and non-profits.
I decided to use the tagline I created for my business when I first started it 8 years ago. I provide web design and technology training services for people who generally aren’t very tech saavy. My business name is 2 Smart Chix and my logo is 2 yellow chicks, one of them holding a laptop. My tagline (and now my elevator pitch) is “Don’t Be Afraid to Cross the Technology Road. Get to the Other Side with 2 Smart Chix!
Since I write this blog (www.iurisprudentia.cl) since january 2006, I already had an Elevator Pitch or at least the essential parts. Since this is a blog devoted to legal news, doctrine, etc., I know perfectly well who are my readers and to whom I want to reach.
However, todays (yesterday’s actually) assignment was pretty usefull, since I got to update my elevator pitch, along with the tag line of my blog: Actualidad y Derecho.
Thanks Darren!
Thank you SO much for this challenge. I’m thrilled to be participating!
My elevator pitch:
Riding With No Hands (my personal blog) – I do the best I can
Riding With No Hands Reviews – Because ‘riding with no hands’ I’m free to reach for what I really, really love!
And I use this on my About page for both blogs:
If I could compare my life – motherhood, marriage, and everything it entails – to anything, it would be to riding a bike with no hands. Teetering along, having little control over what happens makes me a little nervous sometimes, but I think I’ve found a good balance and it just feels right.
Sure, sometimes I feel like I’m headed straight into a hedge and I’ve come across more than my fair share of potholes, but I just hold my breath, take it all in, and enjoy every second, because life is passing me by way too fast.
‘Riding with no hands’ I’m free to reach for the things I really, really love and am having so much fun along the way.
My elevator pitch is simple, and straightforward:
http://welldonechef.com/elevator-pitch-for-well-done-chef.html
Since I maintain two blogs, am I allowed to post my other elevator pitch? If so, it is here:
http://gamerscookbook.com/gamers-cookbook-elevator-pitch.html