Top five sales pitch

My top tips on delivering a pitch that wins over investors and  makes them desperate to work with you.   we hear hundreds of business pitches each week whether they're squeezed into 140 characters on social media, presented to us in a business plan or face to face over a drink at one of a start up events. which reveals five tips for delivering an awesome business pitch.

                                                                                                    

Less is always best

A good elevator pitch is vital. You need to be able to explain your business and what it does in two sentences, 60 seconds and 140 characters. It needs to be clear, succinct and straight to the point. Doing that will grab attention straight away and means people are more likely to listen to the rest of what you have to say. If an investor, fellow entrepreneur or journalist doesn’t immediately understand what your business is and the problem it solves, then it’s unlikely they’ll dig further.

 

To perfect your elevator pitch, it's important to practice and the best way to do that to by attending networking events. Every time you meet a new person and they ask about your business or business idea, you have the chance to see if you can explain it in a way that they understand.

Facts, facts and facts

 

The best way to inspire confidence in your business is through cold-hard facts. Don't wax lyrical about how big your target market is and that even if you attracted just 1% of it, you could make millions in profit. If you're pitching for investment, then a company cash flow with realistic projections for the future and solid proof that your business idea has legs is always wise.

 

Know your weaknesses and show them

 

Entrepreneurs tend to be a a jack-of-all-trades, jumping from marketing to product design to developing to accounting. But it’s virtually impossible to be a true expert at all of them. So tell whoever you're pitching to what you're great at, and where you need help. The best entrepreneurs surround themselves with smart people who they trust to help grow their business. If it's investment that you want, showing that you understand your weaknesses will demonstrate that  you're realistic and know what you need to succeed. If it’s at a networking event, then this might help you find a co-founder or first employee.

 

Don't break the bank

 

If you're pitching for investment, don't steam in asking for shedloads of cash. Ask for just enough to make your one product or service work. Show that you want to prove a small part of your business can work before taking on anything bigger. The businesses that are so good the founder can prove the start-up will grow even without investment are the ones that become the most desirable for investors.

 

Be authentic

The single most attractive thing about any business is the entrepreneur behind it. That is the person who people want to work with and investors can trust with their cash. Don't pitch your idea wearing a suit and tie if that's not you. People can see through lies very quickly. If you're yourself and show that your personality connects seamlessly with the product or service you're trying to launch, then it makes your pitch 100% better. Just being yourself should help you to be more confident and avoid any nerves.

The Importance of Digital Marketing

There’s no denying it, the world is rapidly shifting from analogue to digital. People are consuming more and more digital content on a daily basis – on mobile phones, laptops, desktop computers at work, and more – and companies that have not yet recognised this in their marketing strategy need to adapt fast.

Why is digital marketing so important? Because it is not only a rapidly growing force in the current marketing playing field, it is set to be the future of marketing, and it seems likely that digital media will soon replace more traditional forms altogether.

While older generations will no doubt lament the demise of paper-based newspapers, books, communication methods and traditional TV and radio broadcasts, those who have grown up with the internet and mobile phones as a God-given right are already embracing the brave new world of digital consumption.

The facts are that digital methods of communication and marketing are faster, more versatile, practical and streamlined, so it is perhaps unsurprising that once the technology became available we began quickly moving into the digital age. The good news is that digital offers just as much potential to marketers as it does to consumers.
Before we look at the benefits of digital marketing, let’s take a quick snapshot of some of the key forms of it at present:

• Websites and SEO content
• Blogs
• Internet banner ads
• Online video content
• Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising
• Email marketing
• Social media marketing (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.)
• Mobile marketing (SMS, MMS, etc.)

This is far from an exhaustive list, and new forms of digital marketing, such as augmented reality, are arriving all the time.


So, why digital marketing?

First of all, digital marketing is infinitely more affordable than traditional offline marketing methods. An email or social media campaign, for example, can transmit a marketing message to consumers for the merest fraction of the cost of a TV ad or print campaign, and potentially reach a wider audience.

But one of the main benefits of conducting your marketing digitally is the ease with which results can be tracked and monitored. Rather than conducting expensive customer research, you can quickly view customer response rates and measure the success of your marketing campaign in real-time, enabling you to plan more effectively for the next one.
Perhaps the strongest case for incorporating a digital element into your marketing is that digital media forms are quickly overtaking traditional forms of information consumption. According to the Office for National Statistics, over 82% of UK adults went online in the first three months of this year: that's over 40 million individuals.

The bottom line is, the digital age is here, and those businesses that fail to adapt to the new marketing climate are at great risk of going extinct sooner rather than later.  - References by Business Zone U.K.