Marketing Simplicity

Apparently, I have trouble telling my mom what I do…

And if you can’t tell your mom what you do, you’ve got a problem with marketing simplicity: keep it simple.

I once threw a birthday party for my mother’s 55th and invited all her friends to my house. She took the liberty of giving her guests “the tour” and since we lucked into renting the rectory of a church at the time, (a heritage property and the house where both my children came home from the hospital), it had the potential to be interesting.

When my mom made the stop in my studio office, she kept her friends in there for at least 10 minutes, offering a soliloquy of what I do for a living, or so I thought…

Weeks later, my mom confessed that she didn’t understand what I do.

I laughed and laughed. What in the world was she telling her friends in depth in my studio?! My mother’s storytelling skills are epic.

Keep it Simple

I love this blog post called “Does your mother know what you do?” by Linda Daley at Daley Progress because distilling what we do into something our mothers can understand is a valuable tool. In all our marketing, written or spoken, we need to be able to explain what we do, simply.

Linda’s premise for “the Mom Test”:

“Telling my Mom about what I do forces me to get outside all the details and get down to basics. It helps me rethink my marketing messages from a completely different perspective.”

The Plight of a Voice Actor’s Elevator Pitch

This isn’t more true than when I go to the occasional networking event. When I have the opportunity to share who I am and what it is I do, everyone’s eyes glaze over. What a great exercise to write, simply, what we do – to share our story to potential clients, in a job interview, or even to our Mum.

And, apparently, I’m not alone. It seems to be common for voice actors to confuse their own mothers about what they do!

Check out this fascinating 16-minute documentary, Unseen, on the peculiar lives of prolific L.A. voice actors. 

Click here for the link for the trailer only.

Tips for a great Elevator Pitch

All that said, you may be interested in sources for writing an Elevator Pitch. Here are some great ones:

Crafting an Elevator Pitch: Introducing Your Company Quickly and Compellingly via @Mind_Tools

Elevator Pitch Examples and Writing Tips  via @thebalance

The Perfect Elevator Pitch To Land A Job via @Forbes

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Post updated from 10/29/2014

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