Did you ever meet a person at a networking event and had to think before you answered this simple question “What do you do?”

Did you ever notice how some people stumble when they are asked the defining question? Or some people just go on and on and after 5 minutes of non-stop explanation, you still don’t really understand the purpose of their business?

Well I guess that at some point you were in one of these positions if not both.

How can you introduce yourself and your business in just 30 second, making sure that you deliver your brand and benefit of your services?

Here are the top 3 key elements to brand yourself in 30 Seconds

1. Perfect your Elevator Pitch
If you want to be ready at any time, you need to prepare your answer in advance and rehearse it. The next time somebody asks you “What do you do?” you shouldn’t have to think of an answer.

Start your elevator pitch by mentioning very clearly who is your target market and what their needs are, in other words, Their Problem. In just one or two sentences explain the benefit of your services and how you bring The Solution to this target market.

Please don’t say as I hear too often “Oh my service is for everybody” because it is not. If you don’t have a target market with a common problem that you can solve you grow your business. You won’t be able to grow your business if you don’t know who is your target market. Take a few seconds to explain what makes you different from your competitors. What is you unique selling position? Don’t try to be technical or use the jargon from your industry because this generally causes peoples attention to wander. Use the formula KISS (Keep It Short and Simple).

Be cautious not to tell your whole story. Instead, hook your audience, intrigue them so they will ask you more questions about you and your business. Think as if you were introducing yourself on Twitter, but instead of 140 characters, you have a few paragraphs to work with.
Always finish you elevator pitch with a call to action. Tell people what to do next: go to your website, sign-up for your newsletter for free report, call you for a free consultation, etc…

Practice, practice, practice – Test your elevator pitch with friends or colleagues and get their feedback. Rehearse it until you own it and sound natural and not like reading it. Say it in front of the mirror. Practice and perfect your elevator pitch to get more contacts and clients!

2. Make your Professional Business Card Stand Out
The second step after you deliver your elevator pitch to somebody at a networking events or after any contact is to give your business card.

If you have an effective elevator pitch but then give a crappy business card, you just lost a new potential contact. You need to have a professional image. For example printing your business card on your printer will not give you this image and it will make your business look cheap.

Have a professional business card using color, your logo, your tag-line and your website Remember to use the back of the card to highlight the benefits of using your product or services. This will give you a professional image and help people remember you and your specialty in the future.

Use the same color on your business cards that is on your marketing tools, business card, flyers, post cards, website etc…

As you elevator pitch, put a call to action on your business card. For example, offer a free report or a free consultation and send people to your website to claim it. This action call will direct more traffic to your website and will build your list.

3. Have a Professional Website
Obviously you don’t have time to say everything you want to in 30 seconds. Your business card can’t say everything either. A professional website is your greatest tool to spread effective information about you, your business, your products or services and the benefits of working with you.

To focus on your branding, again use the same color on all of your marketing tools, business card, flyers, post cards, website etc… Having a streamlined look will ensure that people will recognize you as soon as they see your materials. If you use different colors or logos on each material, people can feel lost and as a result they will never contact you.

Now that you attracted them to your website, make sure they don’t leave without taking action. You can have a very nice and flashy website, but without a direct purpose and a call to action the extra money you spend is for nothing. You will need an opt-in box on each and every page of your website; you never know on which page they will decide to sign-up. You will also need an incentive for them to sign-up. Offering a bit of valuable information for free right away is the best option. Just mentioning sign-up for my newsletter won’t do the trick.

The other advantage of having an opt-in box is that you know you are contacting your target market. Who else would sign up for your newsletter? If people are not interested in your services, they won’t give you their information. It’s as simple as that.

Those 3 key elements will help you to build the perfect branding while reaching your target market and building your list. They work as a package, so make sure to not miss one of these important steps to grow your business.

Brand yourself in three easy steps: perfect your elevator pitch; design your business card; and add a call for action on every page of your website.

Need help to develop your branding? Check out Power of Networking Secrets, to learn more strategies. www.PowerofNetworkingSecrets.com