Richard Branson, on

Presenting the Perfect

"Elevator Pitch"

Sir Richard Branson has always been a hero of mine.

Otherwise known as "Dr Yes," this tie-loathing adventurer and thrill seeker, believes in turning ideas into reality.   Arguably the most successful high-school dropout in the history of business, Richard Branson overcame dyslexia and became a modern entrepreneurial superhero.  With over 400 company branches under his Virgin Group brand, he now holds a personal net worth of over $4 billion, good enough to place him among the United Kingdom's top five wealthiest people and the top 260 worldwide.

Although he's British, Richard Branson in many ways epitomizes the idea of the American Dream.  Besides being a self-made entrepreneurial success story who built his empire completely from the ground up (he started his first enterprise in the basement of a church, at age 16, when he dropped out of school), he has crafted an identity for himself that is equal parts international prestige, grand wealth, fearless innovation, and rugged adventure.  If that kind of complete life package isn't enough for the rest of us male mortals to aspire to, we don't deserve to have role models.

This is Sir Richard Branson's world. We're just living in it!

One of the things I like most about Dick (I call him Dick because we're such close friends) is that overwhelmingly exuberant smile;  I've never seen a picture or an interview with him when he didn't seem like he was having the time of his life.

So, just what does Richard Branson have to do with Internet marketing?

Well, the main thrust of Richard's article below is the "elevator pitch," which he defines as "the standard summary selling a business idea in a minute or less."  Although he talks about pitching to investors, isn't that REALLY what we, as Internet marketers, strive to do - have people "invest" in our business proposal or product in an extremely limited period of time.  The article is not geared toward online marketing, but it presents such basic, powerful concepts in getting our ideas across systematically and quickly, it lends itself very well to OUR business.

When you're preparing to tell investors about your idea for a business, people are going to tell you to prepare an "elevator pitch," the standard summary selling a business idea in a minute or less.  But there are many more locations and situations in which you may encounter a potential investor -- anyone from a business leader in the industry to a family member -- and you'll need to be able to convince that person that your business will be game-changing.  Why limit yourself or your imagination to elevators?

You need to think of it as your "anywhere" pitch.  Over the past few months entrepreneurs have pitched their ideas to me in two far more interesting settings than elevators.  One was while riding a bicycle in South Africa.  Some of the Virgin team and I were in the country in March for the Cape Argus Pick n Pay Cycle Ride, which is 109 km long.  I hadn't been on a bicycle since I was a boy, so we had decided to use my last-minute training ride to raise money for the Branson Centre for Entrepreneurship South Africa, a nonprofit that provides assistance and training to new entrepreneurs and the JAG Foundation.  We agreed to listen to some quick pitches from the participants during that Ride With Richard.  Sixty people signed up to ride and pitch their ideas to myself, Josh Bayliss, who is CEO of the Virgin Group, and Tracey Webster, who is the new CEO of the Branson Centre South Africa.  The entrepreneurs had to think on their feet (literally, while pedaling) and make their ideas stand out from the rest of riders in our peloton.  The novelty factor kept everyone laughing, the huffing and puffing helped people to keep their pitches succinct, and the exercise got everyone's brains into gear -- we heard some good initial ideas and built on them together.  And we all completed the entire race the following day, so that practice was very helpful.

Then in May, I listened to some enthusiastic pitches during an AirAsia flight on which I was working as a stewardess.  (I was making good on a friendly bet I'd lost two years before with AirAsia's chief executive, Tony Fernandes, over whose Grand Prix team would do better.) Some passengers passed proposals forward and I invited those who'd handed me the most attention-grabbing ones to tell me about their ideas.  One woman had even worn a beard to ensure that she caught my eye.  And as for me, I was dressed as a stewardess, complete with lipstick, tights and red shoes. It was a pretty surreal experience, but several people shared excellent pitches and I was able to point a few of them in the right direction.

Of course, not everyone will meet potential investors while riding a bike or sitting in a plane.  These days I receive lots of striking, original ideas via social media. How do you make your pitch stand out?  If your idea really is ground-breaking, try to make your pitch just as innovative.

Lots of people have good ideas, and sometimes unique delivery can make all the difference.

One of the most unusual pitches I ever gave involved a magic trick.  Back when we were working on starting up Virgin Atlantic, I met with Airbus, hoping to buy a plane.  As a new business, we desperately needed a big discount, and I told them that if they sold their plane to us and our airline became successful, which it surely would, they'd receive much more business in the long term.  However, Airbus would not agree to the price we could afford.

I knew that their executives had probably heard pitches like mine before, so I decided to make mine stand out.  As we sat down for lunch, I asked the executives: "Do you think that there is any chance that your CEO could be hypnotized?"  "Absolutely not," they replied.  I said to the CEO, Jean Pierson: "If I can hypnotize you in five minutes, will you give us the $2 million dollar discount?"  He and they all agreed and we shook hands.

About three minutes later I asked what time it was.  Pierson glanced down at his wrist and discovered that his watch was gone.  He looked worried. I then looked at my wrist, where there were now two watches. The executives believed that I had hypnotized Pierson and he had handed me his watch, rather than simply being nimble enough to pocket his watch when we shook hands!

Airbus gave us the discount as promised, which was critical in getting Virgin Atlantic off the ground. While my approach was unorthodox, it did the trick.

Whatever your idea is, follow these simple steps: Explain how your new business will make a difference, but do it in an entertaining fashion.  Show off your expertise in a personable way, highlight your experience and your team's strengths, and ground your idea with simple, realistic messages.  Do not use jargon. Most importantly, pitch quickly.

You never know – the person you are pitching may have an elevator to catch!

Good luck!

Richard Branson

An entertaining article, don'tcha think?  The meat of the article, applied to Internet marketing is actually summed up in the final paragraph, in five succinct, but powerful strategies - strategies that can be easily applied to our effective email promotions.....

1.  "Explain how your new business will make a difference, but do it in an entertaining fashion."

2.  "Show off your expertise in a personable way,"

3.  ".....highlight your experience and your team's strengths, and"

4.  ".....ground your idea with simple, realistic messages."

5.  "Most importantly, pitch quickly. You never know – the person you are pitching may have an elevator to catch."

It can be summed one in ONE sentence:  Present your pitch quickly, with simple, realistic messages, emphasizing your experience and your team's strengths, and do it in a personable, entertaining fashion.

Thanks for listening, fellow Big Dogs!  I trust you got some valuable pointers from a real over-achiever.  And now I'd like to leave you with some words from the Big Dog himself: