• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Advertise
  • Submissions
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Mar 4, 2021
  • Startup
    • Creating a Plan
    • Funding a Startup
    • Franchise Center
    • Getting Your Office Ready
    • Making Your Business Official
    • Marketing Your New Business
    • Personal Readiness
  • Run & Grow
    • Customer Service
    • Human Resources
    • Innovation
    • Legal
    • Operations
    • Risk Management
  • Leadership
    • Best Practices
    • Communication
    • Green Initiatives
    • Open Culture
    • Strategic Planning
    • People Skills
  • Sales & Marketing
    • Advertising and Lead Generation
    • Marketing Innovations
    • Marketing Plans
    • Online Marketing
    • Relationships
    • Sales Activities
  • Finance
    • Budgeting and Personal Finance
    • Payments and Collections
    • Tax and Accounting
    • Pricing Strategy
    • Working with Investors
    • Working with Lenders
  • Tech
    • eCommerce
    • Hardware
    • Software
    • Security
    • Tech Reviews
    • Telecom
  • Shop

SmallBizClub

Helping You Succeed

efile4biz banner
Home / Startup / Marketing Your New Business / Everyone Needs to Manage Their Mantra or Move On
Everyone Needs to Manage Their Mantra or Move On

Everyone Needs to Manage Their Mantra or Move On

349 Views

Jun 3, 2019 By Dave Berkus

Ever stand with someone you’ve never met when at a party, a trade show or just meet someone in the hallway?

We all have.

And then that person opens his or her mouth and spends a boring two minutes describing their business to you? Leaving you wondering how much of that you got and how much you might retain?

We all have. So, here’s the antidote to prevent you from becoming “that” person.

Describe the business in ten words or less.

I am constantly surprised when speaking with entrepreneurs and CEO’s who act puzzled and a bit flustered when I ask, “So what is your mantra? Tell me about your company in ten words or less.” Almost everyone begins a long explanation of their business that is nearly impossible to follow, let alone recall a few moments later.

The easy way to lose an opportunity

And each lost an opportunity to tell their story in a memorable way that has power and boosts their enterprise value in the minds of the listener. I recently spent fifteen minutes in front of a table-top display, attempting to coach an entrepreneur who repeatedly tried to state why his business was better than a competitor (one I didn’t recognize) and never explaining what it was that he did.

You only have seconds to do it or lose

In explaining what you do, and what you do better than the other company, you have seconds—and only seconds—to get your image across into the minds of your listener. The best way to do this with a young company without name recognition is to appropriate the image of another, known company, to invoke the quick mental understanding of what you do.

Some examples of excellent mantra

“We are the Skype of moderated Internet broadcasting,” evokes immediately the mental picture of a company that provides a platform for broadcasting town hall meetings or large group gatherings over the Internet, much as Skype does with one-to-one video connectivity.

Yet, if you took the time to describe the company with that longer description after the quotes above, you’d lose many of your listeners with too much detail and too many words. With the short description evoking the image of a known company, the listener immediately grasps enough to engage in a discussion—or at least walk away and be able to repeat to another the main thrust of the business.

So, that’s a mantra?

That’s a mantra: a short, quickly understood picture of your business in just a few words, often using the name of a well-known company or process to complete the picture-story.

Count the seconds

You have only seconds to make a first impression. Your mantra is the ticket to entrance into a longer conversation. It is often the most powerful but inexpensive marketing tool a young company has to offer. And it is often extremely difficult to craft effectively in just a few words. So, what is your mantra?

Filed Under: Marketing Your New Business Tagged With: Mantra, Networking

Source: Berkonomics

Dave Berkus

Dave Berkus

Dave Berkus is a noted speaker, author and early stage private equity investor. He is acknowledged as one of the most active angel investors in the country, having made and actively participated in over 87 technology investments during the past decade. He currently manages two angel VC funds (Berkus Technology Ventures, LLC and Kodiak Ventures, L.P.) Dave is past Chairman of the Tech Coast Angels, one of the largest angel networks in the United States. Dave is author of “Basic Berkonomics,” “Berkonomics,” “Advanced Berkonomics,” “Extending the Runway,” and the Small Business Success Collection. Find out more at Berkus.com or contact Dave at dberkus@berkus.com

Related Posts

  • 3 Essential Networking Tips During COVID  
  • 7 Proven Techniques to Streamline Your Sales
  • Use Office Parties and Social Functions to Boost Morale

Primary Sidebar

efile4biz banner

Random

How Businesses Will Succeed on Social Media

Oct 30, 2017 By Matthew Davies

10 Things You Should Know About Ted Jenkin…

Aug 20, 2013 By SmallBizClub.com

How to Get a Loan for That Business You’ve Always Dreamed of Starting

Jan 9, 2014 By Biz2Credit.com

How to Empower Your Team to Build a Culture You’re Proud Of

Jun 8, 2018 By YEC

5-questions-to-manage-profits

5 Questions to Manage Profits

Jul 7, 2015 By SmallBizClub Contributor

efile4biz banner

Footer

About Us

Small Biz Club is the premier destination for small business owners and entrepreneurs. To succeed in business, you have to constantly learn about new things, evaluate what you’re doing, and look for ways to improve—that’s what we’re here to help you do.

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Copyright © 2021 by Tarkenton Institute, Inc. All Rights Reserved | Terms | Privacy