“If I’m to speak for ten minutes, I need a week for preparation. If fifteen minutes, three days. If half an hour, two days. If an hour, I’m ready now.” Woodrow Wilson, 28th President of the USA 1913-1921. 

 

Similarly, there’s a story about Picasso being asked if he could do a quick sketch on a paper napkin then asking for a million Francs. When questioned how he could charge so much for something that took him 5 minutes his reply was that It took him 40 years to draw that in five minutes. 

 

Both examples of the amount of time and effort if takes to hone a craft and become an expert at what you do. To make something look easy takes incredible skill. This is something that it is easy to forget. I know that I’m guilty of failing to remember this sometimes. I bet you are too. Your unique set of skills, knowledge and experience have brought you to where you are now. Nobody else has walked the exact same path. 

 

You are an expert in being you. As a woman in business, you are your brand. You need to have self-belief and hold yourself in high regard as the expert so that you attract the right kind of clients and can achieve your dream of making a difference. If you don’t believe in yourself why would anyone else? You need unshakeable confidence so that you stop playing small and can show up in all your power. Then you need to be able to convey that to your audience. 

I remember attending my first ever networking meeting. I didn’t really know what networking was before i became self-employed and a friend who’d been her own boss for many years told me about it. It was a lunchtime meeting. I hadn’t been in business long. The £25 fee felt like a big chunk of my tiny turnover at the time. I felt very nervous, I agonised over what to wear to make the ‘right impression’ to a roomful of strangers. As you know, that can be bad enough when your business is not about image and style – imagine what it was like when you’re putting yourself out there as the expert. 

 

My second biggest concern (after choosing the right outfit) was about the ‘monthly minute’. How the hell was I supposed to explain what I did and how I did it in a minute or less! I didn’t have a clue about elevator pitches or positioning statements – all I knew was that I had passion and a deep desire to help other women feel better about themselves using colour and clothes as the vehicle to confidence. I thought long and hard about how I could condense everything into 60 seconds and wrote some bullet points on an A4 sheet. 

 

Everyone took a turn, standing up and delivering their short speech. I didn’t really hear what most of them were saying as I waiting to get my turn out of the way and finish my lunch. Thank God I’d got something prepared. I spoke very quickly to get all the words that I’d jotted down in before the timer went off and the group leader waved her pompom at me. Being concise yet comprehensive when delivering your elevator pitch is definitely a skill in itself! 

An elevator pitch is basically a short (ideally memorable) description of how you improve the lives of your clients. It’s called such because you want to be able to get your message across succinctly. Imagine having someone’s attention for just a short time as if you were in a lift together. I’ve since learnt it’s best to keep it as simple as possible, avoiding jargon. Marketing expert, Bryony Thomas says to imagine you are explaining what you do to an intelligent 12 year old. Bearing all that in mind you want it to sound compelling and natural to boot! No mean feat. There’s a lot of work goes into getting your message across succinctly. 

 

So, we are back to what Woodrow Wilson and Picasso were talking about. It’s about condensing those many hours of practice and studying of your art into a few sentences that convey your expertise. You also need to do this for your LinkedIn headline. This is what people see every time you comment so it’s like a personal advert. You only have around 220 characters, so it pays to make each one count. As with all of these things there’s no one size fits all. 

 

It can be used as your positioning statement which is a description of your product and target audience and explains how it fills a market need. Lois Creamer, author of Book More Business, suggests this template to get you started – I work with [blank] who want to [blank} so that they [blank]. Hers is ‘I work with speakers, consultants and experts who want to book more business, make more money and fully monetize their intellectual property. It sounds easy. It isn’t. I’m always tweaking mine.’ It’s very much about having a Ronseal description about who you work with, what they want from working with you and the outcomes they’ll achieve as a result. 

The same goes for your profile picture and banner you want it to say something about who you are as a person because you are your brand. Think about how you want to be perceived. Do you look the part? (Whatever that means to you.) Are you projecting the right message with how you look? Remember, a picture paints a thousand words – you want them to be the right ones for your brand. What kind of look are you going for? Creative and quirky? Warm and approachable? Business like and efficient? Serious and sincere? What suits an undertaker is going to be totally different to an artist. 

Pulling an outfit together with ease so that you look the part is simple when you know how. Pretty much like our Mr Woodrow and Picasso I’ve studied the art, so you don’t have to. I can teach you the shortcuts that are perfect just for you and help you present yourself with confidence in both a business and personal setting. Obviously, my area of expertise is working with women like you who ARE their brand and how you present your most fabulous self as the face of your business. Imagine looking and feeling 100% confident with your branding so you magnetically attract your ideal clients. 

 

We can look at all aspects of how you show up. We can cover concepts for gorgeous graphics, fabulous photos, a wonderful looking website, a luscious logo, and overall beautiful branding that’s totally aligned with you and your personal style. Helping you gain clarity around your branding and personal style so that you are saying something about who YOU truly are as a woman in business. You’ll be embracing a more empowered version of the real you that’s showing up consistently on social media and in networking. If this sounds of interest to you message me to book a call. I’m looking for beta clients for these revamped packages. 

And finally, don’t beat yourself up when you can’t achieve the same results in the same timeframe as someone who’s been honing their craft for many years. Rome wasn’t built in a day. AND REMEMBER you are the expert at being you.