If you're like most people, you spend weeks or months thinking about how to distill what you do down into a 30 second sound bite so when people ask "what do you do?" you have an intelligent, concise answer. And it was probably grueling to come up with the thing.
The bad news is that the elevator speech is just completely dead.
The good news is that there's an even better replacement. I call it the "reach out." And the really amazing thing about it is that instead of just telling people what you do and hoping they know someone who could benefit from what you do, this reach out method allows you to add people to your network for life – earning you not just one "maybe" client, but a string of loyal customers for life.
When people ask you what you do, they do not usually want to know what you do. They're really asking you "what can you help me with?"
The problem is that in order to know how you can help them, you need to know what problems they're dealing with.
So the next time someone asks what you do, considering asking if you can ask them a question. Then ask: "what's the most frustrating thing about __________" (your field of expertise). When they tell you, offer them a solution right there on the spot – an idea or helpful resource. Then hand them your card and say "Let me know how that goes and if you need anything else, you can reach me through my web site."
You have just started a relationship for life – offering value and establishing your expertise.
This also serves as a natural screening tool. Those who do not touch base with a thank you would probably be unappreciative clients.