I recently attended a local social networking event (one where you meet people face to face, not through #hashtags.) I like to get to these things early for the chance to network. You never know who you are going to meet. And this time was unlike many in the past. I’ll get to the title of the post, “The Question That Haunts Me Where Ever I Go”, in just a few minutes. This is something I must work up too.
The first person I was introduced too was Alistair Cockburn (thanks @ghennipher). In the software development world, Alistair is the rock star God of the agile methodology. I’ve met him before, but he wouldn’t remember because they were quick meets. But I’ve followed his work, and I appreciate all that he has given to the development community. I was fortunate to have 10 minutes of uninterrupted conversation. At the end, he started to ask me what I did. First sign the night was going to be rocky.
Next I spent several minutes shaking hands with various guest, many who I knew, and several I didn’t. Most asked me again, what I did. I wondered where these people had been. Why don’t they remember? I Exchanged some business cards, ate some food, and found a seat for the presentation. But my mind was not into what was going on around me.
Fifteen minutes into the presentation I needed to get up and stretch my legs. I made my way to the back where another very good friend was standing. We quietly talked about a few things, and waited for the presentation to end. At some point during our conversation, he announced to the group we were standing with that I was connected to everyone. He doesn’t know this, but that kind of threw me. While I know a lot of people, and I feel I’m a pretty good networker, it feels unnatural when someone says that about me.
Now to the question. Just as we were about to head out for the night, I asked this good friend a question. I was hoping he would give me a straight answer, because I really needed some advice. The conversation went something like this:
Me: “So, it’s funny that you mentioned I’m connected to everyone. Do you really think that?”
Him: “Of course…”
Me: “So let me ask you, why do I have such a hard time getting people to remember what I do?”
Him: after a brief pause… “because no one really knows what you do! Most people think you do everything, but no one knows what you do. You’re always vague.”
Me: “So when I ask someone what you do, the immediate answer is, he’s the SEO guy.”
Him: “Right.”
Bingo. That was the candid answer I needed to hear. He went on to tell me I didn’t have an elevator pitch. He gave me his pitch. He’s worked on it for years. Me, I guess, for some selfish reason, assumed everyone already knows what I do. But I am so wrong. My friend encouraged me to spend some time putting together a better elevator pitch. It was so obvious, it’s even something I push others to do. But I haven’t taken my own advise.
There are two parts to me; the one I need to be, and the one I want to be. I read a blog post on JibberJobber yesterday about Job Envy. I guess my failure to successfully convey what I do stems from years of not wanting to be defined by my work. So I kept it vague. But as a business owner I can’t do that anymore. I need to clearly define what I do. There’s no way I can network without being able to convey what I do. It’s not the part I want to be, but it’s the part that I need to be.
While I want to continue to discuss what I do and don’t do, I’ll save that discussion for tomorrow, and maybe a first draft of the elevator pitch. Thank you for taking a few minutes to read this.
