Everyone knows about the «elevator speech.» It’s what you give when someone asks «what is it you do for a living?» or some other variation of that chit-chat ice-breaker. The idea is to solidify your answer to that question in a nice, pre-packaged (I like hyphens today) response to share your profession in a way that someone could understand exactly what you do within a matter of moments. Hence the name «elevator speech.» It’s most commonly used by an entrepreneur to gain funding by a venture capitalist or as a pitch to a potential client. But, what if mystery is a better opening than the usual all informative version (what you do, who you are, what the benefits are, etc.)?

Everyone in the SEO or Internet marketing field knows of the difficulty in explaining what it is we do to a relative or at a class reunion. It confronts us at every real-world conversation turn. But it seems that you can indeed use the mystery of what we do as a great opening.

I was recently asked what it is I do. I have an elevator speech, and I’ve given it a hundred times, but for whatever reason, I didn’t this time. I was in a hurry, and when asked, I was on my way to something else (I know, this goes against everything a freelance who is always on the lookout for a client is supposed to do), and I responded quickly with a «I’m a freelance SEO.» And that was it. I didn’t expand, I didn’t even continue with eye contact. The conversation was done in my world.

The gentleman waited a few moments, and the curiosity must have gotten to him, as he asked «I’m sorry, but what is SEO?» I looked at his shoes (note: a man’s shoes can tell you a lot about his professional life. Good business tip), and quickly realized where I was; in the midst of a new negotiation. I expanded greatly on what it is that I do, and a new client is born.

Lesson? Sometimes that ambiguity of our field can be used in our favor. It could very well have been my apathetic response that won him over, as learning more about said gentleman revealed that he is likely pitched to on a very regular basis, and he could have appreciated my unknowing nonchalance, but I think also that the enigma of my field played a big part in my new clients decision to probe further.

So, the next time someone asks «what do you do?» just blow them off.

I’m only kidding. It was really bad form on my part. It was just really interesting how the whole thing played out, and I thought it deserved some attention.

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