Editor’s note: The North Carolina State University Entrepreneurship Initiative regularly posts blogs about what’s happening in the world of startups and how to succeed as entrepreneurs. In this blog, Moaad Benkaraache talks about how to succeed with product pitches.
RALEIGH, N.C. – Everyone gets an idea for an amazing new product every now and then – some people even go on to make a product or prototype.
But successful entrepreneurs do one thing that actually gives the idea life and convinces people that the product is worth their money: these entrepreneurs know how to pitch their idea – and pitch it well (better than 50 Cent’s celebrity pitch).
Elevator pitches and venture-capital pitches are tough because there are no re-dos. Once you give the pitch, it’s over and done with. The beauty of Kickstarter is that you not only get to pitch your idea through video, but you also have the entire internet-connected world as your audience. So, that means you can spend as much time and as many takes as you need to make the perfect pitch video, and you don’t have to rely on having to convince a handful of investors to trust you with their money.
Although making a video pitch is arguably easier than a live pitch, there are still many challenges that you will face while shooting the video – especially if you have no videography experience. Let’s walk through some key points that must be addressed in your pitch video so that you can avoid pitching like 50 Cent.
- You Have 10 Seconds
Nowadays we are surrounded with attention seekers: your phone, your laptop, your smart fridge, etc. You have 10 seconds to convince viewers that they should stick around for the rest of your video. How you go about doing this depends on your audience and whether you choose a formal or informal approach. Throw some compelling facts at them or impress them with captivating shots of your product’s sleek design.
- Gain Their Trust
Kickstarter campaigns have an unfortunate history of failing. Out of the campaigns that don’t fail, 84% of those campaigns fail to meet their promised delivery dates. People are quickly losing trust in crowdfunding campaigns and you need to convince them that you are different. Why are you credible? Have you ever successfully launched a product? Do you have a working prototype?
- Set High Standards
The quality of your video reflects the quality of your work. Part of gaining your viewer’s trust is showing them that when you do something, such as shooting a video, you do it right. Kickstarter videos are usually around five minutes long, that’s 300 seconds. Make sure that every second in your video represents quality work.
Part of producing a high-grade video is having the skills and creativity to choose the right scenes and make the post-production edits. That’s all up to you and how much time and/or money you are willing to invest in your video pitch. What we, the Entrepreneurship Initiative, can help you with is providing you with all of the equipment necessary to record your video. Entrepreneurship Initiative members can borrow cameras, lighting equipment, sound equipment, and even a green screen all free of charge. So take charge of your success and go hit a homerun!
About the Author
Moaad Benkaraache is an EI marketing assistant and NC State industrial engineering student. He enjoys prototyping, eating protein-packed meals and prototyping while eating protein-packed meals.
This blog was published originally at:
https://ei.ncsu.edu/hitting-a-homerun-in-product-pitching/
Reprinted with permisson
(C) NCSU