Businesses call them elevator pitches, but really they are no different than what every movie producer, screenwriter and director in Hollywood needs. They call it a logline and it is a formula for boiling down a 2 hour movie with thousands of scenes, dozens of actors, complex plot lines and a few snappy one-lines (ie, “Yippee ki-ay ki-yo motherf*&^r”) into one understandable statement. Sounds a lot like the modern business plan, right? So here’s how to tell the story of your business–no 2 day offsite, expensive brand strategy, or hair loss required.

1. What is the market problem?

2. What exactly do you do?

3. How does that solve the problem?

Where people get caught up is in identifying one problem. HINT: It’s the problem you solve with your product that is most relevant to your best customer. Just express it in general terms for Point 1. In Point 2, tell us if you are a product, service, tech platform and what exactly it involves that is really cool. (Think “Yippe ki-ay”.) Finally, Point 3 describes the specific solution you have to the general problem outlined in Point 1.

We’ll be adding real examples from our Content Carnivores customer base here.