Pitch Girl Blog

Even Rock Stars Get Fired Sometimes—But Scott Weiland doesn’t quit

[Your Name Here] — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 22:35:27 +0000

I was interested to see the news today that Stone Temple Pilots fired their lead singer Scott Weiland—and even more excited to see that he’s come out in the press saying, he wasn't.

http://reut.rs/WiisoP

This led me to think about how Mr. Weiland might create a 15SecondPitch that would highlight his past experiences, without mentioning he was fired, since he says he wasn't, and also promote his upcoming solo tour. And to do this all in 15 seconds.

Scott Weiland’s pretend 15SecondPitch (that I crafted for him.)

Hi, I’m Scott Weiland founder of Stone Temple Pilots. STP sold nearly 40 million albums and you’ve probably heard some of our hits including: “Sex Type Thing.” We’ve actually scored 16 top ten singles over the years. I kick off my solo tour titled “Purple at the Core” in Flint, Michigan this Friday March 1^st.

I like this idea, because when I work with people who have been fired or even laid off, they often feel so embarrassed/humiliated/afraid/angry.

I really love how Scott just turns this whole scenario around and works it to his advantage. Very PLUSH.

Chef Ceffo's Pitch as seen on the wall of Fratelli La Bufala on the UWS

[Your Name Here] — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 16:59:07 +0000

Here’s a great example of a personal and professional pitch on the corner of 76^th St. and Broadway on the Upper West Side of NYC. This is so creative because they used their own building façade to showcase it.. What would normally be a wall of blank plywood, has been transformed into a black backdrop for a colorfull Warhol-esque image of the chef and his pitch which which reads: I’m Chef Ceffo and I’m coming to the Upper West Side.

Then, it lists their other locations, Miami, Milano, Berlin and Palermo

The story continues on the front of the building reading: Fratelli La Bufala Pizzaioli Emigranti and then then still more locations: Madrid, Roma, London, Venezia, Istanbul and Napoli.) It now occurs to me that this is a worldwide chain of restaurants and I think this personalized pitch is especially clever, given that fact.

There are 3 images of young men on the front of the Fratelli La Bufala sign. Are these photos of the chef through the years? Chefs of other locations? It is unclear.

Here’s a link to an older version of the sign—that seems to be a variation on this same theme, but based on this photo alone, doesn’t seem to have the same artsy flare as the newer one.

http://ny.eater.com/archives/2012/01/plywood_171.php#plywood-5

And here's the Fratelli La Bufala website:

http://www.fratellilabufala.eu/

As cool as you would expect from a place that puts this kind of thought into their branding.

Would this type of personalized pitch make you more likely to check out this restaurant once it is opens?

Should job seekers give their facebook password to potential employers?!

[Your Name Here] — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 17:02:10 +0000

Should job seekers give potential employers their facebook password? See my interview with the Associated Press. http://bit.ly/GEDu9G What's YOUR opinon?

Top 5 Mistakes people make with their pitches

[Your Name Here] — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 05:07:05 +0000

I've been helping people craft better pitches since 2003.

Here are the TOP 5 Mistakes I see people make:

#1 Using the "Kitchen Sink" Pitch--telling the listener your entire life story instead of what's relevant to them

#2 Being too vague

#3 Not explaining why you are THE BEST or at least why you are different from the competition

#4 Not getting to the point. Just because you have 10 minutes to make a pitch to someone, doesn't mean you should use all of that time

#5 Being boring--If you don't GRAB their attention now, you'll lose them for good.