ENTREPRENEUR BLOG: Marketing, Leadership, Success Stories for Small Business

Effective Communication: My Remarks at the Venture Forum Luncheon

Early this year, I had the pleasure of helping the Venture Forum, a Richmond-VA professional association, develop their membership website. As the website sponsor, the Venture Forum recently offered me a 2-minute speaking spot on their luncheon program.

This presentation was a great application to the "Magic Formula for Influencing Action" that I recently learned at my Dale Carnegie course. The Magic Formula is most effective for communication in which we ask listeners to take some action. It consists of the following three steps:

1. Evidence
2. Action (Point)
3. Benefit

Here is how I used this formula in my 2-minute presentation:

"In the spirit of the Venture Forum, I wanted to share with you a short and fun venture story. In 2005 Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah met at MIT while working on their MBA. Brian graduated and went on working with venture-backed companies to help them grow their businesses. Dharmesh stayed at MIT to work on his master’s degree. As part of his thesis, Dharmesh started a blog called OnStartups.com. He was spending 3-4 hours per week in between classes to work on his blog. While Brian was helping companies spend tons of money on trade shows, telemarketing, advertising and other marketing venues. For their surprise, Dharmesh and Brian found that Dharmesh’s blog grew much further interest and traffic than the companies Brian worked with. It was clear something has changed.. the way people shopped and learned has changed. Companies are no longer in control. Customers are in control.

Brian and Dharmesh went on to invent what they called Inbound Marketing. In 2006 they started an Inbound Marketing software company called HubSpot. HubSpot started with 3 people. I visited HubSpot office in Cambridge this summer. They’ve grown to more than 300 people. Inc. has recently recognized HubSpot as the #2 fastest growing software company and the # 33 fastest growing company overall.

Why am I telling you this? My name is Lamees Abourahma. I am an Inbound Marketing consultant and a HubSpot value-added reseller. I’m also the founder of Webbright Services and the proud website sponsor of the Venture Forum.

I’m here to make you two offers. First, I like to invite you to go to my website (www.webbrightservices.com) and fill out an Inbound Marketing evaluation request. You will receive a detailed report of your Inbound Marketing performance and a free consulting session. Second, I would like to challenge you to learn more about Inbound Marketing.  I am available to speak to you or your marketing department. Inbound Marketing is a very effective strategy for generating leads and growing your business.

I would like to thank the Venture Forum for this opportunity. Thank you. Enjoy your lunch and the rest of the program."

What did you think of this presentation? Is it effective? Anything you'd do the same or different?

Questions? Thoughts? Feedback? Please share in the comments section.