Weather forecasters aren’t paid to be right.
Frustrating, I know.
That at some point,
Many years ago,
Some brilliant network executive
Realized that
A lot of people watch the news
To get the weather.
So now,
Weather forecasters are paid to
Drive ratings.
To get people to
Tune in at 11.
It’s no longer about giving you the weather.
It’s about getting you
In front of their
Premium advertisers.
Which is why The Weather Channel
Is now facing competition
From some upstart apps
That can predict
Within a few minutes
When you’ll start feeling
Rain on your head.
Wow.
Apparently,
People aren’t as interested in
High pressure and low pressure
Or cold and warm fronts.
As they are in
“Do I need my umbrella today?”
Everything else is just noise.
Weather forecasters
Draw you in
With a promise
They can’t really keep.
They can’t give you the information you want.
Not if they want to keep you coming back for more.
So they ramble on and on…
And it gets me thinking about your Elevator Pitch.
Because so many people
Take the weather forecaster approach.
They ramble on and on.
Obfuscating the real information
Which creates conversations, to be sure.
But those conversations
Aren’t the right conversations.
Being curious about what you do
Isn’t the same as needing your services.
Today.
People will hang around until
They figure out what you do.
But the longer it takes them to
Realize that it’s not for them
The more of your precious time
You’ve wasted.
Better to do the opposite.
Give them the information they want
Clearly and
Up front
To scare off the merely intrigued
And attract the truly interested.
Andy- Thanks so much for this-so true! My husband and I were just talking about this yesterday. Unfortunately the weather forecasters also get people into a state of frenzy, particularly the elderly. That’s one this I don’t think we need to worry about with elevator pitches. Suzanne