Copy Examples

Elevator pitch examples for teachers

An elevator pitch fails when it describes the business instead of giving the listener a reason to ask a second question. These end somewhere the other person can pick up.

Ten of them follow, written for teachers rather than filled in from a template. Your customer is a parent deciding whether their child is in good hands, and what they are weighing up before they get in touch is their child going unnoticed in a class of thirty, with nobody telling them if something is wrong.

The one-liner

I am a teacher in [your town] — I teach middle school math and high school English for a parent deciding whether their child is in good hands.

Use this when you have one sentence and no idea who you are talking to.

Problem first

The thing people worry about with teachers is their child going unnoticed in a class of thirty, with nobody telling them if something is wrong. That is the part I deal with. I am a teacher, and you will know exactly what I teach and how I keep families informed.

Use this where the problem is instantly recognisable and the service is not.

Names who it is for

I work for a parent deciding whether their child is in good hands. Mostly middle school math and high school English. If that is not you, you probably know someone.

Use this at an event where most people are not your customer, to find the ones who are.

Credential first

I am a certified teacher. State certified in the subject and age range taught, with the endorsements listed rather than summarised. I mostly do middle school math and high school English.

Use this in a room where qualification is the thing that buys attention.

The contrast

Most teachers [what the default does]. I am the one that answers a parent email within a school day. That is more or less the whole difference.

Use this when your market has a clear default and you are not it.

With a number in it

I am a teacher — [number] years, [number] classes, and I say what and whom I teach, precisely.

Use this when you have a real number. Do not invent one.

The origin

I started because their child going unnoticed in a class of thirty, with nobody telling them if something is wrong was normal in this trade and it did not need to be. So that is the business: a teacher where you will know exactly what I teach and how I keep families informed.

Use this when the reason you started is short and true.

Ten seconds

Teacher. Middle school math, mostly. [your town].

Use this when someone asks what you do and is already half-turned away.

Ends with the ask

I am a teacher doing middle school math and high school English. If you ever hear someone say [the thing your customers say], that is me.

Use this when the point of the conversation is a referral, not a sale.

The warm version

[their question] — I am a teacher. The part people usually ask about is writing for parents rather than for an evaluator.

Use this where the pitch would land badly and a conversation would not.

Writing for teachers: what actually matters

What should a teacher’s website say that a generic one does not?

Three things, in this order. That you are certified. That you understand the thing people are actually worried about, which for teachers is their child going unnoticed in a class of thirty, with nobody telling them if something is wrong. And what happens next: email, and I answer within a school day. Everything else on the page is decoration by comparison.

What does a parent deciding whether their child is in good hands check first?

The credential, then the proof. For teachers it sounds like this. I say what and whom I teach, precisely. I name my certification and endorsements. I explain how I communicate with families. Put at least one of those above the fold rather than on a separate page nobody opens.

What is the most common mistake on a teacher’s website?

Writing about the business instead of the customer. "We have been established since 1998" answers a question nobody asked. "Email, and I answer within a school day" answers the one they are actually holding. If you only fix one thing, fix that.

How long should the copy be?

Shorter than you think, except where trust is being built. An About page of 120 well-chosen words beats 500 vague ones. The exception is anything explaining their child going unnoticed in a class of thirty, with nobody telling them if something is wrong — there, specifics earn their length.

Everything else for teachers

Elevator pitch for other trades

All 49 trades →