Raising Capital: Planning Your ApproachHome > Free Business Articles > Planning Your ApproachYou may have heard of the "elevator pitch" - a scripted sales pitch entrepreneurs use when they are pitching to a potential investor to recieve funding and only a limited time to make a lasting impression. The pitch is so called because it can be delivered in the time span of an elevator ride - about 30 seconds to a minute. Your friends, family and others probably don't want to hear you give a slick sales pitch, but they do want to hear a straightforward account of your plans. In contrast to the anonymous, aggressive elevator pitch, your approach should be warm and informal. You'll do best by planning the actual investment request in advance. Here's what works: 1. Decide whether it's better to bring your request up in casual conversation or at an informal meeting. If your prospect is someone you see regularly, bringing up your request in casual conversationis probably the right choice. Let it come up when the conversation turns to you and your work. Instead of directly asking the listener for money, phrase it more generally, saying you need to raise some money for your business and you're trying to figure out how to do it. If you're asking for money from someone you don't see every day, or for whom a more businesslike setting seems appropriate, you're better off scheduling an actual meeting. Tell the person you would like to get his or her input on your business idea, then set up a meeting. Don't decieve your prospect about the meeting's purpose, but also don't make the meeting sound like a sales pitch before it even starts. Show genuine excitement at sharing your idea and hearing the other person's thoughts. 2. Pick a setting suited to your relationship. The closer your relationship with your prospect, the more informal the setting should be; the more distant the relationship, the more formal the setting - for example, at the person's office, a restaurant or an upscale coffeehouse. 3. Bring a few illustrative materials. Your casual conversation is not the time to bring along notebooks full of business plans and promissory notes. Still, you should show prospects something tangible to explain your business, such as a brochure, sample product, website or newspaper article. Photos of your product or planned site are particularly good, since visuals attract attention. If you plan to open a bakery, bring sample cookies. Even something as simple as a printout of a colour logo can give others a more tangible sense of your business. 
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