A blatant in your face sales pitch isn't my style. I hate them; they're embarrassing, not to mention open invitations for rejection more often than not. Sure, do them often enough and you'll get numb to the aftershock. And the numbers will likely pan out; you'll get a few bites sooner or later. But there's got to be a better way.

Well, there is. The trick? Get folks intrigued enough in what you're offering that they will ask you questions. See the shift? You're no longer pushing yourself onto them; they're trying to pull what you've got out of you.

Tough? Not really. Especially when you realize that there are a lot of opportunities for you to introduce such intrigue. Like every conversation with a high likelihood of someone asking, "What do you do for a living?" (Planes, trains, waiting rooms, parties... you name it, that question pops up.) If there's any situation tailor-made for you to dish out some of that intrigue, this would be it.

But you've got to get their interest immediately with a short, one-line response. Much like a headline. I recommend you spend some time figuring out what one-liner will work best for you...

...or you can steal mine if it fits your needs. No sweat.

And here it is.

PROSPECT: "So, Eldon, what do you do for a living?"
ME: "I help people do business on the Internet."

POW! Guaranteed question magnet. If I say it loud enough, bystanders will start asking questions too. Even if none of the folks are viable prospects, you'll often field a "Can I have your card? I know someone who could use your help" request.

Yeah, that line will be a dead duck in a few years. But so what? One line is easy enough to change to whatever pushes people's buttons at any given point in time.

"But that's the physical, real world," you say. "What works online?"

Well, what makes you think anything's different online?

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Eldon Sarte is CTO of Intellectua.com, a publisher of how-to, business, computing, and Internet e-books and tools, and publisher of the award-winning, all original-content ezine, The Dirtsmart Netpreneur, featuring weekly news and tools for the small enterprise and home-based business webmaster. Subscribe at: http://dirtsmart.com/cgi-bin/sub.cgi?iq