You have something new. Something no one else has. You’ve been working on it in your spare time for long months. Now it’s time to take your invention to the next level. To do that, you need capital. You need investors.

You can approach friends and family, you can approach an angel investor, you can approach a venture capital company, and you can use the internet to raise money. All those methods have one thing in common – You have to grab the attention of the investors and show them why they can’t live without your product.

Mel Pirchesky, founder of Eagle Ventures says: “What entrepreneurism is really about is having the investors understand to their bones. It's not easy, but it's that simple."

To get the attention of investors even if you’re just a novice you have to have a ‘killer’ presentation and follow certain communication etiquettes.

Investors are usually a busy bunch and they are inundated with pitches. Dave Tisch, the managing director of TechStars NYC, says, for example, that he gets about 400 emails a day. Entrepreneurs should use the most effective methods when making initial contact. Here is what he suggests:

• The best way to contact an investor is through a referral, someone they know and trust. There is nothing that opens doors more quickly than personal connection.
• Even before you establish contact, you have to do a little homework. Who is investing in what, which group specializes in you niche. With blogs and social media abound, many of them are present online. See what they write or comment. After a while it will become clear which companies or individuals you should approach. It will also help you down the line, when you won’t be asking questions the investors have already discussed online.
• Connection is made via email. Many have tried to physically go to the offices to ask for a meeting, but it backfires most of the time. Send the email on Sunday afternoon, after the investor has cleared his e mails. Yours will be the first on the list, says Dave Tisch.
• The subject line of your e mail is the most important line. Think how to word it to draw attention, and mainly, curiosity. Avoid bombastic words like ‘the best’ ‘awesome’ etc. They have seen them all.
• Get to the point quickly. You are skimming through emails, don’t you? So do the investors. Do not include all the details. Rather, give an overall picture of what you have to offer.
• Be likeable and human. Personal stories work very well. Tell your best story in the shortest time.
• Make your declarations searchable, and don’t forget to add all your business information to each email the same way, to make it easy to search and reach you.
• Always send thank you notes and acknowledge receipt of information sent to you.

As it was said before, investors get many offers. Don’t be discouraged when you hear nothing back. It means you have to hone your presentation and make it better. Looking for investors, explains one of them, is like making dots. Connect the dots and you have your line of progression. Strive always to move forward.

When you have been successful and got that pitch meeting:

• A good pitch has to be short and to the point. Think of it as an ‘elevator story’ – a story you can tell someone you’ve just met in the elevator.
• A good presentation has to relay the essence of the deal very clearly. It has to show all the benefits, but not hide the negatives. Those also have to be spelled clearly, while offering a solution.
• Know your product inside out and know the competition.
• Don’t be greedy. Establish a fair value for your product. The investors are not stupid people, and if you are there asking for money, it means they did something right. You might be smart, but are you the smartest guy in the room?
• Don’t be cocky and promise the moon. Those investors see many people like you and most of them know how to spot a deal and how to stay away from problems. 

"Initially,” says Mel Pirchesky, “Only the entrepreneur knows in his heart whether it's a great deal - the kind of deal you'd tell your mother to invest in if she had the money. So if you have a great deal, and you know it's great, but you're not getting funded, it's in the articulation. Somehow or other, people are not understanding. They hear what you say in your presentation, but they don't recognize the significance of what you say”. 

If you want to see how it works in practice, watch the American television show “Shark Tank”. It will give you an idea how others do it, what is working and what is not.