Hi, I am looking for any ideas for taglines for my cake decorating business that I’m setting up. I will mainly be doing cupcakes but other cakes too. Company name will be ‘Array of Cakes’. Cakes will be homemade and fresh on delivery. I would love something punchy and fun and a line that will grab attention. I just can’t seem to come up with that I think, that’s the one! I will be making flyers and posters for when I launch and also want something grabbing at the top to entice people to find out more.

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Jay’s Answer:

• Custom Cakes That Get Oohs and Aahs
• One Bite And You’ll Be Sold
• So Good…No Crumbs Left Behind

Photo by PictFactory

According to Twitter, 150 million people generate 1000 tweets (a 140-character message) per second. That’s a lot of short messages – but where’s the benefit to you or your business?

I’ve been recently experimenting with social media, and there’s a lot of people who follow thousands of people (get their tweets) and likewise large numbers of people who have thousands (or millions) of followers. Because of the volume of messages, information is seldom read, or if it is read, seldom retained. Oftentimes, the message is retweeted (resent) to others. As I always advise my clients, focus on the ROI (return of investment) of your efforts. If you’re trying to disseminate information – measure not how many people follow you, but how many people act on your message. Likewise, measure how much benefit you gain from following others, reading their messages, and retweeting. If you don’t know the ROI, stop and develop a plan to measure it. Otherwise, you’re developing an activity that can gobble up your free time by giving you a sense of had done something significant.

Our culture tends to not value not-doing. If you’re not checking your email, Facebook friends, Twitter feed, blog, etc. you’re not “keeping up with the latest information”. We tend to forget that networking with others can spark great ideas, but the ideas need time to ferment in our minds to create “aha” moments. If you value creativity, take time away from the electronic “twitch” to check your messages, and give yourself the gift of quiet time to allow your mind to create amazing insights.

A related great article: Peter Bregman’s recent article, Why I Returned My iPad.

In 2008, John Cleese gave a keynote at the Creativity World Forum. Here are a summary of his points:

• Sleeping on a problem “works”.
• Your unconscious keeps working on problems even after you’ve completed the task.
• Avoid interruptions during creative thinking. Interruptions cause you to lose track of thoughts which take the slower creative mind a lot of time to regain.
• Get in the mood to be creative. Make an oasis from normal life.
• “Most people who have no idea of what they’re doing, have absolutely no idea that they have no idea what they’re doing.” Blind spots prevent us from improving ourselves.

Photo by Nancy Houlihan

The other day I was talking with a local ice cream store owner who was feeling depressed. He was born and raised in the town. His parents still live in the town. He opened a store in the town that appeal to the town’s self-proclaimed values (“organic food / healthy eating”). In the past few months, 3 competitors have opened similar stores in town. The competition are all small chains, none of whom have organic / quality ingredients. And yet there are lines at the other stores, and his store is feeling the pinch. What happened?

First off – his store’s prices are higher than the competition. Better ingredients do cost more. But apparently people don’t always put their money where their mouth is. Especially families/kids who are trying to stretch their budget.

Secondly – While he mentions he’s organic in the storefront, he’s not spreading the message of why organic matters. Is it taste? Health benefits? Eco-benefits? Local farmer benefits? People who “get” his values, already buy from him. People who don’t, see him as another ice cream choice, albeit with better ingredients.

Lastly – Sadly, community-supported stores are a dying breed. Many of us remember the “mom-and-pop” grocery store, the multi-generational sandwich shop, etc. But with market forces increasing, people don’t put the value of “shopping local” into their quality of life equation. If the local store doesn’t show how it feeds the community (supporting local schools, charities, etc.), then there’s no clear benefit to giving your neighbor money vs. a corporation (which may also donate to local schools).

The solution: he needs to first do an independent taste test. Can his ice cream compete on its own taste merits? If so, focus the message on that, then highlight the secondary message: better ingredients, etc. Also, since his ice cream is premium-priced, then he needs to likewise justify the price, or find ways to reduce the price (smaller sizes, frequent buyer discounts, etc.).

Photo by Linda Tanner

You’ve no doubt heard the call of mockingbirds early in the morning or at night. A series of other sounds strung together to create a unique “calling card”. In creating their songs, they imitate the sounds around them: snippets of other birds’ songs, other animal sounds, humans, and machinery. They’re able to assimilate these disparate songs to create a unique song that serves to attract a mate and establish their territory.

Your marketing system can borrow a lot from the natural wisdom of the mockingbird.

First, listen to business around you. What businesses are flourishing? What catch your attention? What are people most complaining about? What messages seem to have “lasting power” (your business should be anchored in a lasting message, rather than a continual change to the latest business fads). Listen to the sounds of business around you.

Next, craft your own message, borrowing “best practices” from businesses that are succeeding. Repeat the pieces of their message, blending it with yours, to create your own unique marketing message. The message should pleasant and memorable. If it’s too clever, it’s likely to get a chuckle but not be able to be reliably repeated.

Finally, watch the result of your message. How are your prospective customers responding? Do they understand that you’re talking to them? Do they know what you can do for them? Do they know what they need to do to get help from you? Do they know they can trust you?

A marketing mockingbird doesn’t think for a while and create a message that’s written in stone. Evolve the message based on your experiences and reactions. You know you’re on the right path when you’re attracting other mockingbirds.