I am a dietitian holding a talk on Super Foods to the community. Need a catchy title for us to advertise the talk. Needs to be something to draw people there. Super foods would be healthy and full of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.

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Jay’s Answer:

• Eat Better. Get Better.
• Can Food Help Your Body Heal?

I am in the process of starting my own Bridal Consultant/Wedding Planning business and need to come up with a catchy name/tagline.  I’m sure you have heard this before but I am so stumped on a name that everyone else has not used.

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Jay’s Answer: The fantasy is that a catchy name/tagline will start your business off with a “bang”. The name will suddenly get people to pay attention to your business, remember its name, tell all their friends about it, and flood you with more business than you can handle. It’s a fantasy.

Sure, a great name is important. But a great name doesn’t arise because you want something catchy. A great name is created from knowing exactly who you’re targeting, what problem of theirs you solve, what makes you better, etc. This is the essence of a marketing strategy. Without it, you’ll print up a bunch of business cards, create a website, maybe even get a business license and lease a building and..wait for people to show up and throw their money at you.

I can create all sorts of names that are catchy/unique, but if they don’t fit who you’re targeting, you’re starting with a deficit. For example, if you named your business “White Dreams” it won’t tell people much. But instead if you called your business “Phoenix Bridal Consultants” then people would understand who you’re targeting (brides located in Phoenix-area). That’s just one simple example.

Episode theme: Guests who make a living infusing more fun & games into people’s lives.

Dan Zelinsky (a fifth generation San Franciscan) is the owner of Musée Mécanique – one of the world’s largest (over 200) privately owned collection of coin-operated mechanical musical instruments and antique arcade machines in their original working condition – all of which can be played by visitors. Peep shows (early San Francisco scenes/bawdy comedy), fortune tellers, photo booth, and several games of chance and skill are among the many arcade attractions with several nickelodeons, music boxes and the original mechanical farm. A hand crafted carnival is fully automated… dozens of fascinating attractions and distractions including a sensational 1914 San Francisco exposition gypsy fortune teller. And of course, Laughing Sal. Any worn or broken parts are manufactured on the premises and most repairs are done in house by the Musée Mécanique staff. He can often be found roller skating inside the arcade.

Contact: dan@museemecaniquesf.com
Phone: (415) 346-2000

Michael McGinnis is an artist and inventor of Perplexus – a complex, 3-dimensional labyrinth that can be traced by a ball bearing. Working on Superplexus and its derivatives is a lifelong passion. Michael has an MFA in sculpture and teaches at Santa Rosa Junior College, where he is also the Art Gallery Exhibits Specialist.

Contact: mmcginnis@santarosa.edu

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I got so much pressure from my boss who expect me to make sale on his new product to hit the goal within one month. Do you have any suggestion how to find the market with low cost budget?
PS. My product is POS Program for restaurant business

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Jay’s Answer: I’d start by first examining the sales goal itself. How did it arise? What were the assumptions in number of new clients vs. upgrading clients? What was the average sale amount for each? What was the average days-to-sale? Is this based on historical data for your company or a hopeful estimate?

Next, how well defined is your target market and how well positioned is your new product to achieve the needs of your market relative to your competition? Is it measurably better (and with a measurably lower risk of adoption)? What’s the long-term vs. short-term costs of your product? What’s the cost (in both time/expense) to adopt your new product (from the client’s existing solution)?

These are just some of the basic questions you need to better understand to develop your sales strategy.

Next, what’s the lifetime value of making a sale to your customer? Given that you sold them one thing this month, how much more money are they likely to give you over the lifetime of your relationship? That lifetime value is what you should be focused on, and your budget should reflect this. For example, the lifetime value of a new client is $10,000, the cost of goods sold is $1000, then you’re looking at a $9000 profit. In this case, allocating $10 for such a sale isn’t realistic.

How to find the market with a low cost budget? If you’re starting without a strategy, then you’re guessing. And guessing means it’s a numbers game – try to spread a message to everyone with hope that someone is interested enough to contact you. Don’t guess. Do you homework on identifying your market first, then figure out multiple avenues to communicate with them: SEO, advertisements, Facebook, co-marketing, phone calls, emails, etc.

I have a lengthy presentation to do for a new job on what I would do in the first 100 days. Any best practice advice on this?

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Jay’s Answer: Spend the first 30 days listening, watching, and doing a wide variety of tasks. That’ll give you an idea of not just high-level strategic needs but also the politics on-site and time to align yourself with your team.

Unless you’re being hired with the power to make sweeping changes, it’s best to describe how you can infuse the company with your unique insights on specific projects/goals.

I am looking for help on a catchy name for a web site that would sell a wide variety of merchandise. thank you

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Jay’s Answer: Since you’re selling a wide variety of merchandise to a wide variety of people, and you want to attract all these people to your collection – you’ve got a big problem. You can pick a name that’s “catchy” but doesn’t mean anything to anyone, so you’ll have to spend time & money describing what it is you sell (and to whom). Or, you can pick a descriptive name that reflects what you sell, but unless you narrow things down, by hoping to sell “everything to everyone” you’re likely to sell “nothing to no one”.

First, focus on who exactly you’re trying to sell to. How old are they? Where are they located? Gender? Spending habits? Where else they shop.

Next, focus on what they’re likely to want to by from YOU that they can’t find elsewhere (or can’t find as easily).

Finally, once you better have a grip on this, you can focus on a name / tagline / website. Otherwise, you’re likely to spend a lot of time & money and be very disappointed.

I am working as a marketing developer in a telecommunication company selling in the Middle-East (mainly handsets, data cards etc). I must  make a marketing manual for my company. I have no idea on what to include or how to do it and organize it. Can you please help me with sites in which i will find effective examples and articles about how to make marketing manual?

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Jay’s Answer: I’m not sure exactly what you’ve been asked to produce. A manual for how to market your company’s products? A marketing strategy document? A best-practices guide? Or something else?

Most of these documents are written by experts who’s analyzed your company’s skills/niches and developed systems for achieving them. Also, many of these documents are ignored by the company that wants them – more rules and things “to do”, but without any clear benefit to those in the company.

So, before you embark in writing a document, find out exactly who will use the document in the company (and why). Then talk to these people – what information do they need to solve their problems. That will ensure the document is useful. Then talk to the people who asked you to write the manual – what are their expectations? How will they judge the manual? Knowing this will ensure the format of material is to expectation. Then your homework is filling in the middle – and that’s done through (online) research.

Our airport is looking at running an open night for the public to increase retail spend when the actual airport is closed for passenger traffic i.e., after 7pm. We would open up our retail area to the public to increase retail spend, trying to think of some innovative ideas to drive awareness of this night and to encourage members of the public to come down to the airport and do their shopping!we are on average 25% cheaper than high street shops on items from clothing to perfume. Any ideas??

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Jay’s Answer: It’s an interesting concept. First, focus on the difference in experience between the airport and high street shops. Airport shops tend to be about efficiency – making it easy to purchase something, but not necessarily luxuriating in the shopping experience. Can you soften the airport’s retail area to add environmental ambiance? For example: music, dining on the tarmac, a runway/catwalk show, or even an event on a (parked) plane?

My company (which is an umbrella company for 92 companies that provide specialty printing and direct marketing solutions) is exhibiting at the upcoming DMA show for the first time branded as “XYZ Company.” This will be our first big splash in the national marketplace where we are not going as 10 or 12 separate entities, rather a single company offering multiple unique, customizable business and marketing solutions.

Like I said, we are playing off of the word YOU in our creative design elements, with customizable Y-O-U’s. And phrases like “Find your Uniqueness” and “Be Unique. Be You” and “Uniquely You” keep bouncing around.

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Jay’s Answer: My first reaction is your message isn’t unique. Dig deeper – why are the benefits to your “multiple unique, customizable business and marketing solutions”? Focus on why a prospective client would care about your offering – that’s more interesting to them.

Trailer

Episode theme: How does a local free weekly newspaper continue to thrive for almost 50 years?

The Pacific Sun was founded in 1963, and is the second longest running alternative weekly in the nation, behind only The Village Voice. With a readership of around 80,000, the paper is distributed at over 400 locations throughout Marin County, California.

Guests include:

• Jason Walsh, Editor
• Gina Channell-Allen, Publisher
• Beth Allen, Art Director/Production Manager

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