I have to attract more students in an aviation college. By now i am able to get admissions of 6 students only. Tell me how can I improve the admissions.

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Jay’s Answer: Your problem is either: 1) there aren’t that many people interested in aviation as a career or 2) your college isn’t perceived to be as good as your competition.

To improve admissions, you need to truly identify the problem you’re facing (low admissions isn’t the problem – it’s the symptom) and then create a strategy to address it.

Need to come up with a catchy name for a social that we will be having at an athletic club. We will offer wine and cheese, some olives, some fruit. Also, it will be centered around Tennis….
Need to come up with a catchy name for a social that we will be having at an athletic club. We will offer wine and cheese, some olives, some fruit. Also, it will be centered around Tennis….

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Jay’s Answer:

• Love Wine? Find Your Match!
• Wine, Cheese, and Match!

Last year my boyfriend and I held our first annual community holiday open house to raise donations of nonperishable food for our local food bank, toys for Children’s Hospital, and food, toys, and blankets for a nearby humane society that is in such bad condition, the place should have been condemned years ago. Over 400 brochures were professionally prepared and placed on doors in our neighborhood in a plastic door hanger with chocolate mints, and also left in a few pet-related spa-type stores and businesses in our town.

But this year I DO want to promote my business, as I am trying to grow the business, as well as bringing awareness to these wonderful charities that work nationwide. (A portion of everything I sell in my online shop gets donated to these charities.)

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Jay’s Answer:

• Ask people to send you pictures of their pets for display (on your website, invitation, flyers, etc.).
• If you’re collecting donations on behalf of 501(c)3 organizations, you might meet some resistance, since you’re not a 501(c)3 yourself (trust issues).
• If you’re still supporting your local Humane Society, have people sponsor specific things: a cage (with their name on it), food for an animal for a week/month/year, medications for low-income owners, etc. Make it tangible and transparent.
• Depending on the goal, you could have a people/pet soiree. Or, if people only, have them bring pictures of their animals to help create their name badge.
• How about a pet parade, where people and pets walk from organization to organization that are pet-friendly. Have donation jars in each business a month prior, and the parade will go door-to-door to collect the funds. This creates a great photo PR opportunity for everyone.

We are putting together an awareness billboard campaign for our community theater and want something to let people know we are here with live theater. Any help would be appreciated.

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Jay’s Answer:

• Join Your Friends
• Share The Joy
• Homemade Plays. Acted From Scratch.
• Do You Play Well With Others?

I am looking for a clever name for our hospital’s 2nd annual fund raising event. This year’s event includes dinner, a comedian, a musical group/dancing. Thanks!

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Jay’s Answer:

• Laugh ‘Til It Hurts
• A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Hospital…

I belong to a networking group which has been around for 4 years. We only allow one person from each industry so there is no competition. We exchange referrals. We are a BNI group but I want to brand our group name in our area and build membership.

We want to be the brand of choice in our area so any recommendations, conventional, or out of the box would be greatly appreciated.

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Jay’s Answer: What makes any referral group worth one’s time is the quality/quantity of leads (and resulting business). Why not create case studies of members (both new and old)? A series of stories of why people joined, how they worked together, what the results were (and what they honestly wished was better). If you can say that on average, your investment of an hour a week and $X/quarter results in $Y, then that’s a strong reason to join.

You also want people to join who are strong referrers as well. These people may be selling a higher priced offering (houses) that need a quality support team. These people may be looking more for quality help for themselves. So, commission a study of customer satisfaction of people in the group as well.

Between income and quality, you’ll have a strong marketing message.

Could you suggest some domain names and website names for a new about to launch Animal Rights NGO in India? I wanted to launch a free website and i want a name that is easy, catchy and genuine. The basic details are given below :

What type of animals are you targeting ?
All those animals which we see around …. for more deeper research and investigations we do plan to move all around but after some time…
Currently we would target some basic animals which are the target of a very cruel and illogical philosophy i.e. SLAUGHTERING in the name of certain religious ceremony here in India. the targeted animals are : BUFFALO, COW and GOATS. Besides these we also plan to work and cure stray and street dogs and cats .

What area of India ?
At present we will focus on our home town GUWAHATI. Its a small city from ASSAM which is a Beautiful state in the North Eastern part of our country India.

What’s the problem the animals are currently facing and what do you hope to do about it ?
The basic problem is the one I mentioned above which is unfortunately growing irrespective of many protests and requests. Its a shame in the name of our culture and people in power practice such ceremonies to gain power and reputation. its a difficult job to overpower these monsters but the initial steps were encouraging … the local mayor, the chief of state police and a few Ministers and bureaucrats have started supporting us… it might be just a new political tool for them to overpower their oppositions but it has definitely helped us a lot … financial and power packed infrastructural support from them in the future would be very helpful to expand our horizons.

Do you already have a name for the NGO ?
No, its just the beginning and thus we just want you to provide us a Title that besides being catchy, easy and genuine …. also sounds universal and doesn’t restrict it to a particular region. Needless to say that the web site and the NGO would have the same name.

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Jay’s Answer: Here are some names for your consideration. Hopefully they’ll inspire your thinking:

Focusing on stopping an attitude:

• Stop The Sacrifice
• Stop The Slaughter

Focusing on modernizing a behavior:

• 21st Century Animal Ceremonies
• Updating Religious Sacrifices

Focusing on the purpose of your work:

• Assam Animal Rescue

I am planning for an open house with my Chamber of Commerce to promote my private mental health counseling business. Do you have any ideas or resources to order materials for such. Since my areas will be with children, parenting, and substance addictions, I’m thinking about having informational handouts, business cards, and promotional items such as pens, but don’t have it all together.

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Jay’s Answer: While you’re at it, invite your local parents’ groups to your open house.

I’d have separate handouts for each of the areas you specialize in. Each of these handouts would talk about what problems that this group has that you can help with. Testimonials would be a plus.

Your goal at the open house is to network – to talk to people and find out how satisfied they are with their parenting and family, and offer your skills to help improve it. You want to build trust in your skills and personality. I’m sure you already know how to ask great questions and listen to their answers. You just need to do this in a business setting first.

I am helping to compile a fundraising plan for a local community foundation.

Target Market include:

• High net worth donors
• Investment and Financial Community
• Business as founding investors

Need fundraising ideas and well as other ideas for specific target markets.

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Jay’s Answer: No matter who you’re targeting, the basics are still: identifying who they are and why they should care about your organization. Your target market is more than high net worth people – it’s people who have donated before. One approach is to look at other organization’s donor lists and begin to get to know your prospects.

High net worth people are regularly approached for donations, so your marketing materials has to clearly articulate where your past funds have gone to benefit the community, and what specifically you need from the community to achieve your next specific goals.

A local Chamber of Commerce is always mentioned as a way for small business owners to network and receive other useful resources to assist them in their businesses. So, how does a chamber market itself?

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Jay’s Answer: In my region, Chambers act as basically political organizations and not networking/support organizations. If you have a brick-and-mortar business and you’re having problems with “City Hall”, a Chamber can be your best friend. The “networking” that occurs is generally a sales-fest, where everyone is looking to sell their product/services and few are genuinely trying to help one another. A great Chamber, in my opinion, would ask each (prospective) member what business problems they are having, and act as the conduit to helping solve the problem (whether that be creating a support group, finding mentors, bringing in experts, making introductions, etc.) and ensuring on an on-going basis that all members are still getting their needs met.