I am finally pursuing my passion as a natural hair stylist. I am very good at what I do (braiding, extensions, locs, etc) so why am I scared to step out and do this full time?
Well, I am hoping to open a beauty salon with booth rentals. I hope to rent to a cosmetologist, esthetician, and a manicurist. Renting to this professionals will make my salon a full salon because people can come and not only get their hair done but also get a facials, manicure and a pedicure.
The rent will range from $120 to $250 per week, the professionals buy their own products and bring their own clients. They only pay me for the space they are occupying.

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Jay’s Answer: Don’t simply create “another” full-service salon. Yes, you want great, friendly, mature professionals renting from you. Yes, you want a great vibe when people come in. But more than that - target your audience better than your competition. For example, for busy female execs - guarantee that they’ll be in/out at a certain time, or their service is free. Or, have young girl days, where the music and vibe is better suited for them. Or, a man’s makeover day. The full-service part of your business is more than the sum of the services you provide - it’s the feeling they get when they’re with you, and how they feel when they leave.

I am a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in private practice. I am doing a seminar for moms as a way to get my name in the community as a resource for families when counseling is needed. I have spoken on many topics in the past. I would like to appeal to these moms as a resource for their general needs or more specific needs. The working title is Creating Balance in your Life as a Mom. I also need 4 - 5 bullet points to attract moms to this seminar. I currently have Improve Your Time Management; Eliminate Distractions; Finding a Routine that Maximizes the Potential for Your Family; and Giving Your Own Needs the attention they deserve. I would like something that is more catchy or would attract the most moms possible! Thank You!!

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Jay’s Answer: Moms with children at different ages have different specific issues (toddlers vs. lower-school vs. high-school vs. college-aged).

“Creating Balance in Your Life” isn’t motivating. Contrast this to: “Have More Fun In Your Life”, “Play More With Your Family”, “Increase Joy”, “Feel More Vital”, etc.

Adding a new service to existing successful business. Looking for ideas on how to best introduce the service of prepared heart healthy & diabetic meals - we worked with local hospital to develop idea/menu. I want to target working adults who are caring for their parent(s) and those who are looking for healthy food option. Meals are gourmet but low fat, sodium, calories. I’m going to plan an open house to introduce new line of food. Who do invite and how can I advertise inexpensively? I need help to develop a marketing plan to make this aware to home health aides, doctor’s offices, and busy caregivers.

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Jay’s Answer: Sponsor lunch/dinner talks and serve your food to them.

Don’t forget dietitians, small grocery stores, local gyms, and even PTA.

If it tastes good, and people believe that eating it will help their health, it has the right price point (”what is your health worth?”), great testimonials (like Jared, the Subway guy - “eating this food has lowered my BP and made me enjoy life again”), and you’ve done your positioning homework (knowing about your competition), then you have a good start.

I am a travel agent working for a large company and I am one of five agents working in our travel department . I am required to put on a travel event in our office every month. I presented a Sandals Perfect Pairing Evening theme night in our office last month to promote the Sandals resorts and the Caribbean. Our Sandals rep came in and did a wonderful presentation and i had a local florist provide a few flower arrangements for decor . I am wanting to put on another theme night and was thinking of using one of our vendors who promotes European tours. I don’t know if I should specialize in one area, like Italy, or keep it general. Can you help me with creative ideas for the event? How to publicize it? Last time the company placed an ad for the event in the local paper. Local contacts? Any suggestions outside the usual box?

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Jay’s Answer: Keep the interest narrow - it’ll be easier to market “Italy” than “Europe”.

Create an Italian environment - serve food & drink from Italy (co-marketing with local restaurants). Local paper is fine, but also consider: Italian-American clubs in your area, Italian Classes (or even, foreign language schools), photography clubs (for photo-tours), cooking schools (food-tours), etc.

We are a luxury spa/plastic surgery center. Our facility is spacious, and quite noticeable. Its pretty bare outside, but the minimalist feel gives off professionalism. (any suggestions outside?..banners..shrubbery..)

We also want to make our internet presence stronger. What are some good places to get our website linked to…and some things to add to the website.

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Jay’s Answer: Have a series of classes showing how people can look better WITHOUT surgery (makeup, diet, haircut, etc.) and/or offer non-surgical makeovers. In both cases, you’re trying to find people who care about their image but aren’t yet ready to take the plunge. You just want to build trust with them, and give them the opportunity to find out more when they’re ready.

Offer a class on ROI of plastic surgery: how much more people earned looking better, or who they attracted in their life, or how much better a life they now live.

Piggyback on upcoming college/high-school reunions. Give people a chance to “wow” their fellow students.

What’s wrong with this advertisement? From my marketing strategy perspective, it’s focusing on their service and not the benefit to the prospective consumer.

How many property owners think about their sewer pipes? Why would they? Sewer pipes are something are "out of sight/out of mind" and seldom fail.

So, how should the plumber advertise this service?

First, let’s figure out the basic marketing strategy for this plumber:

For local property owners
who need problem-free plumbing
we inspect sewer lines
to prevent unpleasant surprises
unlike traditional plumbers that only  fix the mess
our offering is a free consultation/estimate/second opinion/video inspection.

Now, let’s rewrite the headline, "Do you really know what’s in your sewer pipes…and if they leak? Do you want to know?" Here are some options:

• Homeowners: Prevent A Sewer Catastrophe! [key words are: homeowners (who), prevent/catastrophe (pain), and sewer (what)]
• Is Your Plumbing About To Explode? [key words: plumbing (what) and explode (pain)]
• How’s The Health Your Older Home’s Plumbing? [key words: plumbing (what), health/older home (pain)]

Much like a world class hairstylist who can’t do her own hair, or a great manicurist whose nails are never done, I am an excellent marketer of other people’s products and services, but when it comes to marketing my marketing consulting firm, I need a little help.

I’ve already made contacts with these people, I just wanted something catchy to get us meetings. We can help them with their marketing and pr, and promoting their special events. The name of my company is Soulstice and our logo is a flame.

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Jay’s Answer: Send an ethic doll holding your business card/note. The doll will reinforce your Women & Minority owned status, and the package will get opened.

My brother’s English language school in Greece has a pre-junior class for 6 year olds that learn the foreign language as they play. It is unique and innovative for Greece and it is going very well.

The leaflet could be a weekly schedule, but small kids do not need a weekly program really.

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Jay’s Answer: Don’t send the flyers home with the students. Mail them to the parents directly. Enclose them in an envelope with the return address of the school. That will further get the parents’ attention.

The logo isn’t the key - the content of the class is. Why would parents want to enroll in the English language school - what’s the benefit to the child? The parents? What is the competition like for other pre-junior classes (not just English pre-junior)?

Having testimonials from other students and parents ("We loved learning English", "Our Travel To England Was More Fun", "My Child Helped Us Get Directions!", etc.) in the leaflet is also key.

Don’t send the leaflet weekly. Send it out before the beginning of the next semester and mid-semester (or when you have something new to announce). You also want to have a "call to action" - something like "Enrollment Closing Soon!"

I would like to come up with a CLASSY, professional, and warm (NOT cutesy) name for a company I am starting. We will provide programs and care (mini-parties) for children at weddings and other special events that are not child friendly so parents can enjoy themselves while still having their children with them on premises. I DO NOT want the term "kid, child, kiddie, wee, or any other "cutesy" term that many childcare companies use). I want to deal with high-end clients and want the approach and "vibe" to be that the childcare event will have the same "professionalism and class" as the adult event…just with a lot more fun for the children;) Think in terms of the great names the high-end Children’s boutiques use…

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Jay’s Answer:

• Inner Child Parties
• Champagne and Punch
• The Inner Circle
• The Boom Boom Room

I work as a marketing officer in an Intellectual Property office in the Middle East, we offer services like Trademarks registration, Patents registration, copyrights, and everything related to Intellectual Property.  As a marketing Dept. we depend on contacting more clients by making more visits, and that is the only Marketing Tool we use. The CHALLENGES we face are:
1- We don’t have Marketing plan / Marketing strategy.
2- We need more marketing tools to depend on.
3- Many clients are not convinced that registering their Trademarks are for their best benefit even though we try hard to deliver them the idea of the many advantages they will get when having their TM registered and the disadvantages of not registering.

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Jay’s Answer: First, recognize that the biggest expense with intellectual property (IP) isn’t registering – it’s protection. If a small company registers a trademark and later finds another company infringing, they need to file a lawsuit. And we know that lawsuits are expensive to file and defend. Therefore, I don’t generally recommend that small businesses register their IP unless:

• They have “deep pockets” to defend in court, and/or
• They plan to sell their company in the foreseeable future

Intellectual property is highly valuable in valuating a company. Patents, copyrights, etc. can all become sources of licensing revenue.

Instead of making more visits, I would strongly suggest creating a series of white papers (available for free in exchange for a prospect’s contact information) detailing the pros and cons of registering their intellectual property:

• How much revenue a company lost (or gained)
• How companies have created new opportunities by “spinning out” licensing divisions.
• How having copyrights, patents, etc. in a company’s marketing materials increases the perception of their value/expertise.
• How to protect the value of their intellectual property

I would encourage you to also offer free seminars in-house as well as educating local marketing/advertising firms about the issues of IP, and encourage them to have their clients’ work protected.