I am opening a new gourmet market that will be selling locally produced organic foods in addition to European imports. The shop is located in a high-end shopping center in a wealthy suburban area. I have read a bit about color and how it affects consumers, but thought I could get some advice from you. I am starting with a blank slate and need some guidance on a color scheme for the interior of the store as well as for the logo. I have a 6 month time frame before the store opens.

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Jay’s Answer: Rather than guess, why not take a look at how Whole Foods has been decorating their stores. I’m sure you’re get lots of color / layout ideas.

I need to put a budget together for university research. Participants will be limited English speakers therefore their maybe translation cost, recording, transcribing? Really not sure what else I need to include and what these items may cost. I’m considering 3 groups of 15 and again no sure if these groups are to large. I would really love some advice so we don’t undercharge. Also what complications should I watch out for?

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Jay’s Answer: Running a focus group requires a fair bit of skill, since it’s easy to have the group basically come to agreement on something (bias) especially based on the group’s facilitator ability. You may be better served by doing 1-on-1 interviews (of 15 mins each). It takes less time, you get information that may not come up in a group setting, and can focus better on their questions/needs/concerns/thoughts.

I am a RYT registered yoga teacher. I am inquiring a few tips on what a consumer wants out of a yoga website and how to name my new company. I currently work at a Mental Clinic LLC, and I would like to incorporate their business with mine. They are one of a kind, therapy partnered with Holistic services including ti chi, massage, reiki and yoga. For my personal practice, I plan on creating a website, and it needs a name. I teach HATHA YOGA, which is a more gentle type. I teach most people over 30 years of age and really try to achieve a more stress-free way of living.

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Jay’s Answer: People look for websites for all sorts of information: location, pricing, schedule, services, and details. Additionally, the content/look of the website must appeal to those you’re targeting.

As for a name, you’re looking for both a domain name and a business name. A business name needs to be unique in your county, so you can file a DBA. Your domain name ideally is the same as your business name, but if it’s “similar enough” that’ll probably suffice for your needs.

Unless you’re targeting people already familiar with yoga, Hatha doesn’t mean much to them. Since you’ve been teaching awhile, why are people taking your classes? Is it for stress-reduction, flexibility, community, etc.? Focus on the key benefit, and reflect that in your name, tagline, and the rest of your marketing materials.

I am a new business who is on a tight budget. I am considering postcards as a cost friendly way for me to start marketing. I create cakes made from towels, diapers and other cloth items and decorate them with things that the receiver can use. This is very much like a gift basket. I am trying to target new business and have no idea what type of wording to put on my postcard to grab peoples attention. These gifts can be given for any occasion, but are especially beautiful for baby and bridal showers. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

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Jay’s Answer: The problem with a single postcard mailing is that the recipients are unlikely to suddenly think, “That’s just the gift I’m looking for!” Since you’re offering something best tied in to certain life events, target the organizations that people go to first: baby stores, party stores, florists, etc. Work with your local organizations to start with. If you don’t already have a website, create one. That’ll help people looking for these gifts as well.

I have some tag-lines for various products, how can i sell the tag-lines to that companies ?

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Jay’s Answer: The short answer is, you can’t sell the tag lines unless the companies have publicly expressed a desire for them. If you have a desire to work for the company that makes the products, then your best bet is to meet with their director of marketing and present your tag lines to them (for free) as part of a job interview.

The problem you’ll face is that a company has no way of knowing if your tagline is any better than theirs (or even if they need one) until they evaluate it. And evaluating it costs money and takes time. Unless you’ve done focus tests, marketing surveys of both potential and existing clients, SEO analysis, etc. you have no proof that your taglines are valuable to them.

Finally, a tagline needs to focus on a key benefit of their problem. Do you deeply understand the product and the mindset of the audience? Do you know what works It’ll take to convert someone with little interest into someone who’s curious about evaluating the products?

I need to start an bakery style & coffee selling outlets kindly get me an unique name which can attract the public easily.

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Jay’s Answer: “Free Coffee”

No matter what names I suggest, there’s no one magical name that’ll do what you want. The first time someone sees the new name they may understand it’s a coffee outlet, but not until they try your offerings and love them (price/quality) will you begin to get a following.

Also, names matter based on where you are in the world, who you’re trying to attract (anyone who drinks coffee? women? college students?), what makes your coffee unique (organic? shade-grown? hand-picked? specially roasted? 10% profits go to orphanages?), etc.

I am a fresh graduate in Marketing and doing a project for a traditional business firm(A trade House) who wants to convert itself into a brand. The company holds itself into the region for the past 3 decades and now wants to reposition itself into a corporate house. Need your valuable guidance/ suggestions on how should I proceed about it and what all things should be kept in mind while starting the branding exercise?

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Jay’s Answer: If you already have a perception, build on it. Give it a voice, a name, a look. While you can create these things without a perception, it’s unlikely to stick because not enough people believe them. Since you have 30+ years of experience, you have enough stories of how you’ve helped people and improved their lives. Take the stories and evolve them into a statement/brand. To teach your new brand, everything your organization does need to revolve around the brand – advertising materials, answering the phone, business cards, emails, etc.

I have an excellent advertising idea that I’m positive will be a huge hit, but don’t know who to talk to or where to begin. It involves all kinds of sports in all major cities from NFL to Soccer. I’m afraid to go into any detail, fearing my advertising idea will be stolen.

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Jay’s Answer: Let’s say you’ve figured out the next-best idea for sports advertising. What’s it worth? Unless you’ve also written/tested the copy/images, researched best media to advertise in, have done lots of focus testing with groups (or even better yet, tried it with local sports teams in your area), you idea isn’t worth much. Because what you have is an idea, that teams of people need to act on. The acting on part costs money, and that’s where risk/reward comes in and has a value.

If your goal is to get noticed (by sports teams or advertising companies), produce the message/idea yourself. Create a website, write your own copy, even film your own videos and put them online. Make them public, and make them obviously connected to you. Make this whole idea one piece of your advertising portfolio. Enjoy the creative process (as a minimum) and hopefully get seen as an up-and-coming idea person.

Also, most agencies don’t want to talk with outsiders that have an idea. They don’t want to sign NDA (non disclosure agreements) for the simple reason that they may be working on something similar to your idea already. If you approach them and tell them your idea under NDA and they produce something similar, then they may have a lawsuit on their hands. Do talk to a lawyer, but realize that if someone takes your idea from you, it’ll cost serious $ to defend it.

I am a soon to be graduated b-school student with a specialism in marketing. I also read lot of stuff like literature and books on advertising, branding, etc.

Like pretty much any organization, creative agency have ‘non-design’ jobs too such as account, strategy, even finance and HR. I have so much declines from agencies due not having a portfolio with visuals, visuals that graduates in art academies and those from advertising and multimedia design do have. So, how does one enter the ‘creative realm’ of agencies that are in branding and digital media for instance? Would you recommend me to learn graphic design anyway, just for the sake of having a portfolio?

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Jay’s Answer: If you don’t have visuals, create them. Volunteer your skills for local non-profits. Also, create marketing pieces for companies that haven’t hired you – to show off what you could do (but make sure it’s clear they were self-initiated samples).

Hi, I have been fighting the fitness battle my whole life. In high school and college I was too skinny, then I started my own business and found little time to train. I have solved both problems, going from a skinny 150 lbs to a lean and muscular 178 lbs while shortening my workouts to fit my increasingly busy schedule. I needed balance in my life, fitness gave me that and I want to share my solutions with others facing the same problems. I want to help other young business professionals win the same battles without making the same mistakes I did in the form of a free blog site.

How do I get this message across on my site?

I need an effective title and subtitle as well as an effective page layout but am struggling with both.
Here is my site, read ‘my story’ for more info. I have a boxing background which I’d like to incorporate into the site (www.chadhowsefitness.com) as well. Any ideas will help! Thanks

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Jay’s Answer: Focus on your copy first. Tell personal stories of how your body image affected your worldview and how improving your body improved your life. Ask others to share their stories.

Don’t think of trying to establish yourself as an authority figure yet. You have your own experiences, but unless you’ve helped hundreds (or thousands) of others improve their bodies and life, you can’t claim the title (and you’d rather have others hand the title to you).

As for traffic, that’s another issue entirely. Copy will keep ‘em, but you need people to read your copy. Write your articles/stories, but try to be a guest blogger in places your target audience visits. Also be clear who you’re targeting – the whole world or just the area you live in (are you trying to get clients or noticed?).