Monthly Archives: December 2010

Please Help Name Our Fine Craft Company

Names + Taglines

My partner and I are selling colorfully painted plates, platters, mugs etc. She is a retail store owner. I am an artist. I have painted murals for her and signs in the past. She came to me with this idea of painting ceramics and selling them retail and wholesale eventually. Majority of ceramics will have Bible scripture on them. we may branch off from ceramics eventually too, so we dont want to confine the name to ceramics only. We want the name to be fun but not have us mistaken for a kid’s store. Some names we have so far: Leap of Faith, Lizzy Dee Designs (my family calls me lizzy, hers calls her Dee), Lizzy Deesigns, Divine by Design ( there are tons of businesses named Divine Designs which made us steer away from this), and Butterfly Blessings.

Would love for the company name to point us in direction of a definite logo. Ex: Devine by Design–we could have a vine in our logo.

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Jay’s Answer:

  • Paint By (The) Word
  • Painted Scripture

Getting Comments For My Blog?

eMarketing

Is there a better way to initiate comments on your blog as opposed to simply asking for them at the end of the post?

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Jay’s Answer: Reciprocate with other bloggers. Post comments on their blogs. Contact them via email and ask for their comments on your blog (pick a specific article that you think would be of interest to them).

Headline For Motivational Campaign

Publicity

Last year we broadcast weekly mailers featuring cross functional team work across geographies and named it Synergy Success Stories – The mailer was designed in a shape of diary with a pen on the mast head & spiral bond & the edges & each week a new story being unfold & team members pictures in star shape with their names & work details being flashed who worked on a particular project.

This year we have frozen on the theme – Transcend – beyond all boundaries, breaking all barriers – dare to go beyond the limits. To attain the company GOAL of growth.
The idea is to project teams & projects who have come up with out of the box ideas/innovations & gone the extra mile in the contributing towards the growth of company & Business excellence.

Can you suggest what should these weekly mailers called to replace Synergy Success Story, so people are engrossed & do not lose interest in these weekly mailers being flashed ?

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Jay’s Answer:

  • Stories Of Transcendence
  • The Next Level
  • Inspiring Success

Name & Tagline For Online Wine & Wine Gifts Store

Names + Taglines

I would like suggestions for a name and tagline for a new online branch of my retail wine store (Maitland Wine Market). The initial focus of the store will be to sell wine accessories, wine t-shirts & gift items related to wine, grapes, etc. I’ll add selling bottles of wine later. The name can’t be too long, as it will be my domain name, too.

The name of the retail store is boring and the location does not mean anything to a customer outside this area, so I am looking for a more clever, fun and exciting name. Using my name is okay (Kelly) as it may promote that there is a real person behind the products.

SEO is important, so I can be found among the variety of other sites selling wine things. I’m just a wine geek trying to make a living selling the stuff and appreciate any marketing expertise that I receive.

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Jay’s Answer: What’s wrong with your current website (http://maitlandwine.com)? (Aside: the images in the site are often scaled incorrectly and make the bottles such as Barnard Griffin Riesling look odd).

The problem with picking a totally new name is that you’ll be competing with tons of other online wine merchants and wineries. Some of these names are connected to a physical location/winery. Many are not – they vary from “Wine Legend” to “Wine Chateau”, etc. None of these names alone will attract visitors or sales – that’s up to your offer, your copy, and your SEO.

Unless Maitland Wine Market (or Maitland Wine) has a negative connotation, at worst it has a neutral connotation – a blank slate from which to build visitors/sales online.

The Joys of Negative Marketing

Creative Business Ideas, Publicity

Negative Marketing
Image by David G. Klein

The NYTimes recently (Nov 11, 2010) published “A Bully Finds a Pulpit on the Web” which describes someone who’s figured out that really bad customer service can be its own reward. In a nutshell, a discount designer sunglasses online store lures people to their website with great prices, but seldom delivers. How can they survive? By the numbers game: a legion of unhappy customers post complaints online, which create backlinks to the online store, driving up the store’s online ranking (wash – rinse – repeat).

The store owner has figured out how to “game the system” by doing the exact opposite of great marketing techniques. The search engine software hasn’t yet been tweaked to “fix” this loophole. In the meantime, the owner continues to take orders and aggressively fight customers’ returns. We watch from the sidelines and are frustrated – someone’s got a business edge by not “playing by the rules”.

The sad reality is that scammers stay in business because they’re used to working one step ahead of the law. If the credit card merchant shuts them down, they can use a friend’s merchant account. If their webhost closes their website, they can go to another host. If they get sued enough, they can declare bankruptcy, and spring up another business elsewhere.

Why not follow this lead and take business shortcuts? Because ethically we couldn’t live with ourselves, nor would we strive to be in community with people who do. There are always people who do well by living on the edge of morality. But if you want to sleep well at night, not worry about your next phone call (or knock at the door) –  run your business the way you want to be treated.

Are You Your Ideal Customer?

Creative Business Ideas

Franchise Logo
Photo by Petra Sell

People who start businesses fall into one of two camps: either they are passionate about their product/service and just have to share it with the world or they’re looking to sell something to someone to make money. While there’s nothing wrong with starting a business to sell “something”, you’re doing yourself and the world a huge disservice. By making your business goal focused solely on revenue, you’re sucking the joy from a possible “connection” with your customers.

Your customer is looking for a solution to their problem, whether that be a leaking pipe,  a dress that will flatter their body shape, or a computer that doesn’t keep crashing. Their initial criteria for selecting a business is: “Is this company highly likely to satisfy my need at a fair price?” We choose “highly likely” companies based on our research (asking friends, doing research, etc.) and judge “fair price” based on our budget and the value for fixing the problem today. These are all the logical thoughts that customers consider when choosing to buy from you.

If you’re just selling “something” then your only option is to position yourself as the best choice to solve the customer’s problem.

If you’re passionate about what you’re selling, then you have a secondary marketing advantage – showing your prospective customer that you care as much about the solution as they do, and perhaps even more. You’ve researched all the options out there, only carry the best choices, and even had to have manufacturers make custom models for your discriminating needs. You want to show that all you think about are problems like your customer is having and that you’re on a personal mission to eradicate this problem from the planet. You’ve tried all the competition’s options, rejected some of them, and are still looking for better options all the time.

This is who I want to buy from – someone who’s constantly on the lookout for the next best thing and with the wisdom to find true “gold”. I want someone who’s crazy enough to not be satisfied with the status quo and the time and energy to keep testing options on my behalf. With this company, I know that I’ll have no regrets.

So, when you’re starting your company – make sure you’re your ideal customer – a person who would buy from your company. Don’t simply sell stuff to make money. It’s not good for you (or your business) long-term.

The Fastest Way To Sell Easily. Guaranteed.

Creative Business Ideas

Easiest Fastest Way To Make Money
Photo by Thomas Hawk

The easiest category of customers to sell to are people looking for the “-est” products: the newest, fanciest, fastest, sleekest, shiniest, thinnest, healthiest, cheapest, most efficient, chocolaty-est, etc. These people are basically addicted to looking for something that’s the hottest #1 choice for their selector.  Selling to them is easy and guaranteed: supply the “-est” product/service for their needs and they’ll come in droves. You only need to position your product/service as the pinnacle of the need – and don’t even have to compare your offering to the competition (you just need to validate that it has everything they want, and then some). As early adopters, these people will confirm your “-est” positioning, then spread the word to their community.

The next easiest category of customers to sell to are people looking for the “-er” products: fancier, sleeker, shinier, thinner, healthier, cheaper, more efficient, chocolaty-er, etc. They are looking for an incremental change in what they have because they want/need something better (but not necessarily the best/newest). Selling to them involves more work, since you need to compare/contrast your offering to the competition – either using a comparison matrix (for right-brained customers) or social comparison (for left-brained customers). These customers will likewise validate your “-er” offering, and spread the word to people looking to upgrade.

If you’re selling a “me-too” product/service is (another hair salon, another book store, another t-shirt vendor, another Realtor) you have to compete not only with the “-est” and “-er” competition but also with the lack of momentum of your prospects. Why should someone care about yet “another” choice? They already have their favorite hair salon (etc.).

So before you launch your business or new offering, concentrate on your positioning. How can you make it the best or better choice of your buying prospects?