We need a new tag line. Our old one is outdated. Originally it was “refer three get yours free” (30 years ago) – then we added “up to $50”, well in today’s market there aren’t too many returns that are under $50.00. We do all types of tax returns, small business accounting, payroll, and QuickBooks set up and instruction. We need a fresh new idea. What do you think?

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Jay’s Answer: A tagline generally applies to your company, and generally mentions a key benefit you offer your clients. “Refer three get yours free” doesn’t really say much about what makes your company unique other than the rebate aspect. In my opinion, that’s not very strong (despite serving for 30 years). What you have sounds more like a headline for an advertisement.

Unfortunately, you’ll need to “dig deeper” to find those things that make you better/different from the vast number of competitors (both local and online). In general, this is a longer process than an “off-the-top” thinking. It requires conversation with your clients (current and past), studying your competition, etc. It’s the preliminary work of creating a marketing strategy, of which, a tagline (and business name) is one of the last stages (even though everyone wants to jump to the name/tagline first).