How Can I Market Pro-Athlete Quality Workouts Online?

eMarketing, Starting Out

I’m creating new service with a noted industry expert that exists entirely online. The expert is a coach to professional athletes, and has coached numerous noted NFL, NHL, MLB, athletes among others. We are making his workouts available online for a monthly subscription, along with video representation of drills, technique etc. and a forum for members to ask questions.

This guy has a prestigious, elite, almost elusive air around him. People know his workouts are special, and if they are lucky, they get to use them. All the people that come to him are top level athletes or coaches. Currently, he doesn’t charge anything to these athletes for these workouts; it’s really like an elusive club where it’s free to join if you are accepted, but it’s hard to be accepted. That is going to change.

We are going to make these workouts available to a larger audience, from professionals to high schools, and start charging for them. However I don’t want to lose that prestigious quality that they already have. There’s a lot of “Steve’s Super Speed System” out on the internet right now, and I need to safely distance myself from them.

I don’t want the people who have climbed 10,000 ft to meditate with a Zen master to open the paper the next morning and see “Krazy Karl’s Zen Den,” if you get my drift. But on the other hand, most of these high school kids aren’t going to know this coach by name, so I need to sell to them.

My questions are:
1. Nobody with this track record has ever offered a service like this before, so people are going to assume this product is something else. (Steve’s Super Speed System for example). With a brand new product, how do I accurately convey what I’m selling without interfering with people’s preconceptions?

2. How do I keep a prestigious air around the product while making it available to everyone? (I know everyone says focus your market, but for this we really need to hit both markets)

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Jay’s Answer: Make the bar higher to join than simply paying money. Make prospects write an essay telling you why they want/need this workout, how they plan to make use of it, and how will they notice it works. If they don’t write a compelling essay – return their initial deposit.

Adding an essay will self-limit to only people who are serious enough to want it – and pay for it. It will also be a rich source of what people are looking for, so you can better target them with material.

The website should have an sample of what they’d be getting, so people who don’t know the expert, or trust the testimonials can see for themselves.

What Is a Good Name For A Flower & Event-Planning Business?

Names + Taglines, Starting Out

i am making now two companies small business one for Flowers (setup & decoration) and the other for event planning(Advertising and Entertainment) from conferences and wedding parties corporate events, etc…so could you help me as i need creative name to be big names in future and easy as i am located in Egypt, Cairo

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Jay’s Answer: Since you’re a small business, pick a name that’s related to what service/product you offer. If you pick something unrelated, you’ll have to spend a lot of time educating people what you do (using a tagline or advertising).

For flowers:

  • Beautiful Settings
  • Stunning Flower Arrangements
  • Flower Power
  • Natural Beauty
  • Fleur (in French)
  • Fiore (in Italian)
  • Flor (in Spanish)

Event Planning:

  • Memorable Events
  • Stress-Free Events
  • Beautiful Parties
  • Modern Events
  • Event-ualities
  • Partito (party in Italian)
  • Partie (party in French)

What Is a Good Name For A Flower & Event-Planning Business?

Names + Taglines, Starting Out

i am making now two companies small business one for Flowers (setup & decoration) and the other for event planning(Advertising and Entertainment) from conferences and wedding parties corporate events, etc…so could you help me as i need creative name to be big names in future and easy as i am located in Egypt, Cairo

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Jay’s Answer: Since you’re a small business, pick a name that’s related to what service/product you offer. If you pick something unrelated, you’ll have to spend a lot of time educating people what you do (using a tagline or advertising).

For flowers:

  • Beautiful Settings
  • Stunning Flower Arrangements
  • Flower Power
  • Natural Beauty
  • Fleur (in French)
  • Fiore (in Italian)
  • Flor (in Spanish)

Event Planning:

  • Memorable Events
  • Stress-Free Events
  • Beautiful Parties
  • Modern Events
  • Event-ualities
  • Partito (party in Italian)
  • Partie (party in French)

How Should I Advertise My New Pet-Setting Business?

Publicity, Services, Starting Out

I’m starting my pet sitting business next month. I have a couple of fliers already printed and ready to go but I was trying to come up with one that is a little more eye catching to people that may not automatically look at bulletin boards. I came up with the idea to have a little dog yelling through a megaphone the word “Attention!” in big red letters across the top of the page. I want to have something to the affect of “vacation season is quickly approaching- line up your pet sitter now” but i’m having trouble wording it. Any ideas?

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Jay’s Answer: Instead of (or in addition to) putting another flyer on the bulletin boards, contact your local travel agents, AAA, etc. When people are planning to go away, make your offer stand out.

How Should We Encourage People To Shop Locally?

Names + Taglines, Publicity

A local chamber of commerce has provided customer service training to some of the local businesses. It is a small town of 3,000 people. It is a very diverse area with a strong primary production industry, reputed to be amongst the most fertile in the world. Industries: Processing, fish, timber, logging, sawmilling, agriculture, vegetables, dairying, cattle, tourism.

As a follow up to the training, we want to give all participating businesses a poster. Thought we’d do about 10 different ones and rotate them every few weeks to keep the momentum up. We’ve started a list of phrases, but would appreciate some thoughts please…

Here’s a few we’ve come up with –

  • Shopping locally means more jobs for locals
  • Grow together – shop locally
  • What stays local, grows local
  • If you don’t shop local, we wont have local shops
  • Shop locally, it’s a growing concept
  • What goes around stays around

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Jay’s Answer: “Shop Locally” is a hard sell. People are looking for ways of saving money, and the local merchants can’t always compete on price (and in some cases, on service as well).

Instead, focus on the true cost of shopping locally: travel time and travel cost (gas/wear&tear) as well as the community itself.

  • Save Time & Hassle. Buy Local.
  • Is Local Business An Endangered Species? Protect It.
  • Life Too Busy? Shop Locally.
  • Meet Your Neighbors. Shop Locally.
  • Save Gas. Shop Locally.

How Should I Start A Home-Based Business?

Starting Out

My husband is about to lose his job. We have been living in the Napa Wine Country for four years and are very well connected with many people (potential marketers and/or buyers/clients). We are interested in starting a home-based biz. Can you give us some resources and perhaps the most important points to consider while we are still in the “planning and development” stages?

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Jay’s Answer: If you’re planning on starting a new business:

The what: While you’re thinking of what new business to start (and especially if you haven’t started a business before), start with what you know well. No doubt, you and your husband have a lot of interests and skills. You may have a crafty touch. An artistic eye. An programming wizardry. A way with people. Confidence in public speaking. A love of pets. It doesn’t matter what your “gift” is – the key is to first identify the things you love (and ideally, what people have told you that you’re a “natural” at).

The who: Once you know what your general area is, now focus on who specifically would be interested. Local retirees? College-aged women? Veterans? People online who have poor vision? The more specifically you identify your target market, the (ironically) easier it is to find them and have them find you.

The how: What problem does your target market have? Parents too busy to cook healthy food? Adults worried about their older parents? Losing weight? Make sure that the people in your target market would be willing to pay for the solution to their problem.

The why: Unless you’re extremely lucky, there is already companies solving the problem you identified. No doubt you’d do things differently. Buy why is your solution better than anything else out there? Why should they trust you? What special skills do you have?

Alternatively, you might consider buying a business and/or franchise. In this case, the issues of the target market, the message, etc. are already thought out (and presumably tested). The upside is that it’s a quicker ramp-up, with lots of support (either previous owners or franchisee). The downside is that you’ll need a bit of cash to purchase the business.

No matter what route you take, you’ll need patience, which means you’ll need a source of revenue until your company is in full-gear. Consider taking a part-time job to relieve any financial concerns. You don’t want to start your new business in full-stress mode.

Don’t forget to talk to your local SCORE and/or SBA counselors. They both provide lots of great support for new businesses for free.

How Can I Advertise Our Community Welcome Cards?

Publicity

I am in search for a catchy tag-line for our apartment/townhouse community “Welcome Cards”, brochures, and other other marketing material we handout. Here’s an example:

“UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT. We offer luxurious townhomes and apartments with the amenities you deserve, at a price you can afford. With three spacious floor plans to choose from and a location only minutes away from the mall: 24 Hour Maintenance, On-Site Management, Fitness Center, Pets with restrictions, Laundry Room, Near Freeway Access, etc.”

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Jay’s Answer: People don’t care about “new management” (if the old management left, there must have been a problem, so why highlight it?). What they care about is their home: price, safety, community, “location” (and secondarily: parking, commute, and services).

  • Come Home To Affordable Luxury
  • All That’s Missing Is You
  • Relax At Your New Luxury Home

How Can Publicize Our Pharmacy’s 50th Anniversary?

Publicity

The company in which I work, has his 50th birthday this year in December. It is a chain of pharmacies/drugstores. I need creative ideas to celebrate and to take advantage of this anniversary. The worry is that the budget that I have is very low.

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Jay’s Answer: How about a visual history of your pharmacy – from where it began to where it is today. What did you sell then? Now? How has fashion changed? Treatments? Services? Prices?

For example, you could have all your sales people dressed up in vintage clothing. Or, reproduce old pharmacy signs to show your longevity. Or, a contest/quiz for guess what product was used to solve this ailment…50 years ago. Or, a random person will be given 50% off pricing (or pricing from 50 years ago). Simply bringing back an old-fashioned treat (a lollypop sucker, for example) would generate a lot of reminiscing… and a chance to thank those that have been shopping with you for 50 years.

Marketing For Obama and McCain Supporters

Clubs + Associations, Publicity

Obama and McCain Photos

The mistake that grassroot political supporters all make is that they spend a lot of time and money getting their candidate elected, and then….wait.

People seem to think that their job is over by getting their leader in office, and then trusting that their issues will be addressed in the coming administration. When it isn’t, they figure either it’s politics as usual or they made a mistake (and replace their choice with someone better).

Imagine instead if on the first day of office, the newly-elected candidate says:

“Thanks to all the passionate people to get me into office. Your work is just beginning. I want you to keep telling me what your communities need. I need to know what policies are working (and not). I need to know what new laws need to be passed (and scrapped). I want to hear from you directly, not through layers of paid consultants and political action committees

To help you, I will be sending experts to train your grassroots committee chairs to poll, write legislation, and summarize the information in a way that I can easily understand it. I’m just one person leading the country, but I need the country to tell me where to lead. I don’t want to fall into the same mistake that my predecessors have. I want to serve my country by listening to your needs.”

This will convert the supporters into active political marketers for America. Communities will be empowered to do something more than wait until the next election cycle. They’ll be responsible for making sure that they’re in active dialog with the government. The general population will have an avenue for creating change. The President can then inspire Senators and Congress to follow what the people want, instead of pushing their own agendas.

Let’s truly create a government of the people, by the people, and for the people.

How Can I Target Seniors For My Health Club?

Services, Starting Out

I work at a health club and have been tasked with putting together a launch plan for the opening of an area within our gym that targets seniors.

I seem to be stuck on a few matters
– name for this (sub) club
– how to gain awareness/effectively promote our seniors club

Any ideas on the above as well as on marketing to baby boomers in general would be greatly appreciated.

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Jay’s Answer: It depends on what you intend to do internally with the club and your demographic (besides the age). For example, are you targeting people with poor mobility, senior athletes, new retirees, people living in assisted living, rehab patients (from a stroke, etc.), etc. Also, are you targeting men and women, upper-income bracket, middle-income, etc.? Once they come in, what’s special about their program? Do you have senior trainers who understand older bodies? Do you have large print on your machine and other instructions for older eyes? What about the music that’s playing? Extra seating?

Finding the seniors depends on your specific target. It may be connecting with your local senior living center, service clubs (Rotary, Lions, etc that may have a more senior membership), or a local mobility-assistance store (that sells canes, walkers, wheelchairs, etc.), etc. If there’s a senior fair in your area (where a number of vendors get together to show options for local seniors), that might be another great option.

Names: Body Masters, Senior Strength, Live Longer & Stronger.