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?

How To Introduce A New Data Management & Research Company

Starting Out

I am in the process of developing a Data Management and Research Company in London, UK. The company would provide services such as transferring data from forms, questionnaires, vouchers etc to computer, analyse data, present statistical data in a more meaning full form such as in a spread sheet or in the form of graphs and charts, take care of accounting and finance jobs that prove too costly if done in-house like filing of VAT returns etc, doing desk research for clients,summarizing currently available research to make it meaningful and useful for clients and bespoke research .

I want to approach other companies which would include larger research companies like TNS, KPMG etc. And companies in other sectors as well like EDF Energy, Shell etc . I am a bit nervous about cold calling and what my pitch should be. How to introduce myself and my services?

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Jay’s Answer: Instead of trying to cold call everyone, study one company well. Understand how they handle the task you’re looking to do for them. How can you improve their system in ways they can’t? Be able to answer how/why they should entrust their data to you, and what the ROI of working with you is. Until you’ve developed case studies for similar organizations, you’re likely to not get the welcome you’re hoping for.

Incentives?

Starting Out

Is it right to pay extra incentive for the salesmen when I launch new item?

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Jay’s Answer: Why would you need extra incentive for salespeople to push your product? If your product solves a need better than anything else, then your product should sell itself. If your product requires more effort to sell, then additional compensation may be required by the salespeople. However, the practice varies from company-to-company.

Tagline For Restaurant Serving Healthy & Tasty food

Names + Taglines

I opened a restaurant about one year ago. We deliver to a small area, but most of our customers are walk in. However we do not have a tag line. The name of the restaurant is Foodelicious. We are different from others in that we cook healthy food. we do not use anything with MSG or yellow butter. Yet our food is very tasty and customers keep coming back for more. Would like a tag that communicates healthy and tasty.

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Jay’s Answer: Perhaps a simple tagline that explains what your business is (since your name is clever, but ambiguous) in order:

  • Come For The Tasty. Stay For the Healthy.
  • Tasty Food Was Never This Healthy.

Business With Passion: The Inventors

Videos

Trailer:

Episode theme: People who earn a living licensing new products and technologies to corporations.

Howard Arneson has been issued over 45 patents. His best known patent was for the Pool Sweep, which launched the automatic swimming pool cleaning industry. Since then, he revolutionized offshore power-boating with the development of the Arneson Surface Drive, twice winning the Open Offshore World championships, and setting (in 1990) the still-unbeaten Mississippi River record (from New Orleans to St. Louis). At 90 years young, he continues improve his powerboat’s performance, a 46-foot Skater powered by a 4,500-horsepower helicopter engine, to over 170 m.p.h.

Website: Howard Arneson
Phone: (415) 485-0788

Joe Grand (aka Kingpin) is an electrical engineer, hardware hacker, and president of Grand Idea Studio, Inc., where he specializes in the invention, design, and licensing of consumer products, video game accessories, and modules for electronics hobbyists. He has also spent many years finding security flaws in hardware devices and educating engineers on how to increase security of their designs.

Website: Grand Idea Studio
Email: Contact Form

Want to see other Business With Passion episodes?

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Freelance Ad Translations

Starting Out

Hello, I’ve been living in the USA for a while and I was wondering how could I work translating ads. My native language is Portuguese.

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Jay’s Answer: You have 2 basic choices: work/freelance for an agency or start your own business.

If you’re looking to try it on your own, look at businesses that are already (or are hoping to be) in Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, East Timor, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Macau, Mozambique, Portugal, or São Tomé and Príncipe (countries whose official language is Portuguese). Furthermore, take a look at websites for these businesses – do they have a well-translated web site for English? If not, that can be one of your offerings.

Naming Our Party/Event Company

Names + Taglines, Starting Out

We are a group of recent Hotel & Restuarant Management graduates (there are 6 of us) who have a strong culinary background and are in the process of starting a catering company. As a niche we are going to focus on children and pre-teen parties and events, but we are also going to do other events (baby showers, bridal showers, etc).  We are going to be located in the DC/PG County area. We are focusing on the food component not the party experience.

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Jay’s Answer: The average children’s and pre-teen party probably isn’t going to hire a company to prepare food, unless you’re focused on a specific niche (whether that be food allergies, foodies, etc).

Perhaps you can tell the story of who’s going to need you, when, why they couldn’t create the food themselves, how much they’d pay for your services, etc.