I need a catchy name for an enewsletter I am creating. My company is a manufacturer of vinly windows and doors. My target for this newsletter is dealers and distributors of our products as well as contractors. I would like to use words such as clear view, view points, etc. something related to “looking through a window”. Any help would be appreciated.
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Jay’s Answer:
Hi there! I’m a new realtor and I need a tagline. I’ll be working for Rise Real Estate and my name is Kate Smith. I’m looking for something a little more than “God Bless America” as I get that all the time from the singer Kate Smith. I’ll be working for a new construction builder. Thanks so much in advance.
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Jay’s Answer:
After many years as a psychotherapist, consultant and trainer in the UK I am starting a personal development
and continuing education venture in Sardinia (Mediterranean island) which combines learning and vacation and is aimed at English speakers. I am looking for a name which conveys a sense of learning, space and depth and reflects the beauty of the natural surroundings (sea, river, valley, sun, rocky wild nature and ancient culture).
In terms of names, I have come up with hundreds, within three categories – poetic (eg Where the Sky Meets the Sea),
place specific (eg The Sardinia Centre), and vaguely dynamic (eg Ideas in Development). But nothing has as yet seemed right.
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Jay’s Answer: The reason that none of these resonate for you is none of these share a benefit of your business with your clientele. The reason people would come is for personal growth with a bonus of a beautiful backdrop/vacation. But ultimately, you’re offering a transformative space for adults to work on their “issues”. Of the names you’ve come up with, “Sardinia Centre” is the closest to the benefit, but the other two are too vague to be useful for marketing’s sake, especially since you’re selling something that’s a bit different from the normal fare.
Here are some names to consider:
Perdido Bay Youth Sports Association is a 501 (c) 3, 30+ year old organization. It is getting a major overhaul. A new sports-plex is about to be completed to accommodate the organization’s growing needs, a new, custom website is to be made (current is terrible – www.pbysa.org), etc… Attracting people from out of town to come to the new sports-plex and play in one of the many tournaments to be held there is an absolute must! Without these people coming to their tournaments they will not be able to afford maintenance on the new sportsplex. They need a tagline that is catchy and lets everyone know that if they come play ball at the new Perdido Sports-plex they will also get a beach vacation out of the trip. Panama City is a few hours away and they already use “Play Ball in Paradise”. It’s even their website address. They have been very successful! Perdido needs something like that. Perdido has beautiful white sand beaches and the US Museum of Naval Aviation, the 2 top reasons why people come to our area (near Pensacola). We are less of a party hard/spring break-ish type place – more family friendly. We want to stress that we are at the beach so coming here means coming to the beach, sun, sand, ocean, etc…. The ballpark is minutes away from it. We just can’t think of anything other than “Play Ball at the Beach”. Tournaments will attract the same type of people the area tourism initiatives hope to attract – families with enough disposable income to travel all over with their kids playing travel/tournament ball. They will be very important and we need to do our best to get people’s attention. We would appreciate your help! If you want to see our area you can look at www.visitperdido.com and www.perdidochamber.com. Help us come up with something better than Panama City’s “play ball in paradise”.
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Jay’s Answer:
I am searching for a name for a clothing company, similar to Platos Closet”. We will re-sell trendy, hip name brand clothes, shoes and accessories in tip top shape. There are several stores with the word “closet” in the name so I really want to try something new and different but I keep coming up blank. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!!
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Jay’s Answer: Trendy Redux
I am starting a dog training company that offers traditional obedience classes but will also offer exercise programs to enhance and maintain the health, well-being and fitness level of dogs throughout their life. Workout routines coupled with obedience training for overweight dogs, senior dogs, family pets, conformation show dogs, obedience champs,high-in-trial performance dogs, behavioral problems or hyperactive dogs, rehabilitation or just general conditioning and fun that will strengthen the dog as well as the bond between dog and owner. I am an exercise physiologist with a Master of Science degree and will soon have a Dog Training Certification. I am trying to think of a catchy name and phrase for this company as well as a name for the website. Some names that have been used by other companies include Pup N’ Iron, Fit Fur Life, Iron Dog Fitness.
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Jay’s Answer:
I am on the Board of Directors for Russian River Valley Winegrowers, a non-profit organization that markets and promotes the Russian River Valley wine region in Sonoma County. We are planning a very high end event and are having trouble coming up with a name and defines the event. The event is a full weekend of wine dinners, seminars, a Paulee event and ending with a Pinot Noir barrel auction, dinner and live music. We would like the name to represent the past, present and future of Pinot Noir in Russian River Valley, but also touch on the exclusivity of the event (only 300 tickets to be sold for the auction event) and create buzz on the scarcity of the tickets.
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Jay’s Answer:
The relevancy of our previous slogan (“Blending into the holiday background for over 2,000 years. Doing something about it since September.”) is about to expire and our young and unique organization requires a new one. Something catchy, fun and clever – just like our members. There are a few suggestions from within our community on our website, but we’d like to round out the number with a couple of other quality lines before voting. Any help is much appreciated.
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Jay’s Answer:
(Photo by Ramsey Beyer)
If your business offering is technologically based (ebooks, video, software, games, webinars, etc.), you might consider doing something very radical – giving your product away for free. This “Freemium” business model is growing in popularity for good reason – the best way to see if you like something is to try it (for free) to see for yourself.
The common “free” model is to offer a free trial to your service or a limited free access to your product (for 7-30 days). During the time people will not only get to try your product/service, but also see how you interact with them (customer support, online forums, etc.). The “try-before-you-buy” model is proven to remove the resistance people have to paying for something “sight unseen” (it’s not the same to try something with your own hands, rather than trust white papers and expert reviews).
A huge step up from this is to offer your basic product/service for free. Nada. Zilch. No fine print. You make money in upgrades from the basic service after people have fallen in love with it and need more. This is the current model for some email providers, video game producers, and software developers and more famously started with companies that sold razor blades (who gave away the razor, knowing you’d need to replace it with one of their blades). Giving away your product/service should only be done if the incremental cost to adding a new customer is basically zero: you’re only adding someone to your database and sharing a downloadable digital product link.
By making your business revolve around FREE, it’ll force you to be proactively listening to what people desperately need . You need to treat your free offering as if people are paying for it (keeping it up-to-date, bug-free, and visually attractive) – since it’s the first introduction to your business. But to convince someone to upgrade from FREE to paid should be carefully analyzed to identify the high quality solution to your customer’s “pain points” that they’ll pay for.
(Photo by epSos.de)
When marketing your product or services, your prospective customers are thinking about the risk of using or not using your offerings. If your offering is inexpensive, then the risk isn’t much. But the more your offering costs, the more fear your pricing might invoke. Here’s what to do.
1) Determine your competitive positioning. Are you charging a premium price for a premium offering or a low-ball price to attract attention? Are you offering similar pricing for similar value or high-end service for less?
2) Determine your customer’s risk of not choosing. We often get fixated on comparing our offering to our competition’s. But the truth is that your customer’s need may not be urgent, so not-choosing is a viable option. What’s the true cost for your customer of not buying now?
3) Determine your lifetime value. Are you trying to sell as many widgets to as many people as possible or are you trying to develop a long-term relationship with your customer to both spread the word about your offering and to have them come back when they’re ready for more of what you’re offering?
With these three pieces of information, you have the core to develop your fear/risk message. For example, if you’re pricing is competitive (or less than the competition), then the cost of choosing you is less. Your customer is thinking, “Is this really as good as the others?” Your message should logically present a competitive matrix showing how you stack up.
If you’re offering a premium product at a premium price, then the risk is a lot more. Paying more for basically the same thing seems quite risky/expensive, so your message needs to focus on calming the fear. “Yes our product costs more, and here’s why you’ll be glad you paid extra…” is the message you need to convey both logically and emotionally.
If you have a lot of competition, then psychologically most people will take the default choice – do nothing (studies have shown that the more options, the fewer the sales). So your message needs to convey two things: “Why you will regret not choosing today” and “Why our service is the naturally better choice”. You need to move your prospect to act now (because a confused prospect tends not to return to make a choice) and convince them why they’ll be happy for a long time (so making their decision will be rewarded both short- and long-term).
If your customer is fearful about the future, show them the way to achieve their dreams starting today. If your customer is fearful about the present, focus their attention on their future happiness.