All posts by Jay

Steal This Idea!

Creative Business Ideas

Steal This Idea

(Photo by Foster’s Art of Chilling)

You’ve been told your whole life that it’s wrong to steal. Even the bible says, “Thou shalt not steal”. But is it wrong to steal someone else’s ideas?

Clearly it’s wrong to take someone else’s artwork and claim it’s your own. When you steal something tangible, the person who had the item, no longer does. But when you steal an idea, there’s now two people with the same idea. Is that wrong?

Ideas are really the easy part. Get a bunch of friends around a table and you can brainstorm ideas on just about any topic. But unless you act on the ideas, it’s just a bunch of thoughts that don’t weigh anything. In fact, for as many good ideas that you hear in your daily life, very few of them are ideas that people take action on. Why? Because ideas sound great in theory, but when ideas are put into action, the shortcomings become obvious. And the real work becomes turning the abstract idea into a real-world sustainable result.

You’re surrounded by ideas wherever you look: websites, advertisements, musical tunes, stories, television shows, etc. Study others’ implementation of their ideas to learn what works (and what doesn’t). Borrow other’s ideas and adapt them to your business (note: abide by copyright and trademark regulations).

And if you have a great game-changing idea, consider sharing it with others (especially if you’re not going to act upon it). By sharing your ideas, you’ll position yourself as a generous creative person and you’ll learn how else your ideas can be applied in ways you’ve never considered.

 

Avoid Marketing Tunnel Vision

Creative Business Ideas

Tunnel Vision

(Photo by Tony Fischer)

You’ve just spent a lot of money and time hiring a search engine optimization (SEO) expert for your website. The tweaks to your website go live, and you get a large influx of traffic. But you don’t increase your sales or leads. What happened?

You get marketing tunnel vision when you focus on a specific task without considering the whole strategy picture. Before spending time on SEO, you should ensure that your website is optimized to convert visitors into customers. If it isn’t, then you’ll be getting even more people who are looking but not buying what you’re selling.

Or if you’ve spent a lot of time organizing a great event, full of interesting people, and delicious food – but you leave the marketing of the event to the last minute (and don’t sell out). Another case of tunnel vision.

Or perhaps you create a great product, priced well, with great advertising. You get a stampede of orders and find that you don’t have the time or capital to meet your demand. More tunnel vision.

To avoid tunnel vision, you need to start with a big picture strategy. What does a successful outcome look like? What steps do you need to take to achieve them? In what order? What resources do you need (and when)? How will you test that you’re on the right path? What systems can you put in place that can scale up when you hit a bottleneck? What backup systems can you put in place in case something unexpected happens?

Keep your eye on the “prize”, but make sure that you don’t forget to spend adequate time on the “boring” stuff to make sure you’ll see your dreams realized.

Estimating vs. Reality

Creative Business Ideas

Task Estimation

(Photo by William Warby)

A client contacts you and wants your help solving their problem. They asked around and were told that it would take about a half-hour to solve it. They’re willing to pay you for your half-hour of time, but no more. Should you take the job?

If you’re well aware of the client’s underlying assumptions, the true scope of the problem, and are confident in your ability to perform that task in the given time, take the job.

However, in most cases you’re asking for trouble.

Solving a problem requires (at least) three steps: analysis, execution, and verification. If the problem is poorly specified, then you’re likely to make bad assumptions which will result in your work being rejected (“That’s not what I meant”). So, your first step is to get a clear specification to aid your analysis. Next, you’ll need to estimate how much time it will take to verify the result of your work. For example, if your client wants you to update a part of a website, how much time are you willing to spend to ensure that it works on a wide variety of browsers?

Odds are the person who’s specified the problem doesn’t truly understand the effort to truly solve the problem. When someone asks for an estimate of time, most people only focus on the execution phase – the time necessary to do the specific task. However, a professional will ensure that adequate time is allocated to solve all the phases.

If you’re asked to provide an estimate, ground the estimate in reality. Otherwise you’ll only disappoint your clients and colleagues.

Name my Virtual Assistant Business

Names + Taglines

I am starting a virtual assistant business and I need to find a name and tag line. I have been an assistant for several years in a wide-range of industries (finance, legal, consulting management, engineering). I would like to leverage my years of experience to start a virtual business.  My target market would be primarily small business owners and virtual executives in various industries. The focus is to provide assistance with coordinating and managing the administrative aspect of projects, as well as basic administrative/clerical tasks. I will be providing my services on part-time bases. I am currently considering Elite Administrative Services, Elite Assistance or Administrative Asset for the name, but I would like other options for a name along with a tag line.

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Jay’s Answer: Start with a name, rather than a tagline. And when considering your name, think whether your clients will care (or know what it means) if you’re “virtual”. Start with what specialness you bring to your customer’s lives and business. How does managing administrative projects/tasks truly help them? What can you do that they can’t do themselves, or by hiring others to do it? How do you know what you do is the “obvious choice” for them? How can you prove it?

Not every business owner (large or small) wants to delegate to someone outside of their organization. Add to this the fact that they’re unlikely to meet you face-to-face. This sort of relationship is for a special type of person/manager, someone who trusts the process and knows that 24/7 you’re there to solve their problems better than an “in-house” employee or local consultant.

All the names you’re considering are fine, but none of them truly showcase what you can do. Focus on a narrower niche of expertise – specializing in a type of business, a region, a technology, a certification, etc. People who are looking for virtual assistants have a plethora of choices to find them. Think about how to make YOUR business stand out from all the others.

Need A Creative Travel Business Name

Names + Taglines

I need your precious help in finding the perfect (powerful) short name for family travel-related website. Key aspects of the business:family travel, responsible tourism, home exchange, off-the-beaten-path type of vacations, not commercial, and tips & advice. This site will specialize in the non-mainstream type of vacation travel for families. Members will be able to rate destinations, activities, food, hospitality options. We will offer suggestions of destinations, activities, restaurants, lodging, etc. Away from the boring, conventional package vacation deals that offer no authenticity. Both domestic and international – by the way, this will be based in Canada. The average customer will be 30+ parents, mid-class and up, eco-oriented, interested in responsible tourism, culture, authentic experiences in Canada and abroad.

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Jay’s Answer:

  • Outer World Travel
  • Out-Of-The-World Travel
  • Home Forward Travel
  • Travel Beyond

Name My Upscale Clothing Company

Names + Taglines

I’m opening a women retail/resale upscale clothing company called STASH. Im thinking : your neighborhood supplier of… Or dealers in upscale retail and resale. The reason I picked the name is cause shopping is the drug of choice for many women but that doesn’t say what kind of store I am. The word stash doesn’t describe it either. Please help me I’m about to sign my lease and print my cards as well as signage!!! Thanking you in advance:)

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Jay’s Answer: The problem you’re finding with STASH is that it doesn’t say anything about anything. Your internal reason for picking the name isn’t a good public answer to the question “Why is your store named STASH?”. Your customers don’t want to think of themselves as addicts.

As far as a tagline is concerned, you need to start with the basics: what do you offer in your neighborhood that’s unique/better than your competition? To who (What age women? What demographic? Looking for what type of garments? For everyday wear or special occasion? Hard-to-fit sizing? Special fabrics? )

These types of questions are vital to help you focus your goals before you sign your lease. After you sign it, how will you attract the right people to your store? You don’t want to start guessing after the “pressure is on” to start covering your expenses. You want to have a set of clear goals and milestones to get the results you’re looking for.

Bridal Shop Marketing Strategy

Products

I am about to open a bridal shop. I am looking for your precious ideas on how to promote it. For example for a product people may say buy 2 get 1 free. What such things can i do to promote my business? The bridal wear shop is for rental bridal gowns, veils, tiaras etc. Now I am looking for a better way of promoting it. Jay, I believe to have quality products than those of competitor. And the shop layout, comfort and decor is far way better than competitor’s.

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Jay’s Answer: If your environment is better, then offer free appointments for (qualified) brides-to-be, with catered finger foods (to highlight your environment). Perhaps co-market with local caterers who might be interested in catering the wedding itself – creating a nice win-win opportunity for everyone.

Name/tagline For Microsoft Office Training Business

Names + Taglines

I need to find a name to start an independent corporate training company. I’ve been the lead Microsoft Office Master Instructor for corporate clients for close to 10 years for a leading training company here (Bahamas). Now I want to leverage that experience to branch off on my own as an independent corporate trainer. My target market would be strictly corporate companies in various industries who fully rely on computers in office environments. The focus is CEO’s Executives and young professionals and I would come to the client’s location to conduct the training.I am considering using my name Kesheller Kerr Training to brand myself but I want other options.I wanted to known for being the most talented and qualified Microsoft Office trainer in the country and need a name and tagline that represents that. I would like to use the word “Training” as all the other companies here don’t.

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Jay’s Answer:

  • Bahamas Master Training
  • Bahamas Corporate Training

Need Direct Mail Ideas For Quit Smoking Campaign

Products

I am looking for some help with creative ideas for a 3D direct mail campaign for quit smoking services through hypnosis and NLP. I’d like to target businesses to offer this service as a workplace package and staff incentive. The key messages that I need to convey are that it’ll increase productivity in the workplace by decreasing smoke breaks and therefore increase the business’s bottom line; it’ll improve employees’ health therefore portraying the business’s commitment to its staff and it’ll improve team morale by getting rid of the segmentation between smokers and non-smokers.
We’ve chosen 3d to stand out from the clutter of other direct mail and to be memorable. Our budget is approx AUD20-25/ pack and targeting either business owners or HR responsible for staff incentives in predominantly construction/mining/govt dept/hospitals. Proven effectiveness is that 95.6% of clients are non-smokers for life after one session but a lifetime guarantee is offered in that if a person starts smoking again they get as many subsequent sessions as required free of charge. I hope that gives more clarification and thanks again.

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Jay’s Answer: The clear benefit you offer is a guarantee to save the business owners money. Focus your message on this – perhaps an empty pack of cigarettes wrapped with (or filled with) dollars. That’s a simply message showing what smoking “costs” the business and the benefit of your offer.

Fitness Training Name

Names + Taglines, Starting Out

I am in the process of starting my own private personal training business. I am currently located in Los Angeles, CA. I want to present a service that caters to all ages, levels and both genders. Basically, I am like a one stop shop fitness trainer that will be able to help my clients achieve their goals. I think someone should choose me because I have over 18 years of experience and knowledge regarding fitness training. Out of those 18 years, I have worked as a certified personal trainer for 6 years. I am former collegiate athlete in both football and track, but still knows how to cater to other sports and those with specific fitness goals. I am certified through one of the most recognized programs in the world, ISSA.

When someone trains with me they will get someone that will provide enthusiasm, commitment, sincerity about their well being and someone that is knowledgeable about fitness and nutrition. I would love to have a company name that has my name in it because I feel that my name is kind of unique and not common. I will know what my name should be when I hear it and see it.

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Jay’s Answer: By choosing a wide range of potential clients, you’ve effectively made it very hard to showcase yourself as the right person for their needs. A beginner will have very different needs from a triathlete. A young man may have different needs from a senior citizen woman, etc.

So, my first suggestion is don’t try to say you’re all things to all people. Pick a niche, and become the “go-to” person for that. Given your background, why not specialize in “weekend warriors” – or those in training for upcoming competition?

While I know you’re looking for a name, what you ultimately need is a marketing strategy for focusing your marketing efforts. Otherwise, you’ll have a name, and then – how will you get the “right” people to find you?

The right name should appeal to your clients, and if you’re unsure of who exactly they are, then you won’t know if you pick the right name other than for personal reasons (not business ones).