We are planning a church related preschool dinner to raise money for tuition support. We are looking for a catchy title for our event. Any suggestions would be great. Thanks!
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Jay’s Answer:
- Helping Our Preschoolers
- Our Preschool FUNdraiser
All posts by Jay
Name My New Business – Too Many Choices
My background consists of sales, marketing, management, food industry, retail, Real Estate Licensee, wedding and event planning. I live in South Lake Tahoe and there are so many wedding chapels and businesses here, although I can’t decide if I want to go into property management or my desire is to coordinate weddings and plan events…. So names? Business direction? To be top of mind ahead of the already existing competition. I moved here in November. My background has been working in Beef, Chicken food manufacturing as Executive Assistant, Logistics, Sales and Marketing, Senior Services, Independent and Assisted Living, Jewelry sales, there is so much talent. My father was a minister and I like speaking to women’s groups…so maybe my web-site should be a professional motivational speaker?
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Jay’s Answer: Names are irrelevant unless you’ve got a focus. So, let’s talk focus.
- Do you want to work for yourself or others?
- Do you want to work in B2B or B2C (i.e., do you want businesses or consumers as your audience)?
- Do you want to work locally at South Lake Tahoe, or travel, or work virtually (with people from afar)?
- What truly excites you? You’ve listed a number of skills, but I didn’t hear what YOU want to do.
And that’s just the start of a longer conversation that we could have about where you and and where you want to go.
My suggestion is that you should hire a professional coach to help you narrow down your wants/needs and help you achieve your goals.
Name Suggestions For A Kids Business Club
I work at an Arts & Cultural Center. This summer we are going to start a kids business club. Any suggestions for the name of the club?
The purpose is to interest kids in entrepreneurship and managing money. We have a summer arts program and want to include a business type class this year. We plan to have a big yard/estate sale and have the kids learn how to plan, set-up, make things to sell, market, budget and manage money. Hopefully this business program can be successful and continue even after the summer program is done.
The name should appeal to the public, so they are aware that we offer such a thing and would be interested in buying or donating to the cause, but also appeal to the kids who would want to participate. We are The Niagara Arts & Cultural Center, known as The NACC (pronounced like knack). I’m thinking something like The NACC’s knack, or Nickle NACCs Club, NACCs Niche, KnickNACC’s Club, NnickNACC’s Nickle Club.
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Jay’s Answer: The problem with the names you’ve proposed is that you’re trying to shoehorn NACC into something “cute”. The end doesn’t seem to focus on the benefit you’re offering.
Instead, consider: “Kids Making Money” or “Niagara Kids Entrepreneur Club”.
Name Our 3 Charity Events
We are creating an event. Grapes & Ale in July at Progressive Ball Park in July. The grocer that is sponsoring has asked that we co-promote with 2 other charities that they sponsor. Ours is Grapes & Ale…A Benefit Celebration of Fine Wine, Blues, Brew and BBQ! October: Beer Week to benefit The Jimmy Malone Scholarship Fund and November: World Series of Wine to benefit WVIZ/PBS.
We need to come up with a tagline for Heinens the Grocer that supports all three charity events that they reach out to the community. Something clever….Heinens asks “us” the charities to come up with way to co promote each event as well.
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Jay’s Answer: It’s a bit tricky to come up with an umbrella name since there’s not much to connect the 3 events other than “alcohol” and “benefits” – different months, different beneficiaries, and perhaps different venues as well.
Here are some off-the-top suggestions to play with:
- (Heinens Presents:) Fun Events With Benefits
- (Heinens Presents:) Drinking Has Its Benefits
- (Heinens Presents:) 3 Toasts For 3 Charities
Speak With Passion: Information Overload?
(Photo by MITCHELL)
In your quest to share information with your audience, how much should you share with them? Is it better to overwhelm them with stories and facts or just dole out a few tidbits?
If you provide not enough, then people won’t be convinced. The skeptics in the audience will want proof of what you’re trying to tell them. Your words alone won’t suffice, and the result is likely to be a “thin” talk.
If you provide too much information, you’re likely to lose the audience. They’ll be spending so much time trying to remember or record all the details, that they’ll be focused on what you just said, rather than what you’re saying now. And at some point, their concentration will waver, and they’ll be lost. They’ll have to decide whether it’s hopeless to try to keep up with you, or if the sheer volume of information somehow is covering up some lack of confidence (quantity of data, rather than quality of data).
So, what’s just right? It depends upon your audience. If you’re talking to people who need to see the data (scientists, for example), then the proof’s more in your data than your words. You need to convince them beyond the shadow of a doubt of your point. Otherwise, you want to keep everyone on the edge of their seats. You need to pace the stories and facts so that they “get it”, and then tease them with what’s coming. And then you “wow” them with another, giving a sufficient pause for them to digest the last story.
If you’re unsure if your pacing is right, have a friend or colleague sit in the audience and have them watch your audience. When do they start fidgeting or pulling out their cell phones? Keeping connected with the audience is a beautiful dance. Make sure that when you’re leading crowd, that they’re following. Otherwise, no one wins.
Boost Your Marketing To Special Communities
(Photo by Green Melinda)
If you’re looking to grow your client base, look no further than well-organized communities. Think about what you offer and see if your product or service can honestly also be labelled as “special community-friendly”. For example:
- If you run a small cute B&B. You’re already listed with the local Chamber of Commerce, on Yelp, on various touring listings that serve your area. How can you get more guests? Advertise your B&B with “friendly” services. For example, Betty’s List serves the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) community and Access Travel Center serves the Handicap-Accessible community.
- If yours is a home-based service business, then consider becoming Green-Certified (your local community development agency may have the staff to teach you what it would take). You’ll be listed as “Green-Certified” and will be easy to find.
- If you sell women’s clothing. If the clothing you sell is modest, there are communities that are looking for you: Modest Clothes, Junees, or Funky Frum. If you sell smaller or larger sizes, there are online directories serving these communities as well.
- If you’re a military veteran, get listed in a Veteran’s Owned Business Directory and/or Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB).
- If you’re a woman who owns her own business, get listed in women-owned business directories (such as Ladies Who Launch).
By marketing to tight-knit/well-defined communities, you’re efforts are likely to be well-rewarded by the members. People want to do business with those that welcome them with open arms. The more you can open your arms to special groups, the more the groups will respond in kind to you.
Marketing: Better Lucky Or Smart?
(Photo by Umberto Salvagnin)
Why is it that some business owners seem to get all the luck? Your advertisements don’t attract as many customers as theirs‘. Your Facebook page doesn’t have as many people “liking” you. Your phone isn’t ringing much, but they are hiring yet another staff member to handle the increasing load. What’s the secret?
For many successful small business owners, it comes down to luck. They were in the right place, at the right time, with the right offer. Sure they worked hard to make it a success, but even if you followed the same steps as they did, there’s no guarantee you would also succeed.
Small business owners also don’t understand why their “overnight success” can suddenly disappear. It’s because they thought they were smart, when they were simply lucky. And by the time they figure that out, it’s often too late. Instead of trying to figure out how to succeed anew, they try to do more of what worked before. After all, if it worked once, it should work again. Right?
The truly smart business owner thinks strategically both short-term and long-term. Before they open their store or make their website live, they spend the time to understand the landscape: their competition, their prospective clients, and the unmet needs. They create a dynamic plan to define their strategy, and revisit the plan when any of their market assumptions changes (new technology, new competition, new opportunities, etc.).
Marketing Tip: With a marketing/business strategy, your success won’t simply be lucky.
Catchy Name For Internal CRM Newsletter
I’m trying to think of a name for our newsletter that is going to our internal marketing folks. It is primarily focused on sharing best practices for all campaign types (call campaigns, emails, direct mail, etc) using internal and external case studies. We’ll also be highlighting new functionality available with our CRM System. My colleague sends out something similar related to the Social/Digital world and calls it ‘Digital Juice’ – I’m trying to think of something that’s catchy and fun like that but still convey what the newsletter will include. We work in the motorsports industry if that helps with any ideas. Some people have mentioned piggybacking on the Digital Juice name and making it the ‘CRM Omelette’ or something like that. At this point I’m open to anything…..HELP!!!
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Jay’s Answer:
- Vroom Marketing
- Squeal Appeal
How To Market My Safari Camp?
I am starting a safari camp in Zambia and I would like some ideas on how to make my safari experience stand out from the other safari holidays in Zambia and maximise my advertising.
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Jay’s Answer: To make your safari stand out either:
- cater to people who aren’t traditionally catered to (women, senior citizens, etc.)
- provide services that others aren’t (live with a family, eco-tourism, etc.)
- communicate with people who aren’t being reached (countries, regions, etc.)
If you do the same things as the others, then from your prospective customer’s perspective, you’re truly no different.
Name For A New Building In Downtown Miami
I am looking for a name for a new residential apartment building I will build next year in Downtown Miami. It will be 26 stories high, right by the water, looking to the Intracoastal Way. It will be for middle class, good quality of finishings and amenities, and the first LEED certified (green building) in town. I want to avoid the obvious: Bayview, Bay lights, etc.
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Jay’s Answer:
- The Breeze
- Miami Breeze
- Cool Breeze
- Heavenly 26