I have opened my online store last month and I still doesn’t have any tag lines.. I sell fashionable dresses and blouses in a very affordable prices. The name of my shoppe is “The Bubbly Shoppe”. The concept is something like, when women buy clothes in my shop they will be happy, It’s like it will be one less lonely girl in the world. Something like that.
###
Jay’s Answer:
(Photo by Highways Agency)
I recently planned to have some work done on my car and thought it was time to find a new auto mechanic, so I did my homework. I talked to friends, checked on various social media websites for recommendations, etc. I called the top-rated one and explained what I specifically wanted done and asked for an estimate. The helpful salesperson told me the cost, explained what the cost included, and even compared themselves to the competition. Satisfied, I scheduled the service. After arriving, I was warmly welcomed and presented with a written estimate that was significantly higher (almost twice the cost that was stated over the phone). I was shocked. What would you have done?
I negotiated the price down to the estimate, but promised myself I wouldn’t be a returning client. Why? They lost my trust from the beginning. They gave a number of excuses (we were busy, we guessed at the charges, estimates aren’t promises, etc.) but the bottom line was how I felt. And they weren’t taking care of that feeling at all.
If a prospective client asks you for an estimate, what should you do? If you have a schedule of charges, then it’s easy to say “a basic haircut cost $40, and includes a wash, rinse, and blow dry”. If the charges vary based on specific details, then get the information you need to make an intelligent estimate. And if necessary, put some “wiggle room” into the charges (“Our basic service runs $1500, but it’s hard to give a firm number until we sit down and go over all the details.”). Whatever number you quote will serve as a psychological “anchor” to your prospect. That number will stick in their head as the true cost, unless you’re able to clearly articulate the possible additional charges.
Don’t be tempted to offer artificially low estimates to get people to your business. You might win the sale (pressure them when they’ve invested the time to come to you) but lose the long-term business (and risk the wrath of them bad-mouthing you to their network). Better to under-promise and over-deliver.
(Photo by JUCCE)
Imagine you’re about to take the stage to give your short talk and you’re not (yet) a household name. Should you have someone else introduce you onstage or should you introduce yourself?
The “safe” way is to have the moderator or a friend introduce you, perhaps using a short biography you’ve written to help guide them. It’s safe because the audience already knows the person introducing you, and therefore presumably trusts them. The person introducing you can also lavish praise on you that would look egotistical if you did it yourself. But this introduction comes with serious costs: you’re not in control of the content, the delivery, nor the tone. And more importantly – it robs you of the opportunity to make your own first impression. Someone else has defined who you are and the content of your speech. In a way, they’ve stolen some of your “thunder” by sharing the limelight with you for these first critical minutes.
The “usual” way to introduce yourself is to recite the litany of your achievements. The idea is once people see your expert credentials, they’ll trust what you say to be backed by experience (and not simply opinion). This is also safe, because it’s what people expect. But this usual way also has major flaw: you’ve robbed yourself of the opportunity to make a dynamic first impression. You’ve taken the first minutes talking about you and not about what the audience is there to hear – something about them.
The Speak With Passion way is to start with a story that frames you. Let’s say you’re an expert on a radical new way to manufacture widgets. People have been building the widgets the same way for decades. It’s tried and true. In fact, it’s the industry standard and seen as a best practice by all the experts in the field. But you discovered something that wasn’t obvious at first glance, and spent the last five years re-inventing the process. You have some modest success, but all the leaders in the field see what you’re doing as either stupid or reckless. They don’t see what you see. So instead of introducing yourself with credentials, tell your audience about your “Aha!” moment five years ago:
“I’m a true believer in best practices, but I know one of ours is flat-out wrong. I need to share my insights with you because otherwise we’re soon all going to be dinosaurs. You see, five years ago I knew, like you know, how to build great widgets. I studied with the best and even won some notoriety. Business was good, but something bugged me about the process. I didn’t want to believe that I saw a mistake – because who am I to contradict the established way? But this is what I discovered…”
This format of self-introduction has some key points:
Instead of trying to sell people from the stage, share yourself with the audience in a way that they care about. The end result is something that benefits everyone.
(Photo by Jon Mitchell)
It happens so quickly. You meet someone at the print shop. You notice a flyer on a bulletin board. Colorful packaging catches your eye. An odor catches your attention as you walk down the street. A song plays on the radio. You click on a new link. Almost before you’re aware of it, you’ve already decided how you’ll react. How can this affect your business marketing?
Since it’s hard to look at your own marketing efforts with fresh eyes, consider finding a peer to be your “focus group of one”. While it’s not a big sample, you’re looking for a gut reaction from someone whose professional opinion you value.
(Photo by Mike Baird)
Everyone wants to know the secret to magically attracting customers to your business. Maybe it’s the name of your business. Or your business’s website. Surely it’s the SEO (search engine optimization) of the website. Or the graphics. Maybe the tagline. The price is important. But maybe you need to do more Facebooking. Or Tweeting. Or LinkedIn networking. Email blasts? Hmm… so what’s the secret?
Start by thinking of your prospective customers having a set of locks that are closed. The locks are preventing them from solving their daily problems. They want these problems to disappear (or at least be fewer or more manageable). They’ve tried a number of ways to open the locks, but to no avail. Perhaps they even tried to smash the locks with a big sledgehammer. Still no-go. The locks are weighing on their lifestyle (or business abilities). If the problems are annoying enough, they’ll pay to solve them. This is where your marketing must begin.
(Photo by macinate)
Key #1: Your marketing must answer the question “how can you help me solve my problem?” You’re not selling a product or service – you’re selling a solution. So, make it very clear who you’re helping, what problem you solve, how you solve it, and why they should trust you. Make it easy for a prospective customer looking around for solutions to easily identify that you’re talking to them.
Key #2: Don’t talk about you. We all tune out people who keep talking about themselves (me-me-me). So too with your marketing. Talk about your customers. Talk about people you’ve helped over the years. Talk about the results you’ve achieved. This helps your clients imagine trying on your offering and seeing the future.
Key #3: Use their language. If your clients use terminology acronyms, use them. If they use simple language, use it. Don’t try to be clever with your language – it won’t “ring true” to people looking to see if they can trust you for the right solution.
Key #4: Go where they are. If your potential customers search for specific terms, make sure your website is optimized (SEO) for these terms. If necessary, buy pay-per-click ads for these terms. If there are trusted portals that people use when starting their research, be listed there. If they watch television, create an ad for their show. If they read a specific magazine/newspaper, be listed there. And if you don’t know where they are, research first. Good research is cheaper than bad advertising.
Key #5: Measure your efforts. No matter how you think your efforts for key #4 (above) went, make sure you have analytics in place to help you understand how many people reacted to your message (or didn’t). By studying the results of your efforts, you’ll improve the effectiveness of your marketing efforts.
Summary: Great marketing starts not with something clever, but with a clear understanding of the needs of your customers. There’s always ways to add cleverness, but an off-target message will frustrate everyone.
Our new car dealer business is looking for the best slogan. The business name is “Nzuriwin Motors” . We would like to be the 1st Tanzanian business offering quality and affordable user car selling. We would like to offer and bit our competitors in terms of quality, affordability and support services. Kindly help us to have the best slogan. The cars are imported from JAPAN. We would like to offer Quality and affordable Japanese used cars in Tanzania. We thought of :
Quality and affordable Japanese used Care in Tanzania. But does not make sense in US.
###
Jay’s Answer: Tanzania’s #1 Used Japanese Car Dealership
How to launch a electronic retail store in a mall in India?
###
Jay’s Answer: Since you’re hoping to open a shop in a mall, your target audience are initially the people already visiting the mall. What other electronics stores are in the mall? What are they NOT selling? What are people visiting the mall likely to need/want? If you don’t know, visit the mall and survey the visitors.
Next, focus on WHY they should visit your store, instead of any of your competition’s locations (including online). Will you have a selection of impulse items? Do you carry products that are hard to find? Will you offer amazing service guarantees? Do you have knowledge about the electronics that no one else does? Will you offer complete customization of their purchase?
Finally, focus on HOW to attract people to come to the mall and your store. How can you co-market with other stores in the mall to make it a smart use of people’s time and money?
I am designing an email blast to announce our new claim procedures for our services. The email blast will be geared to insurance adjusters. The new claim procedures blow away what my competitors offer and save time and money for the insurance adjuster/company. What would be a subject line?
###
Jay’s Answer:
Please suggest a catchy tag-line for our online food delivery website. Users can order from local restaurants, sweet shops, bakeries and wine shops which are listed in our website. We also undertake subscribed (monthly/weekly) meals.
###
Jay’s Answer: Here are some ideas for consideration:
My business name is Jemel Jewels by Michelle and I sell handcrafted jewelry. I am in the process of creating a business card. I want to show that I have pieces that are available immediately but that I also do custom orders. I create with a large variety of components but the main categories are gemstones, pearls and crystals. Every piece will be somewhat unique as most designs cannot be recreated exactly the same way or for the same cost. Any ideas on what to put on the card? Thanks.
###
Jay’s Answer: I’d keep your message simple (since it’s a business card):
Since your business name doesn’t say what you sell (“Jemel Jewels” could be the name of a jewelry person, a dancer, a line of clothing, etc.) you need to make things explicit (“Handcrafted Jewelry”). The second line (“Custom Design Available”) indicates that you have an added service as well (which means you also sell non-custom work immediately).