All posts by Jay

First 90 Days In A New Job Presentation

Starting Out

I have a lengthy presentation to do for a new job on what I would do in the first 100 days. Any best practice advice on this?

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Jay’s Answer: Spend the first 30 days listening, watching, and doing a wide variety of tasks. That’ll give you an idea of not just high-level strategic needs but also the politics on-site and time to align yourself with your team.

Unless you’re being hired with the power to make sweeping changes, it’s best to describe how you can infuse the company with your unique insights on specific projects/goals.

Name My Merchandise Website

Names + Taglines

I am looking for help on a catchy name for a web site that would sell a wide variety of merchandise. thank you

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Jay’s Answer: Since you’re selling a wide variety of merchandise to a wide variety of people, and you want to attract all these people to your collection – you’ve got a big problem. You can pick a name that’s “catchy” but doesn’t mean anything to anyone, so you’ll have to spend time & money describing what it is you sell (and to whom). Or, you can pick a descriptive name that reflects what you sell, but unless you narrow things down, by hoping to sell “everything to everyone” you’re likely to sell “nothing to no one”.

First, focus on who exactly you’re trying to sell to. How old are they? Where are they located? Gender? Spending habits? Where else they shop.

Next, focus on what they’re likely to want to by from YOU that they can’t find elsewhere (or can’t find as easily).

Finally, once you better have a grip on this, you can focus on a name / tagline / website. Otherwise, you’re likely to spend a lot of time & money and be very disappointed.

Help Me Write a Marketing Manual!

Services

I am working as a marketing developer in a telecommunication company selling in the Middle-East (mainly handsets, data cards etc). I must  make a marketing manual for my company. I have no idea on what to include or how to do it and organize it. Can you please help me with sites in which i will find effective examples and articles about how to make marketing manual?

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Jay’s Answer: I’m not sure exactly what you’ve been asked to produce. A manual for how to market your company’s products? A marketing strategy document? A best-practices guide? Or something else?

Most of these documents are written by experts who’s analyzed your company’s skills/niches and developed systems for achieving them. Also, many of these documents are ignored by the company that wants them – more rules and things “to do”, but without any clear benefit to those in the company.

So, before you embark in writing a document, find out exactly who will use the document in the company (and why). Then talk to these people – what information do they need to solve their problems. That will ensure the document is useful. Then talk to the people who asked you to write the manual – what are their expectations? How will they judge the manual? Knowing this will ensure the format of material is to expectation. Then your homework is filling in the middle – and that’s done through (online) research.

Ideas For A Open Public Night At Retail Outlet

Publicity

Our airport is looking at running an open night for the public to increase retail spend when the actual airport is closed for passenger traffic i.e., after 7pm. We would open up our retail area to the public to increase retail spend, trying to think of some innovative ideas to drive awareness of this night and to encourage members of the public to come down to the airport and do their shopping!we are on average 25% cheaper than high street shops on items from clothing to perfume. Any ideas??

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Jay’s Answer: It’s an interesting concept. First, focus on the difference in experience between the airport and high street shops. Airport shops tend to be about efficiency – making it easy to purchase something, but not necessarily luxuriating in the shopping experience. Can you soften the airport’s retail area to add environmental ambiance? For example: music, dining on the tarmac, a runway/catwalk show, or even an event on a (parked) plane?

Need Tagline For DMA Show/campaign

Names + Taglines

My company (which is an umbrella company for 92 companies that provide specialty printing and direct marketing solutions) is exhibiting at the upcoming DMA show for the first time branded as “XYZ Company.” This will be our first big splash in the national marketplace where we are not going as 10 or 12 separate entities, rather a single company offering multiple unique, customizable business and marketing solutions.

We have settled on a loose theme/message that focuses on the customer and their uniqueness and individuality: YOU. “You-nique” and “It’s all about you” sort of themes. But, we are in need of a clever tag line to use for the show and in all supporting marketing materials (booth, signage, microsite, collateral, business cards, direct mail, etc).

Some words that define our company’s offerings are: customizable, innovative, unique, creative, solutions – but customization really stands out because every customer and every project is different. We do not provide “out of the box” solutions, but we meet with customers to determine how our products/services will make them more successful in their business.

Like I said, we are playing off of the word YOU in our creative design elements, with customizable Y-O-U’s. And phrases like “Find your Uniqueness” and “Be Unique. Be You” and “Uniquely You” keep bouncing around.

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Jay’s Answer: My first reaction is your message isn’t unique. Dig deeper – why are the benefits to your “multiple unique, customizable business and marketing solutions”? Focus on why a prospective client would care about your offering – that’s more interesting to them.

Business With Passion: The Making Of The Pacific Sun

Videos

Trailer:

Episode theme: How does a local free weekly newspaper continue to thrive for almost 50 years?

The Pacific Sun was founded in 1963, and is the second longest running alternative weekly in the nation, behind only The Village Voice. With a readership of around 80,000, the paper is distributed at over 400 locations throughout Marin County, California.

Guests include:

  • Jason Walsh, Editor
  • Gina Channell-Allen, Publisher
  • Beth Allen, Art Director/Production Manager

Want to see other Business With Passion episodes?

Business With Passion TV Show Logo

Name For Massage Therapy Business

Names + Taglines

We will combine the elegance of a spa with the therapeutic effectiveness of an injury clinic making our business the perfect option for those that live healthy and stay active.

Many of our treatments will have fun names (‘the weekend warrior’) though we still want to convey an image that treatments are beneficial and only a few are simply for relaxation.

The clinic will be located in the heart of the city of approximately 800,000 -we will have a storefront in located in a high traffic area.

We estimate our largest target market will comprise 60% women, between the age of 20-50.

When all said and done we would like our name/image to be recognized as having an innovated spa/clinic concept. Were not going to have a meditative theme like many spas or the feel of many doctors offices. We want to attract those that live healthy and stay active.

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Jay’s Answer:

  • Mobility: A Massage Clinic
  • Pain Vacation: Therapeutic Massage Clinic
  • Rejuv: Therapeutic Massage Spa

Tagline for Lake Tahoe Realtor

Names + Taglines

My wife has been a Real Estate broker for some time and now I am joining her in the business. We are trying to come up with a theme/brand and tag line/slogan for us.

What we are about…I guess just like every other broker/agent out there but the difference with us is… we are not about just helping people buy & sell homes but we are about assisting every client with every aspect in Real Estate. We want to educate our clients so that they may make the decision that is best for them. The difference is…the real estate does not end at the closing table, which is when most agents are done…but we are just getting started. We are always here for our clients…we are their Personal Real Estate Consultants. So, how can we get that into a tag line/slogan?

About us…our market is in the Truckee Lake Tahoe area and our two niches are…
Resort home buyers and The empty nesters that are looking to downsize a bit.

Our last name is Harry. Thank you for your time and assistance!

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Jay’s Answer:

Sun & Ski Tahoe Realty:
Specializing in Lakeside Resort Properties

Sun & Ski Tahoe Realty:
Live Simpler. Live Better. Live Here.

Help Me Name Our Financial Acumen Training

Names + Taglines

We are creating a corporate training program around financial acumen and need a catchy name. It is geared towards employees at all levels within our corporate office and will provide them with the basics of understanding our financial statements – balance sheets, income statements, etc. Employees will also learn how they can affect our financial metrics, which can impact their annual bonus payouts.

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Jay’s Answer:

  • The Better Bottom Line
  • Making Financial $en$e

Shoes and Educational Materials Tagline?

Names + Taglines

I need help with a tagline for our new business. We are combining two businesses into one: One selling children’s shoes and classic items, the other selling educational materials and curriculum for families and teachers. The store is called Classic Kids. We need a tagline and had thought of “Helping kids grow from head to toe”- but we aren’t really “helping” them and it seems wrong. But, how do we capture the two unique angles of our store in a tagline?

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Jay’s Answer: If you would’ve asked me what I thought about combining these two businesses under one roof, I’d strongly advise against doing it. The problem you’d face is that you’re trying to sell different things to different audiences. That means that your message is either too generic (to encompass the range) or too limited (missing on the other half of your business). Teachers aren’t interested in buying educational information from a shoe store, etc. People in general don’t go looking for things in a variety store – it’s fun to look, but hard to find what you need unless you have some expert helpers. People do go looking in stores that specialize in a product or service.

No doubt you had a good reason to want to combine the two businesses, so the best I can suggest is using “Classic Kids” as an umbrella name, and creating two brands underneath it. For example: Little Feet (a division of Classic Kids) and Classically Smart (a division of Classic Kids).

A tagline that hopes to span these diverse needs will no doubt feel like an artificial stretch, and therefore won’t help to clarify what exactly you’re selling to whom.