I am working with a website/marketing/social media organization. The CEO wants to craft the mission statement of the company; for internal employees and to publicize his philosophy to the world.

The original idea was “Changing the Way Businesses Behave”, but that really isn’t what they do; he wants to discover the core heart of a company and share clients’ marketing/social/human face to the world.

1. He is sold on the word remarkable —not meaning amazing, but meaning that others will remark, message, refer, tweet, and share about the organization.

2. He wants to discover the heart and soul of his clients’ organization and message their their unique brand via social media and get others to “remark” about them.

Any mission/tagline thoughts on this one? I am stumped.

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Jay’s Answer:   Mission statements tend to be an exercise in futility. You get something that everyone agrees on, says nothing, and does nothing for the people in the organization.

As for a tagline, consider: “Our Business Is To Make Your’s Remarkable”

If you’re launching a movement, create a clear marketing strategy. Rather than paraphrase this fine article, read it yourself: October 16, 2011 San Francisco Chronicle Business Report

Please suggest marketing/ PR ideas that would help generate visibility and (more importantly) clientele for a rural BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) that provides back office & call center services in India? This respected BPO has the ability to provide high quality services at 40% lower costs than urban BPOs. With a all women employees, this progressive venture is based on the idea that social values can be achieved through the private marketplace. Despite satisfying business & social needs, the primary problem faced is the mindset of potential clients. Even with impressive testimonials from their global clients, the domestic mindset is typified by lack of confidence in the infrastructure and quality level of work in villages.

What PR/ marketing tools would you suggest, to help alter this outdated mindset, thus attracting greater clientele?

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Jay’s Answer: You have two basic options: (1) spend time to re-educate people who have the outdated mindset or (2) find people who would appreciate the benefit you’re selling.

Re-education takes time, but the best way to prove yourself is social proof: testimonials, case studies, etc. You want to help people see that using your BPO will save them money AND produce great results.

Finding people who are sensitive to your business can be done by looking at what charities they support, co-market with, or reading about the backgrounds of the owners of the businesses. You want to showcase how their values align with yours.

How does one increase private school enrollment from 60 to an added 90 students?  The school is infant to K, and before and after school.  The capacity is at a stand still for quite some time now.  The capacity should be 150.

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Jay’s Answer:

You can increase enrollment four basic ways:

1) Convince 90 students that are planning to attend other private schools to come to yours. This means you need to show why your school is better than others for the price you’re charging. “Better” could mean: better historic results for your students, better access to teachers/curriculum, better price, better location, etc.

2) Convince 90 students that are planning to attend public school to come to your private school. This will no doubt involve scholarships to cover the difference in cost between your school and public school. Once you cover the price, then you’ll still have to show the competitive edge your school offers.

3) Convince 90 students that aren’t in your area to come to your private school. This may involve busing them, setting up a remote campus, creating a virtual (i.e., online) school option, etc.

4) Convince another school to share students with you (1/2 day in one school, 1/2 in other, etc.).

Obviously, increasing your enrollment by 150% won’t happen overnight, and will require some understanding of why your enrollment is “stuck”, studying your competition (are they “stuck”?), and interviewing prospective families to better understand why/how/when they choose a school.

Last year my boyfriend and I held our first annual community holiday open house to raise donations of nonperishable food for our local food bank, toys for Children’s Hospital, and food, toys, and blankets for a nearby humane society that is in such bad condition, the place should have been condemned years ago. Over 400 brochures were professionally prepared and placed on doors in our neighborhood in a plastic door hanger with chocolate mints, and also left in a few pet-related spa-type stores and businesses in our town.

But this year I DO want to promote my business, as I am trying to grow the business, as well as bringing awareness to these wonderful charities that work nationwide. (A portion of everything I sell in my online shop gets donated to these charities.)

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Jay’s Answer:

• Ask people to send you pictures of their pets for display (on your website, invitation, flyers, etc.).
• If you’re collecting donations on behalf of 501(c)3 organizations, you might meet some resistance, since you’re not a 501(c)3 yourself (trust issues).
• If you’re still supporting your local Humane Society, have people sponsor specific things: a cage (with their name on it), food for an animal for a week/month/year, medications for low-income owners, etc. Make it tangible and transparent.
• Depending on the goal, you could have a people/pet soiree. Or, if people only, have them bring pictures of their animals to help create their name badge.
• How about a pet parade, where people and pets walk from organization to organization that are pet-friendly. Have donation jars in each business a month prior, and the parade will go door-to-door to collect the funds. This creates a great photo PR opportunity for everyone.