Category Archives: Starting Out

What’s A Good Name For Seminar For Moms?

Services, Starting Out

I am a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in private practice. I am doing a seminar for moms as a way to get my name in the community as a resource for families when counseling is needed. I have spoken on many topics in the past. I would like to appeal to these moms as a resource for their general needs or more specific needs. The working title is Creating Balance in your Life as a Mom. I also need 4 – 5 bullet points to attract moms to this seminar. I currently have Improve Your Time Management; Eliminate Distractions; Finding a Routine that Maximizes the Potential for Your Family; and Giving Your Own Needs the attention they deserve. I would like something that is more catchy or would attract the most moms possible! Thank You!!

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Jay’s Answer: Moms with children at different ages have different specific issues (toddlers vs. lower-school vs. high-school vs. college-aged).

“Creating Balance in Your Life” isn’t motivating. Contrast this to: “Have More Fun In Your Life”, “Play More With Your Family”, “Increase Joy”, “Feel More Vital”, etc.

How Can I Market A New Organic Skin Care Line?

Products, Starting Out

I have recently been hired as a sales rep for a newly developed organic skin care line, which was developed by a friend of mine. The ingredients are all natural, without toxins, harmful preservatives, etc., and it is a very professional upscale looking product line. She wants me to market the product starting with doctor’s offices, pediatricians, dermatologists, etc. She thinks it is an untapped market and is where she wants to start with the line. I thought that we should try health food markets like Whole Foods, or other places that share the whole organic philosophy, maybe full service salons or boutiques, etc. I recently took some samples to the Center for Holistic Medicine, and asked to be contacted with their opinions about the line and whether they are interested in carrying some products. Any advice on where to go and how to start?

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Jay’s Answer: It’s a big market, with lots of competition already. If you do get on the shelf at Whole Foods, yours will simply be another product on their shelves, and unlikely to generate many purchases.

Start by targeting under-served markets. Is there a skin problem that your products heal better than any other product out there? Maybe a location in the country where organic skin care hasn’t penetrated (and is the right demographic for you)?

Consider private labeling the product to high-end spas and private gyms. Also, cross-marketing with related products – high-end hair care, nail care, and even outdoors-related businesses.

You might want to sell B2C to get the word out directly. To get more consumer awareness, try doing something win-win: provide foot rubs for your local Avon Walk For Breast Cancer with your products (or provide the product for others to use).

How Can I Market My Heart-Healthy and Diabetic Meals?

Services, Starting Out

Adding a new service to existing successful business. Looking for ideas on how to best introduce the service of prepared heart healthy & diabetic meals – we worked with local hospital to develop idea/menu. I want to target working adults who are caring for their parent(s) and those who are looking for healthy food option. Meals are gourmet but low fat, sodium, calories. I’m going to plan an open house to introduce new line of food. Who do invite and how can I advertise inexpensively? I need help to develop a marketing plan to make this aware to home health aides, doctor’s offices, and busy caregivers.

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Jay’s Answer: Sponsor lunch/dinner talks and serve your food to them.

Don’t forget dietitians, small grocery stores, local gyms, and even PTA.

If it tastes good, and people believe that eating it will help their health, it has the right price point (“what is your health worth?”), great testimonials (like Jared, the Subway guy – “eating this food has lowered my BP and made me enjoy life again”), and you’ve done your positioning homework (knowing about your competition), then you have a good start.

What ROI Could I Expect From My Local Business Seminar?

Starting Out

I was wondering if anyone knows about the ROI that can be expected from performing a seminar to local businesses about a topic that relates to our business.

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Jay’s Answer: If people attend, then they’re interested in the topic, and potentially your business. Unless you’re planning on renting out a hotel and providing a full meal, it’s a low-risk investment. The key is to provide information to position yourself as experts. Even if you don’t get a big turnout the first time, by advertising the seminars you’ve started the positioning in the eyes of the general public. Therefore, there’s a direct ROI for those that attend and indirect, for those that hear about you but don’t want to attend, but may be influenced by your seminars’ positioning.

What’s A Good Slogan For a Water Purifier and… ?

Starting Out

I want a slogan for a water purifier to invites a press meet but water should not be mentioned on the slogan. and want to known how we can launch a new jewelry showroom.

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Jay’s Answer: 1) A slogan alone will not generate any interest in your business, especially by the press. If you have a press-worthy story, you need to do a targeted press release detailing who you are, what you’re doing, when you’re doing it, what’s special about it, etc. If the press deems it interesting, then they might appear at a press event. Using a teaser (without mentioning your product) will definitely backfire – no one wants to invest their time without knowing why they should. What you need is a marketing strategy – a plan to generate interest, and more importantly, attract new customers.

2) To launch a new showroom, I’ll once again strongly suggest that you create a strategic business plan. Why? I’ve talked to thousands of business owners, and the number one issue is people being overwhelmed by having to do too much and not having enough time/money to succeed. By first starting with a plan, you’re forced to go through the exercise of understanding your competition, identifying your market, your strengths, your weaknesses, supplies, and pricing. You’ll be thinking through the issues on paper, before you sign a lease, purchase supplies, or even print business cards. It doesn’t matter if you’re selling jewelry or ice cream – you need customers to make your business a success. You need to figure out why someone would want to purchase from you, and attract them to you.

How Can I Market My Portraits To Doctors’ Offices?

Publicity, Starting Out

I am marketing portrait photography services in my community and one of our strategies is to set up community displays in local pediatrician, OBGYN and family practice physician offices. Basically I am looking to set up a small table in their waiting room with some marketing material, portfolio books and a contest for a free portrait session to collect names. Another option is to provide portraits for the walls of their waiting room and patient rooms with the studio logo in the corner.

So far I have just been cold calling the offices in person and asking if they would be interested. I’ve only tried about 10 and haven’t had luck so far. Are there any other methods you would suggest to make it more beneficial to them to agree?

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Jay’s Answer: Your question is basically – how can I get a doctor to provide me with prime advertising space? Why should the doctor’s office be willing to give up patient waiting area to you? What about liability – kids & glass don’t mix well. What about aesthetics – it’s your display in their space.

Start with asking doctors you (or your friends’) know. What are their concerns? Under what conditions would they be willing to do this (and for how long)? Once you understand their needs, then you can being to cold call (ideally, warm referrals are better) with the knowledge of what the key objections are, and how to appeal to the office need in general. For example, ask about the art work in their office – when was the last time it was updated? Offer to visit their office monthly to rotate portraits among the offices – change is always nice. Perhaps have themed pictures (holidays, etc.) that go with their decor, etc.

What Is A Good Training Course For Interactive Marketing?

eMarketing, Starting Out

I’ve done a lot of online research looking for a good training course, that I can take online, for interactive marketing. I want to become expert in:

  • Email marketing and e-newsletters
  • CRM segmentation and data collection
  • Web design and usability
  • How to make the most of RSS
  • SEM and SEO
  • Online surveys and incentives for customers to participate

This seems to be a hard course to find. Someone could make a lot of money if they’d create this type of course! Any experience or advice would be greatly appreciated.

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Jay’s Answer: There are categories such as: aware, knowledgeable, and expert.

Expertise is the rarest of qualities. It’s more than courses. It’s applying what you’ve learned to see what works and doesn’t (for you) over time. It’s being willing to continually learn new things, and research new ideas on your own to develop insight.

Knowledge is sitting down and studying. It’s taking courses to find the tools others have used to solve problems. It’s simple exercises to give you the feel for things.

Awareness is talking about the various problems/solutions, but not with much granularity. You’ll be able to understand the buzzwords and may have some ideas for how to solve problems.

All of the areas you’re asking about are currently "fluid" – there are few techniques that everyone agree are best for all applications. People are trying everything out to see what "sticks". And, as users get more sophisticated, the tools they need likewise change.

How Can I Grow My Web Design Company?

eMarketing, Starting Out

I’m working as a web designer for a wireless company. Since October last year, I started taking freelance jobs by bidding projects on one website only.

I am averaging one client a week. To be honest I feel overwhelmed by the number of clients I’m getting. For some reason my proposals are above average. Probably because my strength is copywriting, not really web designing.

I am still working full-time and can barely finish one project per week. I’m talking about websites that require programming or full-blown flash. They are very time consuming since I can only work 25-30 hrs a week, mostly at nights.

I have tried to give projects to an overseas company (India) but the profit was too little sometimes I have to take a loss.

Is it time for me to really concentrate on this full-time? I have a budget of $500 – $600 a week for marketing.

How do you suggest I should spend the money? Basically getting my business in front of more targeted clients. My targets are small-business owners, offline and online. More than half of my clients are successful business owners.

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Jay’s Answer: My first suggestion is to solve your overwhelm problem. If you can’t handle 1 client/week, then you can’t scale up. I don’t know what you’re charging for your website production, but if you can’t hire someone to implement your specification for less than you get paid, then you’re charging too little for your work.

Do you want to work ON your business or IN your business? If you want to do the hands-on website programming, then you’re going to be limited by the number of hours in the week. You can only charge so much for your time.

Hiring others to do the website development makes good sense, especially if your strength is copywriting. Your role would be attracting new clients, writing the proposals, and then passing the development work to another, and reviewing the result. To hire others, you’ll want to find people you trust to do the type of work you want. You might find them locally, or on www.rentacoder.com, www.guru.com, or www.elance.com. You’ll want to develop a long-term relationship with quality people.

As for your marketing dollars, what type of small business do you want to create websites for? Where are they located? Can you show a ROI for your work? Have you asked for referrals from your satisfied clients? Word-of-mouth is one of the best forms of marketing,

How Can I Advertise My Organics Class For Moms?

Starting Out

I will be giving lectures for 20-25 moms who have school age children. Need a grabbing title/bullet points for posters to sell out venue@$15.
I was an pediatric oncology RN before starting my organic nursery. Mom of 2. We design food gardens for homes/schools. The name of our nursery is Peas and Harmony. We sell produce, have demo gardens and teach classes on a 40 acre orchard near the lecture venue. Goal is to get design clients, new nursery buyers and produce buyers or class participants.
Here is the title of the talk I will be giving:
Organics from the Ground Up – the best choices that you can make for your family’s health and well-being
*All about organics. Keeping your family safe
*A family garden of food and fun
*Resources for locally grown, healthful, affordable food.
*Another bullet here would be good.

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Jay’s Answer:

  • Organic Gardens Made Easy
  • Beautiful and Affordable Organic Gardens
  • Would You Trade Organic Food For Your Lawn?
  • An Organic Gardens Kids and Parents Love

Keep the bullet points based on clear need-based values: better-tasting food, grow what you like to eat, pesticide-free at your front door, and learn where your food comes from.

Help Starting My Clothing Design Company?

Starting Out

I am a new fashion designer with my business partner, We want to start a design company that will focus on creatively constructed ready-wear clothing for Men & Women providing embroidery and screen printing with creative construction/ patch work/ European style, also possibly making ready-wear costume designs.we want to start this in Chicago, il area but we are currently in Michigan. We don’t know what to name it yet, My name is “Que Shebley” and his name is “Martin Andrade” we wanted to try to put our names in it in a creative way but not limited to. we will be focusing on ages from 16-40, because our designs should range from edgy dramatic to normal casual with a twist. We don’t have a large budget to work with to start but do have some nacessary machines to start and fabrics and location, we will be working from home, we were thinking of first investing in a screen printing machine so that way we can start from the simplest jobs to sell to companies and businesses in need of basic screen printing clothings for their logos and etc…..

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Jay’s Answer: You want to start first with a business/marketing strategy.

If your demographic is 16-40 (but not exclusively), who specifically would want your designs? People in Chicago? Men? Women? Professionals? Clubbers? At what cost? Internet sales? Fashion shows? Custom or mass-market? Sizing?

Why your designs? What other companies sell products that compete with yours? No doubt, there are a lot of other startup design companies likewise targeting this age range – how will your products be different? How will you know that your designs appeal to the group you’re targeting?

How will people see your designs? In person at shows, flea markets, farmers’ markets, street corners, trunk shows, or consignment shows?

As you can see, your strategy has nothing to do with your budget/equipment. It has everything to do with identifying and finding people who want what you’re selling. If you can’t find the people easily (and they can’t find you), don’t start the business. You’ll be waiting a long time until you get the sales you’re looking for.

The narrower your demographic, the easier it is to get the right message in front of your prospect. Once your strategy is clear, then you can start figuring out a marketing plan: how much money to spend (on what and when).

As far as your business name, this is one of the last things your really need to focus on. If you (or your partner) already have name recognition, then use it in the business name. Otherwise, your name should reflect your target market – what names appeal to that group? There are 2 basic naming camps: a utilitarian name (Chicago Edgy Fashion Co.) or a nonsense word (DramaEdge). Utilitarian names are easier to recognize/remember for people. Nonsense words work well if you’re willing to put in the effort to educate your prospects.

Summary: You don’t need a large budget to make a successful company, but you do need a great strategy & plan to make sure you don’t waste your money getting started.

(Disclaimer: I help small businesses create/implement their marketing strategy/plans)