Category Archives: Starting Out

My Cleaning Business Needs a Tagline

Names + Taglines, Starting Out

 I hope you could help me out with a tagline for my cleaning business.  I want to attract both residential and commercial cleaning, but not able to come up with something suitable, even though I been working for a while on this ( this is what I have so far: “Reliable Cleaning. Affordable Solutions”).  I think the first part is good, but the second one is not sitting well with me, I don’t really like the word solutions, and I think the word affordable makes it sound somewhat cheezy and may send the wrong message.  We do quality cleaning and offer good rates, but lately I noticed that people who want to pay the cheapest, most of the time actually
appreciate us the least, so I want to stay away from that.  What could work good for the second part that would describe good results or satisfaction, or something in that line and go well with the first part.  Thank you so much for your time and help!!!

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Jay’s Answer:   The key question you want your tagline to answer is: “Why should I hire you?”. If you’re in the cleaning business, it’s assumed you’re reliable. It’s assumed you’re trustworthy. It’s assumed you have an eye for detail. These are all “givens”. But what makes your business different/special from all the other cleaning businesses in your area? That’s what you want to showcase, otherwise your tagline will be quite generic and therefore won’t help you achieve your marketing goals.

Also – if you have the word “cleaning” in your business name – why repeat it?

So, even though you like “Reliable Cleaning”, I strongly suggest some different approaches to make your business stand out.

How To Start My Pie Delivery Business?

Starting Out

I bake pies and am creating a delivery only business.  I have ADHD (but, I find I am not alone). I can’t seem to “finish” my business plan.  Is this project ongoing or is it me? I would like to sell my pies on craigslist.com.  I plan on keeping my job so I meet my business obligations.  I have several people to help with the baking and delivery but I have a problem with being afraid of people ripping me off. Are these all normal concerns?  I have a lot of family and associate support.  Where do I put my foot first?

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Jay’s Answer:   Your concerns/fears are normal. Keeping your job going is also a very smart move. So how to proceed?

  1. Make sure you’re using a commercial kitchen. Your local health department has the information you need to understand why it’s necessary (both legally and from a safety perspective).
  2. Form a legal company. You’ll want to either talk to a lawyer or at least do your own research (starting with Nolo Press – http://www.nolo.com). The point is that if someone were claim to have gotten sick from your pies, they might sue you. And you don’t want to lose your house because of your pies. The right company structure can help protect you financially. (Note: I’m not a lawyer, and this isn’t legal advice).
  3. You’ll probably need a business license to sell your goods (again depending on where you live). Getting your license to sell your baked goods will also probably necessitate working with your local Health Department to ensure you’re following packaging and food safety regulations.
  4. You’ll want to make it easy for people to pay you for your goods. These days, an easy way to solve in-person payment is a mobile credit card processing machine. People could then pay you either in cash or with an instantly validated credit card.
  5. Since you’re delivering the pies, you’ll probably want additional insurance to protect the pie delivery vehicle and driver. You’re operating a business, and if there’s a problem, your normal auto insurance provider might not be too happy.

The last steps were all to protect you and your business. Now, you need to market your pies to the public. Craiglist is the easy way to sell something, but it might not be the most efficient/effective. How about your local Farmer’s Market? Or, working with your local charity (they take orders for pies, they get payment up-front, you deliver).

All of these steps take time and money. Taking shortcuts might save you time and money short-term, but may cost you dearly long-term.

Name My New Wedding & Event Planning Business

Names + Taglines, Starting Out

I’m in the process of finishing a course to become a wedding and event planner.  Once completed I intend to start out with my own business.  The problem is I am stuck on a business name.  I am after something that is professional enough for corporate events but also has the right feel for wedding planning, many that I think of are already taken, any help would be great.

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Jay’s Answer:   Congratulations on finishing up and best wishes in launching your new business. I get a lot of requests about naming a wedding/event planning business; in most cases my answer’s the same:

http://www.manygoodideas.com/2010/07/21/name-my-wedding-planning-business/

New business owners are excited to launch a new business, print business cards, create a website, and start trying to get business as soon as possible. That’s understandable – you’ve got an idea, passion, and see an opportunity for yourself to make some money. However, if you don’t think ahead strategically, you’re likely going to find yourself stuck. You’ll have a website, business cards, a business phone number, and you’ll be waiting for the phone to ring or emails to arrive. Or, you’ll be handing out your cards to anyone who’ll take them, hoping that they’ll contact you. That’ll quickly lead to frustration and disappointment.

Instead, imagine yourself in the future with your ideal client(s). Who are they? Where are they located? Why did they contact you specifically? What about your personality, skills, knowledge made them choose you from your competition? How much are they paying you? What do you love about working with them? What challenges you in working with them? The clearer you can describe your future, the better you can plan for it:

http://www.manygoodideas.com/2010/09/01/what-is-your-ideal-business-day/

This is probably not what you wanted to hear – you wanted simply a name. But a name alone won’t truly help you unless you’ve done your planning ahead homework (marketing/business strategy). And I do want you to succeed, so throwing out something “cute”, clever, or “catchy” won’t be of long-term benefit to your business.

If the person who’s teaching your course has given you wise counsel for marketing, you might have the information you need at-hand. If not, save yourself time & money now. Plan for your own success.

How To Start A Pie-Making Business

Starting Out

I bake pies and am creating a delivery only business.  I have ADHD (but, I find I am not alone). I can’t seem to “finish” my business plan.  Is this project ongoing or is it me? I would like to sell my pies on craigslist.com.  I plan on keeping my job so I meet my business obligations.  I have several people to help with the baking and delivery but I have a problem with being afraid of people ripping me off. Are these all normal concerns?  I have a lot of family and associate support.  Were do I put my foot first?

###

Jay’s Answer:  Your concerns/fears are normal. Keeping your job going is also a very smart move. So how to proceed?

  1. Make sure you’re using a commercial kitchen. Your local health department has the information you need to understand why it’s necessary (both legally and from a safety perspective).
  2. Form a legal company. You’ll want to either talk to a lawyer or at least do your own research (starting with Nolo Press – http://www.nolo.com). The point is that if someone were claim to have gotten sick from your pies, they might sue you. And you don’t want to lose your house because of your pies. The right company structure can help protect you financially. (Note: I’m not a lawyer, and this isn’t legal advice).
  3. You’ll probably need a business license to sell your goods (again depending on where you live). Getting your license to sell your baked goods will also probably necessitate working with your local Health Department to ensure you’re following packaging and food safety regulations.
  4. You’ll want to make it easy for people to pay you for your goods. These days, an easy way to solve in-person payment is a mobile credit card processing machine. People could then pay you either in cash or with an instantly validated credit card.
  5. Since you’re delivering the pies, you’ll probably want additional insurance to protect the pie delivery vehicle and driver. You’re operating a business, and if there’s a problem, your normal auto insurance provider might not be too happy.

The last steps were all to protect you and your business. Now, you need to market your pies to the public. Craiglist is the easy way to sell something, but it might not be the most efficient/effective. How about your local Farmer’s Market? Or, working with your local charity (they take orders for pies, they get payment up-front, you deliver).

All of these steps take time and money. Taking shortcuts might save you time and money short-term, but may cost you dearly long-term.

Name My New Event & Wedding Planning Business

Names + Taglines, Starting Out

I am starting my wedding and event and wedding planning.  I am very creative and have the ability to create high class events and weddings and still keep it on a budget. What name would you think best describes this service?

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Jay’s Answer:  You have some conflicts I wanted to point out. People who are looking for wedding planners don’t think about event planners. People looking for event planners, don’t think about wedding planners. To you, both are parties with guests. But you’re dealing with a very different clientele, and they have different needs (wedding = emotion/love, events = celebration/money).

Also, it sounds like you’re targeting people who don’t have a big budget but want to look like they do. That’s fine, but it’ll limit how your profit (how small a budget are you willing to work with?).

Here are some names to consider:

  • Weddings To Treasure
  • Events For a Song (or Weddings For a Song)
  • Thrifty Events (or Thrifty Weddings)

 

New Event Planner Needs Business Name

Names + Taglines, Starting Out

I’m in the process of finishing a course to become a wedding and event planner.  Once completed I intend to start out with my own business.  The problem is I am stuck on a business name.  I am after something that is professional enough for corporate events but also has the right feel for wedding planning, many that i think of are already taken, any help would be great.

###

Jay’s Answer: Congratulations on finishing up and best wishes in launching your new business. I get a lot of requests about naming a wedding/event planning business; in most cases my answer’s the same:

http://www.manygoodideas.com/2010/07/21/name-my-wedding-planning-business/

New business owners are excited to launch a new business, print business cards, create a website, and start trying to get business as soon as possible. That’s understandable – you’ve got an idea, passion, and see an opportunity for yourself to make some money. However, if you don’t think ahead strategically, you’re likely going to find yourself stuck. You’ll have a website, business cards, a business phone number, and you’ll be waiting for the phone to ring or emails to arrive. Or, you’ll be handing out your cards to anyone who’ll take them, hoping that they’ll contact you. That’ll quickly lead to frustration and disappointment.

Instead, imagine yourself in the future with your ideal client(s). Who are they? Where are they located? Why did they contact you specifically? What about your personality, skills, knowledge made them choose you from your competition? How much are they paying you? What do you love about working with them? What challenges you in working with them? The clearer you can describe your future, the better you can plan for it:

http://www.manygoodideas.com/2010/09/01/what-is-your-ideal-business-day/

This is probably not what you wanted to hear – you wanted simply a name. But a name alone won’t truly help you unless you’ve done your planning ahead homework (marketing/business strategy). And I do want you to succeed, so throwing out something “cute”, clever, or “catchy” won’t be of long-term benefit to your business.

If you need help developing a strategy, I can help you. If the person who’s teaching your course has given you wise counsel for marketing, you might have the information you need at-hand. If not, save yourself time & money now. Plan for your own success.

What Are The Best Practices Of Web Video?

eMarketing, Starting Out

We’re developing a greater online focus of content marketing. This will include online video in hopes that it will generate a positive experience by adding value to the user’s business.

I’m trying to find some research or specific best practices as to what format is best for the web experience. What is driving my search is there is a preference within the powers that be for well produced segments – almost a news report style – for our video. I suspect this is unnecessary and may even hinder the user experience. My thought is video should rarely be over 2 minutes and should be relentless on its focus on the content, not the production.

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Jay’s Answer:  If you’re thinking of video, make sure you have a visual message.  Not all messages are visual (some are better in writing, some simply spoken) and not all spokespersons are video-friendly.

#1 – make sure you have great audio. People will put up with a grainy visual if the sound is crisp.

#2 – make sure that the video plays quickly for casual viewers. If it takes “too long” to load/play, people won’t wait.

#3 – shorter = better. If you have a lot of information to convey, try doing smaller chunks that string together (but could be played out-of-sequence).

#4 – closed captioning support for people with hearing difficulties

#5 – as in all forms of communication, keep the message simple (and easy to follow). Tell what you’re going to talk about, talk about it, and summarize. Too much information = overload.

#6 – if you have to choose between (for budget reasons) a great looking video and a well-scripted video, choose the well-scripted. While eye candy is sexy, it’s also easily forgotten.

#7 – great results don’t require big budgets, but do require a creative team who understands your message, your needs, your budget, and the technology.

New Taxation Class – How to Get More Students

Publicity, Starting Out

I am having a Computer Institute teaching computer and other course. I want to know some good ideas to market my new taxation courses and attract more student. please help me in this regard. I am only person to teach this course in my city.

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Jay’s Answer: Because you’re the only one to offer such a course, you have an advantage and a disadvantage. Your advantage is that you’ve got a monopoly – if someone wants to learn locally, they must attend your class. The disadvantage is that the awareness for your course in general might be low, and having competitors actually raises the awareness of the need for your offering. And that’s the key – focus on why someone (who specifically?) really needs to take this class NOW. Why would waiting to take the course potentially be a bad thing to them? What specific advantages would your course offer to their business/community? Why should they trust you to teach them this?

As for how to convey your message – first focus on who you’re trying to attract, and then figure out what method of communication would be the most efficient – flyers? Email? Social media? Television? Radio? Advertisements?

Name My New Gym

Names + Taglines, Starting Out

Can you think of a name for a gym that is upstairs (20 Stairs to be exact) and downtown in a small town. We would like more of a masculine name and one quick word, well two at the most. The room looks like a loft with top of the line equipment in it. Really nice laid out and design. Very private and airy – lots of windows. Hope my description helps. It is used mostly by professional females but we would like to attract more males. Thanks for your time. Meet you at …….

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Jay’s Answer:  Given the information you provided, here are some suggested names:

  • 20 Stairs Gym
  • 20 Stairs To Fit
  • The Upstairs Gym

As far as the names you’ve chosen, without understanding more about your target market, demographic, unique selling proposition (USP), competition, etc. – all I can do is guess. And a guess does not truly benefit your business goals.

Names are also a tricky balance. You can pick something straightforward (“Karen & Joe’s Gym”) – it might be boring, but it’s obvious what you’re offering. Or, pick something clever-sounding (“Fat Shed”) and then spend time/money explaining what it is you offer (perhaps with an associated tagline and/or supplementary marketing materials).

Names don’t matter as much as you think – it’s the experience that matters. A name might be easier to spell/remember, but if the feel isn’t right, all the work you spend on a name is wasted time/energy.

That’s why I strongly urge my clients to focus first on their business/marketing strategy. After that’s nailed down, work on the naming, since all the information you need to evaluate the “right” name will come from this document.

Marketing Idea For A Online Cookie Company

Starting Out

I’m planning on doing a online cookie business out of the house … I will be the only person running this business for now because I want to start small and work my way up. I need some marketing ideas and strategies to attract people across my country to come to my site and order from me. I’m doing cookies for regular household, gifts, wedding favours, corporate and other events. I’m thinking of adding a gift basket aspect to the site with a bunch of cookies, personal house coffee, tea & hot chocolate to generate more profit. Also i thought of ribbon that tie around the box like a christmas present-look can have the corporate name and/or logo on the ribbon to create a corporate gift.

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Jay’s Answer: Before you try to sell across the whole country, focus on your city or town. They’re the ones who’ll be able to eat your cookies the day you bake ’em. They’re the ones who you’ll be able to get photos and videos of them enjoying them. Those testimonials will be one piece of your marketing.

Secondarily, it’ll be easier for you to co-market with people who regularly either give gifts are are already in the gifting business (i.e., florists, salespeople, realtors, etc.). Instead of waiting for people to come to your website, contact them. Bring them a plate of your cookies face-to-face, and then tell them about your business.