Category Archives: Starting Out

Help Me Name My New Event Planning Business

Names + Taglines, Starting Out

I’m in a process to open an event and wedding company in UAE and i was looking for an attractive name with slogan and i want to start the business plan if you can help by sending the
step that i should use.

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Jay’s Answer: I always advise my clients to work on their naming at the end of developing their business/marketing strategy plan, rather than at the start of the planning process. Why? Because the naming needs to target your prospective customers, and unless you’re quite clear who you’re targeting (Where are they located? Men or women? Age? Income level? What problem of theirs do you solve? Why they’d choose you over the competition? Why should they trust you?) you’re hoping that the name will magically bring people to your door (or website). Sadly, names aren’t magical. In fact, the “boring names” (those that are descriptive, for example “UAE Event Planners”) are usually more effective than the catchy ones (“Fantabulous”); catchy names don’t “stick” in people’s brains and require a bit of education to describe what you’re offering (and to who).

So, the first step I suggest is interviewing 10+ people who you think would be great candidates for your clients, and find out their needs: the problems they have, how they solve them, who they trust, why they’d switch to someone else, and where they look for solutions. Once you understand their needs (and wording), you’re in a good starting place to develop a plan to attract people like them to your business offering.

While you could simply pick a name & tagline, create a website, print business cards & flyers, to get things going sooner, you’re likely to find that people aren’t contacting you because you haven’t figured out how to attract them to you.

Help Me Write My Business Script

Starting Out

I work 4 a business consulting firm, how can i write my own pitch so i can be more successful. i call business’s and pitch a script,about how the economy is effecting owners,customers not  coming in like they use to. i need help

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Jay’s Answer: I’m not sure if your problem is your pitch, the way you pitch it, or who you pitch it to. In general, the most successful salespeople don’t pitch – they dialogue. They learn about the problems a business (or person) faces, and identifies ways that they can help solve them (uniquely).

Since you know the results you’re likely to keep achieving should you continue your pitch as-is, I would encourage you to experiment slightly. Perhaps change the tone of your call. Or ask questions. Or call at a different time of day. You need to start learning what can work better for you.

Name My Bakery

Names + Taglines, Starting Out

I’m going to open a bakery firm so I need names and tagline so please kindly help me out?

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Jay’s Answer: I strongly suggest that my clients don’t start planning their business with a name & tagline. Instead, they need to create a business/marketing strategy plan. The plan will describe: what you’re selling, to who, what makes your business better/different from your competition, why people would trust you, how people will find you, etc. The words that you use in the plan itself will be a great starting point for names & taglines.

Since I don’t have a clue what your bakery will be selling, the only names I can suggest are generic: YourTown’s Best Bakery or The Fresh Baker.

How Can I Improve My Business?

Starting Out

I would like outside direction. A simple 1-2-3- step in moving an established business forward.

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Jay’s Answer: Unfortunately, there’s not a “one-size-fits-all” set of steps to move your business forward.

But it starts by deciding what your specific goal is: more repeat sales, higher value average sales, more customers, selling your business, mail order, expansion, increased PR, etc.

Once you’re clear on a measurable goal (it’s vital that you choose a goal that you can measure the effect of your efforts, otherwise you have no idea how well you’re doing to reach it), then you need to pick appropriate strategies to achieve the goal (using the resources you have: money, manpower, networking, etc.).

Next, you monitor the ROI of your efforts to achieve the goal. What’s working? What’s the better way to achieve your goal?

Marketing And Advertising A CPR Training Business

Publicity, Starting Out

I have recently started a CPR and First Aid training business where I teach on site classes to health care professionals like dentists offices, physicians, chiropractors. I also teach for day care centers and home health agencies. I would like some help in finding the best marketing outlet to use and advertising that will bring in the best response. I have had some success in cold calling and sending letters and I am about to send out my first (over-sized) postcard mailing to 2500 Dentists in the surrounding area.
I am also using a graphic designer and marketer to create my postcard which will have a picture of me performing CPR on a training dummy along with a special offer on the front and all of my information on both the front and back of the card which is full color. My Call to action is to Visit my website and to Call today to schedule a class. What other ideas could i use to reach and build my clientele???

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Jay’s Answer: Ensure your marketing materials tell a personal story. Everyone knows that they should learn CPR and keep their certification up-to-date. But they often don’t. They know the could probably call the local Red Cross Center for trainings as well.

So, tell people why your classes have saved lives. Specific testimonials from past students would be a huge plus here. Instead of a photo of you with a dummy, why not a past student with the person whose life they saved?

Also – is your program certified (i.e., can you offer CEUs or the equivalent for health-care providers)?

Starting A Clothing Line

Starting Out

I need to understand the market of the business when starting a clothing line so I can incorporate in my class business plan

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Jay’s Answer: Start by identifying who exactly is your ideal customer. Where are they located? Male or female? Age? Purchasing power/frequency? Preferred style? Reason for dressing a specific way (professional? relationship? personal statement?). That’s who. Then figure out why your clothing – what makes your clothing the right choice for them (especially given your competition). That’ll give you a good start…

Creating A Marketing Manual

Starting Out

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.

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Jay’s Answer: 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.

Name my Bridal Consultancy!

Names + Taglines, Starting Out

I am in the process of starting my own Bridal Consultant/Wedding Planning business and need to come up with a catchy name/tagline.  I’m sure you have heard this before but I am so stumped on a name that everyone else has not used.

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Jay’s Answer: The fantasy is that a catchy name/tagline will start your business off with a “bang”. The name will suddenly get people to pay attention to your business, remember its name, tell all their friends about it, and flood you with more business than you can handle. It’s a fantasy.

Sure, a great name is important. But a great name doesn’t arise because you want something catchy. A great name is created from knowing exactly who you’re targeting, what problem of theirs you solve, what makes you better, etc. This is the essence of a marketing strategy. Without it, you’ll print up a bunch of business cards, create a website, maybe even get a business license and lease a building and..wait for people to show up and throw their money at you.

I can create all sorts of names that are catchy/unique, but if they don’t fit who you’re targeting, you’re starting with a deficit. For example, if you named your business “White Dreams” it won’t tell people much. But instead if you called your business “Phoenix Bridal Consultants” then people would understand who you’re targeting (brides located in Phoenix-area). That’s just one simple example.

How To Find The Best Market…Cheaply?

Starting Out

I got so much pressure from my boss who expect me to make sale on his new product to hit the goal within one month. Do you have any suggestion how to find the market with low cost budget?
PS. My product is POS Program for restaurant business

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Jay’s Answer: I’d start by first examining the sales goal itself. How did it arise? What were the assumptions in number of new clients vs. upgrading clients? What was the average sale amount for each? What was the average days-to-sale? Is this based on historical data for your company or a hopeful estimate?

Next, how well defined is your target market and how well positioned is your new product to achieve the needs of your market relative to your competition? Is it measurably better (and with a measurably lower risk of adoption)? What’s the long-term vs. short-term costs of your product? What’s the cost (in both time/expense) to adopt your new product (from the client’s existing solution)?

These are just some of the basic questions you need to better understand to develop your sales strategy.

Next, what’s the lifetime value of making a sale to your customer? Given that you sold them one thing this month, how much more money are they likely to give you over the lifetime of your relationship? That lifetime value is what you should be focused on, and your budget should reflect this. For example, the lifetime value of a new client is $10,000, the cost of goods sold is $1000, then you’re looking at a $9000 profit. In this case, allocating $10 for such a sale isn’t realistic.

How to find the market with a low cost budget? If you’re starting without a strategy, then you’re guessing. And guessing means it’s a numbers game – try to spread a message to everyone with hope that someone is interested enough to contact you. Don’t guess. Do you homework on identifying your market first, then figure out multiple avenues to communicate with them: SEO, advertisements, Facebook, co-marketing, phone calls, emails, etc.

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.