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New Endeavor - Copywriting & Communications
Posted By: hotbuttons on 9/3/2006 1:05 PM (CST) 125 Points
For those of you who contribute regularly, you're going to think me nuts. I recently asked for your assistance in developing a client base within the printing industry as I am new to the field. Printing was/is just a first step towards an end goal of self employment. I am pursuing so as to gain insight/knowledge on advertising/promotional materials as well as on marketing practices.

My sister and I have been brainstorming and have decided to join forces per say in a part time venture which will eventually morph itself into a full time business. We are both very excited however are smart enough to know that we are not financially able to quit the day jobs just yet. I need your feedback and any insight on the following:

My major focus will be writing ad copy (or whatever I can get my hands on) whereas hers will be graphic design. We would eventually like to become a one stop shop for small to midsize businesses looking for copywriting and ad/promotional/informational design.

We have come up with the business name of MUSZ. A twist on the correct spelling. Initially caught our interest to reflect "thought" yet delving deeper we have come to the realization that there were nine muses within Greek mythology. This leads to the thought of implementing a visual Greek theme when creating our image. I lean more towards Greek symbols as opposed to the muses (female figures) themselves.

My question is two fold. First, what comes to mind when you think of muse (musz) and how would you illustrate? Second - creating a tagline that will lend itself to the overall branding of the business; where to start?

If the Greek twist doesn’t work… what else would you suggest?

Thanks again!

Tracy

Posted by: Jon Aston Accepted Answer
9/3/2006 2:31 PM (CST)
To be bluntly honest, I didn't get "muse" from MUSZ and doubt many others will either.

What is it that you're hoping to express about yourselves / your services through the name? That you're creative? That creativity comes easily to you? That the muses often bend your ear?

How about this: Bent Ear Creative

Just a thought.

Best of luck to the two of you.
 
Posted by: wnelson Accepted Answer
9/3/2006 3:07 PM (CST)
I agree with Jon in that Musz has little meaning to me. As I read it, I struggled with making it something else like music. I thought "muse" but I couldn't figure what kind of business that would be - there's little or no tie to an adcopy/graphics/one-stop shop.

A name and taglne is pretty far into the branding strategy process and branding strategy is way down the list of things to do when developing a marketing process. As you are going into a specialized marketing field, it's pretty important to be well versed on the process to develop a marketing process and where your service fits into that process. If you come up with ads and they aren't in line with a tight marketing strategy, your ads aren't going to get the results for your clients and they will not see you as valuable as you could be.

I would recommend you start at the beginning of the marketing process. The marketing process consists of three stages: Strategy, Planning, and Execution. During the Strategy part, you analyze your market and customers - with an eye toward focusing on the segment of customers on which you will prioritize, understand their influencers (words and images), where they find out about services such as yours, and what their needs are. Then, you move to analyzing your competitors, their strengths and weaknesses, and how well they satisfy the needs of the customers (by segment) and where they don't. Next, you move into looking at your company - what are your core competencies and how do you leverage them to satisfy the needs of the customers better than your competitors can and how do you turn them into unique selling points? You do a SWOT analysis to identify key strategic actions, develop a positioning statement, a service strategy (with a concentration on benefits you provide with the features of your service), and a brand strategy. This guides your Marketing Plan activities. Your brand stategy covers name, tagline, logo, colors, your stationery, invoices, proposals, website, how you dress and act, and any place you display your company. Standardizing up front helps you to drive a consistent image into the minds of the customers. Your branding takes into account the words and images that affect your target customers emotionally (both positive and negative) to make that "buy" decision. It also takes into account how your competition brands themselves with an eye toward differentiating yourself from them in a way that promotes your core competencies and unique selling points.

The Marketing Plan uses the strategy pieces and defines objectives and goals, metrics to measure your results against those goals, and a process to monitor this. Each activity supports the strategy in that you pick from all marketing activities you could do - websites, ads, direct mail, telemarketing, direct sales, etc - those that the target customers use to find out information about the services offered by your company. Each activity is a mini-project with the 3 W's (What is to be done by Who by When). The activities are prioritized for most likely effective to least so you can spend your budget wisely.

Then, in the execution phase, you project manage the activities with reviews on a weekly basis to make sure the action plan for each activity is going to plan, a monthly review of the metrics to make sure that the activities are yielding the desired results toward your goals, and then quarterly to make sure your strategy doesn't require change because your world changed.

Very formal - and you're going to say, "We're a two person company." I'm a one-person company and I do this so that I don't get caught up "in a job" versus managing my business.

When looking at doing ads and such for customers, if you interview them for their analysis, strategy, and plans for other activities, you will be more effective if you know this information when you begin your creative work - a cohesive approach is much more effective than one that is helter-skelter. And if they don't have this information (quite the norm), based on what they are doing, you can draw a path so that at least you try to fit in!

So, to your question: name and tagline - do the analysis to figure out who your customers are and what influencers they have, what your strategy and position statement are, and come up with a name and tagline that says to the customers what your core competencies and unique selling points are in a language and images that mean something to your customers.

I hope this helps.

Wayde
 
Posted by: W.M.M.A. Accepted Answer
9/3/2006 3:32 PM (CST)
Sometimes creative people can get over-creative (self included), which is what I believe you have done here.

If you want to say muse...say it.
You can say Muse Graphics or Muse Communications. Then, I think of a muse.

You have gotten some stellar advice and sound, value from Wayde and Jon. In market costs...priceless.

My oil painting professor once told me: "Paint what you see...there are no value changes." The consumer, in essence paints what they see. They may look at musz, but maybe can not see it. But, when they see muse, they know exactly what it is, and can see the value in it.

Permit the consumer to paint what they see...muse.

Randall
WMMA
 
Posted by: hotbuttons Author Response
9/3/2006 6:55 PM (CST)
Some excellent advice so far. Thank you.

Musz simply stemmed from the fact that the domain names of muse.ca and muse.com are already taken. Yes, perhaps a little ahead of ourselves here. Another name we toyed with was In Black & White but I thought perhaps this might lean more so towards writing than anything else. Regardless, blackandwhitecopy.com has been reserved.

I am totally open to input as far as business name goes. Again this shouldn't be our primary goal yet because we are both creative, the name chosen will have a strong influence on how we market and brand. It is also the immediate fun part and my sister is chomping at the bit to start designing logos and such.

Both of us are going in knowing that there is a lot to learn. This forum is a wealth of information and a great place to start. I knew you all wouldn't let me down. Some very smart cookies on board. :D

Thanks!

T~
 
Posted by: stlubahn Member Response
9/3/2006 8:13 PM (CST)
I agree with the others MUSZ does not grab me, and I think you need to be careful not to make it too much of a reach for people who are not up on their Greek mythology (which they probably had in high school).

I would try to nail down you focus as tight as you can, then base a more descriptive name on that mission of your new firm.

Steve
 
Posted by: darcy.moen Accepted Answer
9/3/2006 11:40 PM (CST)
In keeping with the Greek and Mythology theme....remember Icarus? He flew too close to the sun and had a terrible fall.

The same can happen with folks who suffer an incredible rush of Entrepreneurial and creativity. You have opened a print services shop, kept your day job, and now adding another hat? Feel the heat yet?

Careful how much you take on. I'm a chronic insomniac and get by on four hours sleep. I fill the rest of my hours with work (mental and physical). I don't need to work 20 hours a day, but do so by choice to fill the hours when I can't sleep, and have developed business models that allow me to work when I want to. Few achieve the same. I mention this because I'm concerned how much you may be getting into.

Tis better to be a master of few skills, than to be mediocre in many.

I'm thinking, 'Double flame creative' because you'll soon be burning the candle at both ends, then yelling for more wax. :-)

Darcy Moen
Customer Loyalty Network
 
Posted by: telemoxie Member Response
9/4/2006 7:01 AM (CST)
I think you need to rethink your strategy. Per your other post, your printing business targets large businesses. Yet this new proposed business targets small businesses. If it were me, I would roll the printing, graphics design, and writing into a "one stop shop" and focus on one market or the other. I would consider narrowing my outbound efforts to a vertical market in which I had specific and recent experience.

Be careful about partnerships. First of all, they rarely work out in the long run. Second, by partnering with a relative, you risk friction in both your personal and professional life. And third, if I were to seek a partner, I would seek someone who either had existing contacts, or a rare talent. I would not partner with a graphics designer because, quite candidly, there are so many of them, and they are increasinly accessible via the web.
 
Posted by: hotbuttons Author Response
9/4/2006 7:37 PM (CST)
A quick summary for all you lovely folks who are helping me out here. I spent the last nine years within the insurance industry, the last 2 1/2 of those as a business owner. The agency was/is still in the growing stage when I decided to pursue a more creative career. 35 yrs old and thought to myself that I have 20 odd more years to work so why not get into something that I really enjoy.

Fast forward to my current sales job with the printing company. As per the post, new to the industry and so looking for insight on sales strategies. The choice to get into printing was to learn the ins and outs of ad design as well as develop relationships with marketing firms and so forth so that I could eventually promote myself as a freelance sales writer. It may sound devious to some yet it is a strategy in its own sense.

From those who I have spoken to and from information I have gathered during my research, I was under the impression that having graphic design skills in addition to writing skills would be beneficial. While I'd love to learn, being a jack of all trades is not necessarily the route I'd like to go. Thus the sister team up idea.

(Yes, I babble) - Ha ha.

Musz is kiboshed as far as a name and I appreciate the honesty. Every bit of info that I can gather is great. Saves me from some mistakes.

If I concentrate soley on the writing I still need a biz name. I come up with ideas and then check against domain availability. I want to make it easy for people to find me (us?) once I start marketing.

One more to throw out at you. For some reason when I was reading up on the Greek Mythology and the nine muses, the name Calliope really caught my fancy. I can't explain why really but I was toying with the idea of using that as an identity. Calliope reminds me of kaleidoscope and a wide range of images. If I were to use the spelling of "Kaleiope" - Full Spectrum Sales Writing - do you think I could develop a brand for myself?

Or... god forbid...do you think that I think too much?

:D
 
Posted by: wnelson Member Response
9/4/2006 8:23 PM (CST)
TOO DEEEP! First, I think of the old fashion steam wagon musical instrument, not the muse. You might as well go with B because it's the letter before C and C is the first letter of Calliope which reminds us all of kaleidoscope with leads to a full spectrum sales writing. Most of us folk are just simple peolpe. We can't think through all these esoteric relationships to get to the message.

Why not Spectrum AdCopy (spectrumadcopy.com is available) or Kaleidoscope Writing (kaleidoscopewriting.com is available), or Total Sales Writing (totalsaleswriting.com), or Full Spectrum Marketing (fullspectrummarketing.com is available) or Ideas into prose (ideasintoprose.com is available), or Prose and Images (proseandimages.com is available) or some combination of these that communicates the message more simply.

Wayde
 
Posted by: Jon Aston Member Response
9/4/2006 8:39 PM (CST)
Oddly, I have a cat named Calliope (aka "Sneak Attack").

Wayde is unquestionably more experienced, wiser and more successful than I...but I do think there is something to be said for unusual, unique, and especially sticky names - for the right sort of businesses, targetting the right sort of customers. This is particularly true when you can nail one down that conjures a great visual, and/or comes with a great (and/or relevant) story.

Apart from making me think of the cat (or Kaleidescope - which I like), Kokopelli came to mind. Most people would associate the visual (http://images.google.ca/images?sourceid=navclient-ff&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGGL,GGGL...) with the pied piper...which seems to fit.
 
Posted by: wnelson Member Response
9/4/2006 9:19 PM (CST)
Jon is much too kind...or he is just saying I'm OLD - one of the two. Before you jump on Kokopeli, make sure you read what you're associating yourself with.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kokopelli

Granted, not many people will know this story - unless you are going to specialize on native Americans.

I buy into clever and different, but just like a joke isnt funny if you have to explain it to everyone, a clever name no one gets and requires you to explain the significance can be a distraction. So, if you want clever, pick something that relates to the integration of words and images into compelling messages - the Greek god of communications.

How about Kodachrome Marketing (kodachromemarketing.com is available)

Words to the Simon and Garfunkle song:

"Kodachrome, they give us those nice bright colours
They give us the greens of summers
Makes you think all the world's a sunny day, oh yeah
I got a Nicon camera, I love to take a photograph
So mama don't take my Kodachrome away"

Maybe too dated. I was thinking of something that means words and images.

Wayde
 
Posted by: Brandscape* Accepted Answer
9/5/2006 12:38 AM (CST)
I actually like MUSZ. Funny enough, it's because it makes me think. I didn't get it at first and many people will not. That may sound negative but that is the very reason MUSZ is memorable. I imagine you meeting a potential client and handing him/her your card. Unlike many business cards that are quickly stuffed into wallets and forgotten, I see a situation where the prospect will ask you what MUSZ is all about. As a friend once told me, a good brand name should be the begining of a conversation. MUSZ is! Just see how much we have debated it already and how much of a story you have to tell about it!

Now, to your enterprise. I believe that any enterprise must be built around branding. Marketing shall act as a great tool for building your brand. You must first define your brand. It is a long process but worth it all the way. I've developed a simple tool for doing this which you can look at http://www.brandscape.co.ke/library/file.asp?ID=60. It is more comprehensive and more involving than it looks. Once you have your vision (long term), mission (short term) and your brand positioning it shall guide your other decisions such as your tag line. Who knows, it might even force you to change your name if it doesn't reflect your brand.

While I agree that partnerships are hard to crack, again, if your partnership is focussed on "building a brand" with roles divided to reflect this and is not structured around a "parnership relationship" you will succeed.

I hope that helps...
 
Posted by: thomas.c.taylor* Accepted Answer
9/7/2006 8:19 PM (CST)
Start with what you want a Prospect/Customer to think, feel, DO as a result of seeing your name/brand/image/work. How big, medium, small do you want to appear? What are your DEMONSTRABLE strengths? Copy, graphic art, marketing, pr, brochures, flyers, posters, banners, billboards, etc.

Here's one for you that I was going to use for myself awhile ago:

Aristotle, DaVinci, Einstein, Patton, & Taylor...
Logic, Creativity, Insight, Courage, & Enthusiasm

The initials spell ADEPT. I can even add: International Advertising & Marketing to make it into "IAM ADEPT".

So, my suggestion is to pick a name that IS what you want to be to your CLIENTS, first.

"Adverticing" = We Create Demand For You
"S, M, L, & XL - A Creative Agency To Fit Your Needs"
 
Posted by: hotbuttons Author Response
9/7/2006 9:40 PM (CST)
Hi folks.

My apologies for the silence over the past couple of days. Busy with the "paying" job....

I once again thank you all for your input and will be awarding you all points. I am now wishing that I had issued a higher number as your advice is worth more than what you will be getting.

I am still leaning towards Kaleiope and have the idea to build the business around my personality. Silly, tongue-in-cheek sense of humor and quite personable if I do say so myself. I build business based on rapport and am hoping to continue with that success once I begin this venture.

My thoughts are to illustrate and market the biz name as if it were a female's signature. I will not be going for a femine look mind you but rather a funky image. Been playing around with colors and layout in word (remember I am not the designer here) and have a nice pallette consisting of orange, green, and browns. Oddly, I want someone to look at my card and scratch their head.

If any of you want to "see" what I mean, I can email you the doc...

I know I have already asked a lot but if you could help me come up with a tagline for Kaleiope that fits the description I'm after fire away. :)-

By the way, I live in Calgary, Alberta. I've scoured the telephone book and online directories for sales writers and I must say that they are far and few between. The business names are pretty boring and I think I have a good chance of standing out in the crowd. "Words by Wendy" and the likes are a far cry from the image I am trying to portray. Half of them do not have websites and the ones that do leave much to be desired.

I know... I know... you're probably sick of me by now eh?
 
Posted by: hotbuttons Author Response
9/7/2006 10:03 PM (CST)
Another quick question.. If I used the title Promotional Writer as opposed to Copy Writer do you think that would open up more doors and lead to a variety of writing projects?
 
Posted by: stevea Accepted Answer
9/8/2006 11:59 PM (CST)
What a fascinating posting with some conflicting, but strangely not confusing, ideas. As to Promotional Writer – well, if I was looking for copy, I’d look for---- but if my Copywriter said somewhere that he did promotional writing; I’d kill two birds with one stone.

As to Kaleiope, do you really want to be having to spell your company name every time you want someone to phone you back or every time you want to be put through on a switchboard? Some would say yes, it helps people to remember. And Thomas, more DaVinci Code than brand name. Also ADEPT is the brand of Adept Scientific, registered, they tell me in 53 countries, the USA included. Nice ideas though.

Wayde’s right though. To paraphrase Hamlet “The man thinks too much, methinks” If it takes a week to work out if a name is good or not, then it’s not. My Greek is probably better than most and my Roman is better – Woutkok (from this forum) often swaps witticisms in Latin with me and we are terribly smug in the knowledge that 95% of the world hasn’t got a clue what the joke is. But that doesn’t matter as this is MarketingProfs; he’s a chef and I’m an English gent. Your name obviously does matter to you though as hopefully everyone is going to have it on the tip of their tongue. But does a company name have to conjure a mythical or other world piece of imagery.

Over here in the UK the Post Office spent about £35million to change its name to Consignia, when everyone called it, er, the Post Office. The explanation for the Consignia name earned it a place in pseud’s corner in the satirical magazine Private Eye; it earned the Naming Agency about £5Million and the logo, van and shop re-painters £30Million. As it didn’t make delivery any quicker or cheaper or more reliable it also got 12 months of intensive piss taking from all the newspapers, so they changed it back again to the deeply unsexy “Post Office” so that they could continue to charge too much, deliver letters late and generally mistreat their workforce without the hassle of trying to remember who they are.

I really think that you ought to forge your plans and start to get the bones of your business together before you start to agonise too much about a name. Acme Copywriting and Graphic Design has been done to death but it does, at a stroke, remove the quandary people find in clever names, “Yes but what do they do?” So with your intellectually interesting name you need a tag-line “The best in copy and graphic design” but that’s been done to death too.

Hopefully, like a cat or a dog that needs a home, your company name will come to you. Unimax Solutions – the name was available and it sounded right. Vivcott Technology, my old data logger company, It was the part of the name of my house, thus Vivcott Technology, Kings Road looked good as an address and a letter would get delivered. If you need a degree in the classics or in the sciences, then as Darcy has said, you are flying too high. If it sounds right, sounds pleasant, is memorable but is meaningless, then it’s OK. All you have to do is decide whether having to spell it over the phone is a good thing or a bad thing.

Best wishes

Steve Alker
Unimax Solutions
 
Posted by: hotbuttons Author Response
9/9/2006 4:30 PM (CST)
As promised I will be awarding points to everyone who contributed. I loved the feedback and appreciate the honesty. After all of this I've come up with a name for my writing services and you're either going to laugh or curse. It is not the now infamous musz or kaleiope but rather something that came to me last night when reading a book on sales and marketing. Are you ready??

Hot Buttons

I know some will not understand and some may very well disagree with this choice however the term is used quite often when in sales. Basically, if you want to make the sale, be sure to push the customer's hot button. Its a far cry from my over thought musz and kaleiope (still like that name... maybe she will become my alter-ego) but it seems so simple and self explanatory. For those who are confused, well, I think the name will peak enough interest to find out what the heck it is.

My aspiration is to write sales and promotional type copy. I think this works. :)

Opening up another post for tagline. Not sure how many points I have left though. Come yell at me over there if you wish. Tee hee.

Once again, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!

Tracy



 


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