Question

Topic: Taglines/Names

Need Tag Line That Drives People To My Blog

Posted by Anonymous on 7/2/2011 at 7:42 AM ET 125 Points
Hi- I'm a business consultant and have an accounting degree and many many certifications which are only individually meaningful depending on the industry of a business. So I want to use a blog/website to show off my talents and accomplishments in hopes of securing a decent job. So I am making a calling/business card and want to have a tag line that makes them want to check out my blog. I've been struggling with this for way too long...any ideas???
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  • Posted by Jay Hamilton-Roth on 7/2/2011 at 8:39 AM Member
    A tagline won't achieve your goals because you're making the company try to figure out why they should hire you. Instead, you need to tell the company why you're the right fit for them (hint - it's not about your degrees/certifications). So, instead of trying to post your resume and hope a company will find you (having a resume online isn't a bad thing, but shouldn't be the only thing you do), identify companies that you'd love to work for, and do your homework on where you'd best fit in, then target your job search for these positions in these companies.
  • Posted on 7/2/2011 at 8:46 AM Author
    Thank you Jay and I think I need to clarify. I won't post my resume instead I plan to post writings and articles to my blog monthly that relate to who I am and what I do and what I have done. I'm thinking long term plan. I am employed but strive for growth and want to have at least a year of blogging in before I start to look. In the meanwhile I am hoping to build up a following. I think in a year from now that would be impressive when a potential employer reviews.
    Clarity is key. Sorry for that.
  • Posted by mgoodman on 7/2/2011 at 9:40 AM Moderator
    So how do you expect people to find your blog? Where would they see your tagline? Does the blog have a name? If so, we need to know what it is in order to come up with the tagline. If not, then the name should be part of the project.

    The most important piece of information, of course, is a clear definition of your target audience and what's in it for them to check out your blog. That's a good place to start.
  • Posted on 7/2/2011 at 9:56 AM Author
    Wow! I am enjoying this direction and education.
    What I have now is only the idea. So this makes the most sense that the title be incorporated into the tag line. The tag line will be in my signature on emails, my calling card, Linked In, Blog, etc... and correct me if you think I am wrong here.

    Target audience: small business owners and administrative staff. Usually a company with less than 10 people in their admin, but usually more like 2.

    They are from any industry (professional to manufacturing and much more)

    They are looking for answers to issues inside their organization. Processes, accounting, HR, sales, ERP, CRM. Most generally I am showing everyone how to use the resources they have to work efficiently together towards a common goal and therefore profitability.

    People have jokingly called me the puzzle master since I am referred to companies with major financial and organizational disasters and I love the challenge.

    But I am looking to step it up and not be working for many small companies (running ragged) and do more for one slightly larger organization.
  • Posted by michael on 7/2/2011 at 2:54 PM Member
    There's an unseen danger in that an employer may be thinking you'll want to continue this blogging on the side instead of devoting your efforts to your employer. They won't say that directly, but it's a fact that many successful people leave their employers to start out on their own.

    Michael
  • Posted by Gary Bloomer on 7/2/2011 at 10:08 PM Member
    Here's my breakdown of your question:

    You being a business consultant and having an accounting degree and many many certifications which are only individually meaningful ...etc., etc., is all, sadly, irrelevant.

    Your want of a blog to "show off" your talents and accomplishments in hopes of securing a decent job?

    Again, all irrelevant.

    Ditto all of this "making a calling/business card" and your wanting to have a tag line that makes them (who are they?) want to check out your blog.

    Here's the thing. Stop struggling and give it up to a power greater than you. Just stop. Think. Regroup. Then attack from a different front.

    How?

    By giving. By contributing. By exhibiting what you know and what it's worth. When you give, you show your reader that he or she matters more than you do, this his or her success is way more valuable.

    When you give to others SELFLESSLY, you get back TEN TIMES what you put out. This takes time. Overnight successes? They normally take ten years to blossom.

    No one owes you a job and simply having a blog won't help you if no one's interested in whatever it is you're writing about.

    Who are you planning on serving? Serve them well, then, serve them more, and this time, do it better. In time, the money will flow toward you as, in your serving, your time flows away from you.

    I hope this helps. Good luck to you.

    Gary Bloomer
    The Direct Response Marketing Guy™
    Princeton, NJ, USA
  • Posted on 7/2/2011 at 10:22 PM Author
    Oh Dear! I am so confused as to why I am getting these responses for my request.
    I am a single mother of 3 boys who is a devote christian and gives in mission endlessly. Any chance it's okay to want to attract a more challenging and more financial rewarding job as my boys leave me and go off to college.

    I'm looking to start a blog to share with business owners what I do by giving them clues and advice. I would like to share things I have done in other companies like theirs. I am not a marketing person, hence my attraction to communicate with you all. If I were to have a calling card what might I put on the card to attract them to the blog?
    Once again I apologize for any improper communication obviously I need a it of help here. Regardless I have a lot to share with the world of business.

    Thank you all once again.
    Kari
  • Posted on 7/3/2011 at 3:53 PM Accepted
    1) Gary Blommer is right, and you are right. So let us see if we can figure out a way for you to "first, provide value" with a blog. A blog is a good arrow to have in one`s quiver. One has to start somewhere, and a blog appeals to you.

    2) The puzzle master is a great metaphor for you. You have multiple skills. A business has multiple problems. You help put the pieces of the puzzle together. You can do some nice images with that, create puzzle contests, etc. Try a variation of the puzzle master theme as your calling card.

    3) Now, finally, to answer your blogging question: The Internet guru who specializes in blogging is out of Australia. Yaro Starak, www.entrepreneurs-journey.com. Also read his long blog "ten top ways to make money on the Internet" where he reveals just how hard and how long he had to struggle to make any money blogging:
    https://www.entrepreneurs-journey.com/5292/top-10-methods-to-make-money-onl...

    Do NOT spend any money on any Iternet "how to make money on line" products. No. No. But do start thinking hard about how you are going to use your website and your knowledge to help more businesses = market yourself. Consider an electronic newsletter. Also take a look at how Brendon Buchard, www.brendonburchard.com (U.S.) and Sean D´Souza, www.psychotactics.com, (from India, based in New Zealand) present their business products and services.

    After doing this research (and more -- and don't believe all that hype you will see about one guru or another having made 999 trillion dollars with three hours work on the beach either), go back and interview some of your key customers. Ask them why they buy from you, what they see as your USP - which I like to translate as "unusual selling proposition."

    With your multiple qualifications, you may be the right person to quarterback complicated outsourcing and offshoring projects. If that could be of interest to you, take a look at sites such as www.elance.com and read up on that, try outsourcing some little projects as an experiment.

    Finally, for some encouragement: do you know about Madam C. J. Walker (1867 - 1919)? Her parents were slaves. Both her parents were dead by the time she was 7. She married at 14. She was a widow at 20, with a daughter, later remarrying and divorcing. The most she ever earned with menial labor was about $1.50 a week As if life were not already tough enough, she hair started falling out while she was still in her 30s. She was going bald!

    She turned that catastrophe into an opportunity by finding a cure for her illness, then selling that cure door to door, then selling other hair care products.

    She was smart, tough, and relentless about reaching her goals. She died young, just 51 or 52 years old, but owning a factory, with an international salesforce of 40,000 persons, a multimillionaire and major philanthropist, cf. Wikipedia. She accomplished all this in what was very much a man`s world. U.S. women were not allowed to vote during her lifetime. (They got the vote a year after she died.)

    Regards,
    JH
  • Posted by mgoodman on 7/3/2011 at 4:13 PM Moderator
    You're getting the responses you're getting because we know that you're starting with a solution (i.e., blogging) rather than defining the target audience and the problem. You have a solution looking for a problem, and that's not the way good marketing works.

    Start by defining your primary target audience. Be as specific as you can be. Where are they located? What are they doing now? What is their biggest problem? How do they make decisions to bring in someone like you? Is this new to them, or are you just the next in a long line of folks who try to solve their problem? How do they look for solutions to their problem?

    When you have answers to these kinds of questions, then you can decide if blogging is the right way to attract their attention. Maybe it is. Maybe it's not.

    You've stated your question as though you'd already done this analysis and determined that starting a blog is the right strategic approach. We know that's probably not going to be the case -- or that blogging is only part of the solution. Without the other parts, it's likely to be a one-handed clap.

    Maybe we're trying to be too nice and not tell it like it is. We're certainly not against blogging as a marketing tool. We're just keenly aware, as marketers, that you need to begin by being very clear about your objective, your primary target audience, and your marketing strategy. Otherwise you'll probably spin your wheels a lot and invest a lot of emotional energy in activities that don't get you any closer to your objective.


    P.S. Your gender, marital status, number of children and religious beliefs are not relevant to this issue. I can appreciate how challenging it is to be a single parent, but your clients don't care, and they're the ones who will be making the decision to hire you or not. They want someone who can solve their problem.
  • Posted by mgoodman on 7/3/2011 at 4:26 PM Moderator
    You wrote:

    Target audience: small business owners and administrative staff. Usually a company with less than 10 people in their admin, but usually more like 2.

    They are from any industry (professional to manufacturing and much more)

    Do you know how many millions of people there are in the target audience you've defined? You need to be much more selective/specific. It will cost you a fortune to create awareness among all those folks, and it will be all but impossible to have a single message that's highly relevant to all of them.

    Start by defining the geography you want to serve -- a city or county, perhaps. Then identify a few specific companies you think might be good candidates and research them and their needs. Etc. When you start with the whole world as your target audience, it's easy to become overwhelmed by the enormity of the task. Better to start small/simply, and then expand as you have some success, learn what works and what doesn't, and refine your marketing strategy.

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