Know-How Exchange : Taglines/Names

In furtherance to what M. Goodman has said, I would take a slightly different approach. You are already serving quite a specific niche - and as a psychologist you ought to have some insight into the clients you deal with. Even if they were for your last business, they will have a certain character.

There will be ones you didn't get on with too.

Because if you can focus on your best client's character your advertising will be far more powerful than otherwise. Tailor your "compelling benefit" just for them, and they will love it. Others will like it too. Remember that they would only have liked it, even if you had targeted them specifically. It is part of what I describe as "the silent dog whistle for clients". Oh, and this is the complete antithesis to branding - which is both expensive and very poor advertising.

Focus your copy on the problems that lead people to use your services. Again this sort of insight should be second nature for a psychologist. You are providing answers after all, so ask their questions for them and then sort them out with the results when they have an appointment.

"Men and Relationships Counselling" - confused? frustrated? form your thoughts with us - then answer them.

Or something like that ...

Moriarty xx

Men and Relationships Counselling – deal with it.

Fall Deeper In Love
Find Lasting Happiness

Interesting responses. I tend to go for the problem focused approach mixed with solution provisions, however, I am looking for creative tag lines here and yet to be completely inspired.

Thankyou for the comments so far, I'm new to this and recognise I haven't given much away as yet. However, I have written some notes on the issues the practice works with, the experience of my clients and some of the outcomes of my work. As follows:

RELATIONSHIP PROBLEMS
Communication, Conflict, Trust , Affairs/Betrayal, Parenting, Separation, Divorce, Blended Families
Step Parenting, Intimacy/Sexual problems

INDIVIDUAL PROBLEMS
Confidence and Self Esteem, Anxiety, Depression, Anger,Stress and Relaxation, Sexuality and Gender, Trauma, Addictions, Childhood Abuse

CAREER ISSUES
Career Development, Life-work balance, Work related stress, Return to workforce

CLIENT EXPERIENCES
Confused, Stuck, Overwhelmed, Depressed, Anxious, Sadness , Withdrawn, Closed
Avoiding, Procrastinating, Angry, Distant, Unmotivated, Scared, Numb, Blank, Irritable
Intolerant, Tired, Poor sleep, Over active mind, Sense of Helplessness , Sense of Powerlessness
Stressed, Controlling and out of control, Stubborn, Lack of intimacy, Not communicating, Distracted
Cloudy mind, Too busy, Verbally Abusive, Physically Abusive, Emotionally Abusive,, Pleaser
Betrayed, Mistrust, Demanding, Self critical, Critical of others, Over burdened, Misunderstood, Grief and Loss

SOLUTION/OUTCOMES FOCUSED
More accepting of difficult feelings
Less judgemental of self and others
Increase intimacy
Clarity and understanding
More relaxed
Increase in Self belief
More confident
Relieved
Reassured
Open communication
More flexible with self and others

Howard,

Those phrases look like keywords for a psychology textbook. Let us do our work by giving us what we need, as marketers, to create a tagline that will work for you. We don't need to know what you do or what problems you deal with. We need to know about your primary target audience and what important benefit they're seeking. The tagline isn't about YOU and what YOU do, it's about what THEY need and what THEY think is important.

If this were a project assigned to a marketing professional, we'd probably recommend letting us talk with a dozen folks in your primary target audience. We'd ask them a few high-gain questions about their needs, beliefs, attitudes, habits, and practices -- and their expectations from psychological counseling. We'd listen hard, and take detailed notes. We'd be listening especially for the words they use and the emotional expressions of their most compelling need.

We would probably NOT be asking YOU about the psychology terms and concepts that are important to YOU.

So, given that, can you tell us more about your target audience's most important need and the most important benefit they are seeking -- in the terms they would use to describe them? You want your tagline to speak to them, right? That's why we have to know what kind of "monkey chatter" is going on in THEIR brains. The more specific the better. And at an emotional level, if at all possible.

my previous post with the Client Experience list are from the horses mouth so to speak. It's what clients are describing as their experience of their problems when they talk with me by phone and in their initial consultations. Here is that list again:


CLIENT EXPERIENCES
Confused, Stuck, Overwhelmed, Depressed, Anxious, Sadness , Withdrawn, Closed
Avoiding, Procrastinating, Angry, Distant, Unmotivated, Scared, Numb, Blank, Irritable
Intolerant, Tired, Poor sleep, Over active mind, Sense of Helplessness , Sense of Powerlessness
Stressed, Controlling and out of control, Stubborn, Lack of intimacy, Not communicating, Distracted
Cloudy mind, Too busy, Verbally Abusive, Physically Abusive, Emotionally Abusive,, Pleaser
Betrayed, Mistrust, Demanding, Self critical, Critical of others, Over burdened, Misunderstood, Grief and Loss

The target market are men who are struggling in life and can afford to pay for professional support. They are men who are unhappy and have found their usual resources to cope don't always work, like overworking, drinking too much, spending too much money, having affairs, and many other ways of avoiding or distracting from their feelings and thoughts.

Howard,
you say "usual resources to cope don't always work, like overworking, drinking too much, spending too much money, having affairs" there will always be a reason for this behavior. What is more, with your best clients, there will be a startling commonality.

If you can discover this trait - because it is the key to your business and your advertising.

With this information we can then start to make something of your tagline.

These threads are really useful for me to try and articulate the core of my practice. Men strive to be successful in life and become the hero in any situation, either at work or at home. They want to save people, fix people and make things better. An appearance of strength and control of emotions is tightly held on to and is often seen as a great attribute in the early days of a relationship. The problem is, that this show of strength is often a way of avoiding deeper, negative feelings. Society brings up guys to be big, strong and powerful, but deep inside a great many feel weak and lacking in confidence. To act like a hero can be a mask of fear to show a vulnerable side, however men are not immune from the fears and insecurities that all human beings face. A sense of failure and inadequacy lurks in most people. Rather than feel this guilt and failure, most men will subdue their feelings and pretend that they don't have them!

Become a Super Man, Not Superman

Howard,
you say "Men strive to be successful in life and become the hero in any situation, either at work or at home. They want to save people, fix people and make things better. An appearance of strength and control of emotions is tightly held on to and is often seen as a great attribute in the early days of a relationship. The problem is, that this show of strength is often a way of avoiding deeper, negative feelings."

There will always be a **reason for this behavior**. Think hard and dig deep - and forget trying to rationalize what your clients do. Emotions lie outside the rational, logical part of the thinking brain. They usually control it in ways that to most people are quite alarming.

It is this level that the best marketers work at. It is the realm of the powerful tagline.

Moriarty

Thank you for all the responses. Hope everyone had a great Xmas, and wishing you all a successful new year