Know-How Exchange : Taglines/Names

Since 83ideas.com doesn't tell me anything about your company, so your tagline needs to clarify your offering. While it may not be inspiring to you, nor catchy, it will help you to express what you do. For example: Website & Software Development. You might also want to state who you help and/or where in your tagline.

I hate to have to tell you this, but you're going about this backward. First express your vision and mission. Then develop a rough business and marketing plan (especially a positioning statement). Then it's time for a name and tagline. You want the name and tagline to work together, and you want them to convey the positioning statement to your primary target audience.

You only get one chance to do this right the first time. Putting a hurdle in your path -- like a name that has little to do with your mission or positioning statement -- is going to plague you for as long as you are in business. It also means the tagline is going to be doomed from the outset, because it has to communicate what you do AND what the benefit is for your target audience ... all in just a few words and with no real help from the name.

BTW, who exactly is your target audience? Where? And what makes you different from, and better than, the dozens (or hundreds/thousands) of other web development and consultancy companies out there?

Don't expect to duck the core issues and skate to success with fluff and a catchy tagline ... and a name that could fit just about any business.

Sorry if this is a bitter pill to swallow. You can ignore the advice if you like, but I'd feel guilty playing a game on your team that I believe you're guaranteed to lose. Better to shoot straight and hope you will ultimately thank me.

Since your company name doesn't tell potential business customers what your business does, let the tagline do that. Also, be specific in your tagline so that potential clients won't look at "83ideas" and think, "OMG, this guy is probably out of control."

So --
83ideas.com
Web development for medium-sized B2B businesses

or
83ideas.com
Independent web development for growing retail businesses

You get the idea -- think of your ideal customer and the words he/she would look for when seeking help from someone in your category. Then let your tagline reflect the phrase they would recognize as being a good fit for their needs. It's business, so be practical rather than poetic.