There are over 23,000 questions—and 154,000 answers—in our Know-How Exchange, and if you peruse the archive you'll start to see a recurring theme from small businesspeople: "I need a tagline."

According to Tate Linden of the Stokefire blog, "It seems that companies use [taglines] because they're supposed to have something under their name and above their address on their business cards—but they're not quite sure what it's supposed to do."

Because of this, companies settle for one-size-fits-all taglines that speak in generic terms about turning dreams into reality or making customers number one; alternately, they offer a seemingly ubiquitous three-word combination like "Creativity. Strategy. Execution." that not only sounds pompous but could apply to any company at all.

Linden says your tagline should:

• Represent the spirit of your brand.
• Apply specifically to you, and not to anyone else.
• Involve risk: an unexpected rhyme, word choice or attitude.
• Speak to your target audience, and aim to prompt an action.

The Po!nt: Linden points to a post by Spike Jones at the Brains on Fire Blog. "Never pick a tagline that just anyone can use," says Jones. "Ever." And how can you tell if yours could just as easily apply to a competitor? He suggests putting their logo above your current tagline. "Does it fit?" he asks. "Does it work? Then you have a bad tagline."

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