Loading...
Answers
MenuI have a startup, OppenUp.com my one liner is "A job search and video application tool. use it to apply or to promote yourself."what does this convey?
We offer a Craigslist type mapped video advertising posting for freelancers but focus in job visor applications
Answers
After reviewing your site I found there was a potential for confusion with openup.com which is a completely different site. How does the name reflect what you are providing? Would be good to explain this somewhere.
I also found the About Us page was way too vague and the FAQ's, while better, still did not really describe the value for the various stakeholders. The tabs are almost hidden down at the bottom right so the first impression a person gets is that I need to sign up to find out what it is all about. That can be a tough sell today.
Suggest shouting the message of what you offer and why you're offering it on your home page so people can see the value before they commit a link. People are hesitant to give you a personal link before they know what you can do for them.
I, like the previous response pointed out, that you should really focus on the companies that would be willing to use a new methodology for finding potential employees then perfect the process with a few clients.
Finally, when I looked at the Contact Us page I found it very sterile. There is really nothing on the site that indicates who is driving this concept and therefore gaining trust may be difficult. People want to exchange trust before they commit personal information. People buy from people the like and trust, what can you do to encourage that trust?
Took a look at your site this morning. I would strongly encourage you against a map interface. It's highly inefficient for the user and unlikely to get you good conversion.
I don't think your one-liner or for that matter, the current site does a good job of conveying a clear value proposition for a job seeker.
Your About Us page talks about tackling the problem of the Paper Resume whereas LinkedIn at 200m members and growing has effectively addressed this for job seekers and companies alike.
Two-sided marketplaces are incredibly difficult to build. I would encourage you to focus on companies and see whether they see value in having candidates answer predefined questions via video.
I also think that in the case of freelancers, either the quality of their previous work or the references from prior work are more compelling than video testimonials.
Happy to talk this through with you in more detail. While this might not be what you wanted to hear, I hope it's helpful.
Your branding is the first thing a prospect sees and it does half the selling job for you. In the same way that many people can write well but not many can sell you a car, the same thing is true when it comes to marketing. Just because someone can write doesn't mean they can write something that sells.
Your current tagline is ineffective and does almost nothing with its 50% of selling power. You need to craft one that is effective at selling, otherwise you are leaving a lot of money on the table.
For me I can't differentiate what you're doing from what has been beaten to death - is the target job seekers? If so, who?
I find the name OppenUp.com utterly puzzling. And I'd predict that the name will be forgotten (or misremembered) immediately after hearing it or seeing it, thereby nullifying most of your marketing efforts and requiring additional advertising expenditures to compensate ... unless, of course, your audience is composed mainly of the fans of objectivist poet, George Oppen!
Sorry if that's a bit bleak. Honestly, this is a clear example of when a name change is necessary.
Your name (and your domain name) are part of your brand. It's not simply a place holder for online content. A bad choice will cost you money. The opposite is also true. A good name / domain will render all your branding and marketing more efficient, which translates into a larger audience at less cost ... on an ongoing basis.
Since names / domains have financial implications, I recommend talking to a professional who does this stuff full time. I'm one (surprise surprise). But there are a few others on Clarity.fm as well.
Related Questions
-
My business offers two different types of services. Should I combine them in one webpage, or create two?
Two key concerns are 1. Customer confusion with the 2 offerings: Imagine being in an art gallery that sells photography training and fine art or a book store that tries to sell you fine art. Even if it's the same group of people, they may be in very different mind-sets and hence may not associate both together. 2. SEO challenges with mixed messages you're sending. Which keywords would you optimize for which part of the site? Advantage would be if the customer base is the same group of people, hence offering cross-sell opportunities. For instance, if your MAIN source of leads for the training site is the art site, then this would be more important. In general, I would suggest one site for one customer group. If there is likely to be a very high overlap, then same site, with multiple sub-sites might work. In matter of fact, it'll probably be EASIER to do two sites for this than one site. Your designer will thank you :) Then tastefully add cross-links in the places where someone is likely to use them. For instance the art gallery could have a post 'How I make art' and links to your other business there. And the photog training site would have your art pics with subtle on-image links to your art biz. While I'm not a branding expert, I do find that my engineering lead approach to challenges in Marketing/Sales usually works, and provides clarity and direction.PK
-
I just opened a small, upscale, boutique style hair salon. Any ideas on how to market?
I have no experience with salons, but marketing is my thing. So I'll give you some suggestions of what to think about, followed by what to do. Do you have clients already (let's say from your working days at another salon)? If so, you can start profiling them. You can ask them to fill out a form in exchange for a free gift (maybe one of those creams you use in the salon), or an entry to a raffle (where the prize is valuable). In the profiling, you want to look out for which neighborhoods they live in, what kinds of activities they like to do, what kinds of social events they love to do, and their occupations. Then, using each of those profile data, you can market to more prospects who share the same characteristics. For example, - You can set aside a budget to send flyers to specific neighborhoods. In order to get people into the door, maybe you can offer a certain procedure for free in exchange for opportunities to win new regular customers. (You could theoretically do this with Groupon too, but you have less control of who comes into your door) - You could set up joint venture relationships with organizations like ball room dancing schools, professional associations, etc. You could offer an exclusive discount with those groups to entice potential customers to try out your service. More opportunities for you to win regular customers. - With certain demographic data, you can probably make the same offer by advertising on Facebook. If you target specific enough, you can get the price of acquiring the lead to be pretty cheap. You would have to figure out your typical lifetime value of your customers before deciding whether advertising on Facebook would be worthwhile. One last thing, you can offer gifts for your existing customers if they refer you people. If you have any more questions, I'm happy to chat with you. Hit me up on this platform.SL
-
Is it standard practice for a product and company name to be the same? Should our product and company name remain the same?
The main advantage of having the company and the product/service sharing the same name is that it is much more cost effective to build the brand in the early stages. You also need to consider what relationship any future products are going to have with your first (if any) - do they complement, compete, same markets/customers, etc. Generally, you will be better off by keeping the names the same. Think about how you pitch your company vs the product - is it a different story? Which name do you want people to remember? Think about where the names would live - business cards, urls, websites, app (icon), signage, etc. There are countless successful examples of different brand naming structures that work - there is no "best" way. Keep it simple. We wrote a book on naming and identity design a few years back. Happy to send you the first chapter pdf to see if it can help. Dann Ilicic WOW BrandingDI
-
How do you get your first customers for a consulting business?
Back when I started LinkedIn wasn't as huge as it is now. I wish it was. I didn't have a large network and those networking sessions NEVER brought me any clients. I used to go to all sorts of them hoping to get clients. There were a couple of nibbles here and there, but never anything serious. The only thing that helped was reaching out DIRECTLY to people in my target market. That meant cold calls and cold emails. I'd sell myself while thinking about their needs. Once I got a few bites I'd build good rapport by keeping in touch, asking questions, repeating back what they were saying so that they knew I was on the same page and kept my promises. If I said I'd call them back next Tuesday at 2:15 I'd do so. Eventually I built trust with them without having a network, or an insane amount of experience. Oh and the most important thing about consulting is to LISTEN. When those first clients notice that you're truly listening and you're not selling the cookie cutter solutions everyone else is trying to sell them that's when you got them hooked. You start to understand their problems, fears, and see through their eyes and not just yours. A network will help, but in the beginning just good 'ol salesmanship will get the ball rolling.JC
-
Is it ok from a brand perspective to have different color schemes for your logo for different purposes?
Building a brand takes more than a logo. With that said, consistency is key for obtaining a competitive advantage that speaks to your market for longer. I would recommend against using different styles and colors for various purposes and instead maybe avoid using in lieu of the logo use maybe instead borders or patterns that use your logo's or brand colors. The idea of a logo is to engrave a mission or product into potential customers when they simply see the brand or logo... Once a logo is pushed and promoted you can strengthen that image by enforcing the brands colors through different materials or media :)HV