(A primer on writing a good tagline for your company brand)
Copyright © 2010 by Max Nomad for Bohemian Griot Publishing, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

When it comes to building your company’s brand name recognition, coming up with a good tagline is second only to adopting a good company logo.

And just like with the logo, many small businesses make the mistake of overlooking its importance. At first glance, a tagline just looks like a clever turn of phrase associated with a company logo. While this is true to an extent, there is far more at work beneath the surface. A tagline is a short sentence that, when used in conjunction with your logo, communicates a single but powerful brand message designed to resonate strongly with your target market. In short, a well-thought out tagline is designed to make potential customers decide to spend their money with you instead of your competition.

Whether abstract or literal, serious, humorous, or stoic, a good tagline should be used to do one or more of the following:

• Convey the major qualities of your brand
• Express your company vision or mission
• Emphasize your competitive advantages or what sets you apart from the competition
• Align your message with your target market
• Draw attention to a new direction your business is taking
• Make a promise to fulfill a deep-seated need or desire

The level of complexity behind these deceptively simple phrases is the reason why copywriters and advertising agencies are often hired to come up with them. Below are a few approaches that are commonly used while brainstorming taglines, followed by some memorable examples:

• Call to action (most memorable taglines use this method) – Nike’s “Just Do It.”
• Single words (always good in threes) as benefits — Pepto Bismal’s “Coats, Soothes, Relieves.”
• Connecting a product/service feature with an abstract need — Dasani’s “DASANI water. Can’t live without it.”
• Make a promise — General Electric’s “We bring good things to life.”
• Attention to the risk of not using product/service — Michelin Tires “Because So Much is Riding on your Tires.”
• Connect the tagline to logo’s imagery — Allstate Insurance “You’re in Good Hands.”

While there is more art than science involved with creating a tagline, the great ones always have several of the following attributes:

• Simple
• Original (uniquely yours)
• Memorable
• Unconventional
• Positive
• Personable
• Believable / Authentic
• Succinct
• Relevant
• Humorous
• Provocative
• Persuasive

Along with the tagline creative process, here a few other pointers to keep in mind:

• If you’re brainstorming your own tagline, keep a dictionary and thesaurus handy and note every idea, no matter how silly or irrelevant it may seem. It’s a mystery how the human mind makes associations between words and concepts. Some of the best ideas are born out of seemingly unrelated sources.

• If all else fails, include your Unique Selling Proposition in your tagline—what your company does best and why anyone should care. This is an especially good move if your business name doesn’t adequately say what you do.

• A company tagline is subject to change every so many years, especially if a company has changed or needs to showcase new services. A good example of this is UPS and how they changed from “What can brown do for you?” to “We [heart] logistics” with the goal of bringing attention to their new non-shipping related services.

• Regardless of what your business does, your tagline creates a first impression. People will remember a good tagline even before a company name. On that same note, having years of equity built up in an old tagline can work for or against your company. Ultimately it’s a promise of some sort, and if your company’s product or service doesn’t live up to that promise, your company image is in serious trouble. An example of this can be seen with the oil company BP. They adopted the tagline “Beyond Petroleum” back in the early 80s and successfully groomed it over the next three decades — until the catastrophe in the Gulf during the summer of 2010. BP’s reputation has, figuratively and almost literally, become mud in the aftermath of that ecological, financial and public relations disaster. People hear BP and think incompetence and massive oil spill. And in all three cases, no one is certain how long it will take to clean up the mess.

• Taglines with words or phrases that can become “dated” should be avoided. An example of this can be seen with the iconic Hip-Hop music label “Def Jam Recordings” (even though it’s a company brand and not a tagline). Founded in the early 80s, the company was originally named “Def Jam Records” with the intention of reaching young Hip-Hop fans by using New York City B-Boy slang that was in vogue at the time (Def was synonymous with “excellent”, and a Jam referred to a great song, party, or a concert). The only reason the company name is still relevant these days is because of the legendary status of the brand itself and its artists. The original impact associated with the meaning of the name is largely lost on the youth of today. While the word “Jam” is still valid slang in some circles, anyone that still uses “Def” to praise something (and isn’t being sarcastic) is probably either an overzealous fan of early 80s Hip-Hop or old enough to have grandchildren.

• If the impact or meaning of a tagline becomes dated it should be put to rest, regardless of how memorable it is. An example of this is AT&T’s “Reach out and touch someone” slogan. Originally introduced in 1979, anyone of school age or older can probably still sing the jingle. Today, thanks to the emergence of the Internet, cell phones, and other radical shifts in communication technology, talking to people on the other side of the planet is just as cheap and easy as talking to someone in your neighborhood. In a way that no one could have foreseen, technology took away that tagline’s impact, relegating it to an afterlife in nostalgic memories and Pop-Culture Trivia questions.

• Never use an exclamation point at the end of your tagline. Doing so cheapens your message and weakens your brand, regardless of how strong they are.

When it comes to your brand, don’t rush the process of coming up with a good tagline. A bad tagline is far worse than no tagline at all. If you’re unable to come up with a smart tagline, there are copywriters who specialize in just that. To begin your search, start by Googling for ‘tagline copywriters’. There is always time to update your brand with a good tagline at a later date.

In summary, the secret life of a great tagline is simple: when it is combined your company name and a well-designed logo—and all three work well together—they can become the best (and least expensive) form of advertising for your company.

#####

> If any of you have some ideas or things that you
> do to keep you motivated, would you please share them with me?

Greetings,

Before I go any further, please forgive me if the paragraphs seem disconnected. I’m answering this on the fly between working on other projects throughout the day as the thoughts come to me. Whenever my motivation has been low for whatever reason, I’ve always found it best to take it back old school: Write in baby steps. Set aside at LEAST 10 minutes a day to writing, whether it’s working on a manuscript, notes regarding parts of a manuscript, researching stuff for your manuscript, ideas for other stories, random thoughts, or even reading about writing as a craft and thinking about how to apply it to your manuscript. The beauty in setting aside this 10 minutes a day is that even if you’ve got a family and kids it can be done–just take a notebook or a book with you into the bathroom. The trick here is to come to terms with the fact that no matter how high your personal standards are, everything you write CANNOT be “Hemmingway” — so don’t try to make it as such. Some days you will write great stuff, other days it may come out garbage. Don’t be afraid to delete anything from a manuscript, whether it’s a single word, paragraph, or an entire chapter. The key is to just write like it’s a nervous habit. I’m constantly learning that the more you write and learn about the craft by reading about structure or analyzing other books and movies based on books, the better your writing will become.

Think of writing like acting, singing, or even weightlifting — it’s essentially a muscle. The more you exercise it, the stronger it gets. Start with that consistent 10 minutes a day and you’ll be up to an hour a day and beyond pretty quick. Once you’re at that point, even on the days when you don’t physically write, your mind is still at work on the manuscript. For me it kinda feels like what I’d imagine how a Director visualizes shots while storyboarding a movie. Another thing that I’ve found that helps me is to take time out from writing prose to developing the characters that are going to be in the manuscript. I used to scribble character notes on index cards; now I just keep all that in a string of notes files. There are also programs floating around out there like “New Novelist” that can help with this fleshing out the dimensions of your characters. If you’re into the basics and writing something other than simple genre fiction, define your character’s Hopes, Dreams and Fears. Once you’ve got that, you’ll notice that your characters will come to life because now they have purpose beyond just names on a page. Once they have purpose you’ll probably find it harder to have “writer’s block” since even if you’re not working on the manuscript itself, you’ll be consciously and unconsciously digging up all sorts of things that will make your characters grow. One thing that has worked for me was putting together a Writer’s Kit. Mine has been “The Black Bag”, a Black leather [laptop] backpack. It contains the following:

• a digital notebook (used to be a laptop, now just a PocketPC),
• a digital recorder (the Olympus DM-1 with 10 hours of recording time has proven to be invaluable for on-the-spot interviews and taking mental notes when I’m unable to stop and write),
• a journal-style notebook with 3 or 4 pens (including a highlighter and red pen),
• a printed copy of my current manuscript for markup,
• an MP3 player (that also doubles as a portable data storage device),
• misc batteries and power adapters,
• and sometimes a digital camera (when traveling or for special occasions).

The Black Bag has enabled me to capture sights and sounds and write almost all of my manuscript away from home–in airports, trains, planes, bars, and restaurants from Virginia to California to New York to the Virgin Islands and everywhere between. I can’t say what will work for you, but this has enabled me to consistently work on my manuscript at *least* 2 hours a day, whether it’s writing, compiling info, or research. Anyway, hope some of those thoughts and ideas help.

Good luck with it.

– Max

> Here’s my dilemma: I start a new novel every two years. I get 50-75
> pages into it and I start to lose interest or get a new job or start
> exercising again or get a new flat-screen or …. Ok. You get the
> picture. I’ve started working on a new novel now. I’m determined.
> I even unplugged the television. Any advice??????

First piece of advice, don’t start at Page #1.

Make sure dramatic structure applies to the basic structure of your story…

If Freytag’s Triangle is new to you, click here and start reading.

One of the things I’ve been seeing consistently with novel submissions from many first time novelists is that they’ve put together a story with some interesting scenes and character sketches but has no actual structure to it. Simply put, when that happens the characters don’t know where to go, what to do, or even WHY they’re doing it. Once at that point the writer runs the risk of having everything feel forced or, more commonly, the novel’s momentum completely stalls out and ends up in a proverbial desk drawer.

> Ok. Max. This is some good stuff. I took a look at the Wiki article also. I’ve
> generally approached novel writing as an “attack the head first” approach. But
> perhaps a “soft underbelly” may be the most efficient point of inital attack.
> Max, and others, are you suggesting perhaps writing the climax first?…

Glad the approach is working for you…

Personally, I tend to write stories alot like a film production. Movies are rarely ever filmed in chronological order but schedule their shooting based on a variety of factors. Sometimes major actors have prior contractual agreements (e.g. – also on a TV show) and the shooting schedules partially overlap so they shoot scenes that particular actor isn’t in. Sometimes if a movie takes place across several remote locations the production team will spend up to a few months in each location, shooting all the applicable scenes, then shoot the remainder on sets in a soundstage.

When it comes to your question about writing the climax first I’d say that’s more of a judgment call on your part. If your main climax is built up from a complex chain of events that cause all the characters and events to converge, then yes, writing the main climax first might be the best move. By writing that climax first you can define all the contributing factors then work backwards with each element.

Let’s take that movie “Castaway” (starring Tom Hanks) for example. Because this was about him being stranded on a deserted island, the first major climax in that story is when the flight he was on crashed into the Pacific ocean. By writing that climax first (or very early on in the writing process) you could define what items he has on him at the time of the crash (like the pocketwatch heirloom his girlfriend gave him with her face inside) and then work backwards to define the girlfriend and their relationship as well as all the events leading up to why he was on that fateful flight. Because a majority of the rest of the movie takes place on that island, this climax also defines some of the pieces of civilization that wash ashore with him, establishing certain themes that carry through the rest of the movie (e.g. – Wilson the volleyball).

At other times I’m prone to map the basic chain events but write the most powerful scenes first. Sometimes it’s because they’re critical lynch-pins to the rest of the story. Other times it’s because the scene required research and all that reading is fresh in my mind. Still, other times I might write that first major climax before anything else because it also affords me the chance to make the story leading up to that climax less predictable and I can better control the pace leading up to that climax. another thing I’ve noticed is that if I’m writing a story in a linear fashion, sometimes I have a bad habit of “telegraphing my punch” as far as the upcoming climax is concerned. Not sure if I do it because I’m anxious to get to the climax or that it’s hard to keep it a secret, but when it comes to working backwards it’s easier to remember “Okay, the reader wouldn’t know _______ at this point.” so it’s easy to conceal things (even verbiage that hints at something coming) and make for a bigger surprise once the reader reads it linearly.

Hope that helps… good luck with it.

> Does anyone have experience using voice activated software to write
> your books? I experimented with a program some years ago, but found it
> too slow. I imagine the software has improved since then.
>
> I would like to hear from anyone who has used it, and became more
> prolific using a program that writes down everything you say, instead
> of having to type out all of your work.

A few years ago, as part of a book project I experimented with using Dragon NaturallySpeaking package to transcribe dictation files recorded using my digital recorder. After training the software (I had to read a pre-set page to it a few times so it could learn my speaking patterns), I learned the following:

• Although the software is pretty accurate with it’s transcription (and steadily getting better), it’s not foolproof. Expect to edit your work thoroughly because many of the errors will also slip by the average spell checker (e.g. – read versus red, lead versus led, etc).
• Since it’s trained to your voice, it does a quirky job if you’re trying to transcribe a recorded interview or conversation with one or more people.
• Using this to help write a book would be handiest if you are writing a personal memoir or recording stories being told by an elderly person (or anyone else that has had to tell such tales many times).

Regardless of what you’re writing, the downside is that it will show you that we form spoken sentences and structure stories in a radically different fashion than how we write them. We tend to repeat ourselves, cut our words (depending on regional accent), rely heavily on cliches and colloquialisms, attempt to revise sentences on the fly to see what sounds better, and while we’re formulating sentences we tend to throw in unnecessary words and sounds like “uh”, “and-uhh”, “ummm”, “like”, “so”, “and so on”, and etc. The first time I saw my first transcribed story attempt on the screen I felt like I was reading the ramblings of a babbling idiot.

After all the editing and cleanup, I came to realize that this method sucked as a replacement for just typing everything into a word processor. I found that I was better off using this method for transcribing collections of dictated notes and thoughts, saved to files that I could print as references or cut pieces and insert into a manuscript.

Good luck with it…

Max

> Hi Everyone,
> … I’ve been working on my first story for almost two years now and almost
> finished with the rough draft (excluding re-writes, critiques, etc. to get to
> my final draft). Am I going to slow or what is the normal length of time for
> first-time authors to complete a story.

Outside of the classroom, there is no “normal” amount of time for writers to complete a story. Everyone has their own speeds and writing processes. If you’re new to writing fiction you might be better off focusing on craft versus just getting it done. The reason for this is simple: the need to write a quality story that flows well. You’re not training to run a 440 relay race. You’re striving to write good fiction.

> Also, I’ve had a real problem getting consistent friends to read portions of my
> story and give me specific, definitive feedback on the work–other than a
> nebulous thumbs up. Has anyone else experienced issues finding friends or
> people to read portions of their work and provide feedback? What are
> some options?

In my opinion, and please don’t take this wrong, you need to ask yourself whether it’s more important to write the story well or try to bask in some early praise before you get published? The reason I ask is that it’s tough to find prolific writers who also have the time to provide solid, constructive critiques. They’re either too busy writing or, quite candidly, they’re new to the game too. A hundred positive critiques is the same as a hundred negative critiques in that they are usually all very different and if you give people your manuscript and ask them to give a comment on what you’ve written they will give a comment, whether or not it is valid. Don’t waste your time using friends and family because more often than not you’ll get polite praise and accolades that are alot like eating a diet of cake icing — tasty yet full of nutritionally-useless empty calories that will ultimately slow you down when it comes to developing your story. Writing your story well shouldn’t be about feeding your ego; it’s about writing and revising your story along the way and refining your plot and characters to write the best story possible. Once you’ve got a grasp on it, you’ll have what you need to write novel after novel and know how to keep the readers happily sucked in.

There are critique group mailing lists like De Griot Space (used to be at degriotspace.com but the link wasn’t coming up) which are great places to start. The catch to that list is the fact that there are monthly quotas that all members must meet, both when it comes to the number of submissions as well as number of critiques of other members’ works. Depending on your schedule, keeping up with such requirements may slow you down as well.

Bottom line, from my own experiences I’ve found that unless you join or put together a very small critique group (less than 8 members seems to work best), your best bet is to spend time reading books on good fiction writing techniques and occasionally set aside some time to read and analyze works of fiction by authors you like — see how those authors put the stories together. Look at the plot conflicts. Understand the various character archetypes and techniques for telling the story while sticking to word economy.

Outside of that, the only way you’ll get solid feedback from a truly dedicated manuscript reader is to find a freelance editor and PAY that person. Keep in mind that a developmental/content editor can charge as much as $5.00 or $6.00USD per page to start. To find some freelancers, check out Editorial Freelance Association.

Best of luck on your quest…

“There’s nothing new under the Sun.”
– King Solomon

The short answer to your question is that spending alot of time worrying about how to protect your book concept is a waste of time.

It would be easy to recommend the use of Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) or NDNCAs and having people sign them each time you share your book concept. It would make people liable if they shared or used your concept without your permission. On the real, I wouldn’t bother with that approach. You’ll probably come off like you’re suffering from delusions of grandeur if you did.

For what it’s worth, it seems like the lurking fear of the Dastardly Idea Snatcher is almost always connected to writers who either (1) have been writing (with the intention of getting published) for less than a year, (2) haven’t finished their first book/novel yet or (3) haven’t ever had their work picked up by a paying publisher. The times that I’ve had writers submit manuscripts for my review and they were rabidly paranoid about ‘theft’, more often than not their concept was structurally unusable, the story was a slice of their life thinly disguised as fiction, or their writing was straight up garbage and it’d be too expensive to pay some editors to fix it.

Here are some down-n-dirty truths about book concepts:

• No matter how fantastic you might think your book concept is, the reality is that 99.98% of the serious writers you tell about it won’t try to steal it. It’s not because everyone is honest and well-meaning. More often than not, it’s because they really don’t care. They might pretend to care or they’re listening only because they care about you and what you have to say. When it comes to book concepts, every seasoned writer has at least several of them swimming around in their heads that they plan to turn into a book one day, not including the concepts they’ve already started writing or put down in notes form. Whether they say so or not, most writers like to believe that their book ideas are better than almost everyone else’s. In their minds stealing your concept would be like a diamond miner trying to steal a cubic zirconia. Aside from that, on the occasions where writers seek to copy book concepts its usually due to the fact that a certain book or story type has enjoyed huge commercial success and they want to cash in on some of that money. The music industry does the same thing, hence the reason why it seems like everytime a Beyonce hits the scene and skyrockets up the charts, at least two or three Rhiannas and Ciarras will pop up with the same style songs and videos, all from competing record labels.
• Another reality is that if you’re spending alot of time describing very intimate details of your book concept to friends/family/other writers, you’re not spending enough time actually writing it. There’s a reason that writing is a very solitary kind of activity and it’s not because writers have to be anti-social. Writing a book is nowhere near as much fun as the emotional high of bragging about the story you’re writing. Also, talking about ideas over and over again have a way of taking the magic and creative steam out of your drive to put in the work to make it happen, especially if you’re discussing it with people that don’t believe in you or don’t really know what it is to write a book. When asked about a book you’re working on, unless you’re talking to an agent or acquisitions editor, keep the talk pretty general and minimal, no matter how much you want to tell the world about your master work in progress. Think about it like this — don’t spend much time talking about your book because it has no dollar value until the manuscript is finished.
• Your book concept is your vision. If you’re meant to write it, no one is going to write the story like you’re going to write it.
• “The Poor Man’s Copyright” (mailing a copy to yourself) does NOT work so don’t even bother doing it. When you finish your manuscript and it’s edited, go to http://www.copyright.gov, download Form TX, fill it out, put a copy of the manuscript along with the $45 dollar registration fee in an Express Mail envelope and send it in. The Copyright is legally binding as of the postmark of when it’s mailed; 4-6 weeks later you’ll get the copyright form back with a certification seal on it. Again, a complete waste of time to think about until you’ve FINISHED a manuscript because you can’t copyright or trademark a book concept.
• And as far as the worry about being sued because of inspiration, stop worrying about silly stuff — finish the book first. An editor can always help you go back in later to clean things up.

Good luck on the quest…

– Max Nomad

> What was/is the motivating factor that caused you to begin to write?
(from a question originally posted on BWRC Collective)

There were three main factors that caused me to start writing seriously as a form of expression:

• At the age of 7, I discovered a love for Art and had begun to dabble in comics and cartooning by the age of 9. I loved the concept of telling a story with illustrations. By the age of 10 I had applied for (and received) my first Copyright.
• At the age of 12, my father had brought home one of the early personal computers, an Apple ][+ (circa 1981). This gave birth to my love for Computers and led me off into a world of programming as well as doing rudimentary graphics (programs like Photoshop didn’t hit the market until 1988 while I was in college).
• Sometime before my 14th birthday was the first time I had ever been questioned by the FBI. Because my parents didn’t fully understand what all could be done with that computer, their idea of “parental supervision” was being secure in the knowledge that I wasn’t out running the streets. Instead, my friends and I had become computer hackers and almost all our mischief involved a keyboard and monitor. By the time I was 18, if I had been arrested for all the computer crimes I’d committed I would have been in prison until my late 20s or early 30s.

The stunts my friends and I pulled during our teen years in the 80s were borderline the kind of stuff that most other people only saw in movies. Granted, the computers weren’t as flashy and the closest we ever got to a Pentagon computer as a “SAC” newsline, but the thrill was just the same, especially once I got my first laptop and went mobile. Even a decade before most people had ever heard of the Internet my friends and I were already communicating with other hackers on global computer networks and there seemed to be no end to what exploits awaited us. For me, it was like living in the digital equivalent of the Wild West, and between the stories I lived and the stories I heard, they were better than fiction. During my freshman year, among the books I’d chosen to analyze for English Lit class were “The Price of the Ticket” by James Baldwin and “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” by Hunter S. Thompson. Baldwin spoke to my deep craving to explore and understand all the facets of being Black in America. Thompson spoke to my inner social commentator and the unpredictable, often freewheeling cyber-criminal misadventures I was usually getting into at the time. Together, both authors spoke to my understanding of being an American, an African-American and my Love (sometimes Love-Hate) relationship with this country.

The resurgence of my need to write as an additional creative outlet was born from that — and it has yet to go away. Today, Writing, along with Art and Computers, make up the creative triad that keeps me going, career-wise and on a personal note.

The Bamboo Chronicles, as a book concept, started sometime in late April 1989 while I was in college. That’s when I was first introduced to the members of Verbal Threat, a local Hip-Hop group. It was nearing the end of the semester and I was just shy of my 21st birthday; the rest of the bunch was about the same age or a few years older. Following the advice of some older musicians, the group put together the loose beginnings of a tour that covered parts of Virginia and North Carolina. Over those next few weeks I became part of the group’s management (if it could be called that). Back then I always kept a black bookbag with me that contained a Toshiba 1200f, an early model laptop with dual 3.5″ floppy disk drives as its only form of storage. Along with being brought on as a co-manager and wearing many hats, one of the things I did during my downtime was to start taking notes. Because I was getting a minor in Writing and a huge fan of Hunter S. Thompson, I had been experimenting with short stories using a style akin to Gonzo Journalism. My early notes with Verbal turned into a journal of sorts, haphazardly maintained from the Spring of 1989 to the Fall of 1991 with the goal of being the one to document the group’s rise to fame.

During those years my journal entries accumulated on floppy disks and ended up being stored in a makeshift archive in one of my dresser drawers. In 2002, about a year after I started BGP and was working on a book concept dealing with the various concepts of Freedom, I was inspired to dig up those old journal entries. Originally I thought they would work well for being a source of “coming of age” stories for that book. Since those stories grew to be larger than the sum of the book itself, I ended up splitting them off entirely into their own work. Throughout those times, particularly on the summer tours, aside from the music and the shows, the common thread that seemed to tie all the memories together was Marijuana. Among Rock, Rap and Reggae musicians, smoking weed to them is like Coffee and Donuts to Cops — both a bad stereotype and a lingering truth at the same time. Thanks to a heavy New York Jamaican/Rastafarian influence within group, most of the time the guys referred to any kind of rolling papers as “bambu”, thus the choice to package these stories as “The Bamboo Chronicles”.

Originally I wanted to use the word “Bambu” instead of “Bamboo” but the former was also the brand name of a rolling paper. Concerned about possible trademark infringement, I contacted the company and managed to reach the owner on the first try. She was an older lady with a phone demeanor that stoicly pleasant with a hint of suspicion in her tone. I figured she was probably an ex-hippie-turned-businesswoman., prone to be sympathetic enough to give her blessings to a small fish like me working on his first novel. She was okay with it — but her attorneys wasted no time telling her otherwise. The next thing I knew I receive an email saying “No” and an explanation about their releasing some new brand of blunt papers. After that I couldn’t even get a returned call.

(more later as these things come to me)

– Max Nomad