Do you have a tagline or a slogan?

What’s the difference you ask? Here’s my non-marketing-speak definition:

Slogans are rather generic and can apply to different industries. And taglines show a unique and specific benefit of the product and can’t apply easily to other products or industries.

A slogan example is Nike’s “Just do it.”

It’s a slogan because it’s rather flexible and generic. Imagine:
•    5-Minute Loans: Just do it.
•    Friendly Family Counseling: Just do it.
•    Ferrari Club: Just do it.

A slogan this generic makes it rather fluffy and less effective, doesn’t it?

A good tagline shows a specific product benefit such as M&M’s, “Melts in your mouth, not in your hands.”

See the difference?

Unfortunately, most corporate “taglines” are little more than fluff and clichés. Such as McDonald’s “I’m lovin’ it™.”

We can substitute quite a bit here:

•    Veggie World: I’m lovin’ it.
•    Zippy Cars: I’m lovin it.
•    Friendly Family Counseling: I’m lovin’ it.

Or Ford’s old one,“Built Ford tough™.” We can insert any car in here: Built Dodge tough. Built Toyota tough…

Stand out from the crowd
See how those “taglines” don’t make the company look unique? An effective tagline should reflect – or better, incorporate – your unique selling proposition (USP).

Think of your USP as the pithy little statement that quickly tells your prospects why they should buy from you.

You get extra bonus points if you evoke emotion too. That gets the mind and body fired up to support you.

Hallmark greeting cards has a good tagline that incorporates their USP and tugs at your emotions: “When you care enough to send the very best.”

That tagline claims product quality and challenges your psyche. It’s saying if you really care, if you want to express yourself in the most thoughtful way possible, you send a Hallmark card.

What if Hallmark said “I’m lovin’ it”?

It probably doesn’t tug on your emotions enough to convince you to spend more on a Hallmark card verses other card, does it?

Another good one is, “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.” It promises the adventure you may crave and the magical absolution you may need.

Slogan types to avoid
What doesn’t work well are the slogans that focus on the company. Ford’s latest one is simply, “Drive one.”

Hmm…they gave me a command. Do you like being told what to do? I sure don’t. I bet the marketing group who figured that one out thought they were being cool.

Problem here is this slogan turns all of the attention on the company, not the customer.

Such as how Toshiba’s slogan is, “Leading innovation.” It brags about them and doesn’t tell how they benefit me, the person shelling out the dough for their innovation.

For an effective tagline or slogan, do not:
•    Insult the reader
•    Brag about yourself
•    Sound like everyone else
•    Turn the focus on yourself instead of the customer

To create a sales-driven tagline or slogan, be sure it does at least one of these:
1.    Show a benefit
2.    Incorporate your USP
3.    Focus on what the prospect wants
4.    Evoke emotion

If you’re blending in with your competition, analyze your unique selling proposition again for today’s market. Then check it against your tagline or slogan.

A great tagline or slogan is just one way to stand out from your competition. When sending out any sales and marketing material, be sure they contain authority elements too.

With a population of 1,027 (2008), Virginia City accounts for almost a fourth of the total Storey County population of 4,384. The city has grown by 12%, or 123 people from 2003-2008. According to CLRChoice, Storey County population has grown 30.63% since 2000, and it is forecasted to grow by an additional 1.55% by 2014. There aren’t any projected population growth numbers available for VC because it’s such a small community.

Over 1 million visitors flock to VC each year, according to the VC Administrative Office, and about 90% of the tourism is in the summer months. Most of the 1,027 local residents live there year round, although some do leave for the winter months. VC operates year round, and if the weather is nice some of the attractions, such as trolleys and mine tours, will stay open in the winter. One of the museums stays open year round as well.

Labor Market:

Storey County Employment by Industry:

Mining

According to the Storey County Director, Dean Haymore, Comstock Mining Company is definitely going to open the mine back up, maybe as early as the end of this year. Comstock Mining has already gotten their special use permit and they are now waiting on additional state and other permits, which they expect to get soon. There is, however, a lot of controversy surrounding the mine, and the company has gotten a lot of opposition from the local community, see article below.

They have already hired 50 people and they could hire as many as 250 more by the end of the year. This mining project is not short term; this is a huge 30-50 year project that is expected to spur growth in the Storey County area. As far as employment, the hope is that all employees will come from Storey County, as the unemployment rate is high in the area.

KOLO 8 TV article:

Posted: 10:53 AM Aug 13, 2011
Eras Clash on Nevada’s Comstock, Virginia City Could be Home to Mining Again

More than 150 years after the discovery of one of the world’s richest silver veins touched off a mining frenzy that drew thousands of people west and made Virginia City a wealthy boomtown, a mining company wants to resume digging for riches in the dusty hills southeast of Reno.

VIRGINIA CITY, Nev. (AP) – More than 150 years after the discovery of one of the world’s richest silver veins touched off a mining frenzy that drew thousands of people west and made Virginia City a wealthy boomtown, a mining company wants to resume digging for riches in the dusty hills southeast of Reno.

But unlike the scrappy miners who used picks and shovels to chisel away at the massive, underground pocket of silver and gold known as the Comstock Lode, the company’s plans are for open pit mining. They aren’t being met with open arms.

Residents in the historic Comstock region embrace the catacombs of century-old mines with pride and purpose. But these days, it’s not wealth from gold and silver but the mining of tourists lured by the rich history of the Old West that keep the town humming.

Tours are conducted in an old underground mine beneath a saloon, and The Way It Was Museum displays artifacts from the past. Camel and outhouse races and a Rocky Mountain oyster festival keep tourists coming to take a “Step Back in Time” – the region’s marketing slogan.

Residents fear that Virginia City image is threatened by the Comstock Mining Co.’s proposal to use earth-moving machinery to dig up truckloads of earth and process the loads to extract flecks of the minerals that have reached record prices.

With the stock market fluctuating wildly, the price of gold soared lastl week, setting new records – $1,800 an ounce on Wednesday, for example.

Using high-tech modern mapping techniques and historic records, the company says it has identified roughly $2.8 billion in gold, if prices hold around $1,750 per ounce. That’s roughly double the price the company estimated was needed to make the venture profitable.

Doug McQuide, Comstock public relations director, said the company hopes to begin production sometime this year.

Comstock thinks modern mining can coexist with history and complement the tourist trade, he said.

The company purchased the historic Gold Hill Hotel, and has invested in shoring up old mill sites to preserve the region’s history. “We want to be overwhelmingly supported” by the community, McQuide said.

But it has been a tough sell.

For many folks in Virginia City, Gold Hill and Silver City, the idea of open pit mining in this state and national historic district is repugnant.

“Mining does work for Nevada,” said Daan Eggenberger, proprietor of the restored Tahoe House Hotel, an antique-laden lodge on Virginia City’s main drag. “It just doesn’t work in a historic district.”

The National Trust for Historic Preservation named Virginia City to its 2009 list of a dozen “Distinctive Destinations” across the country. The historic mining boomtown still boasts mines, mansions, saloons and museums that provide a glimpse into frontier life.

Founded with the discovery of the Comstock Lode in 1859, Virginia City made so many millionaires that the town was called the “richest place on earth.”

The wealth it generated helped finance the Union cause during the Civil War and to build San Francisco and the Bay area.

Mining has come and gone in the Gold Canyon region since the lode played out. Tailing piles that have stood for decades at old mill sites dot the mountainsides.

In Gold Hill and Silver City, tiny towns a few miles down a twisting highway from Virginia City, residents say their serenity was disturbed last fall when Comstock Mining renewed exploration drilling at an existing site and disclosed it had begun exploration on parts of mining claims it has acquired covering 6,100 acres. Of that, about 1,000 acres is on private property; the rest is public land.

Residents formed the Comstock Residents Association to fight the company’s plan.

Storey County Sheriff Gerald Antinoro understands the dispute. From a bluff outside his front door, he overlooks a canyon to the hills on the other side where heavy equipment has carved a dirt road up the steep slope. For a time, a test drill was erected a stone’s throw from his front door.

He hears the engines, the warning backup beeps, sees the dust. He’s not against mining. “I’m not an opponent and I’m not a proponent,” Antinoro said. But he’s unsatisfied with the company response when he asks how the landscape will be restored once the gold and silver play out.

“They’ve told me several different things and I’ve yet to hear a plan,” Antinoro said. “Hopefully they’ll come up with something pretty soon.”

Comstock Mining has applied to Storey County for a special use permit to expand its exploration drilling. A five-hour hearing on that application drew an overflowing, heavily anti-mining crowd on July 7. The hearing continues Aug. 18.

Corrado De Gasperis, Comstock president and chief executive officer, tried to assure residents and planning commissioners the company wants to be good neighbors.

“We care very much about the rich mining and natural history of the Comstock,” he said. “We want to be judged by our actions.”

Robin Cobbey, 62, who lives with her husband David Toll in Gold Hill, presented the planning commission with a petition signed by more than 300 opponents.

“One thing is clear is that the residents of the area don’t want this,” Cobbey said. “You can’t mitigate an open pit mine that’s 800 feet deep and a quarter-mile wide. It’s there forever.”

Signs have sprung up around town reading, “No Open Pit.” McQuide said the company’s plan is to begin with a “starter mine,” a pit of about 30 acres and roughly 250 feet deep, but he said there’s no plan to excavate the entire region.

Underground mining techniques would be used to mine areas near Virginia City and Gold Hill, he said.

Of the total acreage, “probably less than 10 percent is envisioned as even targeted for pit mining,” McQuide said.

Said hotel proprietor Eggenberger, 65, “Our community has a vibrant tourist economy. They’re looking to destroy that. Spare me the grief of you telling me you’re going to revitalize the Comstock.”

Residents also question how mining can be allowed in a region that includes Superfund sites designated in 1990. They want extensive environmental studies.

The state has issued a permit for mercury emissions controls. Another general air quality permit is pending. But officials said the state lacks authority to require a full environmental study, something that would be required to mine on federal lands. So far, all of Comstock’s activities, except for some exploration, are on private lands.

Behre Dolbear, a worldwide mining technical consulting group, said the Comstock project could conceivably double the precious metals it has estimated.

But that doesn’t sway opponents.

“Virginia City is a changed place now, it’s a tourism destination,” said Chris Chrystal, recently retired from the Nevada Commission on Tourism. “It would not be a good idea to hurt one economic contributor for the gain of another.”

Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Links:

Storey County Business Overview
http://www.regionaldatacenter.com/RDC/Storeycounty/busoverview.aspx

Storey County Pop. Statistics
http://www.clrsearch.com/Virginia_City_Demographics/NV/Population-Growth- and-Population-Statistics

KOLO TV: “Eras Clash on Nevada’s Comstock, Virginia City Could be Home to Mining Again”
http://www.kolotv.com/home/headlines/ Eras_clash_on_Nevadas_Comstock_127657228.html?storySection=story

Virginia City News
http://virginiacitynews.com/

Summary:

The Affordable Care Act formulates quite a few changes to make insurance more affordable for smaller companies (up to 25 employees).  Five billion dollars has been appropriated to the new tax credits, available to small companies, offering their employees insurance, until the end of 2013.  On January 1, 2014 the bulk of this legislation comes in to effect.  The bill is backed by 940 billion dollars, most of which takes effect in 2014, and will force states to set up Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP Exchanges).  “These Exchanges would include web portals that provide standardized, easy-to-understand information that make comparing and purchasing health care coverage easier for small business employees, and reduce the administrative hassle that small businesses currently face in offering plans.”

-      U.S. Department of Health & Human Services

Currently:

• “The U.S. health care system imposes a heavy “tax” on small businesses and their employees.  Due to high broker fees, administrative costs, and adverse selection, small businesses pay up to 18 percent more per worker than large firms for the same health insurance policy.”
  • High Broker Fees: Range from 2-8 percent of premiums.
  • Administrative Costs: Fixed cost of setting up insurance policies is spread between less employees for smaller firms.
  • Adverse Selection: Private insurers know that, among small firms, those with workers who have high health care needs are more likely to seek insurance.

-       Executive Office of the President, Council of Economic Advisers

Effects of the Affordable Care Act:

• Tax Credit Qualifiers:

• A full-time employee is an employee who works, on average, at least 30 hours per week, when calculated on a monthly basis.
  • Two part-time employees count as one full-time employee for tax credit calculation.

• Gradual phase-outs will apply to companies whose full-time employee’s number between 10 and 25, or companies whose average annual wage is between $25,000 and $50,000.
  • A company will be eligible for more or less credit depending on amount of full time employees and average annual wage.
    • A company that has 12 employees and pays their employees $26,000 on average will be eligible for more tax credit than a company with 18 employees and $45,000.

• Non-Profit Organizations are eligible for 25% tax credit until January 1, 2014, from which time they are eligible for 35% tax credit.

• If you’re an eligible small business you will claim the health insurance credit as part of your general business credit on the 2010 income-tax return.

Premium Cost Eligibility:

• Premium Cost Eligibility is implemented to avoid incentives to choose high-cost plans.
  • “An employer’s eligible contribution is limited to the average cost of health insurance in that state.”

-       U.S. Department of Health & Human Services

The average premium for the small group market in a state (or an area within the state) is determined by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Revenue Ruling 2010-13 sets forth the average premium for the small group market in each state for the 2010 taxable year. For the 2010 taxable year, HHS may provide additional average premium rates for the small group market for areas within some states (sub-state rates). These additional sub-state rates will be published by the IRS and will not be lower than the applicable rate for each state that is set forth in RR-2010-13.

-IRS, The Affordable Care Act

After Implementation of the Affordable Care Act:

• Insurance premiums will stay significantly lower for all employees because the government will be regulating the impact of exchanges through the Government Accountability Office.

• “Reduces ‘job lock’ – the fear of switching jobs or starting a small business due to concerns over losing health coverage – by guaranteeing access to coverage for all Americans.  This will encourage more people to launch their own small businesses, or join existing small employers.

• In Nevada there are 24,000 small businesses that are eligible to apply for the small business tax credit.

-       U.S. Department of Health & Human Services

Directly Affecting Small Business Development Centers:

The part of this act that affects the Small Business Development Centers directly and not just the clients we work with is the awareness grants.  To ensure small businesses are aware of the insurance options available to them, Small Business Development Centers and all Small Business Administration partners will be eligible for awareness grants.  This includes Women’s Business Centers, SCORE, Minority Business Centers, Veteran Business Centers, and others.

-       U.S. Department of Health & Human Services

Regarding PEO’s and how they will fair with the Passing of this Act (Congressional Record, March 24, 2010 {Senate} page S1989):

Mr. NELSON of Florida: There are millions of individuals throughout our country who are working for small businesses which are in PEO arrangements. The clear objective of this legislation is to create incentives for health care coverage and not to provide disincentives. I would like the chairman to clarify that, for purposes of the application of section 2716 of the Public Health Service Act (Prohibition on Discrimination in Favor of Highly Compensated Individuals) and for purposes of Internal Revenue Code sections 45R (Credit for Employee Health Insurance Expenses of Small Businesses) and 4980H (Shared Responsibility for Employers), to any health plans sponsored by a Professional Employer Organization, PEO, or a PEO client organization, the rules would be applied to each client organization separately and eligibility for the small business tax credits and employer shared responsibilities would also apply to each client organization separately, and not at the PEO level.

Mr. BAUCUS: If the individual providing services to the PEO client organization pursuant to the PEO arrangement continues to be an employee of the PEO client organization, the Senator from Florida is correct.

Examples:

Example 1: Main Street Mechanic – Auto Repair Shop with 10 Employees

• Employees: 10
• Wages: $250,000 or $25,000 per worker
• Employer Health Care Costs: $70,000

2010 Tax Credit: $24,500 (35% credit)
2014 Tax Credit: $35,000 (50% credit)

• Employees: 40 half-time (equivalent of 20 full-time)
• Wages: $500,000 or $25,000 per full-time equivalent worker
• Employer Health Care Costs: $240,000

2010 Tax Credit: $28,000 (35% credit with phase-out)
2014 Tax Credit: $40,000 (50% credit with phase-out)

• Employees: 9
• Wages: $198,000 or $22,000 per worker
• Employer Health Care Costs: $72,000

2010 Tax Credit: $18,000 (25% credit)
2014 Tax Credit: $25,200 (35% credit)

• Employees: 12
• Wages: $420,000 or $35,000 per full-time equivalent worker
• Employer Health Care Costs: $90,000

2010 Tax Credit: $14,700 (35% credit with phase-out)
2014 Tax Credit: $21,000 (50% credit with phase-out)

-       U.S. Department of Health & Human Services

Calculating Phase-Outs:

If the number of FTEs exceeds 10 or if average annual wages exceed $25,000, the amount of the credit is reduced as follows (but not below zero). If the number of FTEs exceeds 10, the reduction is determined by multiplying the otherwise applicable credit amount by a fraction, the numerator of which is the number of FTEs in excess of 10 and the denominator of which is 15. If average annual wages exceed $25,000, the reduction is determined by multiplying the otherwise applicable credit amount by a fraction, the numerator of which is the amount by which average annual wages exceed $25,000 and the denominator of which is $25,000. In both cases, the result of the calculation is subtracted from the otherwise applicable credit to determine the credit to which the employer is entitled. For an employer with both more than 10 FTEs and average annual wages exceeding $25,000, the reduction is the sum of the amount of the two reductions. This sum may reduce the credit to zero for some employers with fewer than 25 FTEs and average annual wages of less than $50,000.

Example: For the 2010 tax year, a qualified employer has 12 FTEs and average annual wages of $30,000. The employer pays $96,000 in health care premiums for those employees (which does not exceed the average premium for the small group market in the employer’s state) and otherwise meets the requirements for the credit.

The credit is calculated as follows:

(1)  Initial amount of credit determined before any reduction: (35% x $96,000) = $33,600

(2)  Credit reduction for FTEs in excess of 10: ($33,600 x 2/15) = $4,480
(3)  Credit reduction for average annual wages in excess of $25,000: ($33,600 x $5,000/$25,000) = $6,720
(4)  Total credit reduction: ($4,480 + $6,720) = $11,200
(5)  Total 2010 tax credit: ($33,600 – $11,200) = $22,400.

-       IRS, Small Business Health Care Tax Credit

Links:

• Affordable Care Act:  http://www.whitehouse.gov/files/documents/health_reform_for_small_businesses.pdf
• Health Reform in Nevada:  http://www.healthreform.gov/reports/statehealthreform/nevada.html
• Tax Credit Information: http://www.whitehouse.gov/healthreform/small-business/tax-credit
• Tax Credit Examples: http://www.whitehouse.gov/healthreform/small-business/tax-credit/cases
• Council of Economic Advisers:  http://www.whitehouse.gov/assets/documents/CEA-smallbusiness-july24.pdf
• IRS Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85i1kzIG57k
• IRS Tax FAQ: http://www.irs.treas.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=220839,00.html

The Biz Info Library contains a well organized yet vast collection of brief business articles on topics including Researching, Financing, Starting a Business, Marketing, and Managing Employees in a Business.

I took a little time this afternoon to register and have a look at some of the content, and the articles I read through are very good. Here are excerpts from a couple of examples:

From Managing People Through Effective Entrepreneurial Leadership – Joseph D. Sansone

I also learned that managing people is as much an art as it is a set of principles and tactics. It’s a lesson that, I believe, is difficult for a lot of entrepreneurs, who are sometimes so engrossed in their brilliant idea that they believe people will automatically follow. That doesn’t happen. To turn vision into a company—an abstraction into a tangible—entrepreneurs must be leaders of people.

From An Ear to the Ground – TJ Becker

Innovation in a vacuum is a recipe for frustration. Fred Lisy learned that the hard way. As COO of Orbital Research Inc., a $2 million R&D company in Cleveland, Lisy spent three years writing proposals, winning funding, researching and developing solutions, then writing more proposals to continue the work, but never got those solutions into the marketplace. Then he realized the problem: Orbital wasn’t spending enough time interacting with end users during development.

The turning point came when Orbital developed a control device that would make airplanes safer. But when Lisy presented the technology to prospective clients, it was shot down. His device didn’t fit their parameters. “They wanted something shaped differently and more
modular,” explains Lisy. “And sadly, we could have made it that way — but now we had lost two years and needed more funding to make the modifications.”

Today Orbital not only consults with end users from the get-go, but also contacts manufacturers that will be involved in the commercialization process. Since 1997 Orbital has grown 607%, which Lisy chalks up largely to getting feedback from external markets.

Biz Info Library is a service from the entrepreneurial experts at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, the Edward Lowe Foundation, and the James J. Hill Reference Library.

If you find yourself in your office, with the door closed, trying to figure out what your next move should be, and you need some advice, this might be a good place to start. I’d recommend you bookmark the site and keep it handy.

Here is the full press release.