What’s in a Name?

~ Bernadette Geyer

Contributed by Peter R. Geyer

There is an old marketing tale (that is handily debunked here) about how back in the 1970s Chevrolet tried to market the Nova automobile in Mexico, only to find that it sold poorly. When they looked into the matter, they discovered that “Nova” in Spanish could be read as “no va” which roughly means “doesn’t go.”

While it turns out that this story is not actually true, it does demonstrate the usefulness of having somebody familiar with your new overseas target market actually review your product, its marketing, and its positioning prior to release. What may seem like an awesome name or marketing strategy in one language or culture, may actually end up sending all the wrong signals in another language or culture. Even the best product in the world can be an unnecessary burden if it unintentionally sends the wrong signals to its international customer base. 

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Permission to Write that Horrible First Draft

~ Bernadette Geyer

We’ve have led dozens of writing workshops over the past 10+ years. One of the workshops was on “the art of revision” for creative writing projects.

We were surprised to learn that some writers assumed that if their first draft was unsatisfactory, they needed to throw it out and start over with a different piece of writing. These writers felt liberated when they found out that very famous authors always went through multiple drafts of their work before they got that final draft that everyone now knows as a masterpiece of literature.

You may not think of your blog post or newsletter article as a “potential masterpiece” of literature, but it should relieve you to know that no one ever writes something perfectly the first time they put pen to paper (or fingers to computer keyboard).

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Imperial or Metric?

~ Bernadette Geyer

Meters? Kilometers? Yards? Miles?

Distances and measurements are tricky when you are reaching out to English-speaking clients. You need to ask yourself: Which English does my ideal client use?

With our German clients, we always have to ask at the start of any project: Are you specifically focused on the American market or the British and English-speaking European market?

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Tips for Writing Explainer Videos

~ Bernadette Geyer

Last year, we helped a client with text for a few explainer videos.

When they sent the draft text to us, they said they needed it trimmed to under 250 words to fit a 60-second video. Unfortunately, the text they sent was nearly 400 words.

They were trying to fit a lot in. They introduced two characters, explained their positions and their problems, introduced the company’s product, and then went on to detail every feature and benefit.

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How Do You Use Chopsticks?

~ Bernadette Geyer

Do you remember the first time you held chopsticks in your hand? Or how long it took you to get the hang of it? Does your method of eating with them match the method of anyone you know? Or do you all have different ways of using them?

I learned how to use chopsticks when I was in college, but I honestly don’t remember if anyone taught me, or if I learned by trial and error. Here’s a photo of how I hold them.

My daughter has a completely different technique, as does my husband.

But guess what!? We all manage to get food into our mouths!

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Have you ever seen a shop with an empty display window?

~ Bernadette Geyer

So why are you leaving these digital spaces blank?

I don’t know about you, but I love window shopping. Even if I don’t need anything, it’s fun to see how some shops get very creative about the displays in their windows. Tailors in my neighborhood have some truly eye-grabbing ones.

And most stores will change their displays according to the season or the next upcoming holiday. One glance will tell you whether Christmas, Halloween, or Valentine’s Day is on its way.

Would you leave a shop window empty when you know it’s a good way to attract customers? I don’t think you would.

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She’s ruined “joy” for the rest of us…

~ Bernadette Geyer

We’re just going to step right out there and say it: Marie Kondo has made it impossible for anyone else to say that something should “spark joy” without being seen as a copycat.

But that’s okay. We should all be trying to find that one phrase that will be linked so closely with our business that no one can hear it without thinking about our business.

We’re thinking about this because we recently saw someone use the hashtag #sparkjoy on one of their posts.

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Before You Promote Your Event on Instagram…

~ Bernadette Geyer

I’ve been hanging out on Instagram a lot more lately (follow me here!), and I’ve noticed a big problem that small businesses and coaches are running into with event promotions – especially since so many people are now hosting online events.

Due to Instagram’s algorithm, you can’t be sure that your event announcement will be seen before your event happens! Your followers have no ability to see posts in chronological order, as they can with Facebook (the Most Recent option for the Newsfeed), Twitter (option to “See Latest Tweets first”), or LinkedIn (option for “Recent” instead of “Top”).

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