What a great topic! Taglines define what the biz is about and also what the site is about. I have been to so many sites and had to think, “what exactly are they trying to do here?” When that happens, they either don’t have a tagline or it’s very, very unclear. Mine changes as my biz evolves and I see nothing wrong with that. I love the fact that Deb and some of the others have had theirs for a decade or more. My biz is still maturing, therefore my tagline is too! I have noticed a trend to throw in everything but the kitchen sink in the tag. I do think a simple, concise statement is enough.

Melanie, Thank you so much for the shout-out in your post! I’m flattered to be included and hadn’t thought of my blog’s name as as a tagline until you said it. 🙂 Having agonized over taglines with previous businesses, this one came pretty easy given I’m a ghostwriter. I think the most important thing is that whatever you use, it must speak to your audience (so you have to know who you’re selling to) and be something you can live with for a while (branding, branding, branding). By the way, I love the graphic at the top of your post. How did you do that? I’m always looking for new tools to play with. 🙂

You’re the best, Melanie – I’m so glad you’re in my life!

Aloha Melanie, interesting topic and not many brings this to our attention. I think I may have heard one other time, but it is something to deeply consider and stay on top of this such as this. Having a catchy sub title does help, in the long run. Glad I came by and thanks for sharing. Mahalo, Lani 😉

PS.. saw your info., in a cool community group we belong to. Come by and visit me. Sharing is caring!

I am so sorry to hear all of the struggles coming up with various business taglines. I did not have a challenge. Mine came easily and accurately and I almost feel guilty about that process now. What suits my business: Club Creative Studio is the tagline- “Art That Sets You Apart”. It works for me.

LOL. I checked out Remarkablogger’s tagline. Cracked right up.

I believe that taglines should speak right to your audience, include your keyword and make it really clear what your blog is about. Something I find interesting, though, is that some of the top blogs don’t use taglines. With some of them, they’re just so well known that a tagline probably doesn’t matter in terms of identifying their audience and topic . . . but they aren’t all immediately known like that. I wonder why they don’t use them. Maybe we don’t need to suffer through the agony of creating them 🙂 ??

Hi Melanie!

Great tag lines you’ve highlighted here. And thanks for including mine and for calling it bold! It was a bit of agony coming up with it ten years ago but once I did, it stuck. Since then I’ve seen it used by a lot of other people online, but I really think I was first.

Actually, Alex Mandossian was my first major contact a decade ago and he bought “mywebgal.com” as a gift for me, later transferring it to me. He also impressed on me to keep things simple and direct, which resulted in my tag line. (Great guy, by the way. I owe him a lot!)

I’m on my way over to visit Marcus’ blog now. Love the idea of inviting readers to craft one for you. I’ve gotta see this! 😉

You ROCK, my friend. Big Hugs!

Talk about opening up a can of beans here, Melanie! We could talk on and on about this! I’ll try to be brief.

I’ll second Marcus in saying there’s no one right answer. Since your business is a living and growing thing, it changes over time — so it’s hard to describe in a few words what you know is most likely going to shift in some way or other. As I consider my own tagline (and thank you for putting me up there!) I almost always want to say, “Yes, and . . ” when I’m talking to people. And it also depends on who I’m talking to. It speaks volumes to some people — and for others, maybe other words would have been better.

For that reason, I think it’s ok to change your tag line from time to time. I usually discourage people from changing their logos, because that’s what clients and customers come to recognize you as and it’s so heavily tied into your brand. But your tag line, I think, is a step or two down there, and meant to clarify your brand, so if it’s not hitting the mark, or your business has changed, go ahead and tweak it. Or tweak what you’re doing to get back in step with your tag line. You want to be cohesive.

I’m actually thinking of changing my tag line — it’s over 2 years old, and my business is refining, changing, growing. Ack! Here comes that uncomfortable feeling!

Thanks Melanie, for making me think this morning!
Marcia

Yes! Melanie, I’ve been struggling with this since last week. Leanne had a post on this and I realized that the haphazard one I put together “Reflecting on the little things in life in Huancayo, Peru” didn’t include my audience and I so want to include my readers.

I love Heather’s idea about brainstorming. Maybe this one will just take some meditation. I wouldn’t want to rush into anything either. Thanks for mentioning that some people do struggle and spend their lifetime on this. It’s calming to be able to relate. =)

Wow! Melanie, what a great post and fabulous topic. It will have people talking for weeks.

Fist of all, I’m honoured to be featured among such amazing bloggers, thank you.

Secondly, you’re right on the money – our tag line was written and then re-written more than anything else on the whole site. We had the blog name and all the content done and dusted, but kept coming back to the tag line.

What starts out as a bit of fun turns serious very quickly lol. One word change and the whole meaning can be lost or made. I’m happy with the final outcome (this was about the forth attempt).

I started with ‘Supporting Mumpreneurs’, then realised I didn’t just want to support them, I wanted to empower them to feel successful and be successful.

My tips would be:

1. Come up with an idea of what you want to say and then brainstorm and mind map them all.

2. Narrow it down to 3 or 4 potentials and then ask for a fresh eye.

3. Ask your audience – anyone who isn’t to close to the project.
What does it mean to them and how powerful is it on a scale of one to ten.
How does it make them feel?

And try to have fun 🙂
Heather x

Yep Melanie, couldnt agree more, taglines are not easy, though some people just seem to get it really right.
I finally settled on mine after really thinking about what I wanted to leave people with (Giving comfort, hope and inspiration…stepping through grief), the keyword bit came into the equation after a brainstorming session with my coach.
I envy those lucky people who can just do it…copywriters, glorious copywriters!