What we've learned so far . . .

I have this great friend, Hal Stinchfield, in Minneapolis. He knows the ins and outs of big brand premium promotion better than almost anyone. Hal and I made it a practice to have lunch at the Edina Grill every few months where we would share stories about jobs and families. I've been thinking a lot about something Hal shared with me once . . . from his father's playbook of sayings and stories. It really stuck with me. "Any idiot can come up with a product idea. But it takes a real genius to figure out how to sell it."

So here we are with GuestWings, our great new rental service for homeowners in the Tampa Bay area. We have beautiful mobile guest suites. We have a great name. We have a brand look and logo that we love. We got a very positive response at the Tampa Bay Home Show last weekend.

We have our elevator speech down pat . . . we rent mobile guest suites to Tampa Bay homeowners so they can provide their overnight guests with comfy, stylish and private  space to sleep and relax. The usual verbal response to this is, "wow, what a great idea!" (And they get really excited when we tell them that the suites are brand-new Airstream International trailers).

But in today's internet-driven marketing world, it's all about the keywords. What would someone "Google" in order to find us? When we joined the St. Pete Chamber of Commerce, we were asked to choose a business category for GuestWings. None of the existing categories was a perfect fit. We are certainly in the business of hospitality, but that category is titled "Hotels, Motels & Resorts." Nope. We are certainly in the business of home improvement, but the other listings in that category were for glass and paint. Nope. We are making it easier for families to be together . . . but "family services" are typically associated with non-profits that serve disadvantaged populations. Nada.

Not whining . . . just wondering how to wrestle this one down . . . any thoughts?