New tagline for The Power Moves? "Cream VS Scum"
So far I've sometimes used this tagline:
Power moves for the underdogs
I had taken that one from the "Fight Tips" YouTube channel, with the tagline "fight tips, for the underdogs".
As soon as I had heard that, I thought "LOVE IT!".
The idea of empowering underdogs, of course.
Plus the proximity of social power dynamics and self-defense. Physical self-defense to me is an extension of power dynamics, part of the same spectrum and overlapping as well.
However, not everyone self-defines with "underdog".
And after one has gone far in his self-development efforts, at a certain point, you stop being an underdog.
CREAM AND SCUM
You know the saying:
"the cream rises to the top"
Sometimes adjusted to the more realistic "the cream and the scum rise to the top".
So I was thinking to play a bit around that saying.
The advantage of this new tagline is that:
- It highlights the competition for upward mobility, which is all about power dynamics
- The competition between value-takers, the scum, and value-givers, the cream
- The "need" for the cream to learn power dynamics: this is what it's not in the saying itself, and that maybe I should find a way to work it in
The scum usually has a competitive advantage, since value-takers are often more naturally Machiavellian, and have fewer reserves in betraying, lying, and cheating.
And that also covers an important goal of this website: empowering value-givers who are not naturally Machiavellian and power-aware.
But how to convey that, briefly?
THE TAGLINE
I've just started on this, and what I've thought so far is not that good.
Something like:
Both the cream and the scum compete for the top.
The Power Moves empowers the cream.
Or:
In truth, the scum often beats the cream to rise to the top.
But now the cream has The Power Moves.
I like this one because it highlights the naivety of the original saying, as if "good work" was enough to rise to the top.
But it's still not yet a great tagline.
Maybe some infographic to clarify the concept?
If anyone has any idea or comment, please let me know :).
Interesting ideas. As I said somewhere else I would focus on targeting my audience. That is: people who are either at the beginning or well-advanced on the (never-ending) self-development journey.
I would also focus on what service you’re providing. Then I would put them together. For instance:
The Power Moves: from young leaders to leadership mastery.
The Power Moves: social skills and power dynamics mastery.
The Power Moves: mastering Power Dynamics to advance your Life.
The Power Moves: for leaders ready to master Power Dynamics.
In short: I would brainstorm on your USP. That should become the tag line. A sentence that says it all with a few keywords.
I agree with John that this depends on your target audience.
It helps to know what kind of language your target audience uses to describe themself so you can customize the tagline to their identity. Most people here, underdog or not, might identify themself as driven. That might be one point of customization there.
It seems you're looking to customize the tagline away from identity and more toward assistance or collaboration. Less about "I'm this person working to get here" and more toward "This is the kind of person who makes it to the top, and now you have TPM so you can go further".
So, I think the first step is understanding the difference so you don't have a tagline that tries to "do too much" by trying to achieve both.
If you want one that's about identity, the slogan for Nike is "Just do it". That's for driven people.
If you want one that's about assistance or collaboration, the tagline for State Farm is "Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there".
But, trying to do both at the same time could harm the tagline.
That said, you also seem to like the concept of soaring with the eagles instead of scratching with the chickens. I can see TPM being a website that encourages the behavior of soaring like the eagle and building up people to be capable of soaring in their endeavors. Maybe you could do something with that as well.
Similar to Red Bull's slogan: "The Power Moves gives you wings" :).
I agree that "drive/driven" and "collaboration" should be on your white board while brainstorming. So I think it starts with keywords.
I think the tagline has to answer two questions:
- Who is it for?
- Why is it useful?
Because for someone like me who was not very power-aware, it's difficult to know why it is so important. I read my intro 10 months ago (!!!) and this is what I said:
My goal is to increase my social power.
So that was my entry point: feeling a bit powerless in my social life. Maybe that could give you some information as well.
I suggest: "cream and scum rise together, power aware cream rises higher/the highest ... (to the benefit of all) "
Thank you so much, guys!
So far it seems that drawing parallels with cream and scum didn't exactly made anyone go "eureka", so I'm going to hold off on it.
I did add to the "Start Here" page, together with an update, but probably not for a tagline.
Quote from Stef on February 24, 2021, 9:00 pmI suggest: "cream and scum rise together, power aware cream rises higher/the highest ... (to the benefit of all) "
I like this one!
It hits a few different notes at once:
- The competition between value-taking and value-adding approaches for status, power, and top positions
- The possibility for the cream to do better, IF it learns proper power dynamics / strategies
- The win-win nature of power-aware cream
Lucio, I think you were definitely right when you said that the lack of ideas that might come from a business partner has been mitigated and made up for by the forum. Lots of great ideas here!
I think that saying both "cream" and "scum" in the tagline might be trying to have two conversations at once. Yet, if you ask me, Stef was able to pull it off :).
Quote from Lucio Buffalmano on February 25, 2021, 5:51 amThank you so much, guys!
So far it seems that drawing parallels with cream and scum didn't exactly made anyone go "eureka", so I'm going to hold off on it.
I agree with you. I think the ideas of cream and scum fit well in the "Start here" page. It's the little bit of humor and "meta" that enriches a text. It gives it more dimension.
The Power Moves is the most thorough e-learning platform on people, social dynamics, power, and life strategies.
Why do you need power dynamics, or “Machiavellian” strategies?
Isn’t that “bad”?
No, it’s not.
You need it because self-development without power dynamics, strategies, and Machiavellianism is not enough.
We live in a world where the cream doesn’t naturally and necessarily rise to the top.
And working hard, providing value or “getting better” also don’t guarantee results. We call that approach “naive self-help” here.
And naive self-help only makes you an even bigger mark.Instead, the skills you work on developing over time and that the value you provide to others and to the world need to be delivered within a power-aware context.
It means knowing who to give value to, how to get and demand value back (win-win), and how to deliver that value to get the biggest bang for the buck (strategies).Since we don’t live in a world where everyone seeks to add value to others, power dynamics also help you to reach your goal -and the top- while defending yourself from those who’d be very happy to take status, power, and value from you.
Don’t swing on the opposite side, though.
Power dynamics is not to defend only. It’s to build, develop, and make things -and relationships- better.
People also happen to provide the biggest leverage for personal success as well as a God-sent gift for life enjoyment.
Power awareness and advanced social skills allow you to develop those empathic, caring, and value-adding relationships.
I think now in the text above, you have all the right ideas and key words for a "Start Here" page. Now, if it was me. I would write it and re-write it and re-write it and re-write it. That is where is your value proposition is. That is also where you will be making or losing customers/students.
What I mean is that in this text you could improve the flow of it.
And in my opinion if you want to make it really shine -> Add one of your videos with you in a white shirt with a power background (like the tiger in Michael Franzese) delivering the text with your deep voice and cool hand gestures. And if you want to add one more layer, you can put images in the editing for instance when you say "scum" (I know it's not in the text), you could show a picture of a person you think is a scum (Donald?). When you say cream, you could show a picture of someone who is an example (actor? Matthew McConaughey or George Clooney/benevolent leader/etc.).
Cheers!
Here is how I would change the text: in the text you're talking from your perspective. I would change it from the reader's perspective. You can still speak in a third person voice, though (or second, as you wish).
I would structure the text like this
You start with (you can keep the block of text in the first drafts):
- The problem: in the World now, etc. (this is actually the reader at his current point you're talking about, this is where you can talk about scums, this is where the reader self-selects)
- The people who succeeded: However, in this World, some people, etc. (his is where you can show examples of high-warmth high power high status high virtue individual)
- How to get there: By studying machiavellism and power dynamics, etc. (this is your value proposition)
- The product: Power University (link), the articles and the forum will help you to develop, etc.
- Expert value: Now you can talk about yourself by saying why your academic background, your professional background and your private life makes you an expert (I would also talk about your teaching qualities here).
Now you just can write: Don't wait, become more powerful in your social life in 3 months (I think that is a reasonable amount of time to do PU for the first time). Or any other sentence. And now you have the boom factor.
Cheers!