I set up this blog rather impulsively one evening after the boys went to bed in October of 2008. At the time, I had no idea what the blogosphere or twitter was. I needed a web presence for my nutrition classes and speaking engagements. I had just met a blogger, an audience member at one of my lectures, and she was kind enough to get me started in the blogging world.
Needless to say, when you impulsively set up a blog at 11pm, and you're bone tired from chasing tots, serving 3 meals and 3 snacks, doing a couple loads of laundry and billing as many hours you can squeeze into a 16 hour day, your blog name and tag line are um, well, quite imperfect.
So, now I have a new look with fruity social icons and veggie transportation in the header. I blame my sons for the veggie transportation. They were obsessed with food photographer, Saxton Freymann's, books (Fast Food and How Are You Peeling) as tykes. I always imagined having a veggie trains and planes to adorn this blog.
Tag Line Help - The Kid Appeal Message
Over the years my messaging has gotten tighter. What I've honed in on for parents is one key thing they need to possess to help their kids adopt more real food. Confidence. Parents need to believe their child can learn to like new foods and can learn to eat real food despite all the processed food that lurks at every play date, party, social gathering, cafeteria, school/church function and sporting event.
Parents can serve all the raw veggies, bone-in chicken and stir fry they want, but kiddo is not going to eat up unless mom or dad truly believe that she is capable of learning to like healthy food.
Imagine reading to your child every night while in the back of your mind you're thinking she'll never learn to read. Or taking the training wheels off the bike and thinking there goes my clumsy kid, he'll be in college before he rides a bike. Isn't that what we're doing when we think to ourselves, Jr. will probably refuse to eat these carrots, he's so picky.
Of course kids learn how to ride bikes and read. Why? Because we expect them to. Because they practice. A lot. And they have teachers and parents who believe they can and will. Training taste buds does not happen with one meal, one new appealing-to-a-kid recipe, one trip the the grocery store. It takes practice. A lot of practice. And it takes having a community of older wiser folks who know that with daily practice and confidence a child will learn how to eat the food that fuels his body. I'm not saying all palates are created equal, some are less accepting than others. But, I'm certain that the vast majority of "picky" eaters would eat a whole heck of a lot more food variety if their parents believed they could. (No offense meant to the parents of kids with sensory disorders).
So how do I say all that in a few words? How do I communicate the believe and it will be so message succinctly?
What I have now is :
Believe your child can learn to eat healthy food and they will.
It doesn't flow. It's a bit long.
For comparison, the old one was "discover healthy food your kids will eat"
What I don't like about that one is that it suggests the problem with the kid who doesn't eat healthy food is that the right food or recipe hasn't been found yet. I'm not saying that appealing recipes or presentations don't help, or that they aren't part of the practice. But food discovery is hardly king when it comes to getting kids to eat healthy food.
For the record, I'm not in love with my blog name either. It's just way more complicated to change that, so it sticks until I have budget to hire someone to move my entire blog platform.
Maybe I should just leave off the last bit?
Believe your child can learn to eat healthy food
Any word smiths reading today? Got an idea for the tag line? I need to make a decision in the next 48 hours, yikes! Thanks in advance for your feedback.
I love your tagline but I agree that it seems like it might be stronger if it were a bit shorter. Here's my proposal, simply chop off the end: "Believe your child can learn to eat healthy" The assumption is that if they are eating, it is probably food. And the "and they will" is redundant. The key word is "Believe" and I like that you start with that. Also think about how you say it to people you talk to when you are trying to explain your blog to somebody new. It's got to roll off the tongue and be easy to remember, because your readers will remember it (it's staring at them every time they visit).
ReplyDeleteSuch great points! We believe in this 110%. Thanks for posting. {www.sprucekidsblog.com} Stop by and say hello. We love visitors.
ReplyDelete"If you believe it, they will eat it." ?
ReplyDelete"Belief is the key ingredient."
This idea would make them want to read a little further to discover why their confidence matters so much. You could say confidence is the key ingredient as well.
I like your blog name! But, I can see how you might want to relate it to how confidence/belief affects kids more than recipes.
Oooh, Heather and Kristi are on to something. Belief is the key ingredient is wonderful - that gets my #1 vote :-)
ReplyDeleteI love the new header and social media icons, too!
At first glance, your tag line is a bit confusing Not that I can't understand it, but it takes reading twice to really GET it. I would go super simple in the tag line: "BELIEVE your child can eat healthy." Somehow make believe more bold or italics to emphasize the importance of that word. And then in your sidebar, maybe have a paragraph that succinctly describes the just of your blog similar to what you said above. Kind of like an "about me" section, but it's about the blog. Just discovered your blog this week and love it. Thanks for all you do in supporting healthy parenting! Heaven knows the world could always use more of it :)
ReplyDeleteMake it with confidence, they'll eat it with confidence.
ReplyDeleteUh-oh, I'm going to be up all night thinking! I'm procrastinating grading papers - I'm and English teacher, and couldn't resist when your FB status asked "English majors" to come help!
You're right it's too long. You might not like your name 'Food with Kid Appeal' but you should use it to your advantage to cut down on words in the tagline. And sometimes just making another sentence can help. (12 words down to 10 here)
ReplyDeleteBelieve they will learn to eat healthy. And they will.
I like taglines that sort of show the 1, 2, 3 of the value proposition to make it clear of what you do. This doesn't quite get at it, but I'm only trying to share the concept I'm striving for here.
Offer healthy options. Believe in healthy choices. Grow a healthy child.
Good luck.
@kristi - bless you! i'm supposed to be writing morning announcements that link green beans to stellar brain power and making notes to address PTA about Eat to Learn. thanks for your ideas!
ReplyDelete@heather- if i knew you were going to comment here i would have announced my deep gratitude for you and all you've done for the blogging community. you are a hero to me!
If you serve it, they will eat.
ReplyDeleteSorry, I got nothin'.
How about ... "If you believe it, they will eat it."
ReplyDeleteDoh! I see Kristi already mentioned that one, lol. Well, great minds must think alike. Sorry, Kristi.
ReplyDeleteJust posted this on Facebook, but I'll add it here for good measure!
ReplyDeleteI like "the key ingredient" part, but "belief is the key ingredient" sounds religious. Not sure that's the tone you want. How about this: "Believing in your child is the key ingredient."
Since "food" is in your blog title, I don't think you need it in the tagline, too. And long isn't necessarily bad, so long as it's tight (says the person whose Spoonfed tagline is longish ;-).
doug, thanks for stopping in to check out the reaction to your work, this blog is looking better already.
ReplyDeletethe problem with "it" in the tag line is that it's unclear. "It" could suggest that food with kid appeal does exist and once you discover it, kids will eat it. That's not the message.
The message is if you believe your child can learn to like healthy food, they will. The "it" is belief that kids can train their taste buds.
Imagine if Nike were to have a slogan like, "Our shoes can empower people to make tough decisions." Well, obviously that wouldn't work, because it isn't short or catchy or even sensible. But a tagline like "Just do it" is not only punchy and relevant, but memorable.
ReplyDeleteI believe what you're doing is perhaps confusing the whole purpose of your site by clinging to an idea that just doesn't make any sense. In your post you said, "Parents can serve all the raw veggies, bone-in chicken and stir fry they want, but kiddo is not going to eat up unless mom or dad truly believe that she is capable of learning to like healthy food."
Now, to me, this just doesn't fly. I mean, if I'm a kid and I don't like certain food (healthy or otherwise), then it doesn't matter how much my Mom believes in it I'm still not going to eat it. So you see? Perhaps what you really need to do is open yourself up to the belief that your site really isn't about Mommy's clairvoyance or telepathy, but simply about kids and healthy food.
So going with my above comment a tagline like, "Food That’s Fun - And Healthy" would make more sense, because it not only ties in with the name of your site but it also describes what your site is about.
ReplyDelete@doug - i am not asserting that when mom and dad believe, kids will eat any and every healthy food they serve. all humans have a list of foods they just don't like. the difference is, many people have a very long list and many people have a very short list.
ReplyDeletei won't go into the number of taste buds different folks have, and sensory issues, or emotional scars some of us hold about food. those things are real, and they do impact food aversions.
it's my position that people who have a very long list (no matter their age) can train their taste buds to accept more of those foods. for a large majority of folks, many foods on the "i don't like that list" are there erroneously. because the first time they tried them, it was prepared badly, or offered at a time when appetite was low for any number of reasons.
i believe this because i'm a recovering picky eater. i had the picky eater label all my childhood. i would not eat things i did not want to eat when i was a child. no one taught me to eat things i didn't want to either satisfy my hunger or fuel my body with nutrients it requires. i figured all that stuff out as an adult.
i believe kids can make the transformation from 'i don't want to eat that" to "ok, i'll eat that even though it's not my favorite and i don't really want it."
kids won't adopt that willingness about every single food, but they can about some or even many of the "i don't eat that" items on their list.
try it out on yourself. make a list of the things you don't like to eat. challenge yourself to find a way to like one or more of them. try it in new recipes. try it cooked a different way than you had it served to you as a child. believe that it's possible that you could learn to like it as you're tasting it.
this doesn't work with every food item. while i've learned to eat dozens of items that made me gag as a child, i still don't like green bell peppers. but i could eat them if i really needed the nourishment and other food was scarce. as a child i might have actually suffered from severe hunger for days than eat a pepper, an onion, a raw carrot, crunchy peanut butter, or a nut.
How about "If you believe in it they will eat it (healthy food)"
ReplyDeleteWhat about "Believe it and they will eat it" as in "Believe it and they will come" which is a well known tag line.
ReplyDeleteI think one thing that needs to be noted is that they wont eat it if you don't. This goes for when they are in bed and you think they dont know what you are snacking on. If you want them to eat healthy snacks, then you need to also, even when they are not around.