Posts: 828
Threads: 0
Joined: Aug 2013
Reputation:
115
How to name a business?
01-31-2014, 07:27 PM
In trying to put a name on, and purchase the domain for my new venture, I have reached the limit of my creativity.
I'm trying to balance between something:
Says what the business does
Will generate search engine traffic organically
Memorable
Available as a .com domain
What's a good way to think of the perfect name?
Posts: 19
Threads: 0
Joined: Dec 2013
How to name a business?
01-31-2014, 07:47 PM
My advice: keep it short and catchy. Maximum 8 characters. Avoid annoying names like "X Solutions".
For the evoking aspect of the name, you can look at the roots of words that represent your business or your values. Then look at the latin forms they come from. Or their translation in other languages (good if you have origins from abroad). Can be a good base.
Your domain must be available also in .net and .org for redirections.
Posts: 19
Threads: 0
Joined: Dec 2013
How to name a business?
01-31-2014, 07:49 PM
Finally: make it yours. You'll see it all day long so you better love it.
Posts: 417
Threads: 0
Joined: Oct 2013
How to name a business?
01-31-2014, 08:08 PM
What other common and similar things relate to the service you seek to provide at its most basic and fundamental level?
Choose a synonym or something of like quality that you might think of when thinking of your service.
What are people going to be thinking just before they will be looking for your service? What's a catchy term for that?
Think of the maze of ideas and services within which your business will exist. Think of the all the ways those ideas can be expressed in a single word.
Sweat about it for a few days, then forget it. It will come to you in the shower a day or so later.
Posts: 2,153
Threads: 0
Joined: Apr 2012
Reputation:
23
How to name a business?
01-31-2014, 08:45 PM
Really think about what your company does. Then come up with a long list of descriptive terms to summarize what you do or the industry you are in.
Say you sell cellular phone accessories. Words:Communications, Cellular, Talk, Mobile, etc. Write them all down in a vertical list.
Then think of a more specific word of what your company does. In this example, phone cases. Words: Protection, Shell, Case, Holder, etc.
Look at both lists then try to come up with related terms to THOSE terms. Let's choose the word "mobile". "Mobile" by itself sounds kind of lame, so expand it. _______ Mobile ______. Use 3 words (not a hardfast rule) with mobile as an anchor so people will know what it is. Ok, when I think of protection, shell, case, etc, in my mind I'm thinking of a Turtle.
So "Turtle Mobile...something". Then figure out what that something is. Turtle Mobile Protection. Turtle Mobile Cases. etc. The most important thing is to have multiple columns written down describing a specific part of what your business does. From there, its a matter of coming up with related words, merging words together, etc. Then break out the thesaurus to those words if you need to.
Posts: 87
Threads: 0
Joined: Aug 2012
Reputation:
0
How to name a business?
01-31-2014, 09:41 PM
1. One approach is called 'service dominant logic'. This is where you look at the underlining issue you are trying to solve and address it.
So if you are trying to help someone with their confidence when approaching a girl you could name the business something like; NoMoreApproachAnxiety.com
I did this with a service based business (which I ended up putting on the back burner).
2. Another approach is to 'brand' your product/service.
With my business I took an ancient story as a metaphor and branded around it. This is what I am working on now.
It's a bit harder I think because it is more conceptual. But it gives you flexibility. For example; once you develop your minimally viable product and get customer feedback you'll inevitably need to tweak your product. So if we take the above example; you're service/product might change from helping guys with self confidence issues around women to helping guys with self confidence issues in general.
Note: self confidence is a bad example b/c it's already over-killed in the market.
It's hard to give you better advice without knowing what business you're in.
Posts: 3,214
Threads: 0
Joined: Aug 2011
Reputation:
42
How to name a business?
01-31-2014, 09:57 PM
Get the one whose Twitter handle is available.
Use the bumper sticker test. If you saw that name on a bumper sticker in the car in front of you while driving home, would you remember it by the time you got to your house?
Posts: 2,228
Threads: 0
Joined: Mar 2012
Reputation:
65
How to name a business?
01-31-2014, 10:01 PM
your business name doesnt matter.
twitter
facebook
target
costco
bjs
wal mart
etc, etc, etc.
none of those names say a damn thing about the company. deliver quality products/service and your customers wont give a fuck what your name is
as long as its not killrapemolest. inc. your good.
God'll prolly have me on some real strict shit
No sleeping all day, no getting my dick licked
The Original Emotional Alpha
Posts: 828
Threads: 0
Joined: Aug 2013
Reputation:
115
How to name a business?
01-31-2014, 10:54 PM
Wow. Thanks all!
Trying all these approaches should keep me busy for a while.
Posts: 395
Threads: 0
Joined: Jul 2013
Reputation:
5
How to name a business?
02-01-2014, 12:17 AM
The most difficult part may be finding one where the .com is available. It seems like every possible letter combination has been bought up. However, if it's owned by a squatter, maybe they'll sell it for relatively cheap.
Posts: 140
Threads: 0
Joined: Oct 2013
How to name a business?
02-01-2014, 08:41 AM
I would disagree that names don't matter. Both the name and company logo can have an impact. Have you ever opened a phone book to look for a plumber? How do you decide? Ideally you want your business name/logo to evoke an emotional response from a potential client/customer, some response that relates to the product/service you are selling. For example, Land O'Lakes carton image evokes the nostalgia of family-owned farms, making fresh butter. But the company is just another industrial farming giant, churning out the same butter as everyone else. And how about Haagen Dazs? With the name like that you'd bet it's a German brand that brought it's old-world recipes (developed back when ice-cream was fresh and tasted like how ice-cream is supposed to taste like)? Well, you'd be wrong. It's a company started in NJ in the 1960s.
Going back to finding a plumber, years ago (when people still used yellow pages) I remember trying to choose someone to fix a clog. I forgot the name of the company, but I remember I chose it because it had an American flag on its advertisement.
Posts: 16
Threads: 0
Joined: Feb 2014
Reputation:
0
How to name a business?
02-01-2014, 12:01 PM
Don't think about domain names when choosing a business name. The bonus from having keywords in domains is almost entirely gone. Another problem is that you can't branch out as easily if you pick a typical 'joe the plumber' name. On the other hand, unless you've got a huge marketing campaign behind you or plans on world domination, nonsense name branding isn't going to help much in my opinion. People won't remember a random combinaton of letters.
I like business names which have some kind of wordplay based on inside slang or a semi-satirical name. Example is 23andme.com which does genetic testing, named after the 23 pairs of chromosomes. I'd also avoid the typical Super Mega Globa Corp names.
It all depends on your business though. Have you done your market research? What kind of demographic are your potential customers. Young people vs older people. Women vs men.
Short, memorable, inside joke and aimed at your audience.