You’ve taken the first step and decided to launch a new business.
Congratulations!
But now, you have to gett into the nitty gritty details of planning for your new venture. And if you are like us, you might feel like you’re hitting a wall when it comes to naming your business.
It’s a hard decision. This name will (hopefully) be with you for the next 5, 10, 15 years. Every day you’ll look at it, you’ll say it, you’ll write it, you’ll hear other people say it.
And you want to get it right. You want your name to mean something – to you and to your customers. You want it to signal what you do and what sets you apart.
So if you are struggling with finding that perfect name, check out our 6 best tips for getting it right.
1. Identify What Makes You Unique
What differentiates your business from your competitors?
- Is it the speed of your service?
- Is it the time you take to give each customer a personalized experience?
- Is it tasteful styling?
- Is it the speed and frequency of your development releases?
Consider whether those aspects of your product might fit into the name you choose, and whether they’re part of a promise you want to make to consumers about your brand.
2. Don't Choose A Name That's Too Limiting
Do you have a long-term vision for your business’s growth? Don’t limit it by choosing a “right now” name.
For example, if you’re selling organizational services, you might be partial to a name like “Cleaner Closets.” However, consider whether that name might limit you in the future as you work toward Marie Kondo-style whole home organization.
3. Steer Clear Of Too Many Acronyms
Marketers and IT people love their acronyms, and lawyers and accountants usually aren’t far behind.
However, too many acronyms, or acronyms that are too complex, may not be the best choice for naming. Why?
- They’re easy to misspell or to mis-remember the order of the letters
- They don’t have a lot of personality
- They don’t differentiate between industries. What’s the difference for example, between ABC Daycare, ABC Accounting and ABC Engineering? A lot, but you can’t tell it from the naming structure.
4. Determine If The Name Is Available Online
Being able to secure the .com version of your website will be the best option for ensuring good web traffic and online findability. And, it prevents you from losing search traffic to an identical site (for example, if you buy bestwebsitedesigns.net, you risk losing traffic because people automatically visit bestwebsitedesigns.com instead.
When you’re naming your business, you’ll want to evaluate all the spaces where you plan to promote it online – will you have a Facebook page, and is the page name you want available?
The same goes for URLs for LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube and more. You can check domain availability from your hosting provider or use a site like namechk.com to check social handles and website options at the same time.
Having every social media URL identical to your business name isn’t always necessary, but you don’t want a wide variation that makes things confusing for people trying to find you.
5. Ask For Feedback
A name may sound perfect to you but not make sense to those around you. Ask a few people what they think about a selection of names you’ve picked to see what images come to mind and whether they’re grasping the message you’re trying to evoke when you choose a specific one.
When you’re requesting feedback, use it as just one part of your overall naming strategy, and keep it balanced. One person’s biases may not be indicative of the entire world’s opinion on a name.
They may also be able to help you catch associations you’re not aware of – like if there’s a competitor with a similar name, or if a word or phrase has acquired a different pop culture connotation.
6. Think About How The Name Fits With Your Business's Culture & Philosophy
Who are the clients you’re trying to attract and what appeals to them? Does your name align with the image your business is trying to convey?
If you want to convey a sense of speediness, you wouldn’t choose a turtle as your business mascot. In the same way, a business that focuses on providing clear and transparent data might not want to choose a name that’s obscure or difficult to spell.
How do you want your potential clients and customers to see you? A law firm called Laurens Lafayette Mulligan has a far different image than one called The Law Hawks – one conveys a more traditional firm, with all the partners wearing suits and maintaining a high level of formality with clients. The other might make you think of a scrappier attorney who’s going to show up in the courtroom and throw a fit to get you out of that traffic ticket.
Are you in the middle of planning for a new business venture as well? If you’re trying to choose a name that suits you, you may also want to invest in building a brand message and brand promises that you can go back to when you’re making decisions.
Working with a strategic marketing team can help you develop your brand and position your new business for success. If you need guidance or support with this process, learn more about how we help businesses build and implement launch strategies that start their business journey on the right foot.
Let’s Get Strategic
If you’re contemplating ways to pivot or reposition your business, we can help.
In our strategy sessions, we work with you to review your current business efforts, determine what’s working, then build a plan to support your long-term goals and objectives.
Strategy sessions can focus on short-term endeavors or long term vision. Learm more and schedule a session today.
