Finding the perfect name for your company is an excruciating process that every entrepreneur will have to go through, eventually and especially if he/she wants to create a brand that has a strong and memorable voice. So what do you do, when after hours and hours of sitting, writing, staring and then writing or maybe just staring at a notepad you are completely drained of any brilliant idea and you are almost on the verge of giving up?

Well – there always are professionals who will do that for you but you’ll have to pay premium dollar for that kind of service; or you can start a process. Believe it or not jotting down potential business names that enters your brain randomly is not a process; flipping through an art or comic book is. I know! Weird, right?

I like to believe that most of the time I am a pretty creative guy, but recently I was facing the dreary notepad with a bunch of chicken scratches and a trash can full of crumpled papers. Yep – I was trying to come up with a cool name for my next endeavor and my creative tank was as dry as a bone under the Saharan sun. In August.

I was wondering what other people were doing when they had to come up with clever names for their company…because you really have to think in terms of the domain name and not necessarily “A” name. Why? Because nobody really cares what the name of the company is anymore unless they can remember it and can plug into a web browser to read about you and what you do.

And that is rule number 1 – if your company name is: “the-greatest-company-on-earth-that-I-thought-of-abd-I-think-it’s-cool” do not even try to register that name for your website – you’ll gain no clients and probably the ones you have will leave you very shortly.

Before we go into the things you should do to start the process, let’s eliminate the un-cool options:

1. Anything more than 2 words you might as well forget about it; most people have some kind of form of ADD (I know I do…) and you’ll be lucky if they remember one of the words let-alone all 3 and a “dot com” at the end.

2. Drop the thought of having a 3 letter, even a 4 or 5 letter word for your domain name; they are taken and nobody will give them away no matter how many 4 letter words you can email them. By the way xyz.com is taken.

3. Even if you add some “international”, “networks”, “group”, “& associates” to your 3 letter name is still too ‘80s, so might as well come up with something cool like…”Google” or “Crossbow Networks”, etc.

Now – here are some pointers in order to start the process:

1. The most obvious one – open your dictionary
Lots of words and ideas but then again – everyone have thought about that. I even know people (myself included) working with Word and its Thesaurus feature trying to produce some gem.

2. Think of your business and what exactly do you provide
Here are the thoughts of one entrepreneur who found an unusual way to attack the problem:
“…once I decided I wanted a brand, I started thinking about my characteristics. Why? Because ultimately, my clients receive a service that’s inspired by me. I’m my business. So, I found a word that described me in my current state…then, I just added prefixes that I thought would be memorable. As I thought of ideas, I cross checked at domainsbot.com. You can get good suggestions there just looking at available domains. Oh, then I asked my kids to vote on which one they liked the best. So, I have my name all picked out and I love my decision everyday. I don’t think this is the normal process, if there is one…but it worked for me…”

3. Think of your business 5 to 10 years from now and write about it
“Try this. Tell the story of your successful business five years from now, best case scenario. Be descriptive and entertaining. Write it down, and when you’re done look for recurring themes or visual words that paint a picture. Once you have a list of recurring themes and visual words, start looking up catchy domain names based on them.”

4. Find your niche
I know this is overrated but no matter what you do – you will be able to find within your market a niche. The faster you find it the faster you’ll become successful and even gain a cool brand name in the process.

I heard someone say:”My business covers all aspects of the web, so settling on a niche name would not be a wise decision…”

That is so far from the truth I don’t even know where to begin – let me just sneak this one in – if your competition finds a niche before you – you are doomed. You cannot be the jack of all trades…well you can but you’ll also be the master of none. So, find your niche, become the master of your domain and launch your business name based on the niche.

5. Look for inspiration in unusual places like:
Street names, medieval characters, weapons, cool sounding restaurant names, cities, realms or places the science fiction authors are so prolific in their books. Here’s what one business name searcher said in a forum:

“…I took my forum username at the time which came from the name of a street I used to live near when I was in London. So my tip would be to choose something that’s personal to you maybe. Doesn’t really matter if no-one else gets it.”

And more original ones: “I came up with my original company name quite by chance after flipping through a clip art book years ago. I guess browsing through stock photos online could help the creative process too.” “I bought a list of all unregistered 4-letter .com names on NamePros, chose the only nearly-pronounceable one, and made that my company name. To avoid having to pay for a proper name check before registering the business, I added some words to it to ensure it was unique and unlikely to infringe any trademarks even if there were someone else with a similar name. “Awio Web Services LLC”. Awio.com/net/info/etc, awioweb.com, awiowebservices.com…”

“As a creative person myself, I like to visualize things – specifically by color. I’ve seen a lot of businesses and sites with a major color included in the name and used as the overall theme of their site. (IE: BlueNile.com, etc.) Adding an adjective to a common noun could help relieve your ‘thinkers block’. “

Here is the confession of one who just gave up after a bad naming decision. In other words this is not what you want to do: “…In the end I got so fed up and felt so much urgency to move forward that I “just picked” and chose a name whose spelling is very ambiguous. Very few people know how to spell this word. (I didn’t realize this until after spending money on a branding campaign.) The downside: When talking to people I always have to spell the domain! I have to say “Just visit www.blah.com; that’s B-L-A-H.com”. Of course, this sucks, but I’ll tell you right now: I’d still be thinking of a name! (And that was 2 years ago!) Take it from someone who is living a ‘bad’ decision – just pick *something* you can work with and move forward! A name is such a tiny part of the recipe to the success of your business.”

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Domain Name Search Toolbox

Search engines take a liking to topic-related domain names and determine the ranking of your web pages. The domain name of your website will get a lot of mileage with the search engines if they have relevant names pertaining to your main business activity, if they are short and contain uncomplicated terms.

You might already know that all 5 letter words, in the English Dictionary are already taken so your creativity needs to kick into gear when selecting that new domain name that will be easy to remember, recognizable and most of all is in direct logical connection to your core business.

In other words, if your business is about residential construction, don’t select a domain name related to weight loss programs, no matter how popular these domain names are today. You will be “sandboxed” by the search engines and it will take a long time to recover.

So what are the trends and specific tools you can use to research when looking for that great domain name? I’ve done the research and the following list can help your quest:

• Expired Domain Names – www.stuckdomains.com
  If you really like a domain name and it’s already taken, try to come up with name variations by using this web tool. You might also find an expired domain name that is very close to what you initially had in mind.
• Combinations of 2 or more Keywords – www.nameboy.com
  This site could be a very helpful tool if you consider using keywords in your domain name – a practice I would always recommend.
• Domain Name Generator – www.makewords.com
  This is another resource that can give you some great ideas by combining words and coming up with random phonetic names. I would recommend that for more creative, if not off the wall domain names for design agencies, software creators, etc.
• Ideas into Names – www.domainsbot.com
  With DomainsBot you can plug in your initial idea for a domain name and the system will come up with variations on that. Some of them are quite interesting.
• Domain Name Tools – http://www.domaintools.com
  An all encompassing web resources with over a dozen of Tools, e.g. Domain Spy, Name Server Spy, Reverse IP Search, Whois and Typo Generator. Registration is required.

These are just a few free web domain search tools that are available. The list certainly is open and more could be added. So, before you secure that 30 letter long n domain name for your business, give these tools a whirl and you might find some gems you never thought about. Happy hunting!

Branding Your Business

“Your premium brand had better be delivering something special, or it’s not going to get the business.” -Warren Buffett – Branding

Branding has evolved over the years and has now become a common term used in marketing. Branding is essentially burning your company name or slogan into the minds of potential customers. Branding, love it or hate it, it’s there and we have to deal with it.

Branding is, by far, the single most over-used and over-hyped business-related concept. You’re going to the trouble of branding your site, so make sure that it keeps that consistent look and feel throughout.

Your Brand is reflected through these elements:

• Your Business Name:

  A unique name for your company can and should be memorable, but a simple name that describes the value your business provides can be just as appealing.

• Your Logo:

  Every business should have a logo but logo is NOT by itself your brand. The logo triggers an emotion in a customer’s heart about your business. Something they remember you for. Want to get inspired? See here
  thousands of logos: http://www.logopond.com

• Your Business Cards:

  That is one tool in your marketing arsenal you  shouldn’t go without. Every small business owner should have business cards. This is your first impression to a potential client. Your business cards are regarded as most effective especially when they are CONSISTENT with you website. Here are some examples of the coolest cards ever:
  

  http://creativebits.org/cool_business_card_designs

• Your Website:

  If you understand the dynamics of the ever evolving business world, you recognize that not being on the web is pure suicide. In this modern day, your Website acts as your digital image, working 24×7 and no matter how
  simple or complex your site is, consumers expect for every professional business to have at least some level of existence on the Web. As a quick tip – testimonials can always aid in building the brand of your business on the web. To make your web presence known, fast connect with this company and you’ll be up and running in no time: http://www.designbysatori.com

• Your 30 Second Elevator Pitch:

  This short and focused answer to “So what do you do for a living?” question should combine your passion of a small business owner with the VALUE your business provides to customers in order to deliver a profound and convincing persuasion.

Building your brand into a brand leader isn’t easy. The key to building brand recognition is to laser beam your attention on that ONE thing, whether it is: quality, charisma, variety, expert opinion, or stellar customer service, and
build everything you do around that core mission. Stay away from clichés. They are death when it comes to branding.