Hi Everyone!
I'm creating a great name for my business. I came across a few tips and guidelines on choosing or creating a great business names. Let me share them with you.
Types of Business Names:
1~ Personal Names: naming a business after you is an easy thing to do. It also ads some sort of credibility to your company. You can use your initials, first name, last name or full name.
2~ Descriptive Names: descriptive names make it easier for you customers to understand what kind of good or service you provide.
3~ Combined Business Names: combination of personal and descriptive names is also common in the modern business community.
4~ Brandable Business Names: hard to come up with, but have the most success in the long term.
How to:
1~ Brainstorm. Think about how you want people to feel when they hear the name. Write down the words on paper.Take a glance at the names of the other businesses within your industry. What is it about certain names do you like? Or dislike? What about the name makes it effective or ineffective? Figure out what you like, and don't like, about other business's names.
2~ Relate. Think about related words and phrases that evoke the feelings you want. Hit the thesaurus and find all the synonyms for your words and phrases.
3~ Relate more. Find out the Greek and Latin translations of your words. Figure out what colors, gemstones, plants, animals, etc., relate to your words.
4~ Experiment. Start playing with combinations of your various words and partial words. Don't be judgmental now - just make a list.
5~ Reflect. Review your list and just give some thought to each name. How does it make you feel when you hear it?
6~ Communicate. Go over the list with someone you trust. Have them tell you how each name makes them feel, and how memorable they think it is.
7~ Prioritize. Throw out any that just don't fit and make a prioritized list of the rest.
8~ Check trademarks. Make sure no one is using that name in your line of business. You may be able to use the name in a completely different business, but be aware that it may create confusion for both you and them.
9~ Check domain names. You want to make sure that an appropriate domain name is available. You want YourCompanyName.com, of course. If that's not available, you may want to reconsider.
10~ Search the internet. Even if someone doesn't have the domain, you still want to see what else is out there that has the same name. That doesn't mean you don't use it if you find something, but you need to know.
11~ Check assumed names. For sole proprietors, check for local assumed names. (also known as DBA).
12~ Stake your claim! Register your assumed name or file your incorporation papers right away. Also, start using either TM (trademark) or SM (service mark). You do NOT have to register them to use them.
Tips:
1~ Avoid generic brand names since they are hard to remember and almost impossible to trademark.
2~ Avoid geographic related names since they limit the possibility of expansion.
3~ Don’t restrict yourself to a few products or services. Establish a broad view for the long term success and expansion.
4~ Remember that having “A” as your first letter could easily improve your position in Yellow Pages.
5~ Emphasize your business mission, tell customers what you do and why you are good at it.
6~ A good business name has to be memorable – but easy to spell and pronounce.
7~ A good business name needs to include information about what your business does. - Chances are good that your new business is not going to become an international brand. It certainly isn’t instantly going to become as well known as Nike. So you need to be sure that your new business name at least gives your potential customers or clients some clues about what you actually do.
Funny Business Namesimage from www.nickbasso.com
