Business, Brand & Product Naming

**Added bonus – Our Brandings Team has recently added an update to this previous Business Naming article.  Periodically our team likes to go back and take a second look at some of our earlier and more popular blog posts.  If our team sees something that needs to be updated, they do just that.  Our team likes to keep everything up to date and as our business economy changes, we like to keep everything current.  With that said, check out the bottom of the page for some updated thoughts on this blog by our team.

Great Article on Business Naming

From time to time the Brandings Team loves to have guest bloggers come and express their opinion on current topics via this blog or interviews.  With that in mind, today’s article is on Naming your Business or Product and our guest author is Heidi Wiesenfelder.  And, you can read more by Heidi by following the link at the bottom of her article.

With all that said, and getting on the subject, let’s start with a little background.

The Brandings Team knows how difficult starting a new business can be.  We know how difficult it is because we’ve done it.  There are many steps to starting and launching a business and somethings some of these steps get overlooked.  One of those important yet commonly overlooked steps is the naming process.  The naming of your business may just be the most important aspects during your startup or launch period.

Our guest blogger on this post gives great points on just that subject; naming your business.

While, you can read every book and blog on the subject of company or startup naming, sometimes you may need a little help.  Don’t forget, the Brand Naming Team here at Brandings can help.  One way to get our help is by simply post your questions below.

Learn more about how to name your business:

Selecting a Competitive Business Name –

If you are deciding how to name your business, you know there are many considerations when selecting a business name. Some are obvious, but others are often ignored by new business owners.  This can have negative consequences for business success. What should you know to make this decision?

Perhaps you’ve got your business plan together and all the details are complete.  However, you’re left thinking, “I just don’t know what to name my business.” Or, maybe you have so many ideas that you cannot decide which to choose.  You’re realizing, “I definitely need help with naming my business.”  Here are some criteria you should consider in evaluating business name options.

Relevance to your business –

Certainly, you want the name of your business to be relevant for the type of offerings you provide. So “Joe’s Cleaners” would be a lousy name for a restaurant.  However, if there’s a unique local angle to that name that potential customers would understand. Realize, though, that your name does not have to convey everything there is to know about your business.  This would include your tagline, logo, and marketing materials will supplement it.

Easily Spelled –

This is often overlooked, but if your business name is difficult to spell, people may have a hard time reaching you.  This even if they know you exist and are interested in your offerings. Think twice before naming your business.

For instance, “Kewl, Kitch N Krafts” or something else cute and creative that is not spelled the way it sounds may be the right choice for your business.  But, be aware of the potential ramifications.  This especially now that people will often be searching for you by typing in an internet search engine.

Your Business Name Needs to Be Easily Remembered:

Easily Pronounced –

When you see the name “Kewl, Kitch-N-Krafts” do you know its pronounced just like “cool kitchen crafts”?

Or, do you wonder if perhaps the first part is pronounced “kyoowl” based on someone’s name?  Or whether the middle part is “kitchen” or “kitch and”? It can definitely be difficult to determine pronunciation for uncommon words and spellings, so put some thought into this.

Easily Understood When Spoken –

Customers may be more comfortable with a name they can comfortably pronounce.  You may find you prefer to have a name that others will easily understand.  This especially when you say the name out loud.

The benefit of doing so is that you can be more surer that people will remember your business name correctly.  They’ll be able to find you, even if you only mention it once. On the other hand, you may like the discussion that ensues when people ask you to repeat the name.  Giving you the chance to clarify what it means or why you chose it.

Domain Name Availability –

Regardless of whether you already have a business website or will be waiting until you’ve built your business further, you will at some point want to have an internet presence.  Even if it is just to have a description of your company with contact information or a simple blog.

Ideally, you will be able to use your business name as your web domain preferably as a dot-com domain. In selecting your name, be sure to check whether it can be used as a domain name. You can do this by doing a quick search on a domain register sight.

If You Can’t Obtain the Dot-Com Domain, You Must Rename!

Tone: In creating your business name, think not only about telling people what your business is called so that they can find you, but also about the need to attract the right people to you.

Everything depends on the type of clients or customers you will be working with.  You may find that a more formal corporate sounding name works best.  Conversely, that a fun and innovative name is better suited to what you do.

Availability: Obviously, your chosen name must not already be trademarked by another entity or in use in your state. You can check online with state and federal agencies to confirm that the name is available for your use.  In some states you can put a hold on a name for a specified time period. You may want to consult a lawyer to be sure that there is no conflict.

Inoffensiveness: You may have heard of the debacle that ensued when Chevy tried to market the Nova in Spanish-speaking countries. Since “no va” means doesn’t go in Spanish, it was not a wise naming choice for a car!

In our increasingly global market, you would be wise to determine whether your name might have an unexpected connotation in another language or society.  Particularly a connotation that would offend others. When you do an online search to see if your business name is already in use, you can also watch for other uses of the term.

Once you have made your decision, remember to register your new doing business as (DBA) or fictitious business name with appropriate agencies as well.

Great Names for a IT Tech Brand:

Update:  Recently our team had a look at some of our earlier blogs.  And, while our team found some blogs that simply needed a little updating, others like this one, didn’t need any updating at all.  The fundamental ideas of this article are still exactly spot on.

However, the team does would like to stress one point, we feel the author missed.  Entrepreneurs looking to launch a startup or product, needs to check the availability of your business or product name with BOTH the USPTO and check the dot-com domain name availability.

The idea of the “Availability of a business name,” as stressed by the author only included the trademarking of the name with the USPTO.  As we stated above, there’s more to “availability” than that.  Our team has always preached, that if the dot-com domain name is not available for use or purchase, then you have better start looking for a new name.

In today’s business world, you cannot launch a product or start a company without the exact match dot-com domain name.  If deiced to use a non-dot-com domain you’ll just be sending business to your competitors!

Lastly before we go, we would like to encourage you to check out our huge inventory of new and exciting technology company names.  These names are available for use and they cut through the clutter.  Every name you see for your startup or product on Brandings is available, so there’s nothing to worry about!