Naming Your Business

[KristineS]

I've gone through the naming process for a new business about three times now, and I've hated it every time. We did a lot of brainstorming and research and then came up with the company name.

When you named your business, how did you decide on a name? Did you research trademarks and such before you settled on a name, or did you pick a name and then do the research?

What was your naming process like?

[orion_joel]

It took me a few weeks to finally get to the point of even applying for a name, primarily because. In QLD Australia they want you to provide 4 alternatives in case one is not available. I had thought i did a good bit of research, checked existing registrations, and even trademarks to try and ensure i was not overlapping anything that may come back on me.

Well even with all of this i had to go through the process of filling in the form about 3 times, (the first 10 names i had chosen which i thought would be all clear, all to close to other already registered names). So in the end i had to settle on Orion Networks, While i do not mind the name obviously it wasn't my first choice, and i don't think portrays what my business is as well as what some of the other choices i had do.

I think that it is important to at least consider the trademarks and such when brainstorming, because even though you may start out thinking this is just going to be a small business don't need to worry about it being a little similar to another business, then you happen across something big and the business grows and then it does become a problem.

[vangogh]

Coming up with a name for a business is the hardest thing for me. I don't know why, but I find it so difficult to pick a name. My current business name wasn't all that hard though.

I changed names specifically to refocus and refine the services I offer and to form a better USP that reflected what I can do. I'm basically a web designer who also can do SEO and my main strengths are developing websites that are search engine friendly and prepped for all the optimization and marketing that comes after.

I wanted to get both SEO and Design into the name and I wanted a domain that matched the company name. My ideal choice would have been seodesign.com for a domain, but naturally it was taken so were the .net and .org versions along with all variations of seo-design. Frustrating.

So I added the Van out in front which was short for my username vangogh. I've probably branded myself better as vangogh over the years than as Steven Bradley and many people would refer to me as van to save on the typing. It seemed like a reasonable thing to add it out front and become Van SEO Design. It's short and describes what I do.

I also thought if I ever decided to drop the SEO services and go back to being design only I could call myself Vanseo Design and probably just sound like an Italian designer.

I had thought of going with vangogh instead of just van and being vangogh seo design, but I've discovered over the years that most people can't spell vangogh. I've seen so many variations in the spelling that I figured it was best to drop the gogh.

[Blessed]

until my "Eureka" moment when I named my business "Crazy Dog Creative" I hated the naming process - everything either sounded cheesy or when I googled it there were already 100 other people with the same name.

Picking a good name can be hard - but I like a name that is memorable and easy to spell.

[KristineS]

It is hard to name a company, and it is especially annoying when you settle on a name you really like and then discover someone is using it or a variation of it. After that, nothing else sounds quite as good.

[KarenB]

Having "911" as a part of my business name was a tough decision. It met with a lot of resistance, especially from my teenage son, who thought it sounded too much like "9/11". He thought that there was too much of a negative connotation to it, even though I emphasized that "911" and "9/11" meant entirely different things.

Then when I went to register my business name, I was requested to confirm that I was not going to promote myself as an emergency service. They said, "Chances are, your business name won't get approved because it sounds too much like an emergency service. You aren't going to use '911' as a phone number, are you?"

I chose my business name to convey the sense that my services could be relied upon during an 'office' emergency. So far, my clients have agreed and I'm glad I followed my initial instincts.

[KristineS]

I like your business name Karen. I think it's unique and pinpoints exactly what you do.

[vangogh]

I like the name too Karen. I think it says exactly what you want it to say. I never realy thought 9/11 with it. I always got the concept of being for office emergencies. Weird that it almost didn't get approved due to sounding like an emergency service.

[orion_joel]

Kristine, i had the similar experience when i was trying to come up with a name for another business idea i had a few year's ago, which never actually went anywhere because i could not come up with a suitable name.

I had this moment where i thought of this really good name (which i can no longer remember) and searched it and it was taken, i think i spent almost 2 weeks writing and brainstorming and searching business names without liking any as much as the first one. I probably went though a few hundred names but none had the same ring to them as the first one and i just could not link in my name any other business name to the ideas.

[Leatherneck]

Before I started Makela Fence I was David E. Makela carpentry. so it was easy for me too just call myself Makela Fence. I didn't use any imagination at all. I have known several fence companies over the years that have done well just using there last name as part of there business name.

Some times I do wonder if it is a name that would either help or hinder people from calling me.

[KristineS]

I don't think it would steer people away from calling you. It's a good name that says exactly what you do.

[vangogh]

I don't see how it would steer people away either. I think it's pretty clear what you do from the name and I don't see any reason why people shouldn't use their real names as part of the business. It lets people know who you are.

[CADesign]

Cascade
..Advanced
....Design

Cascade refers to the Cascade Range where I live so my business name is meant to help locate the area in which my business operates.

Advanced obviously starts with "A" and hopefully denotes a higher level of excellence.

Design is one of the services that my business provides as well as Computer Aided Drafting (CAD), so I wanted to work "CAD" into the name somehow.

The name just kind of came to me as I decided it should incorporate CAD
I've always loved the mountains and the woods so I wanted that feel to the name and logo if possible. I came up with a few alternatives as well before doing any real research.

I didn't want an extremely long domain name so I went with CascadeAdvanced.com and I use CADesign in my email address.

The name works for me, I have no idea what impression it leaves on those who see it ...
... but I'd definitely be interested in hearing your opinions.

Dave

[vangogh]

I like it. When I see CADesign I do know what you do. Granted I was an engineer at one time and have used CAD software so for me it's the connection I always make with CAD. The full name makes sense too. If you could get 'design' into the domain it would actually be good since it could help some with search engine queries including the word design.

You might want to grab cascadeadvanceddesign.com and then have one domain point to the other. If you point cascadeadvanced to cascadeadvanceddesign it probably presents the best situation for both people and search engines.

[CADesign]

Good plan Vangogh.

Having the full name for SEO (a term I just learned here on the forum :) ) makes great sense. There is also CADesign.info available, I see.

What is the relative significance of having, for example, (dot com) vs (dot info)?

Other than the flexibility of having another domain name to point (to/ from), what are your thoughts about CADesign.info? It does contain "CAD" which, I suppose, might be helpful.

Thanks for your thoughts!

Dave

[vangogh]

Most people will assume .com so that's usually the preferred choice. After .com I'd go either .net or .org since both are common enough. Still anything other than .com and you need to work a little to brand your domain in people's minds. It's why the logo here has .net in red. It makes it stand out and reinforces the extension.

.info isn't well known yet. I think there's been talk that Google isn't looking favorably on them at the moment. If I'm understanding right .infos are inexpensive at the moment and spammers have gobbled up many .info domains. So currently Google doesn't trust them much. I can't say any of the above is true, just things I've seen others say.

I think most any extension can be fine to use. The main thing to consider is that people will generally assume .com so if you use anything other you need to work a little harder at branding your domain. Still with so many good .coms taken there's nothing wrong with using another extension. The only one I'd absolutely stay away from is .ws. The company selling most try to convince you it stands for website, but it doesn't and the company itself is a complete scam.

You can always register a few domains and have them all point to one. Domains are rather inexpensive and you could pick a handful just to get them and not spend much. A year later when it's renewal time you could always drop some if you aren't using them.

[CADesign]

I went ahead and picked up the following domain names for good measure.
(in addition to the original CascadeAdvanced.com name)

CascadeAdvancedDesign.com
CAD-Drafting-Design.com

I suppose hyphens are a bit of a no-no but like you said, dot coms are getting more and more difficult to find. Took me a while searching through possibilities but I'm pretty happy finding the cad-drafting-design.com since it's easy to remember and definitely covers the bases for what I do.

I think the big drawback with the hyphen is when directing someone to the website you must be sure they understand that it's ... CAD hyphen Drafting hypen Design dot com (a bit cumbersome perhaps)

In addition to the Registered Trade Name of Cascade Advanced Design, I also registered ... Cascade Advanced Drafting

Dave

[vangogh]

That is the disadvantage of the dashes. You have to explain them when telling someone your domain. Sometimes though they're still the best option. We went with them for the forum since it matched the domain of the old forum except for the .com/.net thing.

CascadeAdvancedDesign.com is a good one. You could have that be the primary domain and then point CascadeAdvanced.com at it. Then when telling someone the domain you could say the shorter version, but still gain the benefit of having design in there for search engines.

[CADesign]

Gosh ...

... I guess I'd better start working on getting a web presence now.

I have no idea of cost for a single page web design but I assume it's like anything else ... ya get what ya pay for. At least my needs are fairly modest and I have some ideas of what I want so, hopefully, it doesn't need to break the bank.

If any members here are interested in contacting me regarding working out a quote or have some suggestions or ideas, please feel free to PM me. No guarantees I'll bite but I do need to start to get a feel for what it should cost and would like to establish my business on the ...
Internets
:D

Thanks,

Dave

[Ad-Vice_Man]

well with FreeAdvertisingadvice.com i clearly went with the "say what you do/are" naming scheme.

Then for my media buying company, i had no idea what i was going to name myself, but when I was explaining what it was that I was going to do to someone i used "like a harbor pilot" as an analogy. And then it came to me... Harbor Pilot Media

[BillR]

I'm having this same problem right now for my next project....I have a domain name I reserved a VERY long time ago that I love. It's short - one word.

However, it's also a Greek word from antiquity - Doryphoros - it means "The spear bearer".

For an IT company I can make that work - but the real question is "is there a better choice?"