Your Small Business Name -- Important?

Home
>
Branding
>
Your Small Business Name -- Important?

Your Small Business Name -- Important?

You bet a name is important. Many small business owners try to come up with a clever name for their business rather than one that explains what they do. And, nine times out of ten, that is a mistake. Your business name should give your prospects some idea of what your business is about.

One of the most useful processes you can use to come up with a good name is to turn it around. Rather than looking at the name from your perspective, approach it from your prospect's perspective.

1. Identify your target market. Be specific. What are their wants and needs? Specific gender? How big are they? Do they make a certain amount of revenue? What do they look like? Draw a picture of your prospect.

2. Why should they do business with you? What are the benefits? What makes you different from all the other businesses in your industry?

Based on your answers to 1 and 2 above, brainstorm a list of words that could potentially turn into a company name. Now try putting them together. Experiment with all sorts of combinations. Eliminate those that just don't appeal to you at all.

Now narrow down that list to 10 possible names and walk away. Let the list sit for at least a day. Then come back and take a second look. See anything else that should be removed? If not, you have a potential list of names. Access your state directory of business names to make sure yours are not taken. Check the Library of Congress for patent and trademark names too.

Narrow your list again, this time whittling it down to three names. If at all possible, run those names by people who are your target market to make sure they "get it."

Okay, you're almost done. Take that list of three names and rank them in terms of how you feel about them. Say them out loud just like you would if you were introducing yourself to someone or answering the phone.

That's it. Select the name that works the best for you and get your business going.

About the Author

Denise O'Berry frequently speaks to professional organizations, is the author of three booklets, and several "how-to" manuals. She writes a weekly small business column, hosts an online small business owners forum and is called upon regularly by publications such as Entrepreneur, Bank Rate Small Business, Florida Trend, Inc., various newspapers, radio and television to provide expert comments on small business issues.

http://www.whatspossible.com
http://www.justforsmallbusiness.com
http://www.deniseoberry.com

In The News:

Global Strategic Branding Firm Siegel+Gale Uses Neural Predictors to Obtain ...
PR Newswire (press release)
9 /PRNewswire/ -- To uncover insights into what consumers truly believe and feel about brands, global strategic branding firm Siegel+Gale, ...

and more »

Globe and Mail
Google Instant search is impressive tech, odd branding quest
Chicago Sun-Times
It's the brand. Google is fighting a minor battle to prevent themselves from being Band-Aided, Velcroed and Q-Tipped. Google has already lost that battle, ...
Reporters' Roundtable: Google Instant in depthCNET (blog)
Analysts weigh in on Google InstantFortune
Instant GoogleInternet Evolution
Econsultancy (blog) -International Business Times
all 1,761 news articles »

Lincoln Dealers: Start Your Engines!
brandchannel.com
Having restocked the product cupboard for its Ford brand and finally shed the moribund Mercury brand, Ford is embarking on its next big branding priority: ...

and more »

Reportlinker Adds Trends and Strategies in Pharmaceutical and Medical Device ...
PR Newswire (press release)
While Google dominates the sector and has a brand value of $32bn in the branding agency Interbrands' 2009 analysis of global brands, Yahoo! still posts a ...

and more »

Branding wellness— as the doctors do it
Chiropractic Economics
We asked a number of doctors who have successful wellness clinics how they brand themselves and what advice they would give to others wishing to focus on ...
Wellness: A provocative subjectChiropractic Economics

all 3 news articles »

Cone LLC Names New Leader of its Pioneering Cause Branding Discipline
MarketWatch (press release)
BOSTON, Sept 09, 2010 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Cone, pioneer in the field of cause branding, has named Procter & Gamble veteran Craig Bida to play a dual ...
Cone hires P&G's BidaPRWeek

all 16 news articles »

TechGadgets.in (blog)
AMD Keeps ATI Brand Alive for New FirePro V9800 Graphics Card
Maximum PC
The real reason for our double take is that AMD plans on phasing out its ATI brand by the end of the year, but evidently the world's second largest chip ...
AMD unleashes a six display workstation graphics cardInquirer

all 49 news articles »

interclick Marks New Era With a Strikingly Fresh Brand Image
MarketWatch (press release)
"Since our goal is to connect marketers with their most ideal digital audiences at scale, our new brand identity highlights the complexity of the data that ...

and more »

Brand yourself as a car-injury expert
Chiropractic Economics
Clearly, this is not the path to positive branding. But there is a way to tap into the auto-injury resource and gain some positive branding at the same time ...

Park51, in New Branding Effort, Revamps Its Website
Wall Street Journal (blog)
The purpose of the new site is to have “new branding” to distinguish it from fake Twitter accounts and to have a formal blog, said Oz Sultan, ...

and more »

Google News