Finding Your Identity

By Stacy Karacostas

What’s in a name?

If you are a small business, quite a lot.

The right name can mean the difference between success and struggle. And it can also make a big difference in your marketing budget.

After all, a rose by any other name is still a rose. But how would anyone know?

If you called it a lily, you would certainly bring a very un-rose like image to mind.

And if you call yourself The Lily Shop, but all you sell is roses, people would likely be very confused.

They’d come in your store looking for a nice bouquet of lilies, then turn around and walk right out when they learned you only sold roses.

Sure, a few folks might buy roses instead. But you are bound to have an uphill battle to become known as a fine purveyor of roses with a name like the The Lily Shop.

That’s not to say that you can’t make just about any name work (think Google, Vonage, or Kinko’s). But if your name doesn’t make an obvious mental connection for your customers, then you have to spend more time and money on marketing to make that connection happen.

So when it comes to building a business—especially a small business—it is far easier to have a name that does at least part of the marketing job for you.

As the great ad man Claude C. Hopkins once said, “The right name is an advertisement in itself”.

For example, The Write Ideas is a good fit for my company because it says that I am a writer. Plus it also says I do more than just write…I’m a source for great ideas.

KwikCopy is a no-brainer. Same with Staples, Office Max, and Women’s Business Exchange. Even something with your name might work fine if you want to create the sense of a personal touch. Like Gretchen’s Shoebox Lunches.

How do come up with a fantastic name?

I use a four-step process…

Step 1: Brainstorming

Make a list of words that describe your business, product or service. Then add benefits-oriented words, words that describe your core mission or values, and so on.

Next, grab a thesaurus, dictionary, desriptionary or any word book to find more ideas. Don’t edit at all at this stage.

Step 2: Try ‘Em On For Size
Once you have a good word list, start combining them to create possible names. If you find one you think you really like, test it out mentally for a few days and see how it fits.

Say it, think it, feel it, write it. Consider how you might market it, and what you could tie it in to.

Step 3: Due Diligence
Once you have one or two you like, you need to see if they are available.

Start with a domain name search (be sure to check variations like the-write-ideas.com, writeidea.com, writeideas.net etc.). This alone will often lead you to competitors. Plus, you can make sure a good domain name is still available.

So far so good? The next stop is the State Department of Licensing Website (http://www.dol.wa.gov/mls/searchwa.htm) to run a local name search.

Then go to the U.S. Patent & Trade Office Website (http://www.uspto.gov/ebc/index_tm.html) and run a trademark search. Always make sure to check for your specific name, as well as each key word separately.

Whatever you do, don’t skip this step. Even if you are a local business.

It used to be that if you were small and local, you only needed to worry about State trademark issues. But once you put up a Website, you are national (if not global).

So unless you have a truly local service business like dry cleaning, massage or pet sitting, assume you might eventually do business on a national level.

Just remember, it doesn’t matter if someone has the same name, as long as they are not in the same business or country as you. For instance, there could be a Write Ideas that sells pens, or is based in Canada, with no problem.

If you aren’t sure whether or not there is a conflict, don’t hesitate to hire a good patent & trademark attorney.

Step 4: Testing

Once you’ve picked two or three names, it’s time to test them out. And I don’t mean just asking your friends and family. You want to find out which one your customers will respond to best. So give a few a call, or send them an email, and ask.

After all, they are the people you are speaking to. And you never know what you might discover.

Often your personal favorite won’t strike a cord, and that’s okay. It is far better to learn that now, instead of after you launch.

If you are really lucky, the right name could fall in your lap almost effortlessly. But if not that’s okay too.

You are building your entire business around the name. So it is worth taking the time to find one that really works for you.

©2002-2006 Success Stream. All Rights Reserved. www.success-stream.com

If you enjoyed this article, don't forget to sign up for Bright Ideas.

Do you have a marketing, advertising or writing question you'd like to have answered? Email me and you might see the answer in a future edition of Bright Ideas.

Please notify me at stacy@success-stream.com when my article is used, whether online or off. Thanks!