When you start a company, eventually you are going to have to choose a company name. You may not take the decision that seriously - but trust me, a great name can make all the difference.
As the online marketplace becomes increasingly cluttered it is more important than ever to be memorable and to stand out. The name of your company is a critical factor in this.
In the following article I will describe a process you can use to discover and select a good name for your company; this process can be applied to product and service names as well. Okay, let’s get going!
The Critical Steps to Generating A Good Company Name:
Step I: Set Your Constraints:
So what makes a good name? There are five main characteristics:
- It’s easy to remember
- It’s easy to spell and requires no explanation
- It describes your business category
- It describes your benefit
- It describes your difference
Here are three more constraints that I like:
- It has to be one or two syllables long - no more
- Each syllable starts with a strong consonant (B, C, D, G, K, P, Q, T)
- It’s fun to say (”…that just rolls off the tongue”)
You can of course add to or remove from this list as you see fit. The most important thing in attempting to name your company is to pick a list of constraints and then to ruthlessly stick to it.
Examples of great company names that adhere to these constraints:
- PayPal
- Best Buy
- QuickBooks
Step II: Schedule Your Time:
Choosing a name is a process. Yes, sometimes a great name will just fall in your lap, but more often it will take time to “discover” one. You need to make time.
- Establish a ‘Naming Team’ - three to four people who are responsible for meeting regularly until they have found your name. Expect it to take eight to ten sessions of one hour each. That is about 30-40 hours of your organization’s time. It will be painful. It will be worth it.
- Get the tools you need:
- Thesaurus
- Dictionary
- Pads of paper and pens because everyone who is not on a laptop recording words ought to be keeping their own notes with their own ideas. You can consolidate at the end.
- Spreadsheet
- We found that using a laptop with access to the web to check if the URL was available became invaluable. Go Daddy offers a plug in for Firefox that might come in handy.
- Identify a ’secretary’ to keep everything organized. This should be someone who types fast and records the words in Excel columns as laid out here:
Secret weapon: The New York Times “Crossword Puzzle Dictionary“.
It’s like an uber thesaurus and it lists words by length. Since you probably want short one-syllable words, this thing is worth its weight in gold.
BONUS: If you want a book that will explain some strategic pieces with naming, read “Positioning: the Battle for Your Mind ” by Al Ries and Jack Trout. If you can swing it, have you whole team read it before you begin the process.
Step III: Structured Brain Storming
Now that you have done the prep work and have everyone in the same room, here is a framework to brainstorm with:
Don’t try to find your name right away - try to find your words one at a time. Chances are your brand will be two words, and finding those two best words is the real challenge. So break the problem down and brainstorm for individual words in the following buckets:
- Words that describe your product category
- Words that describe the differences between your product versus your competition’s
- Words that describe the benefits of using your product
To keep things focused and manageable, try to spend each of your first three sessions focused on one of these buckets. Inevitably, you and your naming team will start to join the words you come up with to form alluring combinations. That’s totally natural, but try to stay disciplined because this really is an exercise that warrants follow-through.
Use the columns in the spreadsheet to guide you. You will want 50-100 words per column. Remember: be ruthless. In my opinion, single syllable words beginning with hard consonants are the best. They are hard to find. Hang in there.
Rinse. Repeat. Expect it to take eight to ten sessions.
Step IV: Got a Name You Like? Sleep On It
Once you have a name you like, sleep on it. We used to start every session with the question, “what was the name you remembered when you woke up this morning?” Invariably we would all agree on that one name and have a new front-runner that we all liked. That said, invariably this new best name would not satisfy ALL our constraints so we would cast it aside and press on.
To be successful with this process you have to be true to your constraints. Utterly committed. Unwavering. Every constraint you break will only dilute the quality of your name. This is one time not to be easy on yourself. Be hard and unrelenting. Be ruthless.
Step V: Once You Have Your Name - Test It
If you invest enough into this process, you will know a good name when you hear it. If it satisfies all of your constraints you will almost certainly have a great name. However, you do have to test it with your customers - your audience. Make some phone calls, run a survey, post the name on a forum and see what people think. Whatever you do, get some feedback from target customers outside your organization.
The Truth About How We Wound Up Choosing Our Name
As the process evolves you may find you like some words more than others. Some days, the exercise follows you around. It wakes you up, keeps you up and drives you nuts. Eventually some words will cut through. In May we renamed our invoicing service from 2ndSite to FreshBooks.
For us the word that cut through was ‘Fresh’. One day at lunch Kathy said, “What about the word Fresh? I like it.” In that moment, the coin just dropped. We loved the word because it is refreshing, it’s fun to say and it sounds good.
We never looked back, but we did go back to our list of category words. Since ‘Fresh’ describes the difference in our approach to something as tired as accounting, and one of the benefits of our service, we needed a word to describe our category. One word. Single syllable. Harsh consonant. The word ‘Books’ - as in “manage your books” - was perfect.
Now, I have told you this story not to contradict or undermine the importance of the process this article describes, I told you this story to illustrate its importance. Kathy had her breakthrough BECAUSE we invested in the process, and when she suggested ‘Fresh’, it was easy for the rest of us to recognize just how good the word ‘Fresh’ was.
A Quick Word Regarding Domain Names
If you are a web company, personally I think you have to own the .com domain. Make it another constraint. If you can’t get the .com, find another name. I know there are those that suggest otherwise, but requiring the .com domain name is just another constraint at the end of the day, and if your business is online, you don’t want to explain how to get to your URL. You just want someone to be able to hear your company name and go there.
You may have to spend money to buy your domain name. We purchased ours for several thousand dollars. While I would not have paid a penny more (literally the price was at our uppermost limit), our domain name and new brand have made the investment worthwhile.
Wrapping Up
While trying to find a name, and words that describe what your company is trying to do, you will find that your brain works overtime. Every word you read will be a candidate, every word you hear will have new potential, but only by embracing this process or something like it will you be able to recognize a great word/name when you hear it.
So is it worth taking the time to find a good name? You bet. Good luck with your naming - if you invest in the process you won’t regret it.
How have you come up with your own product or company names? Which name do you wish you’d thought of first?
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What about uniqueness? I always thought it was best to give your company a name that currently does not show up in Google.
And while I like PayPal well enough, Best Buy and Quickbooks are way to generic for my taste. Why not highlight companies that have a history of strong branding for example? Starbucks, Apple, Target, Harley, etc.
I like Freshbooks as a name, but with respect what experience or platform gives you a special authority on the subject of branding? It seems like it would make far more sense to read something by you that focuses on the entrepreneurial experience of naming than a how-to article that, by all accounts, is based on your singular experience.
(It’s also funny this article is on Vitamin’s site. Vitamin follows few of the naming rules you set forth.
Defintely a consideration, but keeping the big picture of a great brand in mind is more important because eventaully the google factor will not be relevant (i.e. as more people link to you, you will soon become first in search)…that said, this is a good reason to try to get your .com domain name…so people can just type in your company name…
@Nathan: fair enough I guess. Take this article with a grain of salt - like anything else that you read. It’s a framework you might find helpful, if you don’t like it, don’t use it. For the record I am not suggesting having a great name will guarantee you success…it’s just one of the pieces your need in place when building a business, and if this framework helps just one company come up with a name they like, then the article has served it’s purpose.
re being generic: I think you can follow the rules I set up and come up with a unique name that is not generic…and despite being a little generic, I think QuickBooks and BestBuy are much better names than you give them credit for.
As for StarBucks and Apple and Target, they all possess some of the characterises that I set out (by the way, Apple is a pretty generic name), but the truth is they have all succeeded because they have built meaning around their brands over the years. That’s the most important thing you can do with a brand, build meaning around it. A name is really just a vessel for you to do that. Some companies take an empty vessel approach to naming (i.e. Zoho, Sony, Nortel), and that’s a perfectly legitimate strategy too and one that I did not address.
As for ThinkVitamin - DropSend is a better name in my books :)
Another talked about that stuff on his blog
http://www.dizzytree.com/blog/2006/09/27/hello-world/
I think we agree the point isn’t an empty name, but an brand that can support your product and company. You create the value, your name doesn’t. (At least not in the big picture.)
But Apple and Target apple generic terms in distinct and non-generic ways. It is what gives them copyright coverage. Best Buy has a more confusing name/trade mark and if it wasn’t for their size they’ve be in a pick. Anyone starting a roofing business named ‘Constructed Well’ is going to run into potential conflict with their name.
There are literally of thousands of companies that providing branding services. I would recommend nearly anyone capable of spending thousands on a URL to at least consider contacting a branding firm for consult. As you said - your name is an investment.
[…] How To Name Your Company 1. It has to be one or two syllables long - no more 2. Each syllable starts with a strong consonant (B, C, D, G, K, P, Q, T) 3. It’s fun to say (”…that just rolls off the tongue”) […]
[…] Michael McDerment has written a more scientific article on how to name a company, which definitely has some gems in it: Read it here. […]
[…] Vitamin has a great post on naming your company, with a step-by-step guide: […]
I can’t tell you how excited I was that other people thought as I did. I just started my own design business in Anchorage, but I pondered the company name for over a year. My wife thought I was crazy because I thought of some good names, but the .com was taken. And I knew I wanted the .com. I wanted it to be easy to find me if you knew the company name. Thanks for emphasizing the importance of good research. I finally came up with the name Cedrus Creative. It feels right and it has made all the difference when it comes to developing the identity package such as logos and letterhead. Remember this is the name of your company. Don’t settle for anything.
Nathan — It is a chicken and egg thing. A name is a part of the whole. With a good name it might seem easier to build brand recognition but brand recognition comes with time, trust, integrity, great people/products/services.
Mike’s framework is similar to what we use when we help companies name themselves, their products, their services, etc. You are thinking too much. There is this balance you need to strike or a decision will never be made. No one knew “Coke” would end up being that universal word for soda when they came up with it. “Apple” didn’t have instant brand recognition the first time Steve Jobs handed out his business card to someone. Think if it as an organic process that needs attention, needs to be fed, and taken care of so it can grow.
I was about to make a tall coffee latte at starbucks when I felt that DECAF would be a good name for my/our web agency. That was 3 years ago and I am really addicted to coffee ;)
Nice article, best regards from Berlin!
[…] Alors que d’aucuns s’évertuent à chercher la formule secrète pour nommer leur mashup révolutionnaire 2.0, d’autres se prennent beaucoup moins la tête. […]
One or 2 syllables is generally true if it is a web site name. But only generally.
Hard consonants? Not always, there is also the ’sounds like an Itallian beverage or the latest magic pill’ names (Allegra, Adecco)
ex: OverEasy, EndItNow
Ah the software naming convention of CamelCaps!
You might also add a consideration to the cost of a domain name that is already being squatted by domain pirates like Sedo.
There is little point in spending thousands on a name when you can spend the cost of lunch on it.
[…] Vitamin: How To Name Your Company Very well written article on naming your new baby. […]
The Science Of Naming Your Company…
“What’s behind a name?”
That question has probably been asked a couple of million times throughout history. If names doesn’t matter, why do so many celebrities use names which aren’t their birth names?
One of the most like…
Fantastic article.
When we renamed our company from JRX Design to Giant Peach it was a tough and pain staking process, and we went about things almost exactly as suggested in this article.
We’ve had the name Giant Peach for just under a year now and we’re starting to get people calling up making inquiry’s because months later they’ve remembered our name.
It’s easy to spell and requires no explanation
Amen to that one - also make sure it has a really obvious pronounciation.
In the past we named our business as a concatenation of two founders’ surnames: it was unique, had meaning, we got the .com…
… but it felt like everyone we did business with had a different way to say the name / spell the name. Frustrating to say the least - lesson learned the hard way.
some suggestions for the list of constrains
6. language of spelling (Am I talking to english, spanish, italian, or french costumers?)
7. cultural diferencies (Classic example: ‘White-blah-blah Inc.” in western culture is soft, pure, life, etc. In China (or Japan, pls correct me) is associated to death, funeral )
[…] Michael McDerment nous offre un article intitulé “How to name your company” sur ThinkVitamin. Les points principaux qu’il apporte sont ceux-ci: […]
[…] Read the whole article here. Very interesting stuff. […]
[…] Michael McDerment de ThinkVitamin.com acaba de publicar un artículo titulado “Cómo nombrar a tu compañía“. El artículo está en inglés, entonces si no hablas inglés aquí están sus 5 puntos principales para tener en cuenta cuando nombras a tu compañía: […]
Mike -
Great post. The process you describe for brainstorming a company or brand name is really great! We’ve gone through this same type of a process, but you’ve really put some definition and process flow around it.
On the domain name question, what are your thoughts on whether it is important to own the brand term as the domain, or if it works to “smooth” it a little bit a la:
Vitamin - www.thinkvitamin.com
Basecamp - www.basecamphq.com
Amigo - www.heyamigo.com
I know I picked two of Ryan’s domains as examples, but I’m interested to hear your thoughts on this. It is certainly becoming more difficult to find great brand names, and this is an alternative to all the vowelless companies ending in “R” or “io”.
Anyway, great post. - Chris
Interestingly enough we came up with the strapline for Vitamin before the actual name. To create a site that offered, ‘Nourishment to help the web grow’ was our aim. Vitamin just seemed to fit nicely with that.
We’re not saying that Vitamin is the perfect name but it works for us. Once you’ve got your name I’d say it’s all about marketing. We’re pretty proud of the fact that if you search for ‘Vitamin’ on Google we are the top hit. That’s good going for site with a very generic name.
Hey Chris - great question.
Personally I don’t like the “smoothing option”…especially if you are web business. Like I said in the article, getting the .com domain is really just one more constraint, and if you embrace that constraint as part of your process, I believe you’ll be better off.
Anecdotally, I remember in August 2004 someone told me about this great service BaseCamp and I went searching and for the life of me I could not find the site. Now 37Signals ranks number one for the phrase BaseCamp in Google, but for a generic term like that, if you are not a “colossal” brand (like 37Signals is fast becoming), you may never rank fist. As a result you risk losing business and you tarnish your brand by seeming unprofessional - at least in my books.
All of which is to say, it’s your call and there are trade-offs any way you slice it. For example, we had to buy our domain name…not everyone is up for that.
Check out Igor’s free Naming Guide PDF for more, much more: http://www.igorinternational.com/guide
Amigo ranks second on Google - after err…hotelamigo.com. Amigo.com is nowhere in sight. So with that in mind it’s probably not worth losing sleep over the fact that you don’t have the .com.
It’s interesting to look back at the names we didn’t choose. They seem a bit crazy now!
Hey Gill and Mike, thanks for you comments. It’s tough finding the perfect brand name and then always checking to see if the URL is available. We launched before with a brand that we loved, but they wanted $10,000 for the domain. We tacked on a descriptor, and bought the URL for $7. I’m really interested in both your opinions because this is something we argue about for hours here when we are working on branding for a new project. Thanks!
Yeah…nice point Gillian…and for the record search is a rather small consideration, but a consideration nonetheless.
I think it all really speaks to making the right decisions for your organization. I gave my opinion because I was asked, but there are no right answers, just what’s right for your company.
Amigo is great (as is Vitamin) because it fits some of the most important of Mike’s first set of constraints. Strong, easy to remember and fun to say. It sticks with you. Sometimes purely descriptive brands don’t do that. (NewsletterAds.com or whatever) And of course, after its been out there, it becomes a memorable brand and everything else seems silly, just like you said.
[…] I wrote an article for ThinkVitamin about “How to Name Your Company“. […]
I recently went through a similar process to find my company name and honestly I think if everyone followed the same guidelines then all companies would sound alike.
DropSend, PayPal, BestBuy, FreshBooks… they’re all the same!
Years ago it was all about acronyms… IBM, HP, SUN.
I think this is just a fad and entrepreneurs should spend less time focusing on such insignificant details.
In my opinion there’s no real magic to choosing a company name. It’s all about the products/services the company has to offer. If people LOVE what you do, they’ll remember you even if you’re called compu-global hyper-mega-net.
@Alex: It’s rare that I do this, but I am going to flat out disagree with you. As someone who was too busy to get his product’s name right the first time around, then had to rename and re-brand his company - and as a result enjoyed some real upside in the marketplace - I’ll tell you a good name matters.
As for the names all sounding the same, it may seem that way to you and one of your constraints might be to come up with something different. Changing the constraints will change the type of name you come up with, there’s no question about that.
As for acronyms as names, I strongly recommend reading Positioning (there is a link in the article). It addresses the issue and shows what folly acronym names are. In a nutshell it takes a lot more money and a lot more brand recognition to succeed with a name that is an acronym. For any company just getting started, my advice there would be steer clear of acronyms for sure.
i definetly do think think putting the time and effort into researching your company name is a good thing. bit i think there is no exact science behind it. company names don’t make companies succeed, but a good company name helps in making the branding positioning process easier. good article though. i shall ponder and debate more with my peers.
Your method is a good way of findin portmanteus but won’t work for any other type of name. The problem with portmentaus is the more logical they are, the less interesting and more expensive (in terms of domain names) they become. They’re also crushingly literal. It can be hard to change your approach when, as an Englich company is, you’re called ‘Carphone Warehouse’ and no one’s had a carphone in almost 20 years.
I think your advice is good but your rules are wrong for the modern age. Nonsens names like Google (which isn’t a real word, though was inspired by one) and Flickr, along with totally unrealted ones like Apple, are arguably stronger than the portmanteus ou favor.
[…] Over at Vitamin Michael McDerment of FreshBooks has written up an interesting framework for naming a company, but the rules apply to a product or service as well. Though there have been a few negative comments on his framework, I in fact like it very much even though I violated almost every single rule when naming Conxsys. […]
I think this “Each syllable starts with a strong consonant (B, C, D, G, K, P, Q, T)” is kind of a silly constraint that no one should follow. I don’t see how those specific letters correspond to a good name at all. Unless you want to argue that Apple, Microsoft, Intel, WalMart, Honda, Sony, ESPN, uh… Vitamin… etc. are bad names. :)
Really, the only things that matter are that your name is short, easy to spell (and easy to say–I mean, “fonix” would be a name which has a spelling that is not apparent when said aloud), and easily remembered. The rest is just branding. Everyone knows what McDonald’s, Nike, and Google do… but those names don’t describe their business or anything about it. It’s all about branding. I would venture to say that nearly all of the most popular brands in the world don’t have names that have something to do with their core business. No one buys shoes from “Athletic Shoe Company That Has Many Famous Athletes Endorsing Its Products, Inc.” ;)
[…] Wow, this is a very detailed post on how to name a company (via Techmeme). Personally, I think the web 2.0 name generator is still a much easier way to go. […]
For those looking for further reading on methodologies for naming a company, check out Igor’s Naming Guide.
Its goes into detail about the strengths and weaknesses of many naming strategies, including the one posited in this article. Worth bookmarking along with this page.
[…] I did a write up on ThinkVitamin entitled, “How to Name a Company“. It made it’s way onto techmeme today and it’s got a about 40 comments so far…have a look if you are looking at naming a product or a company. […]
What fascinates me is the creative process that leads - assuming anything does - to the moment of true inspiration - the one in which Kathy thought of “Fresh”, for example. Why did that happen at that moment? What *that* word at *that* moment?
I often have my best ideas in completely unscripted and unstructured moments - when creative conditions seem to coalesce just right. It often seems like magic. Could be walking the dog and listening to the iPod, could be standing in the shower, or driving in the car … I think I’m still unconvinced that *that* kind of creativity can be planned for, or that we know enough about how to facilitate it to create the right conditions.
But I *do* love *Freshbooks*.
Awesome article and discussion. A topic that truly fascinates me. I recently went through a similar, rigorous process coming up with my personal web biz name.
My process isn’t quite as formal but it does involve a lot of brainstorming, visioning, note taking, long walks. ha. In the end I went with a name that popped into my head one morning while still waking up…. a quick check on GoDaddy and I nabbed it. End result: Monster Sized.
The problems with me, is I always compare my names with already established ones, and then I start to doubt my decision. I guess that’s where having a team of name creators would help.
I agree with Alex Williams to a point when he says if people LOVE what you do they’ll remember you. You can’t cover a crap product or service with a stunning name. But then I’d argue that a good name gives you a better chance at getting your foot in the door.
Mike I’d like to hear your thoughts on who should come up with names. Particularly with Web Products made by Web Developers (technical minded). Do you involve the developers in the naming process or is it all Marketing type people? I can recall coming up with names with two other developers and I’ve found that being in technical mode all day long can produce some pretty lame ideas and suggestions.
PS: great article. Will try your process on my next little venture.
[…] How To Name Your Company (tags: advertising article business career design development howto ideas inspiration job tips tutorial Entrepreneurship naming company) […]
A great new tool I like for brainstorming or quickly coming up with names/domain names is http://instantdomainsearch.com/ .
It searches domains as you type…you don’t even need the www so you can just write words and it will check all the available domains in real-time…Can’t get easier or faster than that…..good when you thought of something while in the shower and want to try all the possiblities…Like Mike said..it’s just one constraint…but nice one when it happens..
We sorta got lucky with meeting all the criteria and we acted fast.
Michael,
Thanks for an excellent, thoughtful article. I totally agree with the constraints and process you suggest. Your post made me reflect on my own website naming experiences and inspired me to write my own post about the importance of making names as “word of mouth friendly” as possible.
[…] My mesh partner Mike McDerment of the wondrously branded Freshbooks has a great post on how to name your company, attract a boatload of visibility, and sell to Google for gazillions of dollars, which you will spend on a beach in Fiji on blender drinks and on having grapes peeled for you. Well, on how to name your company, anyway. Related Posts […]
[…] Vitamin.com posted an interesting article by Mike McDerment of freshbooks.com on how to create an effective brand. […]
@Scott: with regards to who should be involved in your naming team, I think you want to take the approach you would take in building any other team - you want people with complimentary strengths, not a team where everyone possesses the same strengths.
Ideally you want a really well rounded perspective and that may mean including people from multiple departments, but that’s your call. The big thing is you have a team with a wide range of mind sets. With respect to including representatives from multiple departments, that has the potential to be a political nightmare if everyone pushes their own agenda. That said, part of the beauty of working with a framework like the one laid out above is it should keep people from rat-holing down into their own perspective/politics with respect to names.
Just my two cents.
I’d like to go back to the comments on trying to find a domain with .com for your naming process. First, I think a .com has definite better “feel” than a .biz or .net. Secondly, the importance of having a domain name that lined up directly with your business name is fading slowly. Sure if it’s available take the domain. The reason that the need for a direct line between name and domain is fading is because of how people are using the internet to find their information. Most people, aka the average user, goes to Google and does a search on the company, product, etc. Wheras most earlier users of the internet would go directly to the site, now most peole will do a Google search first and then click the link there, or maybe the ads on the side. So yes its important to get the domain close, but not crucial. e.g. the American Diabetes Association’s website is diabetes.org
[…] How to Name Your Company [Vitamin] […]
[…] How To Name Your Company (tags: advertising article business career design development howto ideas inspiration job tips tutorial Entrepreneurship naming company) […]
Mike, your article is pretty good. For those such as @Nathan, who suggest that names like Best Buy or QuickBooks are not as good as Starbucks but branding has to be approached from a the perspective of the amount of money you have to build it with.
For many companies, they were in business and then they needed to grow the brand–throw money at it. Coke, Pepsi, Nike, Budweiser–throw money at it. You have to and you have to keep doing it but if you have a great name built on the obvious like Quickbooks you can reach people on the store shelves and not worry about the TV spots and Glossy Magazine spreads to get the message out there.
For the small and lean organization–throw clever at it. Be tricky, be smart. Even larger companies can be smart: Lean Cuisine; what a perfect name. It is light food that tastes great–that is clever branding that you don’t need to throw a bucket of cash after to get known.
I am oversimplifying it significantly though as I ignore all the pyschographic and sociological issues that relate to brands. Especially the idea that if a brand says one thing and then delivers another. It will soon become a joke or a discredited part of the world and be faced with spending Microsoft dollards trying to win back the market.
Cheers from a guy who didn’t think long and hard (enough) before naming his company SmashingRed (I am filling the bucket of cash as I write this)…
I rarely make comments on blogs, but I felt that this one was important enough to talk about.
What’s in a name? Let me tell you a 4 year story of name change (another guy who thought he thought about the name, but in fact is learning each and every day about names…)
We picked a name away back for the company. event IQ. It was a little product to help with online registrations for different kind of events (fundraisers, small conferences and the like). We wanted a name that was short, positive (IQ =smart), and was tied to what we did (Q=queue)
What I learned:
-make it memorable.
-it has to be easily prounoucable (our target audience is office administrators).
-After reading it from a URL, it needs to easily translate into the spoken word (eventiq-some people would say even-tick
-short is good
-2 syllables is ok, but strong sounds are easily remembered, so 3 is fine too
So, we kept eventIQ as our corporate brand and went to rebrand our product. A friend said to me one night… “skooch over so I can sit down”, and I had an instant image of something cute! Something that our targets had indicated they liked. Soft, cuddly, helpful and fun! Skoochie was born! (Schedule and organize events)
It met all the criteria above. (readable, easily typable, very memorable). And away we went….
We have the traditional product issues, and we are nowhere near as great designers as some of you are (but we are getting better), But our idea was simplicity. and overall our target customer really liked it.
Then over the last year as the product became more popular, and our customers started to ask for more features, Our targets would tell their managers, and we had a number of our customers say that they’d like to buy the service for the entire company. And new issues arose.
We had one customer say “I am not spending thousands of dollars on skoochie, sound bad, negative towards women, we can’t associate that with our brand” (a far cry from cute and cuddly
skoochie- skank hoochy in the urban dictionary (cute and cuddly, not
and there is also an interesting translation into italian
So, as our customer base has changed and grown, it seems our name has had to change too!
So we have been testing “invite Right”
3 syllables, positve, says what it does, if you read the URL you will say it right (and vice versa), and a little more corporate, so our customers can attach it to their own website for invitations and RSVP (eg. xyzco.inviteright.com)
But my guess is that we will learn a whole bunch from this one too.. and that naming is nowhere near a science, it is also a litlle bit of art and a little bit of luck. But the number one thing we have learned, is listen to your customers!
I’d love to get your feedback, and I hope you don’t mind me being verbose, but this topic really hit home.
Have a great day!
What about a 3 words name. I want to open a business and found a 3 words name that associate with my products and services.
Is it good to have such a large name. Or perhaps the relativity of the words it will be easy to remember.
Great article!
Much of what was written I have at one point or another given deep though to. I would have to buy into the argument that, yes, there is quite a lot riding on a name, and yes you do need a great product to compliment that name.
I am often in disbelief when I see some very poorly chosen and not thought through business names. A name has the potential to paralyze your business from the get-go.
I have (well in my opinion :) ) ended up with a gem, a name that is a: healthy for my mind i.e. sits well with me.
b: is very appropriate.
c: was luck to get a .com
d: is a bit different.
The name I finally settled with was engineActive.
Sometime you think you have nailed it, then you mull it over for a few months (yes, a few months!) and realize that it just falls short.
BTW. if anybody is interested in the domain www.constructspace.com drop me an email!
Nice article Mike, while I agree with most of your points and love your process for creating a name, I have to agree and disagree regarding getting the .com.
Yes, I 100% agree that getting a .com instead of a .biz or .net is an important step, it looks more legit and higher up the pecking order. However, as Chris Schultz stated thinkvitamin.com, and basecamphq.com work well in the web environment.
If your business/product is aimed at the online marketplace then getting the exact .com isn’t as necessary. For example I created a product last year, Sidepath. The sidepath.com domain wasn’t available, it was registered in 2002. I purchased thesidepath.com in 2006 and low and behold with a good bit of SEO and a well structured page flow any search for “sidepath” displays my domain before any other.
That said, going back to your point about the name describing your business category, this is helpful. Anyone searching the web for “sidepath” and finding my site isn’t likely to turn into one of my future customers. The same can be said for someone searching for “vitamin”, they may see thinkvitamin.com as the #1 result.. but it more than likely wont be the result they were looking for.
Nice post…
I wish you could have published this post before a month… I was searching for a name for my Web Design business at that time..
Finally i named it BrightEye Web Solutions with a website http://brighteye.in
Guys, let me know what do you think about this name…
The biggest hurdle for me was to find out a .com domain… and finally settle with a .in name.
[…] How To Name Your Company Gode tips til hvordan du finder på et passende navn til dit firma. (tags: markedsføring) […]
Thank you for your advice, I would like your professional view in regards to my choice in a domain name.
Looking forward to your answer,
Deborah Mansfield
[…] When you are planning to start a business, eventually you need a name for your business. Personally I have gone through all the process for naming my web solutions business and finally settled on BrightEye Web Solutions. I like the name very much but I could not able to register a .com and chosen .in domain. As every business in these days wants a web presence it is better if you have .com domain . Vitamin posted an interesting article by successful entrepreneur Mike McDerment of freshbooks.com. You can find some professional advice and great tips to name your company and create and effective brand. […]
Thanks for your article. To find a good company name is really challenging. But to find a free domain is hardly easier.
[…] Vitamin Features » How To Name Your Company Great primer on naming a company - actually, great protocols/steps to follow. Mike is a really smart guy too… (tags: branding howto naming marketing startup tips web2.0) […]
[…] In a recent article at Vitamin, the steps to generating a good company name were laid out. […]
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[…] Great article on how to go about naming your company! […]
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The Name Game…
Even now, my web app doesn’t have a name. I’m really bad at it obviously. Every name I’ve gone for so far has been taken, or at least the domain name has.
Do you think you could do any better? Have a read through this blog, glean what…
[…] Vitamin Features » How To Name Your Company (tags: startup business) […]
Just wanted to say thanks for the article. You have all taught me some things today.
Thanks Micheal i have been searching it for a long time. This is very useful thanks again.
Great article! I have a question though, what if your business does more than one thing? I currently own a business that does custom embroidery, screenprinting and signs, as well as having a retail clothing area out front. We will be moving location this summer and it seems like the perfect time to ‘re-brand’. The current name reflects that previous owners - something we’d like to get away from. Any ideas? Thanks in advance.
Cindy, in your case you just want to ensure your name does not anchor you to a particular category. You may even want to use what is often called “an empty vessel” that is meaningless and you build meaning into and around the name. Alternatively you could focus on conveying the difference and the benefit of your services. Hope that helps. (Sent from BlackBerry…far out).
Hi MIke,
I had a quick question !!!
While naming a company, whats the difference between adding an INC. or PVT LTD.
i mean for eg. DELL INC. and DASH INTERNATIONAL PVT. LTD.
i mean when do u actually put the INC. behind your companies name ???
[…] Vitamin Features » How To Name Your Company When you start a company, eventually you are going to have to choose a company name. You may not take the decision that seriously - but trust me, a great name can make all the difference. (tags: business naming entrepreneurship company howto name tutorial inspiration marketing advice work Startup tips) […]
[…] Naming Your Company April 4th, 2007 — Aki Jinn I have been thinking about re-naming my current domain name, which I registered last year. I need something easy to remember, yet unique. Here’s one interesting article on How To Name Your Company. Posted in Business. […]
Hi,
I am planning to start a consulting company, can anyone please suggest me a good name????
[…] Feature: How To Name Your <b>Company</b> […]
Gute Domainnamen…
Thinkvitamin spricht bei Marken- oder Firmennamen davon, dass er der Zunge schmeicheln sollte oder dass es vielleicht sogar Spaß machen sollte den Namen auszusprechen….
[…] Although, at first we thought we’d keep the name Dynamic Vantage, we’ve now decided to rename ourselves as well. A fresh start. “Dynamic Vantage” just doesn’t fit who we are any more. It’s too long. It’s too formal. We want something less serious and more fitting to our small team. Coming up with a new name is a challenge though, as any one who has ever started a company or launched a product can relate to. This article on Think Vitamin, “How to Name Your Company” was a very good read and I’d recommend it. The comments are worth the time as well. I don’t agree with everything in the article though, but it does touch on some good points and a good process for getting ideas flowing. Specifically, we want to take these suggestions and keep them in mind for our new name: […]
[…] Naming your Company April 20th, 2007 — Happy Accountant I came across this brilliant article about naming your company, at Vitamin, by Michael McDermot which identifies five critical steps in naming your company. […]
Looking at the list of ‘good’ company names, I can’t see a good reason for using such generic words for company names when looking from the angle of a search engine optimiser. Call it a little single-minded, but a distinctive noun in a company name helps with brand name retention as well as search engine visibility. Worked for us over at our small hong kong web design company Turtle Media
I would like to brand my own name, however, my concern is that as I involve other partners in my business, they will not be willing to give up their personal identity in exchange for mine. Is it best that I continue to fulfill a dream of personal branding or choose another name that would be all inclusive?
[…] How To Name Your CompanyEin paar Hilfen fürs Brainstorming […]
Thanks for the article. I am in the process of marketing my beta intranet webapp called ‘e-College’, but the name “e-College.com” is not available , and also .info, .net, etc.
Should I make it ecollegehq.com like the way basecamp did ?
or should i really change the name of the software ?
After reading this article, i think i should rename the Free intranet e-learning platform ?. Please advise.
How about the name Zcademy.com - I’ve checked, it is available
This is an awesome article. I really like your practical advice. We have a suggestion service for domain names for websites and web applications. We use real people that suggest available domain names for your site. Its called GrabaGoodDoamin.com (http://grabagooddomain.com/)
[…] How To Name Your Company […]
thanx for the article. I;m stil thinking hard for a company name. i will running a publication company which advertise for bussiness and services. should i include publication in my company name? something like Giant Inspiration Publication Co. ;) hmm.. wad do u guys think? thanx
Interesting discussion. We’re embarking on a review of our name (currrenlty “E-consultancy”). We have a few issues to grapple with:
- We’re not a consultancy…
- Existing customers know us, know what we do, and look puzzled when we suggest we might change our name (”Why would you want to do that? What’s wrong with it?”)
- Potential new customers, and web site visitors, assume (understandably) that we’re a consultancy.
- Our natural search rankings are excellent and we wouldn’t want to upset them. We’ve build a lot of authority and credibility around the existing domain (in Google’s eyes).
In many ways it doesn’t matter too much if we confuse existing customers - they’ll figure a name change out in the end and are unlikely to stop being our customers just because of our name.
But the Google bot is arguably an existing customer which might not understand the change so well or so quickly…
So we’re wondering if there is a ’smoothing’ path where we keep the existing domain for the time being but “name” the site differently (in terms of logo, identity etc.). And then perhaps in time migrate across to a new domain?
Or, if there is no decent domain available, perhaps we don’t need to ever use the new domain name? Perhaps it can have a notional ‘powered by E-consultancy’ (a bit like 37 Signals) where we have a new brand but the old URL.
Do people really care if the name and URL are different as long as you rank well in search?
We also choose our name because it was relatively unused on the internet which meant we could achieve good search results relatively quickly. Still take your point on being easy to say which unstuck isn’t. We often use ‘get unstuck’ which works well.
thanks for this great article. you know i am writing a report about marketing, and i gotta think of some ideas about naming a company and product. you gave me some many advises that i may find useful in later research, i think the flow of process of naming a product is kind of the same, right? and again, thank you mike, hope you can keep writing some good articles.
Well to be honest I think that name is one of the most significance characteristic of company. I mean when you hear its name it is very easy to understand what kind of people are leading it.
Michael - thanks for the great article. I’ve taken your methods here to come up with a name for our sales team collaboration product: PlaybookIQ.
I’ve written about the process we followed to choose criteria here and followed up with the name selection process here, including copies of our worksheets.
[…] I’ve noticed many people renaming their companies and I think my time has come. There’s something that’s been bothering me for a while with my company name “Comma Induced Software“. It just doesn’t flow. It’s not something that people can easily remember and it doesn’t even make sense. I knew all these things when I initially registered the name, but I thought it would grow on me. 6 months later, I’m starting to regret that decision. Now is the time for me to admit that Michael McDerment was right. I should have put much more thought into the name. Luckily I have yet to release a single piece of software under that name. I also don’t have any stationery, business cards or logos printed. So far, my partnership with Nerd Studio has been a very good move. For that reason, I would like to rename my company to “Nerd {something}”. I know it seems somewhat submissive, but it has many advantages for us. For example: I could operate with 1 business card instead of 2 (nerd + comma), no need to have an entire brand/identity/logo created for my company, everyone knows I work with Nerd so a derivative of that would only be natural. Nerd is a very ubiquitous word and in Canada there are at least a dozen other companies using it (i.e: Nerd Alliance Inc., Nerd-o-Tech, Nerds Records. I will need some creative help with this one. I plan to follow Scott’s advice in the selection of my new company name, but I would still love to hear some suggestions. If you have any ideas (lame or good), please post them in the comments below. It should be a fun process so don’t be scared to make us laugh. Cheers! […]
Hello , Mike,
I am Pingping in China, I am going to register a international company , but difficult to give a good name. The first step of my business is to sell the print consumable such as accessories of printer ,( wiper blade,doctor blade, PRC,laser drum ),ink cartridge etc.
At the same time I want to be a REP foreign trade company to purchase productes in China . So , what should the name be?
IT IS HEADACHE FOR ME ….THANKS FOR YOUR HELP …
Yu Shu Ping - I hate to say it, but you’re on your own on this one…it takes work to find the right name…I think the article demonstrates that. Good luck!