I know it doesn’t sound like it should take much too just slap a name to our Business and go with it. Well there is a lot more to this than just slapping a name on a business card and going with it.
Your Business Name
Why should you have a business name? If for nothing else it will give you self-gratification. Have you ever dreamed of owning your own business and thinking of what it would be called? Now is your opportunity to make that dream come true.
What Does My business name mean?
Start by deciding what you want your name to communicate. To be most effective, your company name should reinforce the key elements of your business. Does your name really have to be meaningful? My answer to this is yes. You do not want to spend an unlimited amount of time explaining your business name to everyone that hears it. You want your name to communicate to your consumers what your business is all about. Be careful not to name your business a name that will limit your niche or your geographic location.
Your name needs to allow growth. If you have any desire to grow or expand your business as you go. You do not want your name to be specific niche orientated. If you were to start up a gardening business and you wanted to grow into landscaping in the future, you would not want to have a business name like Lorraine’s Petunias. Without a lot of thought you might come up with Lorraine’s Outdoor Garden center.
Now I know you can be a little more creative than what I just did there but can you see where the one limits your business to selling petunias, or maybe expanding into annual flowers. But would you expect a name like that to have vegetable plants or even landscape products?
Make sure your name does not limit you to a specific niche unless you know for sure that you will never go any further.
Make sure it does not limit you to a specific geographical location. We wouldn’t want to add Michigan into Lorraine’s Outdoor garden center because that would limit it to whom would actually pay your site a visit. This would be especially true if you are online.
Make your name easy for people to pronounce.
If you want to only sell to a specific location then by all means use your town or state or even your country in your business name. Would you click on my links if it took you to Michigan Internet Marketing services? Well you might if you were in Michigan. But my business reaches worldwide, and I just put a limit on who I might reach with my online business.
Make it easy to spell especially for people doing searches online for your business. You don’t want them to end up on someone else’s sight. Make sure your name fits your objectives. Make sure your name describes your company that you have in mind. Make sure you like your business name. Make sure that your name is your name and that it is not already in use.
Secure your domain name
Once you come up with a name you may go through the disappointment ofndiscovering that someone else has already beat you to it. This is especially true in the .com market today. There are over 50 million .com names registered and it is getting hard to get that special name you desire. But don’t let it get you down. Keep going and you will find that special name. To find out if your name is available you can use places like 1AND1 (http://www.1and1.at.your-daily-income.com )
This can help you find out if there are other businesses using your chosen name already or similar names that are close to the name you have chosen that could be associated with your name. Sites like these can also help you narrow down your choices. They will also give you alternative names to the name you have chosen if it is taken. If you can’t have your top choice of a business name as a .com domain, you might want to consider alternative spellings, choices or other top domains (i.e., “.net” or “.us”).
Let’s say that your business is going to be reselling electronics products. You decide you want to be recognized as the boss of the resell market. So we type in a name such as the “electronic resell boss” and click search. To your frustration you may find that the ultimate name you have chosen has been taken as is the name we are using as an example. ELECTRONICRESELLBOSS.COM is already taken. Alternative: You can use a Domain Buy Agent to get this name. Sometimes a business name can be off the charts and will break all the rules mentioned here, but those are far and few between. So stick with the basics.
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