| |
| |
|
Marketing Resource Center |
|
|
|
How to Pick a Winning Business Name
What's in a name? Think of your business name as an external mask for your business. If it's something your target audience like, they would consider checking it, if they don't, in most cases you have lost a customer even before you could tell them what your product or service is. Your marketing campaign is usually like a beautiful outer covering for your business which attempts to portray it as the best business on earth for various reasons and the quality of your business name can have a great positive or negative impact on your marketing campaign. Many marketing campaigns are solely based on business names. Despite this many people, completely ignore spending time picking a good business name. This very often happens, when someone believes to have a winning business idea, and wants to kick it off as soon as possible. Brainstorming for your name Here are a few techniques which would help you brainstorm for ideal business names and come up with a wide variety of options to choose from. Tools Needed: Before you begin using the techniques below here are some tools you would need to make your brainstorming session successful 1. A Notepad and Pen 2. A thesaurus (online of offline) - Online ones save a lot of time 3. A computer with Internet access 4. A language conversion tool (Preferably online) Process: Before you begin your brainstorming process, remember that you are brainstorming for ideas and the goal is to generate as big a list as possible, therefore do not evaluate or criticise any ideas, and keep the flow going. 1. Make a list of all suitable keywords you can think of, which relate to your business, or help describe your product or service. 2. Think of companies selling similar products or your competitors and note down their names. 3. Use a Thesaurus to look for synonyms of all the words you have gathered. You should have a good list of words by now. 4. Use a language conversion tool such as the one at freetranslation.com and look for French, Spanish, Italian, German, Latin, etc. meanings of your words. Some of those words can be very trendy and especially suitable for businesses targeting the youth market, or in the hotel & entertainment industry. 5. Make combinations of partial words. You can even try combinations of English + Other Languages. Although these would be suitable only to certain creative business types. Questions to help your Shortlist Your Selections Now you have a huge list of potential business names. But you can have only one (unless you plan to open different companies for the same business), so its time to scale down and shorten your list. In this stage your aim should be to cut down your list to 10 names. Match each of your business names against this checklist and start weeding out the unsuitable ones. ? Is the name easy to remember and pronounce? ? Is it easy to spell? ? Will it appeal to your target audience? ? Does it tell you something about what your business does? ? What are the first thoughts that you want your readers to have as soon as they hear your business name? ? Is it somewhat unique? ? Is it already in use? ? Is there something in it, which would want to make the listener know more about the concept behind the name? ? Is it a geographical name? (This can affect expansion in future)? Is it broad enough, so that if you decide to expand your product line in the future, the name still represents them? By now you should have eliminated many names, and shortened your list to 10 or less names, if you haven't go down the list again and weed out some more names. Field Testing your Business Name Now that you have the top ten names, which in your opinion best represent your business. It's time to find out what others think of them. ? Take the list to all your family members, relatives and friends and ask them to choose their top three ? Try to reach your target market in order to see which ones they like. If you are planning to open a gymnasium ask people who regularly visit the gym. ? A great way to reach your target audience in masses and without any expenses can be online message boards and forums. These days there are online forums on virtually every subject. Picking up the winner Now you have factored in everyone's opinion and its decision time. The course of action from here on depends on the sort of results you had out of your list of ten. If you see a clear winner or people liking two particular words, you can safely pick one. If you see three or four words getting somewhat similar preference, make a list of top three, and field test them again, using the above steps. This should hopefully give you a winner, is you still find somewhat similar preference, you can do two things, start from scratch (I wouldn't) or go with your heart and pick the one you think is the best. Remember: Name is the first step of the Game, and while choosing one you don't want to be lame. © Ashish Monga ................................................................. Ashish Monga is a Business Student at the University of Central England in Birmingham, UK. He also runs http://www.business-students.com , a website specially dedicated to Business Students and anyone who is interested in gaining knowledge or sharing their business ideas. He can be reached at mailto:ash.monga@gmail.com Copyright 2005 by Business-students.com You have permission to publish this article electronically or in print, free of charge, as long as the author bio is included. A copy of your publication would be appreciated.
MORE RESOURCES:
Marketing - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
The Greatest Business Tips are FREE The best way for someone to hang on to a tip is on a business card.Do you remember seeing the TV commercials of OSH Hardware stores, the ones where they give out time saving tips on things like squeaky floors and a host of other common household problems? The tips are well received and they are getting their name associated with "the answers are out there". Metaphysical Marketing The foundation of success is in your mind. You do not need to struggle, seek and strive to build your business. 10 Ways to Get Your Flyers Noticed An inexpensive way to promote your services is to createvarious flyers and distribute them wherever you go -- pinthem to the bulletin boards at the library, bookstore,handout out at networking events, or playing tennis. Hereare 10 tips on how to get your flyer noticed and remembered. How To Sell To Howard Stern... Oprah Winfrey... And Paul McCartney! Do you know what Howard Stern.. Features and Benefits Brainstorming This is it what I use BEFORE I begin to write any marketing copy or launch any new product or service. You can complete this with the by-hand method listed here or use the form that I've created (available in the FORMS section of our web site, http://www. Two kinds of Advertising for a Marketing Strategy Advertising is the lifeblood of any business. If you do notlearn how to advertise your products and services bothefficiently and effectively, you won't be in business long. Top 9 Strategies To Attract More Clients Now 1. Advertise in trade journals, ezines, and web sites that cater to your ideal client. Using a Contact List Profitably Part One In previous articles, we discussed the generation of a contact list. This time, we look at one idea on what to do with that list once you have it. Forget Conventional Marketing - Embrace the Web! Tactical marketing processes are once again undergoing fundamental shifts from traditional to web-based processes. Many traditional marketing firms/agencies are still touting the tried and true to their clients; i. Getting the Maximum Marketing Mileage Out of Your Nametag As a small business owner, you must always explore creative ways to promote your products or services. One of the most effective yet underappreciated tools you can use to keep your company "on stage" is your nametag. B2B Marketing - Why it Should be Subtle Subtle adj. Showing or making, or capable of showing or making, fine distinctions of meaning. 4 Alternative Ways To Gain Lifetime Customers You will always have more people that turn downyour offer than actually buy. They might not havebought because of your price, payment options,or any other possible reason. Knock, knock. Whos There? Your Target Market, Are You Listening? Have you ever had a conversation with a person who wasn't listening to anything you said? This one-way communication experience is a big turn-off and many times frustrating to cope with at the time. Is this occurring in your marketing? Oops, no one wants to think of their business as turning a deaf ear to their market. Making a Hit with Your Marketing Campaign Considered a vital link in a show's promotional plan, direct marketing is vital only if it's done right. It's certainly not as simple as typing a letter, adding an address and stamp, and popping it in the mail. Marketing Lessons From Apples iPod Apple Computer just announced that their earnings from the last quarter more than quadrupled mainly due to robust holiday sales of the iPod digital music player. More than 10 million iPods have been sold since it was introduced in 2001. Standing Above The Crowd In today's highly competitive business environment it is critical to find ways to separate yourself from the other companies who sell the same - or similar - product and/or service. Here are several strategies that can help you accomplish this:Help your clients achieve their goals. Building Skills in Information Marketing will Boost Your Business Yesterday I was sitting on a train going into London when I thought I'd take a look around the carriage just to see what everyone was doing. I wanted to make a mental note because my five year old son always asks me 'what happened at your work today Daddy?' So I put my newspaper down and took a look around me. How Do You Know Your Clients Cant Pay More? "My clients can't afford higher rates."When more than 330 business owners and self-employedprofessionals checked off reasons why their income wasnot going through the roof, this statement was chosenmore often than any other. Trigger Button Marketing Sometimes, experiencing bleak sales is a matter of failing to find your prospective customers' trigger buttons.By trigger buttons, we mean anything that the customer would find of peculiar value. Creative Online Marketing For Salespeople and Business Professionals New to a sales career? Want to market yourself but don't have the money to do so? Tired of cold calling and prospecting? Wish there were an easier way to get the word out about your services?Does this sound like you? This was what I felt like when I got my first sales job selling copiers ten years ago. My sales manager back then was into the traditional methods of getting new business; that is, prospecting, cold calling, booking appointments, doing product demonstrations, and closing sales.
|
| home | site map | Advertising Articles |
| © 2006 |
