I assumed there was no art to how to name a business when I first started mine. Naming a business, in fact, was one of my lowest priorities. It seemed so easy. I knew many clever people, and all of them would be willing to contribute company name suggestions to any endeavor that I was undertaking. Finding a good company name suggestion with all that brainpower would obviously be easy. I really had no idea what would be involved in the long run. In many ways, company name suggestions became one of the biggest headaches of starting a business.
You see, most of the ideas for business names that we thought of were taken. The ones that were not taken were very similar to ones that were taken. I am a big believer in niche marketing, particularly for the product that I was selling. Finding company game suggestions that allowed me to get a particular market niche was crucial, but it defied me consistently. Although we had a novel approach to business that seemed to be guaranteed to make us some money, if we could not find the right company name suggestion, it would all be for nothing.
We even briefly contemplating hiring outside consultants to come up with some company name ideas, but we eventually dismissed the idea. We had put so much work into finding company name suggestions, you see, that If we were to go with an outside company, we would have wasted all that time. For a large business, it would have made sense to do it that way. You could have a marketing and branding firm dictate every aspect of naming, positioning, and other company strategies. For a little start up like the one we were making, however, we were on our own for company name suggestions.
In the long run, it finally came down to a marathon no-sleep session. What we thought would be one hour of work – the writing down of a half a dozen company name suggestions and picking out of the best one – turned into 24 hours of painful stasis. When it was done, however, we had some brilliant company name suggestions to choose from. Choosing was surprisingly easy, and before any of us knew what had happened, we had a whole branding strategy and a name that would inspire a great deal of customer loyalty. All in all, although company name suggestions were difficult for us, they were worth the work.
Make A Company Name
George "Shug" Fisher was a country musician and western movie sidekick, who also appeared on such TV shows as "Petticoat Junction" and "The Beverly Hillbillies." His nickname came from his mother, who called him Sugar when he was a baby.
Better known is Dub Taylor, who played a sidekick type character named Cannonball in a number of westerns, along with many other parts in many other movies. Dub is short for "W" which is short for Walter.
The most widely known is Dabbs Greer, who played the elder version of Tom Hanks's character in "The Green Mile." He was also the fellow who was rescued by George Reeves's Superman in the very first episode of the series back in 1952. Robert Greer got his Dabbs moniker from his mother's maiden name.
None of those fine actors ever played a president or any other famous personage. Their names tell you why. Those were the days when the studios were reaping the benefits of the contract system, under which they pretty much took control of their actors' working lives (and sometimes their personal lives as well). That included choosing the actors' stage names. (Judy Garland was born Frances Gumm, so sometimes they were right.)
Whether the three actors chose to use the nicknames or the studio did, the choices dictated the kinds of roles they would play: sidekicks and character parts, not leads. The men themselves might have been able to play leading roles, but their names weren't.
I recall a George Carlin quotation: Attending college at a place called Bob Jones University is like putting your money in Nick & Tony's Bank. It's the same idea: the names need to match the desired image.
Pick a name for your company and a screen name for yourself that communicate the message you want. Of course I could mention a whole raft of aptly named companies that proved to be supremely successful, such as IBM, Alcoa, McDonald's, and Xerox. But that wouldn't be any fun.
There was once a company called Boring Business Systems, but the web site is no longer active, so maybe they wised up. If you're applying for a job as a kindergarten teacher, and your e-mail address is hellspawn666@whatever.com, no way you're getting that gig. I admit to being surprised when I first saw one of the big white trucks driving around my neighborhood with "G.O.D." in giant letters on the side. G.O.D. stands for Guaranteed Overnight Delivery.
From the What Were They Thinking? Department: I pass an auto repair garage on the way to a friend's house. It's called A- Automotive. Is A minus the grade they got at auto repair school? We'll assume that the name Triple F Pet Supplies (Ontario, Canada) has nothing to do with a grade. And for years, on Pittsburgh's South Side was a diner, standing tall and proud, called Terminal Lunch.
The Internet is rife with ill-named entities. Who Represents is a site where you can find the agency that represents your favorite celebrity. Their web site address could have done with a little more deliberation: www.whorepresents.com. Experts Exchange is a kind of clearing house where you can find links to sites relating to education, finance, business, electronics, and much more. Unfortunately, they didn't put a lot of thought into the name of their web site. www.expertsexchange.com.
An online search will turn up such improbable names as the Amigone Funeral Home, Bearable Dentistry, Bender Chiropractic, the May Pop Tire Shop, and the Fractured Prune Donut Shoppe. (Their web site is a lovely shade of purple.)
Sometimes odd names work, and even a non-word will get the job done. Can you define Activia, Advanta, Integra, or Aleve? Neither can I because they're not actual words, but they have proven to work just fine as names of companies and products.
So don't decide on your company name or screen name by yourself. For something this important, you need input from people who have less direct involvement. Run it by a few friends and let them in on the fun.
Both Bestworldtravel Worldtravel & Jay Speyerer are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Jay Speyerer has sinced written about articles on various topics from Disease & illness, Writing and Dental Practice. Jay Speyerer has been a writer, a speaker, and an educator for more than 30 years, successfully helping people achieve their communication goals in memoir writing, e-mail, cross-cultural communication, and presentation skills. Want to communicate better w. Jay Speyerer's top article generates over 720 views. to your Favourites.
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