What’s in a name? A lot, apparently, especially when it comes to business.
A rose by any other word would smell as sweet, but a business with a name that doesn’t tickle the senses of its consumers will wilt and wither before the season ends. So how does one come up with the perfect name?
Step 1: Brainstorm
Nothing is off the table. Pull out pen and paper or open a new document, and write down every word, every concept you can think of. You can try doing it the name generator way: making a table of nouns and names in one column, adjectives and descriptions in another, and even verbs in a third, then mix and match to see what phrases stick.
Keep your brand’s general direction in mind, but don’t let it box you in—stirring the pot of words and concepts might open completely new avenues for you and your brand.
Once you have compiled a list, envision how they would look like as your logo. You can check out freeonlinecreator.io, an online logo maker that allows you to get inspiration from premade logo templates and tweak them to fit your brand identity.
Step 2: Build on what you started
Pick your favorites, then improve on them. Play around with your combinations. Research classic and pop culture references. Make puns. Use rhymes and alliteration.
Get a thesaurus and look up synonyms and stronger adjectives or verbs. Did you want to use “happy” or did you really mean“ecstatic”? Do you want to use “blue” or would “azure” be more romantic?
Step 3: Test drive
You might be very attached to your business name, but that isn’t a guarantee that the public is going to adore it like you do. Your name has to be memorable and more importantly, easily understood by its audience.
Run your top choices by friends and family to see if your name rolls off the tongue and has a nice ring to it. Who knows, they might even bring you new ideas!
Step 4: Look before you fall
Before you tumble headfirst in love with your choice, check to make sure that your domain is available.
If by chance the exact domain you had in mind is already taken, don’t fret. You can use a different extension such as .net instead of .com, or simply add extra words to your name, like “the” or “blog”.
Once you’ve gotten your business name down pat, reserve your domain name as soon as possible, even if you’re not going to start on your website immediately. This narrows down the chances of anyone getting to your bright idea ahead of you.
Then it’s time to move on to the next steps, such as picking out a color scheme and other elements for your brand.
Your business name has to be catchy, easy to spell, and unique. It has to be able to grow with your company, especially if you have long-term plans to expand in the future, and it has to be a name the industry won’t outgrow either even if the landscape changes in the next ten years or so. Above all, it has to be a name that is representative of what you have to offer and what your values are.
