Brand Naming Tips For Your Startup: How to Choose Them

Running a successful business where you are able to really make it work amongst the competition out there is said to take a lot work.  Sure, it does take a lot of work without a doubt, but a lot of it comes down to how you go about developing the very important of choosing your brand name.  That is, if you choose the right name, you’re going to make yourself a success.  If you choose the wrong name, however, you’ll find that you will quickly run into problems that you could have avoided by choosing another name.

Every step of the process from brainstorming to web hosting comes with its own series of difficulties, but it’s all made easier with the tips that you are going to be learning about below.  Each one will help you get a step closer to choosing the perfect brand name with the least amount of difficulty.

• Simple is key

When it comes to names, you’ll see that there are all sorts of them out there attached to products.  A great example of how many problems complex names cause is when you are looking at health supplements, especially those geared toward detoxing, or weight loss.  A lot of them sound the same, have strange capitalization, weird sounds, or other strange things in their names.  Not only does it make it hard to remember, it can easily go wrong when you accidentally have someone typing in a similar name to yours, and it’s your competition.  So, keep you name simple so that people remember it.

• Make a memorable domain name

This is related to the point we just talked about.  Make sure that when the time comes to choose the domain name, you make it memorable.  Make sure your brand name is used, but don’t go too short with it.  That is, if you brand name is “Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches” (just go with me), then perhaps you could make your domain name “pbandjsandwiches”.  This is easier remember than “peanutbutterandjellysandwiches” or “pbajs”.  It’s more intuitive to your memory, and will get people coming to your domain much faster.

• Check out your competition

Checking our your competition is great.  This will show you what to stay away from, but also how to make sure that you are staying in line with what you are looking to get to in terms of your calibre and status.  Learning from your competition is one of the best things you can do.

• Choose a related logo

When you pick a brand name, you should also make sure that you pick an associated logo at the same time.  This is great for making sure that you can actually, you know, design a logo before you commit to the name.  It’s better to know now if you can’t, rather than later when you’ve already committed to it.

• Be open to change

Don’t be so stubborn that you can’t change the name when you pick one.  It’s best to be able to change the name when you are just starting out rather than later.  If, for whatever reason, you picked a bad name, swallow your pride and design it into a better one as soon as you come,  It’s all about being successful, after all, and there is such a thing as failing because you have a bad name.

• Figure out what message you want to get out

When you are brainstorming ideas, you need to figure out what message you want to display.  Make sure, essentially, that you are in the right wheelhouse to get the job done.  You need to connect a name with a message, because that’s how your customers are going to be thinking of you.  For example, don’t pick a name that has to do with cheeseburgers, if you specialize in tacos.  However, you can pick a name that has to do with, say, sour cream or salsa if you specialize in tacos, because it is related.  It really does make difference.

• Make a few mock ups

Sometimes you’ll love a name until the time comes to see it listed on a webpage or in a mock up design.  So, to avoid this problem entirely, make sure you do a couple mockups of different designs and names so that you can take a look at how it is going to appear when it goes live.

• Can Siri spell it?

Siri and other automated helpers need to be able to understand your brand name so that you can go out there and actually expect those out there to find it.  Essentially, if Siri can’t spell it properly, you can bet that a lot of people out there won’t be able to either.  It can be frustrating to do this, but it will really help you out in the long run.

• Say it out loud

It’s simple, but effective.  Make sure that you like the feel of sound of it when it comes out of your mouth.  If it’s awkward in any shape or form, you’re going to want to avoid the name, or tweak it to make sure that it sounds similar to what you had in mind.  You can play around with alternate spellings, too, but be careful not to go too far with this (see point number one).

You can really find some helpful advice here to get the right brand name going for you.  It may be tricky to see how it is going to help you out, especially if these tips make you throw out the list that you had before you read this, but you really will be better off in the long run if you use this list to help you find the perfect name.  It gives you get tips to start out, too, if you were looking for the right starting point to launch you on the journey to the perfect brand name.