MaryEllen Tribby: A Name Can Make or Break You

We would like to believe that it is what is in the inside that counts. But for our businesses, the fact of the matter is – what’s on the outside really does matter. Others make critical decisions about us, and they start with our business names.

The hard cold truth is names matter and here’s why. You may have heard of the expression, don’t judge a book by its cover, but the reality is people do judge books by their covers, and they do the same thing with all products, services and websites including yours.

Think about it. We agonize over choosing the perfect name for our children. Why wouldn’t you do the same for your business?

Here’s a great example of why you want to carefully consider any name you choose.

Back in 1982, there was a book called “Astrological Love” by Nora Hayden. This book sold less than 5000 copies and eventually went out of print. A man found this book while strolling through the remainder bin in a bookstore. He flipped through a few pages and thought that the content was fantastic, but the name was terrible.

So he licensed the book from Nora Hayden and changed the title to “How to Satisfy a Woman Every Time and Have Her Beg for More.” When it was re-published under this new title in 1998, it sold over 2.5 million copies becoming a New York Times bestseller with the exact same content and the exact same author. All that changed was the title. That’s why names matter.

The More The Better

To come up with a name for your product, brainstorm different ideas. The more ideas you can generate, the more likely one of those ideas will be perfect. Even if you’re creating a free inbox magazine or a $7 report, treat it as if you’re releasing a $5000 training course. Every product deserves that much attention.

First, think about who your reader is. Are they entrepreneurs, working moms, survivalists, Forex traders, or outdoor enthusiasts? You need to know without a doubt who that reader is.

Second, what is the desired end result of your product? What’s the benefit to your readers? If you were creating a Bug-Out Bag devoted to survivalists, customers don’t just want to survive but thrive after any calamity.

In your market, you may think that all the best names have been taken so you may need to use synonyms and antonyms. Visit sites like thesaurus.com and dictionary.com. Type in some of your name ideas and you can see the Latin and Greek derivatives.

Even if you come up with a clever name, you still need a tagline that calls out to your market because this further helps them to understand that you’re targeting them.

Also think about rhymes and alliteration. Things like YouTube sounds fun. Double Your Dating is an example of memorable alliteration, much like Coca-Cola. If your title rhymes and includes some alliteration, such repetition can make your title memorable. Any time you have something memorable, it will stick in people’s minds and will be more fascinating.

Of course, make sure that it works for your market. For example, in the financial world, you don’t want to be too cute. Your title has to match your market expectations.

Eliminate Confusion From the Start

Also make sure you eliminate any names that people can easily misspell and mispronounce. Eliminate any names that are just too long as well as any name that sounds too generic. A financial newsletter called “The Trading News” is so overly generic that people probably won’t remember what it is. That doesn’t mean that your title can’t be simple. The title of this newsletter (Working Moms Only) is simple but not generic. When you say Working Moms Only, that’s saying this is only for working moms. The title calls out your group without being generic or too long. A good rule of thumb is three words or less, but definitely no more than four words.

Most importantly, make sure that your name isn’t already taken. Before you fall in love with a name, do a Google search for U.S. trademarks by visiting the U.S. Patent and Trademark site (http://www.uspto.gov) and search for your title. If nobody else has it, you’re probably fine (but check with an attorney to make sure), but if somebody has already registered that exact name, move on.

What you don’t want to do is create a logo, invest in domain names and websites, start building a list, and suddenly find out that you’ve got to change the name. That’s expensive and confusing to your readers, which will hurt your e-mail deliverability rates as well as your credibility.

Once you’ve settled on a name, get it trademarked. It should only cost a few hundred dollars and any attorney can file a trademark for you. Also, get a relevant domain name. If you can’t get any relevant domain names, you may need to come up with a new name for the product because you really want to brand the name of your product since that’s what people will search for.

Check GoDaddy.com and see if there’s a relevant domain name available. It doesn’t have to exactly match, but if you can’t find a domain name that’s close, you might want to consider a new name.