My goal at Boss Free Media is to help you follow your heart. For many women, that means breaking free from a traditional route of earning money and finding freedom in a heart-based business.
I focus on helping women, not necessarily find work that’s in alignment with them, but instead use their alignment (energy) to create the work.
Starting a business can be exciting, but it sometimes comes with challenges and delays. Often those delays include making decisions about various aspects of setting up a business, such as picking a niche, selecting platforms, apps and vendors, or choosing a business name.
Naming your business can be tricky. You’ve already worked hard to develop your business idea and bring your thoughts to life, but you’re stuck on what to call it. How do you pick a name that personifies what your business is about while also gaining the attention of your potential audience and getting them to act on curiosity by clicking or calling?
Your business name should glow.
Naming your business is both an art and science, and hopefully today you can finally make your selection and introduce your new business to the world.
Consider your customer, product, service, or content when choosing your business name.
What is your purpose for launching this business? What do you plan to offer? Imagine your product in the hands of your customers. Imagine your client receiving your service. Imagine your readers reading your content.
Go ahead.
Close your eyes and imagine how you want your customers/clients/followers to feel. How does it change their lives? Are they smiling? Feeling comfortable? Feeling grateful? Feeling relieved? Hopeful? Encouraged? Motivated? Allow your vision to guide your naming strategy.
Leave Room for Expansion
In addition to a business model that's adaptable and agile, a business name should be able to embrace future product or service expansions. Your business name should give some idea of what your business is about without limiting you. It should allow you to expand down the road.
For example...
Lisa's Rose Shop vs. Flower Petals.
Lisa may decide to expand her product line from just roses to include variety of flower types.
Take this into consideration because there are downsides to changing your business name once you're established.
Affirmation: I am ready for another great productive day.
Keep it short.
Short business names fair better. Short names are easier to remember and rolls off the tongue. They’re also easier to implement because they fit better in urls, ads, business cards, and banners. Most beneficial, in the golden age of the Internet, a short name is best for domain names used for websites, affiliate links, and subdomains.
There’s plenty of opportunity to include a tagline or description to expound upon your business name.
Keep it search-able.
A searchable name is one that is easily Google’d. It’s easy to say and easy to spell. Creative names may sound good initially, but misspellings and abbreviations can make finding your business via search challenging for potential customers. A play on words don’t always work from one platform to another. To keep it searchable, avoid abbreviations and symbols.
Say it out loud.
Does it roll off your tongue? Is it easy to pronounce? It should be. You want people to be able to read or mention your business clearly. Try saying it in a variety of ways.
This is (Your Name) with (Your Business Name).
Our sponsor today is (Your Business Name).
(Your Business Name) is in the building. Let’s give them a warm welcome.
Saying your business name should feel natural.
It should be marketable.
When naming a business, there’s nothing more frustrating than to come up with a business name that you love only to find that it’s not available when you’re ready to build a website or create your social media channels.
While it’s not a requirement, you should choose a name that is widely available so that your website name and social media handles match. It will make it easier for your business to be found online.
This is most desirable…
Website: yourbusiness.com
Instagram: @YourBusiness
Twitter: @YourBusiness
This, not as much...
Website: yourbusiness.com
Instagram: @YourBusinessCity
Twitter: @YouBus
The more consistent you are, the easier it will be for people to find you.
A .com is still the best option when it comes to domain names. If it’s available grab it, even if you don’t plan to launch for months down the road. Domain names go quickly. If you search it and you don’t snatch it up, you may find that it’s gone when you go back to claim it.
And by the way, it’s not marketable if it’s already taken. Be sure to visit USPTO.gov and do a trademark search to ensure you won’t be infringing upon someone else’s business name trademark. It’s not always the case, but if the domain name and social media handles are taken, chances are it’s not available for you to use. Be smart and always check.
To sum it up, here are my recommendations for choosing a business name:
Keep it short. Aim for 1 to 3 words.
Choose a name that compliments your product, service, or content.
Think about how your business may expand over time.
Keep the spelling clear and easy to read or search.
Make it easy to pronounce.
Make sure it sounds natural.
Make sure it’s not already taken.
Congratulations on your new business. I’m wishing you great success!
Stay fabulous (because you are)!
Nauma
P.S. If you need help, I'm available for you.
Wanauma Graham is a Solopreneur Success Coach and author of Totally Unstoppable. She’s the founder and creative behind BossFreeMedia.com, a personal development and business productivity brand for women entrepreneurs looking to start and run a business that's centered on purpose. Her digital products shop, known as "The Shop for Women Solopreneurs", offering planner inserts, templates, courses, and guides is gaining popularity. Connect with her: facebook.com/wanaumagraham
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