Category Archives: marketing

Brainstorming a name for your business

If you’re starting a business, you’ll need to name it, and will probably require a website. That means registering the name as a domain, most likely dot com, though possibly with a country code such as dot com au.

The web has been going for 30 years or more, which means that most of the good names have been taken. However that’s not a cause for despair.

Hundreds of thousands of domain names are for sale on sites such as Atom and GoDaddy. Be prepared to pay a lot for a good one.

Or you can invent a name yourself, then register it.

PAIR KEYWORDS

No, this isn’t a hopeless task. Start by thinking of the keywords associated with your business and write them down. For example, if you’re a graphic designer, likely keywords will be design, image, hue, visual, display, color.

Then think of general words that could pair with these keywords: my, maxi, sure, true, sense, flair, skill, streak, style, vibe.

Pair off a keyword with a general word, eg visualflair dot com, and see if the domain is available on ICANN. Mostly it won’t be.

NEW GROUND

Here’s where the game gets fun. All the easy and obvious combos are registered already, so we need to break new ground.

One good way is to use metaphor, which is something that AI and other naming tools don’t understand. Instead of calling your hairdressing studio SnipSalon, try SnipStreet. It’s not literally correct, but works as a brand.

Or you can abbreviate one or more of the keywords, as Microprocessor Software did very nicely. Or extend a keyword, creating HotterLips from HotLips.

Another method is to misspell slightly. Skilsaw has been doing this for 100 years.

A further technique is pure invention, and I’ll pat Nvidia on the back for that. This name doesn’t really pass the radio or phone test, but the world’s most valuable company isn’t worrying.

LYIN’ AROUND

Once you get into this, you’ll find plenty of names that have slipped the cracks. They’ve been lying around a long time.

Sit on the name, think, and check for any conflicts on the trademark sites such as USPTO. Then go register your very own business name.

What makes a great business name?

A top name usually has edge, which means that it intrigues or even needles. Nobody can be sleepwalked into choosing a new brand.

Facebook doesn’t scare anybody now because the title is so familiar, but as business owner it would have given me butterflies.

Google likewise. Apple in its day. Virgin going back even further.

IMPUDENT

Tesla isn’t terrifying as a business name, except for the impudence that the company is in the same league as the developer of AC electricity networks.

My own brand WordMills might be viewed as big-headed, as it chooses the auspicious company of WordPress, Word and WordPerfect.

A name I really like is Pixel. It uses synecdoche, where a small part – pixel –  stands for the whole – phone. This is a tactic that takes guts.

Then there’s the opposite strategy where a big name stands for something small. You need a bunch of courage to call your rock band America.

ONE LETTER AWAY

Other attractive business names include the charmingly modest Airbus, Great Wall Motor (now sadly reduced to GWM), and the cheeky little Poss-Off (a possum deterrent) – one letter away from you-know.

When brainstorming a name, it’s good to start on the side of audacity or gall, then tweak back if the title is keeping you awake at night.

You can’t bore people into buying.

New domain appraisal tool tells you why

Is that name you’ve got your eye on any good?

Domain sales agency Atom dot com has long offered an appraisal service for domain names, awarding a score of between one and ten, and telling you other facts such as the age of a domain, its possible value, and how many extensions the name is registered in.

Now the service has jumped up a level. Atom’s Instant Domain Appraisal gives you written reasons why the domain is a good one or not.

WORD PLAY

The AI-powered evaluation does a pretty good job, although it can miss the subtleties and word-play of everyday language.

I tested the service on some of my own domains. Here’s what it said about Gignome: “Clever blend of gig and gnome, but feels playful rather than broadly brandable.” Okay, fair enough.

How about my BudgetSkil? “Misspelled second word weakens brand credibility and fails the phone test.” Hmm.

RADIO TEST

Let’s try a famous name that truly strains the radio or phone test: Nvidia. Atom’s appraisal tool overlooks that deficiency. “Iconic global tech brand; one of the most recognized dot com domains in existence.”

The tool can also check for Brand Alignment with your intended use of the domain. But here’s where a weird discrepancy shows itself.

I checked my domain GulchCountry for Brand Alignment and was informed that it’s “a compelling choice for a western clothing brand. . . .  Overall, a perfect fit.”

Great, but when I submitted the name for an Instant Domain Appraisal, I was told it’s an unlikely fit for Atom’s Premium marketplace. “Nice geographic pairing with limited commercial brand appeal.”

MORE SOBER

This pattern is repeated over and over. The Brand Alignment test talks up the domain, as if pitching for a sale, while the Domain Appraisal offers a more sober and balanced view.

Not surprisingly, the AI assessment doesn’t grasp the metaphoric subtleties of names. My domain MealCheetah is intended for a speedy dinner delivery service. The appraisal tells me that it “has an unusual animal-food pairing with limited brand appeal.”

On that basis, I suppose it might say that Facebook undermines its brand value by linking the unrelated concepts of body and print.

Overall, though, the Instant Domain Appraisal is a fair and useful tool.

The lure that hides a hook

It’s a common marketing technique that also happens to be illegal. Bait-and-switch means that customers are drawn in with an alluring offer, then flicked over to an item that’s more profitable.

This is often done by denigrating the special deal once the customer is in the store. “It’s a nice vacuum cleaner, but we can’t include a guarantee.” Or “Frankly, you’re too classy for that suit.”

PAINFUL WITHDRAWAL

A sophisticated version works like this. You want cosmetic work done on your nose. The first consultation, including a diagnostic examination and X-rays, is very reasonably priced. You’re happy to go ahead.

Then you get the quote for the operation, which frankly looks outrageous. But by then, you know the doctor (who is a nice person) and paid for the preliminary work. You’re in the system.

Bait-and-switch is hard to prove, which is why vendors get away with it. In all cases, you have no obligation to complete the purchase. It’s painful to start again somewhere else – but can hurt more not to.

The pilot must be allowed to die

Marketing is often trial and error. If something doesn’t work, we should stop, change it, and see if that makes a difference.

Pilot programs and prototypes therefore make sense. We don’t want to pour resources into something that may not be effective. Better to start tiny, then scale up once there’s something that nudges the needle.

Evidence for success will show up at the very beginning. Most responses to advertising, for example, are revealed early in the campaign.

This is why advertising should be rested and restarted. And why it should be changed.

EIGHT EXPOSURES

There’s an oft-recited mantra that it takes up to eight exposures to a marketing message before the prospect is ready to purchase. Notice, Recognise, Discuss, Desire, Budget, Imagine owning, Plan delivery, Buy.

In practice, you’ll get indications of buyer interest long before the actual sale. These may be views, clicks, likes, leads, sampling, requests for a brochure, or visitors to your store. All evidence that the needle has moved.

The most frustrating result is one that isn’t big and isn’t small. Your messages aren’t a failure, nor are they a success.

The temptation here is to soldier away, hoping that the marketing will catch on.

KILL IT OR CHANGE

It takes guts to euthanase a pilot or prototype that isn’t showing early results. After all, we’re optimists, right? We believe that tomorrow will be better.

But let’s not kid ourselves that our new product will take off “next year”. It won’t. Now is the time to rework it or lay the babe to rest.

Catch the breeze

Marketing is like raising sails on a yacht or sailboat. If there’s no wind blowing, it doesn’t matter how much fabric you unfurl, your boat won’t go anywhere.

Might as well leave the sail in the locker.

Catch the breeze by finding a sector of the market that’s enjoying growth or soon will be. Find a favorable position within it. Once this is achieved, you can spend up big on marketing and the wind will carry you along.