Creating a Great Business Name

You know how it is: you get a great business name idea and jump online to register it … only to find there not just one name like yours, there's several names-or name derivatives-like yours, too.




Don't fret. "Get creative," says About.com's entrepreneurial writer, Scott Allen. Another tip Allen suggests: Employ a thesaurus, too. Beware, though. Choose your name wisely. Chrysler learned that millions costly mistake when they unveiled their new Chevrolet Nova in the late 1970s-and no on in Mexico would buy the car-because "Nova" in Spanish means "no go." Worse, still: Henry Ford, Jr. named the mid 1950s car with the vertical grill flop after his kid-Edsel.




Here's some ways to ensure you get a great name for your domain site:




Play with names. Take the first few letters of a combination of names from your family members, street signs or consult a baby name book-like St from Steve, Ors from Orson and Ne from Nellie. There, you've got STORNSNE Or, something to that effect.




Research. What's the Latin meaning of the name? How is it said in Greek? What's the proper spelling in Hebrew? Remember, what may mean one definition in this country may take on a totally different-and sometimes insulting-meaning completely in another country or even said in another dialect.




And speaking of definitions … Hone in what your product is, does and stands out from the rest of the pack, and chose that one glowing, pivotal product gimmick as the domain name. Then you can register (and worry about) the company name, later. Think of Scott Golden's rule of thumb: the Purple Cow Theory. Think about it: most cows are either brown, black or white, so if you saw a purple one in a field of all that brown, black or white cattle, you'd notice it, right? Cows are known not for milk alone.




Start reading everything. Bus signs, street signs, phone books, the table of elements, surnames, even tombstones.




Go Au Natural. Um, no, not naked, but back to nature. Orson Creek. Grey Seas Limited. Whatever works.