December 29, 2009 by John Dickinson | 1,717 views | Comments (32)
Do you need to come up with a new name for your business, product or service – one that people love to promote to their friends and colleagues? Then tune in to this BOD and get a simple checklist to help you quickly and easily choose a super-strong name.
United States Patent and Trademark Office
Namecheap (URL availability)
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32 Responses to this post
December 29, 2009 at 9:00 pm |
Interesting as always. Since he was brought up, I gotta comment on the Maltaannon name. Being that it is a “stage” name, it is a very interesting choice. On the pros side, the name stays in my memory because it is so unique. His personality is likewise quirky, so after watching one video, the name was locked in. On the other hand, I have never spelled it right. Usually the double A does me in. So I never go directly to his site, it’s always routed through a google search in order to get the right spelling for the url.
I went pretty boring myself. For the personal resume and reel I just use scottfedor.com. For the more freelance side, I have SMFStudio.com – basic initials. The benefit of initials is I can pretend it’s something other than my name as needed — Samurai Mother F%$ker
January 1, 2010 at 6:14 pm |
Hi Scott, yes at first I thought the name Maltaannon didn’t do Jerzy any favours but the Google recognition really works in his favour. I think scottfedor.com is easier to sneeze than SMFStudio (which is harder to pronounce). Best wishes, John.
December 30, 2009 at 8:52 am |
Thank you guys for featuring me
I will promote my new brand in the next weeks…
Two notes for you:
1. the trademark link is not working
2. here’s the link for the german trademark search and info: http://www.dpma.de/
very thanks for your help and greetings to our common friend maltannon!
we also had a very nice chat about company names and it was also very inspiring.
Thank you people to share your knowledge with us – you’re great!
Greetings from Germany
December 30, 2009 at 8:48 pm |
Very interesting. I wanted my company name to describe my work, also something easy to remember, so I named it Slick Media Studios. Pretty simple, yet powerful.
Thanks John and Robin for another top notch episode, you guys rock.
Leo
Kansas City
January 1, 2010 at 6:25 pm |
Hi Leo, any reason for using the word slick? For me, that word can have negative connotations… Best wishes, John.
January 2, 2010 at 2:34 am |
John,
I see what you’re saying. I chose that name because “slick” is the word a lot of people use to describe quality, professional looks.
I guess my marketing background influenced my business name choosing as it describes my work and it’s easy to remember (also no mis-spelling issues, etc).
What are your thoughts on names like “stuido c” or stuff like that which means nothing to anyone who hears it?
Thanks, John!
Leo
January 3, 2010 at 3:19 pm |
Hi Leo, my preference is for a word the can’t be misinterpreted. Studio C doesn’t say anything about the benefits of the business. Best wishes, John.
January 2, 2010 at 4:16 am |
I might have another thing to consider:
check if your name is not a word that has a negative meaning or is considered as a swear word in a different language. for example mitsubishi “pajero” is such a word in spanish…
greetings from germany!
January 3, 2010 at 3:16 pm |
Good point Francesco. Best wishes, John.
January 4, 2010 at 7:37 pm |
Hi John,
very interesting as always and thanks Francesco for the link tho the german trademark-site.
But what about “fantasy” names? For example my company “TRICEPTO|filmworks” (website is coming
)
Years ago, I was looking for a cool DJ-name and suddenly this word came to my mind -”tricepto” – I dont’t know how, but it sounded very strange an because of that, (for me) very cool and since then I took it for every cerative thing I made, but always with a different “suffix”, like “TRICEPTO|clothing”, “TRICEPTO|filmworks”, …
I studied design and film in germany and gratuaded last year. I’m working as a freelancer for several little companies and made some music-videos and I often have to design logos and logotypes etc. and that has never been a problem, but what really bothers me is the fact that I can’t design a logotype for me and my company. John, you said, that the new “motionworks”-logo was done by a friend. Would you always say it’s better to let someone else do this for you? Because, everytime I think “THIS IS MY NEW LOGO, I found it, …” – I sleep a night, wake up, look at it an think “no, you can do this better, …” or something els inspires me to something completly different and it will never stop.
Sorry for my bad english writing. (Talking is much easier
)
Bye, best wishes, Johannes
January 5, 2010 at 3:10 pm |
Hi Johannes, Tricepto is indeed memorable. Probably pretty easy to sneeze but you would have to tell people how to spell it. I had someone else do my logo so that I could spend time on other things, like developing new products! I knew if I did it myself I’d never be completely satisfied! Thanks for your great comment. Best wishes, John.
January 5, 2010 at 4:51 am |
hi john great podcast as always – i’ve just spent a couple of hours on this site which your readers might also find helpful
http://www.makewords.com/
it’s a keyword name generator that also searches for availability on godaddy – i’m still no closer to finding anything for my business productivity area in fact it gave me a bit of a headache i have to admit – this sneezeability thing is sooo hard…. maybe i’ll just stick with my name for now
thanks for all your insights with your brother…they are extremely helpful.
cheers
Helen
January 5, 2010 at 3:17 pm |
Thanks for the tip Helen, I agree finding the perfect name can be a headache! Best wishes, John.
January 5, 2010 at 7:02 am |
Hi Guys, My name is Dennie
And all my life i’ll have to correct teachers or new people, that my name is with an “e” and “ie”
Because there are a lot of more Danny’s than Dennie’s in the world
I think your company name must be directly clear on how to spell it!
I emphasize it again
Greetz dEnnIE
January 5, 2010 at 3:21 pm |
I totally agree Dennie, the easier you can make it for people to remember and spell your name/company name, the better. Best wishes, John.
January 10, 2010 at 1:56 am |
Great conversation. I recently just started a beanie company Usko (www.uskobeanie.com) for the skateboarding culture. And I am surprised that I had thought of these exact same techniques before watching this video, so this really got me stoked. Definitely the way to go. Successful companies are just one memorial sneeze away…
January 10, 2010 at 11:20 pm |
It sounds as if you are tuned in Josiah! Well done and best wishes, John.
January 18, 2010 at 2:19 am |
The irony is I was searching google for company names and I tried motionworks which led me here and to this podcast. good site, good podcast and back to the drawing board for me!
January 19, 2010 at 3:05 pm |
That is truly amazing Jon, Synchronicity…. gotta love it. Best wishes, John.
January 19, 2010 at 6:38 am |
Hi everyone^^
I created http://www.bartmiko.com from my name Bartlomiej Mikolajczyk.
There is a polish actress, Izabella Miko also Mikolajczyk, (Coyote Ugly, Clash of the Titans), she lives in US, so, I can imagine there is a problem whit pronunciation that long and vired “cz” (like Jerzy^^) surname for pure americans, she has shorted shes surname. So, a took this advice from TV and also shorted my name whit a view to carrer in US someday;)^^ keep an eye open;)
Best
Bart
January 28, 2010 at 11:22 am |
Nice distinction, Bart. Thanks for your input.
Best, Robin
January 20, 2010 at 3:13 pm |
Thanks for the excellent topic. I am a video editor (and budding motion designer) working on rebranding my company this year; New Name, New Logo, New Reel, New Image. Thanks for the excellent topic! I look forward to viewing more of your podcasts and getting more tips on this (sometimes frightening) adventure!
January 28, 2010 at 11:25 am |
That’s great news Eric. We will be doing all we can to help you succeed massively. Go for it!
Stay in touch, Robin
January 25, 2010 at 1:56 am |
Just want to ‘big ups’ the both of you. Sharing this knowledge is such a great thing for you both to do. Being a freelancer just entering the game it often feels like I am walking in the dark with my hands tied. Information in this ‘BOD’ series is invaluable to me.
Dane.
January 26, 2010 at 2:26 pm |
Thanks Dane. We have even bigger things coming. Stay tuned. Best wishes, John.
January 28, 2010 at 11:28 am |
Hey Dane, we just want help you by loosening that rope around your wrists and turning on a few lights.
Respect to you – and thanks for the feedback. We love it.
Robin
January 26, 2010 at 7:24 pm |
What do you guys think of the .tv tld? Seems like a lot of big names (troika, buck, king and country) are using it so it might be a nice alternative to the overpopulated .com if you can’t get what you want in .com. It’s a bit more expensive to own but that might be advantageous as well….
January 27, 2010 at 2:22 pm |
Hi Dave, I didn’t go for .tv because I didn’t want to limited by being perceived as “only television”. Also, whether you choose .com, .tv or .wazoo, it all comes to nothing if you don’t get visitors on your site, which will boost your status in Google searches. I’m off to register motionworks.wazoo now
Best wishes, John.
January 28, 2010 at 11:30 am |
Useful question, Dave. Thanks for asking it.
Robin
January 27, 2010 at 9:01 am |
I have recently flirted with the idea of freelancing, and I spent some time thinking of catchy names for my business.
I settled on the name “Contagious Media” to invoke the idea of something that spreads rapidly – in this case, the message of our clients.
Caution! Contact with Contagious Media will result in the rapid spread of your message.
January 28, 2010 at 11:33 am |
Hey Jason,
I like the name. Lots of syllables – 7 – but works well because it’s easy to say and has a strong benefit built in. Did you get the .com and Twitter handle?
Best, Robin
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