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What's In Your Name?

Written by: John Jantsch

Article Overview: The name of your company can and should carry some serious marketing weight.

What's In Your Name?

The name of your company can and should carry some serious marketing weight.



At best, it will evoke an appropriate emotional response from your target market, at least it will clearly identify what your firm does.



Too many small business owners don't give much thought to this tool and either come up with names that do little to help and in some cases even confuse.



If you're getting ready to start a business choose a name that can help reinforce your core message and communicate as precisely as possible what your firm does. Simple names go a long way for most small businesses. Evocative or clever names such as MotoLogic, can be great, they just require a lot more energy to explain.



If you're already in business and the name of your firm isn't serving as a marketing asset, consider changing it. Changing the name of your company isn't something you want to get in the habit of, but it often makes sense for companies that have finally figured out who they serve and what they do well. Changing direction is par for the course for small businesses, but don't just alter your name to include more stuff. I saw a truck driving down the road yesterday with the name - Just Doors and More. I chuckled thinking of the hand wringing that hopefully went into that name selection. "We don't want anyone to think they aren't in our target market!"



I worked with a remodeling contractor who wanted to communicate more effectively their place in design oriented, upscale remodeling work - they changed their name from Schloegel Contracting to Schloegel Design Remodel as part of an overall rebranding. The results of that change served them very well. Changing your firm name, for all the right marketing reasons, offers an opportunity for a relaunch of sorts, particularly if done in conjunction with rebranding many elements used in your marketing.



I'll use my company as another example. I started my business as Jantsch Communications. At the time it was a nice catch all for any type of marketing and communications oriented work. (Although occasionally people wondered if I could get them a new phone.) When I began to focus exclusively on small business and a small business marketing system it became clear that the name of my company needed to say much more about my target market and core message - and so, Duct Tape Marketing was born.



As with most things marketing related, keep your ideal client and your firm's unique position in the market firmly in mind when choosing or rechoosing the name of your firm.



Tell me a little about how your chose your company's name.

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Article Tags: clever names, conjunction, core message, doors, elements, emotional response, habit, hand wringing, name selection, rebranding, remodel, right marketing, small business owners, small businesses, sorts, target market



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