A new road is being planned. The local community planning and zoning or city planning names the road. A child is conceived, and parents and family are all in hot pursuit to name the child.
Research on the Effect of Names
Two professors at Harvard University published a study of 33,000 men who graduated.
The study examined whether their names contributed to their academic performance, and all the participants had graduated from the University. In conclusion, the men with unusual names were more likely to have failed or exhibited symptoms of psychological neurosis when compared to men with common names.
Since 1948 research has continued, and similar findings have been produced even a decade later. Some research suggested that names can influence the choice of profession a person makes, whom one marries, and where a person lives. The studies indicated that a person’s name could affect the grades earned and the chosen investment stocks, whether the person is accepted to a school or hired at a particular job.
The implicit-egotism effect is the hypothesis that we are unconsciously more drawn to the things and people that most resemble us because people prefer things that have something in common with them.
If the name you name a child theoretically affects their future, does the name you name your business to have the same effect?
Choosing a Business Name
Your brand’s name is the first element of your brand that future customers will come across, and your brand name is the start of your brand identity. The name must be distinctive, memorable, authentic, and enduring.
It must sear an image in a customer’s mind.
There are several unique business name ideas for you to choose from. Still, the one you select must resonate with your target audience and creatively stand out for your particular business niche.
Creative Name Generator
There are creative business name generators, catchy business names, good business name ideas, a free business name generator, a cool name generator, and random name generators online. These sites can either suggest a name you like or inspire your creativity.
Creating a business name that sticks is the key.
Using Your Name For Your Business Name
Using your name is a choice you can make. Either including part of your name, all of your name, or the initials of your name all have their merits. When you use your name in your business name, you maximize the value of your credibility.
You are seen as a respected and reputable supplier in your market or an expert in the industry, and you provide a reputable service when you use your name. Using your name in your company name builds trust and credibility and helps your customers believe they know the genuine people who own the business.
Examples of companies that did well using their names as part of their business name. Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Tiffany all have the business owners in the business name.
Coming up with catchy business names that include your name may be difficult but can be fun. Using a free business name idea generator will list business names that you can read through, and you may even be able to use theirs and add to one to come up with yours.
Tips for Choosing a Catchy Business Name
Let the free business name generator do some of the work for you. The generators will make suggestions for you to consider.
Check with the State you live in and follow state naming guidelines.
Pick something different than your competition.
Make sure people can spell and pronounce your business name.
Make sure your business name is web-friendly. Some business names (domain names) are taken.
The name needs to create a memory and not be too unique, and it can’t be remembered.
It needs to be consistent with your brand. If you aren’t selling boats, don’t include boats in your name.
Be creative. Be flexible. Run your ideas and suggestions by friends and family and get input before deciding.
Creating a Name for A Small Business
When starting up a small business, one of the most challenging tasks will be creating a perfect name to match your business idea.
First, your name needs to reflect the type of brand, products, or services you will provide. This will be important when you work to target a particular audience, your ‘avatar,’ and build your brand recognition over time.
Second, keep the name you choose short and sharp. Make sure it is memorable. Avoid old, dated, and clique names.
Third, make sure your business name speaks to your local customers.
As you develop your website and pages, you want to make sure that your business name is a name that will come up when searchers are searching for your product or service.
If you sell shoes, don’t develop a business name that suggests you sell cows.
You will also need to ensure that there is domain availability and a domain name that fits our business name—claiming the domain name quickly.
How quickly a customer remembers your name is called branding, and this will be the foundation of all the marketing decisions you make down the road to developing your brand entirely. The name should describe what you do to the customer in a few words.
If you keep your business name ideas short and non-specific, you can be more flexible in the future when it comes to branding and adding on subsidiary companies. Your company name should represent your overall brand.
Best Things Not to Do When You Generate Your Business Name
Don’t fuse adjectives and nouns fuse. If you sell gold and gold is your noun, don’t add shiny and have your business name be a smashed-up mess, ‘shingold.’
Don’t be a plain Jane. A business name needs to be descriptive and memorable. Carve out your niche in your business name. R&J Jewelry and Loan, for example. The company name has the owner’s name and says what the business does all in the business name.
Don’t use your location, state, city street to name your business. This may help initially but maybe a constraint when you grow bigger.
Avoid becoming a cliche. Metaphors are good when combined with positive words.
Don’t make your business name so hard to spell or pronounce or so obscure you lose your customer. Customers won’t know your business, and you want your business name to say what you do.
Make sure company names can be spelled and pronounced. A business name should not sound like a bunch of letters that were put together purposefully. Make sure whoever is searching for your company and locating you online can.
Choosing the wrong business name and refusing to change it will only cost you. Some business owners know that they have a business name that doesn’t work, but they won’t change it and continually hope the name will fix itself and it’s better to change it.
Brand Name vs. Business Name
The company or business name is the name registered under the agency that regulates business in your state. It is also known as a trade name or company name.
The name is an official name that all activity is conducted for profit-making. It has to be suffixed with either private limited company, LLC, Corp, or other legal endings depending on the type of business structure it is operating under. The business name distinguishes one company from another.
It is essential to check with your state and the bureau that controls business licensing because your company, product, and services name is subject to trademark infringement.
A brand name should be different than a business name, and the brand name distinguishes the products of one company from the products of another company.
In some situations, the business name overlaps the brand name.
Pawn Leads
Pawn Leads is a name to remember. Pawn Leads is a customer relations management platform that is automated and developed with pawnbrokers in mind.
Pawn Leads can also be used for small businesses.
When the name was generated, ‘Pawn’ represented the industry and who the company was designed for.
There are hundreds of pawnshops across the nation, but there wasn’t a user-friendly automated platform designed exclusively for pawnbrokers, designed by a pawnbroker, and used by a pawnbroker. There are similar products but not a product with style and meaning for the pawnbroker.
Sam and Lex, owners of Pawn Leads, decided that they wanted to develop a marketing solution for a specific product, pawnshops, and small businesses.
‘Lead’ is the word in the Pawn Leads name that says it all.
Pawn Leads is one of the creative business names that initially were suggested. However, to the point of this article, based on the implicit-egotism effect, people are unconsciously more drawn to the things and people that most resemble who they are.
Pawnbrokers want to be leaders, and they want to lead the market. Pawnbrokers wish the most customers they can have to search their website and become paying customers.
All pawnshops have similar products and services, but not all pawnbrokers are leaders.
According to Yigal Adato, a true leader knows what he knows and doesn’t. He doesn’t sugarcoat his situation but admits the missing pieces and takes action. He talks about a business owner’s tendency to become addicted to being overwhelmed. Some pretend to know everything when in reality, they don’t. They can be honest about their situation instead.
After working with Yigal, identifying and admitting to the missing pieces, Sam, the owner of pawnshops, knows what is missing for most pawnbrokers is an automated marketing solution.
Lex owns his own small business with an online business presence and knows what small businesses are missing. Both agreed on automated marketing solutions that are easily integrated, serviced by experts, and able to save time and money while getting customers and turning those customers into lifelong customers.
Sam and Lex worked together to decide what the pawn industry and small businesses were missing, and Pawn Leads was born.
