Nab your personal brand name free on About.Me

If you haven’t nabbed your “personal brand” name yet on About.Me do it now before someone else beats you to it. This is the most professional way I’ve seen to consolidate (and track) your online presence. And signing up is fast and free.

About.Me has a beautifully clean design and they make it so simple, anyone (even a PC user) can make their page look cool. (It’s the opposite of a cluttered MySpace page.)

Just like a Twitter handle, email addy, or domain name, it’s important when someone types in your name they get YOU (as opposed to a drag queen or adult film star.) Take it from us at naming agency Eat My Words – all the cool kids are doing it! Even if you don’t use it now, you’ll want it later.

Luckily I beat all of these other Alexandra Watkins’ to the punch…

Make sure your brand name (Alexis Couture) isn’t the same name as a drag queen and a P0RN STAR.

Oh dear God! My favorite sexy blonde housewife, Alexis Bellino (aka “Jesus Barbie”) of Bravo TV’s Real Housewives of Orange County, has made the ultimate naming sin – according to my research on Boobpedia and Power Diva Productions, her new clothing line, “Alexis Couture” is the same name as a BBW adult entertainment actress and a Detroit drag queen (who by the way has held the title of “Miss Malebox.”) Talk about a name that sucks! WWJD? (For all of you heathens out there, WWJD stands for “What Would Jesus Do?”)

Naming Tip #1: Alexis, sometimes it’s okay to share brand names (e.g. Ford Explorer & Internet Explorer, Ace Hardware & Ace Bandages) but as a devout Christian, you shouldn’t be associated with brands that God forbid get confused with yours.

Naming Tip #2: When you are naming a business, make sure to do a Google check first and of course use a trademark attorney to cover your assets. (Page 1 Google results revealed the drag queen Alexis Couture, pictured here. I had to go a little deeper to find Alexis Couture the p0rn star.)

Naming Tip #3: Don’t do it yourself – hire a naming agency run by your superfan. Honestly Alexis, if you need a new name, the stylish women of my naming agency, Eat My Words, would love to help you… I personally am a diehard fan of the show – and I love your couture designs – with and without the sleeves chopped off.

Naming Tip #4: If you are crowd-sourcing your logo with a design contest, make sure whatever you are naming your business is “free and clear” before you have your identity designed. All of those poor designers are spending hours doing work that will never be selected (unless you dare to use that name, which I think is a massive mistake considering it would tarnish your good name and squeaky-clean reputation). You’re better off hiring a professional identity designer any way. You wouldn’t want to crowd source a dress design? Think of a professional designer as “couture” logo design.

Regardless of if you hire us to name your business, do yourself a favor and run your new name through the free Eat My Words SMILE & SCRATCH name evaluation test (as featured in The Wall Street Journal).

Best of luck to you!
Your superfan, Alexandra Watkins
Chief Innovation Officer
Eat My Words

Choosing a Company Name: 5 Things You Need to Know

AOL Small Business recently tapped Alexandra as the featured brand name expert in an article for small business owners. Regardless of the size of your business, if you’re naming a company, be sure to read these helpful naming tips.

“Choosing a Company Name: 5 Things You Need to Know.”

By Julia L. Rogers

Choosing a solid, compelling name for your company is one of the first — and probably one of the most challenging — tasks you’ll face as an entrepreneur. After all, a great deal of a company’s success can ride on its name. An imaginative name that speaks volumes about the value of your products and services can stick in the mind of everyone who hears it. On the other hand, an ill-chosen name can push your business into obscurity and cost time and money to rebrand down the road.

Looking for a head-turning company name that resonates with customers? Here are five things you need to know.

1. Identify what makes your company unique. Small-business owners need to pay attention to what other people in their industry are doing and find ways to differentiate themselves — and that starts with their company name. The most successful companies are able to highlight their uniqueness and solidly go in their own direction. When naming a company, you also need to have a clear mission statement. For example, when Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin began, they wanted to name their search engine “Googol” in reference to the vast amount of information it could search, since a “googol” is the number 1 followed by 100 zeros. They felt it perfectly reflected their mission to organize the infinite amount of information that could be found on the Internet. However, an investor misspelled the name “Google” on their first check, leading them to change their name, which of course now has become not only an iconic business name, but also a verb used to describe the process of finding anything on the Web.

2. Embrace creativity. Using imagery that creates a poignant mental picture is key to developing a great company name, according to Alexandra Watkins of Eat My Words, a San Francisco-based business-naming firm. Watkins says Eat My Words has a “SMILE and SCRATCH” test to gauge a name’s greatness. “A name should make you smile instead of scratch your head,” she says. Watkins emphasizes that company names are better when they aren’t overly business-oriented, and that stepping outside stuffy conference rooms is the only way to create names that will strike an emotional chord and make real connections with customers. “Take Verizon or Accenture,” Watkins says. “It’s hard to be fun with that. We’re so bombarded with words, advertising and TV that names really need to stand out by making emotional connections. People should smile or think to themselves, ‘That’s clever.’ The name and the brand should empower them.”

Creative misspellings aren’t always effective and can be confusing to potential customers and even bungle Internet search results. For example, the vitamin company “Alterna Vites” always gets its name changed to “alternatives” in a Google search. But according to Watkins, there are some exceptions. “Spanx is really fun and playful,” she says. “I love that name. It works.”

3. Do your homework. This means making sure a company name is legally available and doesn’t translate awkwardly into other languages or is in any way offensive. Check to see that no competitors have names that are too similar. In addition, research domain names to see whether the company name is available. A company will have far more success with marketing if all pieces match. In other words, ideally, the company name should match the domain name and e-mail address, so customers can easily find the company both online and offline. “You can check with your state online and see if your name is available,” suggests David Cingari, chef and owner of David’s Soundview Catering in Stamford, Conn. Since Cingari’s business is based in Connecticut, he went straight to the Connecticut Secretary of State website and was able to search for name availability. Other states offer similar resources with links to forms that also allow you to officially register your business.

4. Your name must work online, too. According to the Small Business Administration, entrepreneurs are best served by making their domain names as close as possible to their trade names. Companies like Amazon.com and Monster.com have found success through Internet branding and marketing. Domain names aren’t registered through state or local government and are available through online services like GoDaddy.com that offer name searches to ensure your ideal company name is available and affordable. A company name that translates well into a domain name will have certain characteristics: short, memorable, not easily confused with others, nearly impossible to misspell, related to the business name and mission statement and resonate with the target audience. “If you want to name your business something, and the domain name isn’t available, it doesn’t have to be the exact name,” Watkins says. “For example, a pool company called Watermark could be watermarkpools.com or diveintowatermark.com. The idea that you can’t have a name if you can’t have the domain is the number-one misconception. We really could be eatmywordsnaming.com. So much of bad naming is driven by domain names, but that shouldn’t be a huge concern. It should be more about branding.”

5. Consider legal requirements. The SBA also advises entrepreneurs to be careful about the legal requirements of their particular type of business before naming it. Choosing a business name goes beyond being creative and knowing your customers. You need to determine which type of business structure you’ll use — sole proprietorship, limited liability company (LLC), general partnership, C corporation or sub chapter S corporation — and figure out your limitations for naming. For example, in some states, unless filing another name as a trade name or pseudonym, a sole proprietor has to use his or her own name as the business name. You’ll also need to decide whether you’ll use the full name you choose for your business as the official trade name, or shorten it. If you want to go nationally or internationally with your company one day, you also need to research beyond your immediate area for other companies that might have the same or similar names, as some businesses only file their names locally.

Announcing the worst brand name of 2010…

Putting the “wow” in bad spelling and impossible pronunciation, is Shwowp, Eat My Words’ Head Scratcher of the Year Winner for the worst brand name of 2010.

It was a heated competition with other contenders including Retardex Toothpaste (need we say more), Morongo Casino (where ‘morons go’ to gamble?), and iSwipe (say it out loud). But after many sleepless nights, cupcake bribes and consulting with the show’s producers, the hands-down winner was Shwowp.

Shwoop (oops, Shwowp), is actually a cool service – it helps shwowppers get a grip on their online shwowpping history. (Something that we here at Eat My Words need to help manage our shoe shwowpping obsession.) We suspect this name was the result of a drunken Scrabble game.

TIP: Just because a domain name is available on GoDaddy for $9.95 does not mean that is what you should name your company.

Showop (oops, we did it again) is ridiculously hard to spell and pronounced differently by everyone we asked. Check out our Google search results when we tried to find it under “Shwoop”…
Did you mean: shoop
Did you mean: shop
Showing results for shooby doo wop
Showing results for shoo wop. Search instead for showowop
Showing results for shwowp. Search instead for showowp

Finally! After all that guesswork and brain wracking we were too exhausted to continue. This name not only makes our head spin, it severely violates the Eat My Words SMILE & SCRATCH name evaluation test:

SMILE - the 5 qualities of a powerful name
Simple – easy-to-understand – No
Meaningful – customers “get it” – No, they get a headache
Imagery – creates a mental picture – Not a good one
Legs – wordplay opportunities – No, total dead end
Emotional – entertains, engages, etc. – No, “enrages” is not an emotion you want to evoke, especially from Eat My Words

SCRATCH it off the list if it has any of these 7 deal-breakers
Spelling-challenged – Absolutely!
Copycat – similar to competitor’s names – Totally – ShamWow!
Random – disconnected from the brand – Uh…
Annoying – hidden meaning, forced – Forced like a train wreck
Tame – flat, uninspired, boring – We think so
Curse of Knowledge – only insiders get it – Does anybody get it?
Hard-to-pronounce – With spit-up in your mouth, yes

TIP: Every time you have to spell, pronounce or explain your name to someone, you are essentially apologizing for it, which weakens and devalues your brand.

As a gesture of goodwill, Shwowp will be awarded a pink and gold Head Scratcher of the Year trophy, from the nice people at Eat My Words. (We’re also happy to give them some free name consulting should they decide to shwowp for a new name.)

Special props go to Robin Wolaner our #1 Name Scout, for sending us this submission. Robin’s always on the hunt for Head Scratchers and is a frequent contributor to our Facebook fan page. She’s also responsible for submitting last year’s winner – Speecees – an unfortunately named baby clothing company.

TIP: your brand name should not rhyme with “feces.”

This year, Robin was awarded a Have a Nice Day bouquet of flowers (because her name always makes us smile) and a genuine Head Scratcher massager, which we just popped in the mail this morning. (Creepy guy not included.)

Please continue to send us bad names for our 2011 Head Scratcher contest. And if you’re naming a business and want to make sure your own brand name doesn’t appear here next year, go here to see if your name sucks.

How to Make Money with a Fun Business Name

Can you imagine if your customers paid you to advertise your brand all over town? Or if people who didn’t even patronize your business wanted to buy a t-shirt with your brand name on it just because it was so much fun. Any business can generate extra revenue simply by having a fun name that you can slap on product and sell. That’s what we call monetizing a name. The good news is it doesn’t matter what your business is or even if you have a retail location because customers from all over the world can order your branded merchandise online. Here’s how some of our Eat My Words’ clients are doing it:

Spoon Me. What started as a simple frozen yogurt shop in Salt Lake City, Utah is now an international franchise who makes cold, hard cash selling everything from bumper-stickers to booty shorts, which feature fun phrases like “Shut Up and Spoon Me,” and “If You’re Driving This Close, You Might As Well Spoon Me.” The merchandise is sold in stores and online and has even been featured on “The Real World” on MTV. (If the client had gone with their original name idea, Zenyo, how many t-shirts would they have sold?)

I Have a Bean. A socially responsible gourmet coffee company in Wheaton, Illinois is enjoying the perks of extra income from the sale of stylish “I Have a Bean,” coffee mugs and t-shirts. They’ve extended the brand with racy t-shirt slogans like, “Drink It Naked.” (We’re still waiting for them to sell a t-shirt with our suggested slogan, “Once you go black…”)

Stuff a Sock In It. This chain of Tennessee Laundromats wanted a name that would appeal to the college-student customers. They are cleaning up with cheeky laundry bags and t-shirts that sport their fun name and logo.

Hand Job. This sassy neighborhood nail spa in San Francisco’s Castro district is making money hand over fist selling lotions, potions and t-shirts with the name on it. And they are enjoying lots of free exposure from the thousands of people who walk by the store and take a photo of the sign.

To come up with a fun business name, look online for lists of puns, catch phrases and idioms. Try substituting one word for another, e.g. “I Have a Bean,” instead of “I Have a Dream.” Play around with words common to your business, e.g. if you have a pet store, ideate around words like, fetch, bone, scratch, paw, fur, etc. A great place to start is www.onelook.com. Have fun and let me know what you come up with!

Tweet My Words (before someone nabs your name)

Hurry and register your name on Twitter before someone else hijacks it and tweets your words. It’s free to sign up and takes all of 17 seconds. Even if you don’t have the foggiest idea of what Twitter is or how you could possibly use it to get business, do yourself an enormous favor and secure your brand name (and personal name) on Twitter right now before someone else takes it. You can figure out how to use it later. Unlike domain names, Twitter names (e.g. eatmywords, spoonme, ihaveabean, monalisastyle, fusionlaw, halogenguides) don’t cost a dime and are snap to get. I was a Twitterphobe until we got a client, Cha Chang, who “tweeted” a question about needing a naming firm and got a “tweet” back from one of her “followers,” who referred her to Eat My Words. Cha-Ching! Since then, I’ve used Twitter a few times a week to blast out 140-character-or-less business updates, links to blog posts, and informal surveys. You can do the same and more… tweet special offers, ask your customers for feedback, and let them know about new products. Here’s how some of our clients are using Twitter to engage their customers. Click on their name to see their Twitter page and postings…

Love at first sight doesn't just happen on eHarmony.

Imagine never having to spend a dime on advertising or PR because your brand name was so magnetic that people were instantly drawn to it. And your name was so infectious, your customers were excited to tell other people and generate buzz for you. We’ve seen this happen over and over again with names we create. The frozen yogurt franchise we named Spoon Me. The commercial cleaning company we named Eat My Dust. The iPod clock radio we named Moondance. The laundromat we named Stuff a Sock In It. The ice cream store we named Frigid. The home cleaning robot we named Neato. The charity reward program we named Angel Points. The dips for kids we named Monkey Dunks. And of course our own name, Eat My Words.

How likable is your own brand name?
Do people smile when they hear it?
Do they say, “I wish I thought of that!”
Do they say, “I can’t believe that name wasn’t taken!”
Do they say, “My friend was just talking about that!”
Do they ask, “Where can I buy the t-shirt?”

If you answered “yes” to any of the above, you’re in great shape (and chances are, you are an Eat My Words client).

10 domain naming tips that will save you time and Tums

The biggest misconception we dispel here at Eat My Words on a daily basis is a client’s belief that they need to own the exact dot com of their business name. Not true. Even if you are a pure online business. (When you are shopping online and, for example, Google “lemongrass candle,” do you really care what the domain names are in the companies in the search results?) We recently named a company Wavelength. They “connect the leaders of the world’s most visionary, successful companies and pioneering social entrepreneurs.” (In other words, people on the same wavelength.) The domain wavelength.com was taken, so they got www.thesamewavelength.com, which is even better because it reinforces the brand – and it was $9.95 on GoDaddy. Another example is one we did for a new “s-e-x for midlife and beyond” business named Second Wind. They just secured getasecondwind.com. (If you’re curious and over 18, here’s a spicy article by the founder, midlife sex relationship coach, Katherine Forsythe.)

10 more domain naming tips that will save you time and Tums:

1. Don’t give up on a great brand name if the domain is out of reach. For instance, the PR firm we just named Potion secured potionpublicrelations.com and they won’t lose any business or credibility because of it. Why? No one expects a company to have the exact dot com any more. Just as we ran out of 800#s for toll-free calls, everyone knows the free-and-clear dot coms are a thing of the past. You do not have to put your dot com name in your logo – put it in your email address or link to your site. Lastly, your customers will still be able to find you. Think of how many times you’ve typed in the wrong domain name – oops! Do you give up? No, you simply go to Google find it in two seconds.

2. Don’t give up on a great brand name even when the domain appears to be in use. Tricky cyber squatters often disguise “parked” sites as real businesses. Do a little clicking and you may find it’s a pay-per-click website. The sneakiest one we’ve seen is, ironically, www.sneakers.com. Click through any of the sneaker brand logos and you’ll discover it’s a slick pay-per-click site.

3. Don’t think just because a site is “parked” that the price is astronomical. Spoon Me negotiated SpoonMe.com for $5000. EatMyWords.com was a bargain at $1200.

4. Don’t think “not for sale” is written in stone. If you pony up enough cash, some people will sell a domain, even if it’s an existing business. We named a “luxury on the installment plan” shopping website Venue. Even though Venue.com was in use by another company and there was a notice on the site that said the domain wasn’t for sale, our client persisted and got it. (It sure beats their old name, Peach Direct.) On the other hand, the company we wanted to name The Gravy could not get the guy to sell thegravy.com, despite the fact that his band, The Gravy, has disbanded. He had dreams that they might make a comeback one day.

5. Don’t name your company something just because the domain name is available on GoDaddy for $9.95. While we do occasionally find these names for our clients, for the most part, every whole word name and name combination are taken. Welcome to our world.

6. Don’t get a domain name that is spelled differently than it sounds like Naymz or Takkle. Besides constantly having to spell it for people, everyone types the name they hear into their web browser and ends up at places that are spelled the way they sound – like Names and Tackle.

7. Don’t leave out vowels ala Flickr. Unless you have a million dollar ad budget or the next Pet Rock, you can’t afford to leave out letters. This is so dated and in 5 years will look as ridiculous as eHarmon
y and iMotors sounds today.

8. Don’t put dots in your name like del.icio.us. This silly technique is dated, annoying and impossible to remember. Del.icio.us regrets this mistake and was forced to buy delicious.com for $100K.

9. Don’t come up with your name over a bottle of wine. Some people we really like did this and almost named their social networking site for investors Portfolia. Yikes! Luckily, we renamed them Cake. The domain squatter wanted an insane price for Cake.com, so our client got cakefinancial.com for $9.95. The word “financial adds instant credibility to the name.

10. Don’t go bald pulling your hair out trying to come up with a domain name. To get a powerful, unforgettable name, contact the experts at Eat My Words.

Alexandra sheds some Light on naming in Smart Money

By Colleen DeBaise

QUESTION: Your Oct. 30, 2007, article described people who run multiple businesses. My problem is a little different. I am a freelance writer offering business- and career-writing services. Last year, I also started a direct-sales business (selling health and wellness products). How do I incorporate the range of services I offer under one umbrella and market it in a way that is cost-effective, but not confusing to the client? What business name should I consider? —Gloria Brown, Menifee, Calif.

ANSWER: Essentially, you want to be a one-woman conglomerate, tying together seemingly unrelated businesses into one neat package. Even big-name companies with lots of marketing muscle (think Altria (MO), Time Warner (TWX) and Tyco (TYC)) have run into trouble doing this successfully at times.

As a small-business owner with limited resources, you’ll face even more challenges. The biggest hurdle? Explaining to potential customers what it is, exactly, that you’re selling. “To get momentum, you really have to narrow your message, so someone says ‘Oh, I get that, you’re talking to me,’” says John Jantsch, a marketing coach and founder of Duct Tape Marketing in Kansas City, Mo. “When you start adding things on, it starts getting hard to explain to people what you do.”

Of course, many entrepreneurs tack on a new line of products or services to complement an existing business — and, in some cases, that works well. For instance, a popular restaurant might open up a kitchen store that sells appliances, cookbooks and food items that would logically appeal to its customer base. But when the two businesses are dissimilar, it’s the “classic sushi bar and bait shop” scenario, Jantsch says. “That’s always going to be a challenge.”

Some entrepreneurs dig deep to find a link. When Cindy Light wanted to combine her two services — she’s a fashion consultant, plus an expert on Chinese business etiquette — she turned to a business-name expert for help. Alexandra Watkins, founder of Eat My Words, a San Francisco firm that specializes in memorable names, reasoned that both services help make Light’s clients look like superstars, both personally and professionally. So she suggested that Light use her evocative last name to tie the services together. Light has since named the business Cindy Light and plans to use the tagline “Making you shine” in her marketing materials.

Unfortunately, in your case, there appear to be too few links between your professional-writing services and your direct-sales business. “I can’t imagine a way to combine these two together, and for it not to be confusing,” Watkins says. As many conglomerates have found, trying to operate unrelated businesses under one big heading can lead to customer confusion — and make it difficult to focus resources and manage the company effectively. For the time being, you might try building both businesses separately, and if it’s too draining on your time, energy and bottom line to do both, “then just make a determination which one you really think has the best potential,” Jantsch advises.

Got a question? Send us an email at Editors@smSmallBiz.com. Due to the volume of questions we receive, we are not able to answer all questions. Questions that are selected for publication may be edited for length and clarity.

Alas, Name Mangler is not one of our Competitor's

We recently ran across this company, and thought that at last, one of our competitor’s was fessing up with a descriptive name of what they do. However, it is not a naming company but a file naming utility. Ah well. Just in case, these URL’s were available this morning, if any of you guy’s want to snap them up.

• WTFNames.Com
• StinkyNames.Com
• VileNaming.Com
• EwwThatsYourName.Com
• YouNamedItWhat.Com
• THATIsWhatIPaidFor.Com

As a refresher, take another look at our competitor’s work (a PDF file), take a Bromo and give us a call. Our names go down easy, taste good on the palate and won’t back up on you. You will want to come back for seconds.

To assist you in the selection of a main course, here is our SMILE & SCRATCH Test to whet your appetite:

The secret to powerful, unforgettable and sticky brand names is simple, “A name should make you smile, instead of scratch your head.” We evaluate every name we create based on this no-brainer philosophy – and now you can too with the new Eat My Words SMILE and SCRATCH Test^TM. Run your own product and company names through the test and see how they hold up. It’s not as easy as it sounds. Most names fail because they are spelling-challenged, hard to pronounce, and meaningless to customers who don’t know Latin (which is just about everyone except for Alexandra’s mother). So cancel your focus groups and use this criteria any time you’re trying to objectively evaluate a name. You’ll instantly be able to see if you have a winning name or if you should scratch it off your list.

SMILE – the qualities of a powerful name
Simple – easy to spell, say, and understand
Meaningful – your customers instantly “get it”
Imagery – visually evocative – creates a picture in your mind
Legs – carries brand, rich wordplay, brand-extensions
Emotional – empowers, entertains, engages, enlightens

SCRATCH - scratch if it has any of these deal-breakers
Spelling-challenged – it’s not spelled the way it sounds
Copycat – similar to competitor’s names
Random – disconnected from the brand
Annoying – hidden meaning, forced
Tame – flat, uninspired, non-emotional, boring
Curse of Knowledge – only insiders get it
Hard-to-pronounce – not obvious, relies on punctuation

All of our names pass the test: Spoon Me, Neato, Monkey Dunks, Cake Financial, Dizzywood, Dash, and countless others. Do yours?