namer.ca

There are those who will tell you “A Name doesn’t really matter”, when you ask or search for advise on Naming an online venture or business startup.

Of course there are no hard rules to naming, even if there were hard rules to follow, “the rules are more like guidelines” as Captain Jack Sparrow (Pirates of the Caribbeans) once said:), and guidelines exist for good reasons, reasons which are based on user input, experience, and identifying naming trends.

So recommending to forget every articles ever written on naming and saying names don’t really matter and discounting the value of many companies whose sole business is “name development”, branding, domaining …. is borderline ignorance.

I believe those who say a choice of business name doesn’t really matter, simply miss-communicate their intent, my guess is that what they intend to say is “a good name alone” won’t bring you success. But saying it doesn’t matter is simply bad and misleading advice that is often given. This bad advise motivates many startups to just picking any company name haphazardly which often leads to undermining ones perceived credibility.

Every company creating a new name for their business should start by asking themselves questions like:

• Will this name give our company wings, or will it undermine our credibility?
• Am I creating this name for myself to bolster my ego, or for my customers, so they can easily find me, interact with me, and help spread my message.

A company name is one of the first and most important business decisions any company will ever make, because it will be the first thing every potential customer will see, always.

Here is a thought, a (domain) name is a brand name, an investment, a foundation on which your company will grow, and appreciate in value. If you are starting a new company you will invest considerable money in physical commodities like, computers, printer(s), office furniture, office space etc… All those things will eventually depreciate in value, however your brand name won’t, it will appreciate (if chosen carefully), that is why rebranding later on is so costly. Isn’t it smarter to invest money, time, effort, into something that will appreciate in value? Like your company’s (domain) name.

Saying a name doesn’t matter, is like telling a job seeker a resume doesn’t matter, because the resume itself will not get you a job, it’s like saying the way you present yourself doesn’t matter because a suite and tie alone won’t land you the job. Yes they won’t get you the job, but certainly they will increase your chances significantly if you treat them like they matter. And it is the same with names. Obvious stuff, right?

Names do matter, a lot more than one thinks.

The Number one enemy to naming your company is of course ones own ego, which unfortunately you can’t get away from, that is why I would recommend either buy a name from a professional, or hire them to develop one for you, if not just for their unbiased opinion / perspective.

This post is tagged Name Design