THE BRANDING ISSUE
WHAT ARTICLES WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE ? LET US KNOW : EDITOR @ GEMCELL . COM . AU a marketing consultancy for small businesses , agrees : “ You might want to go state-wide or even Australia-wide one day , and your name could become a little bit of a stumbling block as you start to grow ”.
If you ’ re worried omitting your location from your name will prevent potential customers in your area from finding you online , don ’ t be . “ The Google bots search your entire website and look at all of your content – they don ’ t just look at the website title ,” Bidwell says . “ The techie things in the back end don ’ t matter as much as they used to , and you can get great exposure just by writing awesome content that naturally has those location words in it .”
OUTSIDE THE BOX Right , so names and locations are out . What to do instead ? Bidwell says consumers have become so used to business names that don ’ t mean anything at all – think Adidas , Google or even Häagen-Dazs – and recommends contractors adopt a similar approach .
“ You could call your business Purple People Eater Electrical or you could name it after your dog – it doesn ’ t really matter to customers anymore ,” he says . “ Name it something that means something to you and then do the work building the brand awareness by educating consumers . Forget about trying to make it mean something obvious to your customers .”
If you ’ re struggling for inspiration , Kava says combining the initials of family members or doing searches for synonyms of words can help to get those creative juices flowing . Don ’ t be afraid to make up a word , but remember : the best business names are short , simple and easy to pronounce . Just think about how many times a day you answer the phone .
And as tempting as it might be , Kava
recommends avoiding obvious puns . “ From an electrician ’ s perspective , there ’ s obviously a lot of words like sparky that get used a lot , but names that are a bit unique and have some good branding around them are going to put you in good stead and make you look more professional and credible than using the standard cliched words .”
CHECKS AND BALANCES Once you ’ ve landed on a name it ’ s important to check the government will allow you to use it . Use ASIC ’ s ‘ business name availability ’ tool to make sure the name isn ’ t already registered to another business . You ’ ll also need to check with IP Australia that it isn ’ t registered for trade mark – as well as any phrases , logos or images you plan to use .
Williams also suggests avoiding anything too similar to existing business names . “ There ’ s now another guy on the Gold Coast with a very similar name , and I get his customers calling me all the time ,” he says . “ They only have to get one letter different , and it goes through .”
Worst case , Bidwell says you can “ open yourself up to litigation and cease and desist orders if somebody who ’ s already in business in the same industry in your area with a similar name decides to take action against you and you end up losing your business name ”.
Then there are the all-important digital searches . Check the domain name – the URL you want to use – is available with one of the many domain name registrars . Search Facebook , Twitter and Instagram to make sure the handles and hashtags are free .
“ If you Google electricians in your broader area , make sure that you don ’ t accidentally end up with a really similar URL or name on social media ,” Bidwell says . “ People are going to get it wrong and end up using the wrong business .” n
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COMING UP WITH THE RIGHT NAME
If you ’ re working on a new name for your business you can either just sit , stare blankly at the wall , and think . Or , you can follow a process to help you along the way …
First things first , we need to summarise your brand – what outcome does your work deliver ? What do you do ? Why would ( should ) people pick you ahead of your competition ?
Then , outline what your brand ’ s personality is – are you reliable and honest , or fabulous and enthusiastic ? There are a whole host of ‘ personality traits ’ to discover online – check out a list and decide what you are ( or what you want to be ).
Next use the words you ’ ve identified to inspire other words – if you ’ re ‘ reliable ’ for example , what other words are synonymous with that ?
From there , you can think of different categories of words that align with your brand . For example , acronyms , metaphors , descriptive words , fun words , alliteration and completely random words .
Spend a lot of time getting five or six you really like , and then compare them to each other . Does it sound good ? Does it convey the right impression ? Is it memorable ?
By taking your time and exploring different options , you ’ ll be able to come up with an ideal name for your business – and don ’ t forget to test it out on friends and family . You might think it ’ s great , but it ’ s always worth getting a second opinion !
20 GEMCELL . COM . AU OCT – NOV 2021