Creating Powerful Names for Products, Services, and Your Business

By Cathy Stucker
Posted Thursday, February 17, 2005

The name of your business is important--it's one of the first things potential customers know about it. And having unique names for each of your products and services can be a powerful selling tool. One way to make yourself and your business attractive is to have something exclusive and enticing, promising benefits. Good names for your business, products and services can do that. Good names market for you.

Do you have a hard time coming up with names? Perhaps you called your business ABC Enterprises, because you just couldn't think of anything else. What does that name say about you and what you do? Nothing. Nada. Zip. It doesn't tell customers why they would want to do business with you, because they have no idea what it is that you do, or who you do it for.

Here's my favorite way to come up with a name. I call it "Idea Storming." OK, I just did it to you. Marketing with a name, that is. "Idea Storming" is a name I came up with to describe one of my services. Brainstorming has been done to death. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt from the seminar. Idea Storming puts a slight twist on it. You recognize the concept, but it has a different name, and it ties to my Idea Lady identity. Not a spectacular example, but see how it works?

Anyway, I help my clients to Idea Storm, but here's how you can do it on your own. Get a piece of paper and a pen. Write down every word or phrase you can think of to describe your business. What do you do? Who are your clients? What results do you get for them? What words would your clients use to describe what you do? How would they describe the feeling they got doing business with you? Why is your business better than others?

Once you've got a nice, long list, keep going. Get out your thesaurus (or use the one in your word processor) to come up with words with meanings similar to what you wrote down. Scan books and magazine articles for words and phrases that jump off the page at you. Talk to friends and associates, and get them to Idea Storm with you.

Now, take your list and start combining the words and phrases. Take this word and add it to that one. Use this phrase, but substitute that word. Take pieces of two words and make a brand new word.

I've used this method to come up with lots of names and titles over the last few years. This is how I created names such as The Idea Lady, Solo-preneuring, and many more.

Another great benefit of Idea Storming is that even the words and phrases you don't use in your name can be used in a slogan, on your business cards, in sales letters, in brochures and in other marketing materials.

This technique is simple. But it really works.

About the Author
Copyright Cathy Stucker. As the Idea Lady, Cathy Stucker can help you attract customers and make yourself famous with inexpensive and free marketing ideas. Get free tips, articles and more at (http://www.IdeaLady.com/).