Over the last two weeks, I shared some important rules about naming a company/product/service including making short, memorable, easy to say, with a good URL and being sure it won’t translate into something awful in another language. The final two rules include that the new name should be:

6. Available in your category – you will need to register your name within a certain category (hence you’ll need legal help) and you need to be sure the name you want isn’t already taken by someone else in the same category. If you’ve followed Rule #2, you should be fine. I haven’t looked, but I’d be willing to bet a large diamond that “American Paint Supply” actually exists and that means that it’s “taken” in the “paint supply” category and you’d discover that once you applied for your new business entity documentation.
7. NEVER be an acronym – this is a major pet peeve of mine and one I see all the time. Folks say, “Well, what about IBM?” Yes, well, when you have literally billions of dollars to spend on marketing and branding, and several decades in which to establish that brand, go ahead, use an acronym. (IBM, by the way, was created because everyone got tired of saying “International Business Machines” (ten syllables … see Rule #1).

Next week, I’ll discuss some broader issues about naming that you should also be considering when you name your new company/product/service.

Jenn