What’s in a name?

So it’s time to find a name for your business, but where to start?

The first thing I consider is whether I intend to build and sell this business, or if I’m going to keep it forever. If I intend to build and sell, then I need a name that can go with it, so I leave my name out of it. If it’s a business I’m going to keep forever, then using my personal name is fine.

Examples:
Austin Best Carpentry for providing Carpentry services to Austin, TX.
Done Right by Daniel, a specialty Construction Management firm.
PayPal*: A payment firm.
Bank of America*: A bank providing services all across the nation.

The second thing I consider is where I’m providing it.
If I’m only providing services in a specific city or region, then I probably want that location name in my business name, like with Austin Best Carpentry.
If I’m providing services remotely, or nationwide, then I want to stay away from any specific location name and stick with the service name.

The third thing I consider is what I’m providing.
If I’m providing Handyman services, then I want Handyman in the name. Same for Carpentry, Masonry, Advertising, Welding, Writing, Moving, or any other service.
If I’m providing Administrative or Legal services, then I want something to that effect in the name, but I want something close to the search terms people will use to find me (this is SEO: Search Engine Optimization) to help my website be found more often.

Alright, so you’ve picked a business name, now what? Now the fun part! This is where I go to ALL the major sites and look to capture or create that handle.
I’ll start with GMail (everyone should have a GMail, even if you don’t use it all the time, it’s very handy!) and then search for that name and handle across all social media, websites, and other platforms (see the list below). My goal is to create a unique business name that clearly shows what the company provides or does, and then have that exact same name or handle across the entire internet.
Now, a very important note here: The FIRST time you look at these handles, ESPECIALLY a website name, you should go ahead and create/purchase/choose it. This is especially true for website names as a LOT of hosts (Looking at you, godaddy!) will ‘purchase’ that website name, and try to resell it to you at a higher price later. The same might be true for your ‘digital name guy’, so be sure you pick a good one, AND, have something in writing to prevent that (I am, and I do!).

How I do it:
First I come up with a few different name options, then run those past the decision maker. Once we agree on three potential names, and I’ve secured $100 for fees, charges, etc, I get to searching. The most important part of this is that I am READY TO BUY at that moment.
Second, I check to see if GMail is available, then I check (using my own web host provider) if the domain name is available. In new tabs, I’ll go ahead and check the other major sites I want, and if the name I want is available on all the platforms I want, I start securing/setting up/ purchasing, starting with GMail (where I’ll register all of my other handles/accounts to) and then the website domain.
I also set up my own GMail as the backup/recovery account for the new GMail account to make sure the account access doesn’t get lost.
Once I have all the accounts signed up for, I’ll start adding content and filling out profiles, then just lightly use each account to keep things steady, but not ‘spammy’.
This is a critical step because many algorithms look for, and delete, new accounts that suddenly start spewing out a lot of information.

The List of sites to check:
GMail
Hotmail
Yahoo!
Website (Domain) names
Reddit
Twitter
Facebook
Instagram
YouTube
TikTok

This is not ALL the sites there are, just the ones I like to check and capture when I create a new name/handle.

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