a step-by step guide to naming your business

Welp, if I learned anything from you lately it's that DAYUM you're really into the how-to brand and design help.

"I love that." - Ted Lasso

Those canva design element keywords blew up my little corner of the internet and I can't wait to share more DIY help with ya today.

ok, in all honesty this scene makes me all teary over here. (and you can GTFO of here if Ted Lasso doesn't make you cry, too.)

Almost every single time I have a consult call with someone who is starting her own business, I feel like Ted Lasso right here.

It's an amazing thing to watch something that has so much potential be born into this world… and I get to be one of the first people to hold the baby.

I've seen you, I've heard you, I may have even cried with you over zoom (oops)… you can smell it too. You can visualize the changes in your life that will happen once you flip that digital “we're in business sign” over.

But then the overwhelm and the overthinking hits:

• what's my business name even going to be?

• who am I talking to?

• will people stop following me if I don't post as many pics of my kids?

• what if no one wants to work with me?

• who do I think I am?

Dude. BEEN. THERE. (you can read a little about that here) but that's not why we're here.

We're here to name the baby.

“IF YOU’VE THOUGHT:

“I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I’D EVEN CALL MY BIZ.”

THEN YOU’RE NOT ALONE.”

This one little thing seems like the hardest part and can seriously hold you back from making any moves at all… probably even harder than naming your firstborn.

Remember in highschool, when we'd get made fun of for applying our mom's too-dark-for-us makeup wrong try to write the opening paragraph of a history paper first. I remember that feeling of being so frustrated staring at a blank sheet of paper, that'd I'd never make it through this… that I wasn't smart enough.

THE GOOD NEWS: the answer is usually right in front of you, but you may have to work backwards a little. You can't write the opening paragraph first.

INSTEAD: Answer questions like this (then dive into step two)…

STEP ONE: MINDMAP

1. How would you describe your service or product?

2. What problem do you solve?

3. What you’d like your customers to feel when they work with you.

4. The core values of your business.

5. What makes you different?

6. What tangible/intangible materials do you use?

7. What inspired you to start your business?

STEP two: patterns and formulas

Start pulling those patterns out, use the thesaurus and get creative. What words stand out to you? Circle them. What words feel really good to you? Trust your gut.

NEXT, TRY SOME NAMING FORMULAS:

1. Alliterations (FabFitFun)

2. Descriptive (Dollar Shave Club)

3. Origin (Hilton)

4. Group (Club Monoco)

5. Phrase (Fruit of the Loom)

STEP three: test your favorites

Yell it's first and middle name to see if it rolls off the tongue.

1. Is your first impression strong?

2. Does it sound and look good written?

3. Is it easy to pronounce?

4. What would the website be? Instagram handle? (are they taken?)

5. Does it sound credible?

6. Is it memorable?

7. Does it relate to what your purpose is?

You should have a clear MVP now… my only advice here, ask for opinions but take them with a grain of salt if it's your grandma (listen to those ideal clients)!

brand photography by joelle + co.