What's In a Name? Choosing the Right Name for Your Business
In the virtual Lemonade Stand, Emily is flying solo to talk about the delicate process of choosing a name for your business. From considering pronunciation and spelling to ensuring domain availability, we're squeezing every drop of wisdom to help you craft a name that truly reflects your brand's spirit and potential.
0:08 - The Power of Naming Your Company
8:06 - Considerations for Changing Your Company Name
14:15 - Strategic Considerations for Company Name Changes
22:27 - Brand Refresh Strategies
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We’ll see you next time, Lemon Heads!
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Speaker 1: 0:08
What's up, lemonheads? Welcome back to another episode of From the Yellow Chair. I'm Emily and this week I'm so excited to dive into the power of a name, and so I've kind of titled this episode what's in a Name, because I think there's lots of elements that you should consider as you are starting a company and naming it, or possibly considering renaming your existing company. There's lots of facets and lots of elements and you don't have to be so afraid of it. You can do it from a very strategic approach that can really impact your business and make a real difference. So I'm excited to talk out some things. It is definitely a part of your branding strategy and so you know that just gives me all the feels inside. So, without further ado, let's sip some lemonade. All right, so the power of a name.
Speaker 1: 0:56
So, as I was kind of like developing this podcast, I was thinking about, you know, like naming your children, ok, like it's a big deal, all right, and I don't know about you, but like when my husband and I were coming up with the names for our girls, like it was definitely a tedious process, and like finding some that we could both agree on, that felt, you know, authentic, like it could be a part of our family, like not too out there, if you will. It was also something of like you know what kind of memories or associations come up with that name. So like no, we can't name our girl this because of that one girl in high school who is so mean and you know it ruins it has that association for you. So naming your child is a big deal, but so is also naming your company, and so often I see where contractors just get I don't want to say lazy, but like there's no creativity or like true thought process. It's kind of like I'm going to name it AAA or A1 or I'll just do my name or my initials and I'm like you are missing so much opportunity. So the power in a name gives you options to be disruptive, to be memorable, to be authentic. Does it allude towards there's more of a story there and a lot of times that is so compelling to people and it can help give you a good foundation for your brand. What is the visualization going to look like? And then, overall, your marketing strategy. So I love a name that you know.
Speaker 1: 2:34
So people ask us all the time like how'd you come up with the name Lemon Seed and I'm like, well, to be honest, I wanted our name to be authentic to Crystal and I. I wanted our name to be authentic to Crystal and I to represent, like, our personalities, our thoughts, our approach to business. And so that was going to be bright and I was going to be fresh, just like a lemon. And then, with us doing marketing, that's ultimately what we do for contractors. We plant seeds so that they can grow and flourish, and so thus lemon seed was born.
Speaker 1: 3:05
Now do sometimes people mess it up? They'll be like lemon tree, lemon grass, but you know what they get lemon. Okay, and they'll. They'll find us immediately or eventually, if they don't immediately, but they come around. It's where lemon seed is very memorable. You know, we have a standout mark, we have standout colors and a standout name.
Speaker 1: 3:23
Okay, if someone is like in some type of like I'm looking for an HVAC company, marketing company, like I think it's something with lemon, like someone else would be like oh yes, lemon seed. Like they know exactly what you're talking about, versus like what is their name? Like something with an A, I think, or maybe a G, like you know, there's no semblance, but if you can at least have something very core and memorable. That can go a long ways. But also in considering a name like is it easy to say, is it easy to spell, are there available domain names? Social media handles things like that. Like those are all things you have to take into consideration.
Speaker 1: 4:12
I come across people all the time who have named their company after their town, like Lufkin Heating and Air Conditioning. It's like okay, but like, do you ever think that you could really grow and expound upon that one location? Maybe you could, but it starts to get a little weird and like customers might start to assume like okay, if I live 30 miles away, like yes, you might still have a tangible office there in this new location. But like, if your name is Lufkin but you live in Nacogdoches I'm giving you all the East Texas names right now Okay, nacogdoches. But I might assume like hey, am I about to get a hefty travel fee because they're coming over from Lufkin and I live in NAC. Even if you had an office in NAC, it kind of limits you towards your outward expansion.
Speaker 1: 4:51
A lot of times a name or initials has like no, it doesn't resonate with people at all. Like JW Heating and Cooling, like I don't know. Like what is JW. Like it also can lean a little bit more like mom and pop, like it just seems like a one man band when it's named after an individual person, an individual family. Sometimes it might be a little bit limiting to you as to like, are they the actual experts or do they have real qualified people that all have the same family name? They have real qualified people that all have the same family name? Maybe so, but it sometimes can also appear like, eh, like, did you just really pick this because it's just your family? Like I remember a time when I was working with my husband we were working with a customer about some things and he's like you know, this is my wife, she's the absolute best graphic designer. I'm like, while that may be true, it kind of also seems disingenuous because like that's your wife. Like get real. Like okay, like you don't really seem like the best graphic designer or, in a, the best actual plumber, things like that.
Speaker 1: 5:56
So sometimes I'm not saying that you can't ever name a company after your family name, after initials, things like that. Obviously you can. There have been very successful companies that have done it, but you might just have a little bit more to overcome with that, and I also think last names or initials they're either one like very common. So if you were just to say Williams Heating and Air Conditioning or something like, williams is a very common name, so guess what? You're probably going to get lots of other Williams popping up.
Speaker 1: 6:29
Okay, if I was to name it Flinnikin Heating and Air Conditioning nobody knows how to spell Flinnikin. Okay, I get that on the daily. I'm not even trying to name anything Flinnikin. My husband and I joke sometimes. You know that we want to open a restaurant and one of our friends said you should name it Flinnikins. I'm like, absolutely not. Like you know, people can get F and then get L, but like, is it an I, is it an E, is it a Y? Like they can't get beyond the third letter? Okay, like Flinnikins is out, okay.
Speaker 1: 6:58
So, but that's something you got to consider with a name is is it easy to say and spell? Is that going to affect your search volume and your ability to own your own name on the web? Okay, or is it so common that it's going to be lost in the shuffle with all these other super common, super simple names that might be easy to say, easy to spell, so it's kind of a toss up. So that's where I would, if you're starting off brand new, I would recommend coming up with something a little bit more creative, something that can, like, live rent free in their brain a lot longer, if you will, than an actual name. Ok, and that's why a lot of times I suggest companies like, beyond a name, how can they also develop some type of mascot or character icon? Ok, because you know how you can remember someone's face before you remember their name. Mm, same thing. Okay, like, sometimes you need that character to help you be identifiable and recognizable. But again, if you're only going off of a name, how often have you forgotten someone's name? Okay, if that's all you have. How often are they forgetting the name of your company? Mm. Okay, something to think about A lot of times.
Speaker 1: 8:06
But changing your name can be very hard, okay, either there's a lot of emotional ties to the name. Are we going to be doing a disservice, maybe to whoever the owner was before, or the family that was there before, or maybe not even that part, but just you yourself are emotionally invested into this name and there's a lot of fear attached. Like, what if I change the name and I don't get a single customer moving forward, or what is going to happen to all of my existing customers. That's definitely a relevant concern, I'm going to say Doesn't mean that that has to take over everything, but it is definitely something that you should consider. So just because your name is based off of a location or a last name or something doesn't necessarily mean that I'm going to say, like you have to change your name right now. Okay, there can be a lot of brand equity to that name. So whether that's longevity, whether that is market share, that is community recognition, there's a lot that plays into it. So just because I just said that doesn't necessarily mean you have to completely change it.
Speaker 1: 9:15
This is hard for a lot of people to swallow because, as bad as this sounds, sometimes, I think people think they're more important than they actually are. So you might be a $2 million company and that's great and you have worked hard to earn every penny of that $2 million, and you might say I have all this brand equity share. Everyone knows my name by this. But if you're in a $100 million market, okay. If that market share your $2 million is 2%, okay, you're probably not vested enough and not enough people know you to where that should be your limiting factor of a reason for you not to change your name or not to kind of revamp, refresh things that you can really catapult, because there's so much more opportunity and brand equity for you to capture there. Now, if you're 80% of the market share, okay, that's a different conversation. That's something we really need to take into account and consider.
Speaker 1: 10:08
I also see a lot of names that are super service, that they offer specific OK. So if your name is plumbing professionals, ok, well, plumbing professionals is very hard for you then to go add HVAC or electrical Like what are you going to be there? Plumbing professionals, plumbing, heating and cooling, plumbing and heating and cooling professionals. Like, like, what is it there? Don't get your name so targeted into what you actually do Climate control and then you want to add plumbing. Well, the problem is sometimes, yes, you can just add it and kind of like the little, like sub name if you will, but a lot of times what's going to end up happening to consumers is like, like, are they really going to be the experts in that trade? Like, they seem like a plumbing company that just now like kind of tacked on HVAC, like I've got a real problem here. I don't know if they should be the ones that I call Okay, like, I'll call them for plumbing they're known for that, they've done a great job at that always. But, like I don't know about this HVAC, or I don't know if they're going to be truly the one that's going to fix my problem here. You just seem it very limits you and pigeonholes you for room for growth, okay, so that is something that you definitely have to be specific on.
Speaker 1: 11:25
I also don't think having an adjective as your name is super unique, memorable, identifiable. It's usually not very searchable to being unique to you. So, like, if you're named quality plumbing or quality heating and cooling or professional heating and cooling, integrity, heating and cooling which, first off, if you have to tell people that you know you have integrity, that's usually a sign that, like you don't, because you're trying to like cover up something. You know what I'm saying. But when you have integrity, that's usually a sign that, like you don't, because you're trying to like cover up something. You know what I'm saying. Um, but when you have a name that is just an adjective, or like emergency, emergency heating and cooling, that's just an adjective. Okay, every other heating and cooling company that does quality work is going to have quality all over their page, all over their keywords. That is a term that people are searching for Quality HVAC units or installation quality professional those are adjectives that people use that is not associated to an actual name. Ok, therefore, you have very little ownership over your own name. Ok, people can also be buying that same type name, those same keywords of your location, of that adjective, whatever it might be. So there's nothing unique, there's nothing authentic to just you.
Speaker 1: 12:43
Okay, when you're developing a name, we want it to be very unique, memorable, identifiable, to where it can't be mistaken for anybody else. People are not going to accidentally call you or accidentally call a competitor, more so, in hopes they're trying to find you. Okay, those are things that you definitely have to consider. I know a lot of times people are not looking to change their name because they're like does it seem like If it is a family name, does it seem like we've sold out or that it's not going to be the same people, or we're under new ownership, or does it seem like less professional? I'm going to say more times than not no, ok, it's actually going to be like kind of a catapult for you to start to own your Web search, to start to own renting in their headspace, to start to own memorability and different aspects, and how can you really tell a whole story with through this?
Speaker 1: 13:41
So, yes, we could have been, you know, professional marketing services, but like us having the name Lemon Seed, like it gives us a platform for our color, for yellow. It gives us all types of words and acronyms like zesty, juicy, bright. You know like we do all kinds of things and acronyms like zesty, juicy, bright. You know, like we do all kinds of things off of those fun puns. It gives us a starting point for we're going to do all kinds of things around lemonade and like that's what we say. We say making lemonade, that's our secret sauce. Lemonade is the secret sauce and you know it just gives you a better platform to tell a story.
Speaker 1: 14:15
Okay, but a lot of times you don't have to like completely change your entire name. Like you know, there are instances where you might can just like modify it a little bit. So, like I'm thinking of like Dunkin Donuts Well, dunkin Donuts, you know, as they're really trying to launch their their coffee business and their other breakfast food items and things like that and really become like a morning stop. They kind of realize like, hey, we really need to lose the donuts to where we're just dunking. So, like America runs on Dunkin, it allows them to position themselves to have more than just donuts.
Speaker 1: 14:50
Ok, so there might can be some moderations that you can make to dropping an end part of a name. I know a lot of family companies have like a and sons or something like that, like maybe could you drop that and shorten that off some. Is there a common like nomenclature that your name gets shortened to. So like I'm thinking of like FedEx Okay, they were Federal Express, but it just became common nomenclature. It was just easier to say FedEx. Well, they embraced it, shortened it to FedEx. Same thing with Coca-Cola. What do you call Coca-Cola? You don't say hey, do you want a Coca-Cola? You know. You say hey, you want a Coke and you say Coke and everyone realizes what you're talking about. But again, coca-cola embraced it, like look at their logo. It doesn't say Diet Coca-Cola, it says Diet Coke.
Speaker 1: 15:38
Okay, so there can be some ways that you can shorten it to still make an easier transition. But does it allow for you to give a little bit better of a launching pad or to better expound your service area, to expound your actual services. You know, that might be something to consider, okay, but if you are going to make a change, there needs to be tremendous planning, strategic planning, of how you're going to implement this. Okay, and, most importantly, I'm going to say, on the digital side of things, okay, this is where you need to heavily, heavily rely on your digital agency and their expertise. Okay, do not go and change your name and get your all your trucks rewrapped and get new uniforms and stuff and then tell your digital agency like, oh, yeah, by the way, I changed my name to this. It's like, excuse me, like no, like there's tons of backend work and strategy of when those things need to happen. Like changing your Google business profile name. Okay, anyone ever poked that bear with Google got their Google business profile page shut down? Okay, that is something you do not want to do. Okay, there are ways to do it. Okay, but you cannot haphazardly do that. Okay, you got to do it from a very strategic standpoint Domain names.
Speaker 1: 16:51
Now, here's a little pro tip for you If you are considering changing your name, go ahead and buy up those domain names before you file your DBA or a new LLC or whatever it might be. Go ahead and buy those domain names, because people like GoDaddy and some of those other places where you buy a domain name for they are continuously searching, like new business registrants. Ok, because, like, oh, that's going to be a key domain name, someone is going to be looking for that word. Okay, go ahead and buy up some of those random ones that it might be Um, buy that first and then file your DBA. Okay, but those all need to be conversations that you're having um with your digital agency. There's no harm in buying multiple URLs, but you need to have one that's going to be like what is going to be like the one that we market to.
Speaker 1: 17:39
Okay, and then, what is your plan of rebuilding the website? Changing out the name? Is there a at the very top, formerly known as this? Do you still have the old URL that repoints to this? Absolutely Like? There has to be a real strategy in it. Okay, and then how are you going to tell your existing customers?
Speaker 1: 17:57
Ok, if it is not a change in ownership, like, I very much recommend whoever the owner or the leadership team of that, or the face of what the current current company is. You need to be very present, very face forward, helping to guide and educate your existing customers about this new name change. Hey, new name, but same great people, same great company. I'm here for the long haul, so is my whole team back here. You need to be very upfront for focus and not just send out an email Effective immediately. Quality HVAC company is going to be known as lemon marketing company or lemon HVAC company. No, like, okay, it needs to be a lot more heartfelt, provide a lot more assurance and stability to keeping that existing team name.
Speaker 1: 18:43
Okay. So you need to have a whole strategy from your digital aspect of you. Know what new URLs are there on your website. How do we still kind of like maybe co-brand for a while, like whatever that former name was to what the new name is? What is happening on social media? Okay Again, maybe your profile and cover photos are kind of like dual branded for a while. I would have lots of you know from the owner, like with pictures of the owner or videos from the owner, like kind of walking through what these new phases and changes are.
Speaker 1: 19:14
You got to be very forward, tapping into your existing customer base. So probably like sending out a couple emails, okay. So, like, don't just send out one, okay, because if it like accidentally got deleted or they actually just overlooked it, okay, like, have a plan to send them out. For the next little bit All about the name change and then again, co-branding some of them A direct mail piece is probably in order for your existing customers as well. Okay, really, pay attention to those.
Speaker 1: 19:42
Okay, a lot of renaming the company is going to be for that new and existing customer that doesn't already know you yet. How can you again be disruptive? Stay in their mind. How can it give you a better platform for your services? But do not ignore your existing customer base during this transition or during this process. Okay, they are still crucial. They are still, hopefully, if you've done a good job for them, they are going to be your advocates, so you don't need them to feel like they got left out of the game or everyone knew. But them, okay, I would almost treat them first. And what is going to be your action plan with notifying them first before we really develop? What is our launch plan with this new name to new existing customers?
Speaker 1: 20:26
So, um, but a name is very powerful, okay, um, if you're a company that's been around for a hundred years you're going to be, I'm going to be a little bit hard pressed to say, hey, you definitely need to change your name, maybe. So, okay, maybe you don't have enough market share. Or maybe there's been some, um, like terrible incident or lawsuit or something like that, to where, like you really do need to. Or maybe there has been a change of ownership and I incident or lawsuit or something like that, to where, like you really do need to. Or maybe there has been a change of ownership and I was like, hey, we really got to change everything. There are times that that might happen, um, but I want to encourage you don't be afraid to do it, okay, um, don't be scared of the what ifs, because there can also be tremendous benefit to that unknown Okay.
Speaker 1: 21:08
There can also be so much more than what you were initially anticipating or what you initially have right here, okay. So if you do it with strategy, if you do it with real intentionality and to like how can I, how can this be my big picture goal? To where it'll help my marketing perform so much better. It'll help my brand stand out and be a lot more recognizable. There's some real power and benefit to it where I would love to help guide you through that and just give you talking points and thinking points of things that you should consider because it can be game changing.
Speaker 1: 21:41
Ok, obviously there's still brand refreshes that you can do without changing your name we do that all the time but there are also times where you need to change your name and you shouldn't be too afraid or too scared of what the implications of that might be, because it can be truly life changing. So there's power in a name, there's power in your name and your kids names, but there's power in your business name and that can really help be a pivotal part to determining the success of your marketing strategy and, ultimately, of your company. So I hope you got some some thinking points here. Maybe your brain is turning in a little bit, or maybe it just brought up some points that, hey, I hadn't ever really thought about it that way. Or like, maybe it really is time for me to kind of reconsider a name change. And if not a name change, maybe it's a brand refresh.
Speaker 1: 22:27
Ok, how can we reinvigorate this thing that we've already got going on here? Ok, I want to keep brand refresh. Okay, how can we reinvigorate this thing that we've already got going on here. Okay, I want to keep the name for the searchability but, like, nothing else has to stay the same colors or fonts, things like that. Like, let's go for that. So, whatever that might be, we at Lemon Seed would love to just hash out, talk about what that might look like and see if we can help you really juice up, zest up your brand. So thank you for listening to another episode of From the Yellow Chair. If you enjoyed this, give us a share, give us a follow, give us a review. We're on all the social medias and hopefully you've enjoyed this and gotten a little nugget of something, a little sip of some lemonade, of some of that magic sauce, and we would love for you to share this with someone else who might find some benefit from this.
