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Nov 16 2014

What’s in a name? 6 tips for choosing the right company name

Evelyn Senyi

Choosing your organization’s name is probably one of the most important decisions you will make when starting your business. The identity you choose will be the public face of the company and your primary marketing tool. Choose correctly and your company will prosper. Choose incorrectly and you may lose valuable time and energy in your marketing efforts.

 

The name of your business should convey what you do or sell, the culture of the company and what makes it unique. With all this is mind, choosing the right name can be a daunting task.

 

30 years ago naming your business was as complicated as checking with your local business bureau to see if the name already existed and searching the federal trademark database. Now you have to take into consideration web domains, Twitter accounts and Facebook pages. There are millions of small businesses across the internet that you have to contend with for web addresses, search rankings and social media clout. It’s not easy to find unclaimed digital real estate.

 

To succeed in choosing the right name that is unique and available, you need to think outside the box.

 

  • Do your research – first, see what else is out there in your industry. What types of names do the industry leaders have? Are they fun, serious or quirky? This will let you know what is accepted and expected in your field. Second, make sure that you don’t choose something that is already taken or very popular. This will make securing a domain name and search rankings in Google difficult.

 

  • Keep it simple – creativity is great, but make sure that your potential customers can pronounce and spell your name. Using long words from languages other than that of our business can cause confusion and make you hard to find (for example Abrakebabra). Simple names are easy to market and easy to remember.

 

  • Stick to real words – with so few original names left out there, marketers have taken to creating their own words. While for some (Instagram) this has worked, chances are it will backfire for most. Stick to real, traditionally spelled words when thinking of your name. Names that have no meaning are difficult to market without a lot of paid advertising and are hard to search for.

 

  • Don’t limit yourself – if you own a cafe on St. Peter’s Street it might be tempting to call yourself St. Peter’s Cafe, but what if you move? Alternatively calling yourself Bob’s Door Repair might limit you if you were ever to expand your business to more than just door repair. Be sure to choose a name that can withstand change and growth.

 

  • Use keywords – using keywords makes your business easier to find and more marketable online. It also helps customers determine what it is that you offer. East Coffee Company clearly sells coffee or coffee products, so it will be easier for their name to pop up when customers search for “coffee”.
  • Get input – you might think your name is great but you may not have looked at it from every angle. Words that have one meaning for you might mean something very different to someone else. Take the word dog. To some it might mean that cute little puppy down the street. To others it might be a derogatory word for a person they don’t like. Talking to people about your name will allow you to test how it may be received by the general public.

Whatever name you choose, make sure that YOU like it because hopefully you will be using it for a very long time. Make sure to do your homework and check your local business registry to see if the name is already taken.

Evelyn Senyi is a Toronto-based freelance writer, blogger and digital marketer. Through her passion for technology, solid writing skills and creative flare, Evelyn helps individuals, small businesses and not-for-profits share their stories. Visit her website at www.evelynsenyi.com to learn more about her services or follow her on Twitter @evelynsenyi

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Written by Dwania Peele · Categorized: Evelyn Senyi · Tagged: business, business development, business registry, Canadian Small Business Women, company name, domain name, entrepreneur, Evelyn Senyi, Facebook, Federal Trademark Database, input, Instagram, keywords, limit, local business, local business bureau, marketing, marketing tool, name, organization name, real words, research, search rankings, simple, small business development, social media, startup, Twitter, web domains, what is in a name

Mar 04 2014

Maintaining A Professional Presence On Social Media

Praveeni Perera

Social media has become a staple in both our personal and professional lives. It is a public platform for sharing our skills, views and expertise.  But like all tools and inventions that help us it is not without its faults.  Maintaining an online presence through social media is essential as it allows professionals to connect with clients, potential employers, and prospective customers.It is important to understand how to manage your digital identity, as web content is often permanent once posted.

Here are a few tips for maintaining your professional presence online :

1. Put your best face forward
Choosing an appropriate profile photo is essential to creating your professional brand online and solidifying your digital identity. Think about what style and image you want to portray through your photo.

When choosing a profile photo for social media profiles bearing your name, choose a clear and recognizable photo that shows your face.  For profiles bearing the name of your  business choose a photo that clearly identifies your company name or logo. Picture quality and sharpness should also be considered. It’s a good idea to invest in a professional photo shoot to get some head shots and other photos to use on social media.

 2. Share content that is relevant to your industry
Social media is great for keeping in touch with friends and family but your professional profiles should showcase your skills and expertise.  The best way to do this is by sharing content that is specific to your own industry or specialty, be it your own blog and website content or that of other industry specific publications.

3.  Say Thank You
Your online presence wouldn’t count for much without people to read your content so don’t take your supporters for granted. As a professional you should always acknowledge and thank your followers. If you manage a Facebook page make it a point to thank your supporters and those who like your page. If you use twitter acknowledge new followers as soon as possible and thank them for joining you on twitter.

4. Keep it positive
Avoid posting any negative, offensive or derogatory content. It’s always better to stay positive on social media and avoid conflicts or disputes. Posting derogatory or controversial content and engaging in online fights can malign your digital identity and portray you in a negative light.

5. Be consistent
Consistency is key when managing your online presence. It’s best to come up with a social media schedule for updating your profiles and content. Don’t neglect your online presence as followers and supporters will notice your absence, and once lost followers can be difficult to win back. You can manage and schedule your updates and content using social media management tools such as Hootsuite and Buffer. Both of these tools allow you to schedule updates weeks in advance.

Updates containing photos can be tricky to schedule and although Hootsuite allows you to add photos, Buffer is a better tool for scheduling content with photos as it posts the photo directly unlike Hootsuite which diverts users to the application’s page containing the photo.

6. Differentiate content between social media profiles
With tools such as Buffer and Hootsuite it’s easy to schedule the same update across many different social media platforms, however differentiation is important.

Organize your post content according to your target audience or followers on each platform. Do not link all your profiles together, although it may be tempting pairing your Twitter and LinkedIn updates is not a good idea. Try to come up with different content for each platform, so followers can be more engaged. Varying content amongst platforms will help you increase your reach as followers will have to tune in to all your social media profiles in order to get the full picture.

 7. Don’t get too personal
Although social media allows you to interact with clients and employers, your professional presence should remain professional. Avoid posting any content that contains profanity, is controversial or is overly personal on your professional profiles.

It’s a good idea to have two separate profiles one for personal content and one that’s strictly professional. Your professional profiles should also be readily accessible by clients, customers and employers,  but your personal profiles should be more guarded. As a rule of thumb do not post any content that you wouldn’t want the world to see. Before posting anything on either personal or professional profiles ask yourself : would I be alright with this content being up on a billboard? If your answer is no then don’t post it!

Praveeni Perera is the CEO and co-founder of Professional Edge Consulting a corporate training company based in Ottawa offering training and coaching services to clients around the world.  She can be reached via Website, Twitter, Facebook or her Blog.

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Written by Dwania Peele · Categorized: Praveeni Perera · Tagged: buffer, business development, Business Woman, Canadian Small Business Women, company name, employers, entrepreneur, Facebook, hootsuite, Linkedin, logo, personal, positive, Praveeni Perera, professional, professional brand, Professional Edge Consulting, profiles, relevant content, small business owners, social media, thank you, Twitter

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