Today we’ve got a listener question about how to decide what to name your business. We’re talking about the merits of using your own name vs. having a different business name, how big of a deal your business name really is, and the value of just getting something out there and allowing yourself to change it later on.
Emily Thompson 0:05
Welcome to being boss, our minisodes are all about answering your questions. And today's minisode is all about naming your business.
Kathleen Shannon 0:15
Today's being boss minisode is brought to you by chimp essentials. chimp essentials is a MailChimp course written and designed by Paul Jarvis. If you guys don't know Paul Jarvis, he is one of the most brilliant newsletter writers I've ever met. And he has a huge list and still makes it feel so personal. If you've been wanting to start a newsletter, we've been talking all about newsletters. Paul Jarvis's course is a great place to start, especially if you're curious about MailChimp, he's going to be teaching you some of the technical sides of how to onboard how to set up MailChimp, how to use segments and lists appropriately. And then he's also going to teach you the psychology behind growing your list and selling to your list. So try it today by going to beingboss.club/ chimp. And you can try free courses or paid courses, but it's only for the month of March. So act fast.
Kathleen Shannon 1:10
Alright, today we have a question from Sylvia's. I hope I'm pronouncing Sylvia's name. Correct, because she spells it with a W, which I think is pronounced with a V. Sylvia's. Okay, so from Sylvia, hello amazing being boss crew.
Emily Thompson 1:28
Hello!
Kathleen Shannon 1:33
I've been listening to your podcast for some time. And I'd like to thank you for all the great content you put out there. Oh, well, you're welcome. I really appreciate the flow and good humor in every podcast. questionable, but thank you.
Emily Thompson 1:46
I like that you think we're funny.
Kathleen Shannon 1:50
I've decided to reach out to you because I'm totally stuck in creating my business. Being an entrepreneur has always been my dream, I finally decided to move my ass and do something about it. I've thought about what I'd like to put out into the world, my mission, my vision, how I can help. I'm ready to start, but I am totally lost and blocked on coming up with a name for my company. I've spent months on trying to come up with something good, but nothing seems to work. I've read zillions of articles on how to come up with a name, but I still feel stuck. Help. Sylvia.
Emily Thompson 2:29
Nice. Alright. Are we ready for this? Yeah. Okay. So I kind of want to call a little bullshit Just a little. I know, I know, in terms of you know, if you are in this, and if you are ready to go and you, you know what you're going to create or do and how you can help, then you're not going to let a name hold you back. Like, I almost feel like there's something else in there. That's keeping you from moving forward and letting a name and keep you blocked for months is a little frightening. But I mean, we can help. One of the one of my favorite tasks for helping you figure out a name is just go to godaddy.com and start searching for domains. Because these days, getting a domain is one of the hardest pieces of running an online business. You can think of a name, you can spend months dreaming up the perfect one, and then you go find your domain and you cannot buy it. Or it's already copyrighted or something ridiculous. So I actually have started reverse engineering this and letting the availability of domains helped me dictate what to actually call things. It's not always the best way to do it in the world. But it's a completely okay and feasible whenever it comes to doing business online. So go try to find domain that works for you, based on some of the some of the ideas that you've had. And then just buy one and do not let the the I don't know, just stopping power of perfection in terms of nain keep you from doing the thing that you are here to do.
Kathleen Shannon 4:06
Um, yeah, I agree with that. And my main thing that came up for me whenever I was reading this is that no one cares about what the name of your business is, like, literally no one cares. So I'm kind of calling bullshit to and not in a not in a mean way in a very
Kathleen Shannon 4:27
The kindness bullshit, possible.
Kathleen Shannon 4:31
So, so basically, um, I mean, Emily, I think you and I both have had multiple names in our businesses, we still run a few different businesses with a few different names, but at the core of it, it doesn't really change what we do and what we deliver. Right. Yeah. So my advice and you know, usually Tara, who is my business partner in braid, creative Tara and I always are running against this whenever we're branding, other creatives. And our First go to is use your own name. Now obviously we specialize in personal branding and using your own name can be limiting in some ways. Also Silvia has a I'm not going to say tricky name, but I don't know how to pronounce it. And I know that a lot of people who have names that are hard to pronounce, sometimes see that as a barrier. So I get it if that is a barrier. And we do tell creatives whenever they are using their own name and their business to get really say what you mean, in your tagline. So for example, being boss was almost the Kathleen and Emily show. It was and we decided on being boss, which is a little bit more broad, but we thought that it sent a message about our content. But then we wanted to get really say what we mean in our tagline. So a podcast for creative entrepreneurs. We're saying what we do and who it's for. So that's a pretty good formula for a tagline. What is it that you do? And for who? For whom? Who?
Emily Thompson 6:03
for whom.
Kathleen Shannon 6:03
for whom. Um, okay, another thing is that I think is really interesting about this email and kind of telling is that Silvia did not once mention what her business is, she did not mention to us what her mission, her vision, or how she can help. So we know nothing about Silvia, other than she doesn't know what to mean her business, so we can't really help with giving her a specific name. But I think it's kind of telling there that what you want to be talking about is what you do, and not, not really worrying about the package as much as what's inside the package. So this is another thing that I run against with creative entrepreneurs who come to me with branding, they want a really pretty package, but they have nothing to put in it. So you really have to figure out what you're doing first, what you deliver first, and then worry about packaging it up later, and know that you can sell what you're doing before you ever even have a name.
Emily Thompson 7:05
Ooh, Yes, exactly. And I like I really like that say what you mean bs I this is something I'm finding so much lately, and especially in terms of like, search engine optimization, and getting those domain names and all of those things is getting like super clear on the say what you mean side like, awesome online courses.com. Like you don't need more of a name than that. So getting really say what you mean with what it is that you do, can make it really easy for you to find a name that is super clear to anyone who's trying to find you. But it can make you just sort of really easy to find in the online business sphere anywhere.
Kathleen Shannon 7:46
Yeah, I love names like that to like Ramit Sethi, who we interviewed on one of our full length episodes, his domain is I will teach you to be, iwillteachyoutoberich.com , like you don't get more. So I think that there's something to that. So I know that we gave you a little bit of a hard time, Sylvia. But whenever it comes to me, think about using your name, think about even using something creative. And I'm using the word fluffy in air quotes. But try and think about how you might grow into that. And I also want to mention here, it took me like two days to name my kiddo. And four months after I named him like, it's like he's four months old. There's a moment whenever I was like, Oh, my God, I picked the wrong name. So I The struggle is real, I get it is really hard to name yourself. But you kind of at that point, just have to pick something and go with it and let your business build into that name. So just like kids grow into their names, I think that your business can grow into its name as well.
Emily Thompson 8:51
Absolutely. I agree with that. 1,000,000%. I mean, we both operate up we have both operated under different names, or I've had multiple names for my businesses.
Kathleen Shannon 9:02
I you know a name of yours. I really did not like Emily, what I think is probably a mistake. What the Emory designs,
Emily Thompson 9:12
I Oh, I completely agree well, and that was something it was for my jewelry business. It was fun and fine. And it was like very designer-esque goes, my first name and middle name sort of put together into this unique kind of little name. And then whenever I started my web design business, it just sort of like went over from one brand to like one product to the other. And then it soon grew into something completely different. I think that's, that's another good point here is, was brings in that test and change thing like sure it's hard to rename a business in terms of you know, educating the crowd that you've cultivated and switching over email servers and all those things. It's real struggle, but it's not impossible. I have changed domain names for every business I've had at least once probably
Emily Thompson 9:59
And it's not a big deal. Like it's so much bigger of a deal to you than it is to me. But I was just gonna say about Emory. The only reason why I didn't it is because I thought you name was Emory.
Emily Thompson 10:09
Everyone did, I will in that, again, that's a lesson you learn after you do it. Because I had a lot of people who would contact me and even after we spoke numerous times and still say, hey, Emory, and emails and everything, guys, my name is not Emory, it's Emily. But it's fine. And that one soon died. So it is it's a very, like, testing change. It's not a final decision. Just get going with what you're doing so that you can grow into whatever it is you're supposed to grow into. Amen. Hey, let's talk about Miami for a second. Oh, yes, let's, we're going to Miami in April. It's going to be warm, guys. Real warm.
Kathleen Shannon 10:50
And you're really cold, right?
Emily Thompson 10:52
I have a heater on me and I'm freezing.
Kathleen Shannon 10:54
But um, Miami, we are going I never have the gates in front of me. But it's later in April, there's going to be a full moon. It's going to be on Earth Day. There's going to be a beach, there's going to be food, there's going to be a yacht, there's going to be a really good time. One of the things I'm looking forward to is we're putting together little structured mini adventures that peep that the bosses can choose to go on. And I cannot wait for like the Instagram photo tour. I've never been to Miami I'm really looking forward to the palm trees and the deco buildings and instagramming all over the place. Hashtag being boss Miami.
Emily Thompson 11:40
But you can go to beingboss.club/Miami to learn more about our boss vacation and join in on the fun.
Kathleen Shannon 11:48
And just a heads up we may not be doing a fall vacation so this may be your only chance to come on vacation with us in 2016. So be sure to sign up. We have just a few spots left and we would love to see you there.
