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Build A Solo Practice, LLC
Newly Minted or Well Seasoned,
Teaching You How To Create & Grow Your Legal Practice.
With law firms there is always the desire to use your name as the business. That is the tradition and in some circles it makes perfect sense because as an attorney you are encouraging the relationship-buy, potential clients seek you out by name because a large part of your business is referral work from others and a certain intimacy is encouraged. However, with my business I needed to state in no uncertain terms what I do, what I offer. So, for attorneys they should use their name but it is important to clearly indicate in their tag line (and one should have a tag) exactly what they are going to get with you, what you offer.
This should be a great discussion.
My first business name was "Sequoia Financial" - I was in the accounting/bookkeeping/Tax services. The name stunk because I always had to say what I do.
So I re-named as David Rachford & Co CPA. At least with putting the CPA in there, people know a bit more what we do. A better name would be: "Town, Accounting, Tax and Bookkeeping" - a long name but it doesn't need explanation.
So when I spun off the Payroll Business, I didn't want to explain myself all over again, so it became: "Payroll Pro Services" with a tag line of "local, reliable, fast' and "makes payroll painless" as our usp. The name says what we do, and it's been a much better name.
Finally, I launched the CPA Marketing Center providing Accountants and CPAs with marketing systems and tools to market their practice. It's been a good name,but it could be better: it leaves out EAs and non certified accountants. If i were to re-launch today, I'd do "Marketing for Accountants" or something a little more broad. As it is, I could still do an "EAmarketingCenter" but I'm already optimized for and indexed for SEO with my keywords, and I believe the EAs an Non CPA accountants find me.
Thank you for the topic,
David Rachford, CPA
www.cpamarketingcenter.com
Workshop Central
I give technology courses - right now most of what I'm doing is giving workshops on computer basics - because you'd be very surprised at how many people there are that realize how high tech the world has become, but have big fear of "testing the waters". I plan, however, to offer many other types of workshops - in fact I 'm working on a workshop on how to take your expertise - be it furniture refinishing or MySpace page building - and creating a workshop. Most important - I'm having lots of fun with al this.
By the way, I miss the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce thing you spoke at this week - something came up, so I was very dissapointed. Hope you'll be coming to New York again soon!
Now if more law firms would think about that instead of Smith, Jones and Jones Jr. I love name that give you the benefit or differentiation right up front.
I love the progression of thinking contained in your various names.
sorry I missed you in Brooklyn, it was a very nice event. Keep having fun, that will come out no matter what the name of your business is. The market for workshop training should be great.
What a great topic. Our name is "Write On Results" and we specialize in real handwriting services to increase direct mail response rates for our clients.
We started this business a couple years ago. Your topic brings back memories of the time we spent brainstorming to come up with our name.
Here were some of our requirements:
1. Have an available URL
2. Imply what we do (no acronyms)
3. Have minimal syllables
4. Be easy to say on the phone
We had many ideas, and finally Write On Results made the final cut. Is it perfect? Who knows. I couldn't imagine being anything else. In fact, I can't even recall the other names now!
Thanks,
Kathy Hrach
Write On Results
http://www.writeonresults.com
Great thoughts - shame on me for not mentioning the domain name thing. Big piece of the puzzle these days and could make or break even a great name.
Eventually I decided I needed to "split" the brand identity, so re-launched the marketing/branding side under the name StickyFigure, to emphasize the idea of communication that "sticks". It's fun, but challenging work coming up with a name that is simple, "sticky", available, relevant, and still flexible!
Over the course of a week, I had enough work to keep me busy for months and decided to go out on my own. Every project given to me was something that someone kept meaning to get to, but more urgent issues were getting in the way.
Most of the projects were marketing projects -- following up on trade show leads, writing lead-generation letters; updating/proofing Web site copy, etc.
So, 'Backburner Projects - we handle projects you don't have time to' was born. I've had some problems with the name -- it kind of says it all and it kind of doesn't. But I've never had to advertise for work -- in the 8 years of business I've actually had to turn work away.
I'm working on refining the name a bit but it's worked for me.
Fern Dickey
201-797-8105
www.backburnerprojects.com
Interesting topic.
We chose beamax as the company name for projection screens.
Reasons:
1. We could register it as a .com site (this was easier 5 years ago)
2. We thought it would sound well in English (our home market (Belgium) would never be able to support a growing company)
3. A projection screen has MAXimising the effect of a BEAmer (projector).
In theory, all great. My gut feeling was that is was going to be mis-pronounced. Unfortunately, the vote was 4 to one in favour and unfortunately, I was right.
So, we have a registered, recognised and unique name, which is always mispronounced. All in all not too bad.
One thing I would recommend is registering your name as a trade mark. We did this from the beginning and have been able to protect our name, as well as prevent companies from registering sites which have our name in it.
The cost are quite high, especially for small companies and it is limited to a product group (class) and country, so it might be worthwile to focus on keymarkets and expand from there.
Otto
the Coyote Cafe (http://coyotecafe.net) because of the alleteration and the connection to the local wildlife. It's colorful. It's about finding inspiration anywhere.
thanks for your post. The name of my company is Zugunruhe Coaching LLC. Zugunruhe (pronounced ZOOG-un-roo-ee) is a German word meaning migratory restlessness; it's a great metaphor for what people feel when they are ready for a change. It has no meaning in English (though admittedly people don't know how to pronounce it), thus I believed it had good brand potential.
While I felt (and still do feel) that Zugunruhe was a bit of a risk, it never fails to start conversation and just about everybody loves the meaning. We're now in the process of dropping the "coaching" part (because I've added a partner and new services) and will soon be Zugunruhe LLC. Like Beamax, our name is often mispronounced but is recognizable and unique.
Your feedback is appreciated.
peace be with you,
Tara
In my humble opinion, unless you are an IBM, it does matter. You'd probaby get a lot more business if your name reflected what you do -- or if you had a tagline that explained your services.
One company that sponsored an event for the Business Marketing Assoc. of NJ was Pohaku, Inc. Pohaku? Huh?!
I had a long talk with them about the name. It was very meaningful for the owner, so we worked on adding a tagline and clearer copy on their promtional material -- but wow, what in the world does that mean or have to do with anything!!
So I get what Tara says about the name being a conversation starter (like mine is too) but I do think it might depress leads.
Fern Dickey
What do you folks think, should I have gone with my actual name?
My next business (with my partner/husband) sells humorous gifts and greeting cards for lawyers. It's named The Billable Hour Company, after our flagship product, timepeices with dials that are divided into 6-minute increments. The name made sense at the time we launched, since we didn't really envision selling the wide range of products we now carry. However, the name does resonate with our target market, and, of course, we have the .com domain http://www.TheBillableHour.com.
Finally, I have a new business in the works that will be providing online and CD/DVD education for lawyers. As a side benefit, the courses will also carry continuing legal education credit. That business is called LexSuccess and the tagline is "Innovative Learning for Lawyers." (Thanks to my husband for coming up with the name : - ) ).
If keywords for your market are part of the name of your business, it will also help your SEO.
We work with consultants and micro-businesses, and I've seen too many of them name their business after themselves, and then wonder why no one has a clue about what they offer!
We named our business Short-Order Marketing to reflect that, like fine dining and diner food, the basic elements are the same but how you prepare and present are different. You can go to an expensive restaurant and have a wonderful chicken dinner, with all the ala carte accompaniments. Or, you may go to the local diner and have a great chicken dinner with a salad and a side of potatoes for a fraction of the cost. Our customers can't afford to do marketing the same way the big guys do, so, we market short order!
I face an interesting dilemma. As part of a marketing refresh at the company that I currently work for I was hired as the Director of Marketing (the first ever marketing person at our company). The name of our company is The Idea Works, Inc.. We make software that uses intelligent computational strategies to assist in learning and research, such as analyzing unstructured data in marketing research and automated content based essay grading to extend the education process and create a better learning environment. Our two programs are called Qualrus and SAGrader. We have secured TMs and URLs for all of those.
This company has been around for 25 years and the name comes from, I presume, when we did mostly consulting. Is this name adequate? It is definitely catchy on the phone and easy to remember. But does it really tell what we do? I've shown my e-mail, so if anyone wants to help then I would be greatly obliged. Thank you!
When I first considered names for my business, I wanted to convey the message that I was the right guy for the job, could show up at just the right time, and fix whatever problems you may be having.
Cavalry Computer Service was born.
Although there were a number of reasons this turned out to be a horrible marketing mistake, the first and most obvious was that it's too long.
A not-so-obvious unintended consequence of the name was the confusion generated between the words "Cavalry" and "Calvary." This was something I hadn't considered before choosing that name. It wasn't long before I realized that if I was going to survive, I needed a more recognizable and marketable name.
Cavalry Computer Service died.
I spent weeks over-analyzing every possibility, before one question stood out above all others. "What is it that I expect that people will want to buy from ME???"
The answer of-course was "ME!!!" When I saw that the domain name "http://www.SCOTTpc.com" was available, I couldn't buy it fast enough.
Because I am truly a "one-man-band," I was also responsible for all the site design and SEO. I had already earned top rankings on ALL the major search engines, which brought about the largest and most unexpected challenge.
I didn't know any better at the time, and tried to work with the major search engines to "change" the name of my business. What I should have done was create a new business and compete with myself for search engine rankings. It took two years for my new business name to become top ranked in the keyword categories I wanted.
So remember this little story the next time someone asks "What's in a name?"
To make it brief, though: I'm a spiritual healer/intuitive-turned-business guy, so my focus is about inner and outer, bringing what's in your heart and spirit into your work, etc.
The name itself came from posting some of my raw ideas on a marketing forum, and seeing what came back. One guy mentioned that it reminded him of the padres in the military.
Now, I'm originially from San Diego, home of the Padres, so the idea of a monk came front and center for me. 2 + 2 = Monk at Work!
Chris
Threerooms - Design and Branding
Nottingham
www.threerooms.com