Since Monday’s post about starting your own business, I’ve received a lot of positive response as well as a few questions.   My friend Mark of MeAndMyDrum wrote a great followup post about what you might not know about DBAs and also asked the question about how I came up with the name for my new DBA business, Apricot Media:

How far did you go to ensure the name you picked, Apricot Media, was unique? All I’ve been doing is coming up with interesting names, then running the ideas by GoDaddy. If the URL is available, then I feel that I’m 95 percent certain it’s a viable option. But it’s that remaining 5 percent that I’m worried about. I figured the next step is to Google the name, but any other places I should consider?

I left Mark a detailed follow up comment, but figured this would also make for a great post here.    So, how do you go about finding a good business name?

In the old days, people would create a business, pick a name, then go attempt to register their domain name.   It is now the 21st century and things don’t work like they used to.   Now if you are going to start a business, and in particular an internet-based business, you need to find a good dot com domain, THEN name your business based upon what you find.    There are some people that still go the other route and end up with long and awful domains for their business, a non-dot com domain, or they spend $10,000+ for their dot com business name. 

In my situation, with the name of the business on hold, I went in search of a business good domain name.  It has become quite the trend for businesses to have the word “Media” in their domain, and I decided for me personally that I also wanted the Media suffix in my domain name (just personal preference).  It was with that mindset that I went out and began my search.    Here are some other things you need to consider with your search:

• Brandable – This is by far the most important.   If you plan to allow room for your business to grow, you’ll want to avoid using anything personal or that you are attached to in your domain name/business name.   This includes using your first name and/or last name, etc.   Think long term!   What if I want to sell this business someday or hand it down to my kids when I retire?  A brandable domain name also has a resale value, where as a personal one probably won’t. 
• Spelling – Ideally you’ll want to find a name that does not have alternate spellings or pronunciations.   If someone hears your business name via word of mouth and goes to type it into the browser, will they know how to spell it?  Is it memorable? 
• Length – I personally focus on domains under 12 total letters/numbers, but the general rule is 15 and under.   In my case I wanted media at the end, so I needed 1-2 words that were under 10 total letters.  
• No Trademark – I know about I said above that Brandability is the most important, but technically I lied.   Legally speaking, this is my far the most important.   Do a trademark search before spending any money on the domain.   You don’t want to get all your accounts and processes setup then have someone take the name from you.   I would also recommend doing a quick Google search to see what shows up when searching for your business name, use the WayBack machine to check its history, and check the alternate extensions to see if others are using your potential business name.  In my case, I noticed the dot net was taken, but it is a company outside the United States and appears to not have a web prescence or a trademark so I feel I’m okay. 

I know this may seem complicated, but it really isn’t.   This is the thought process that goes through a domainers mind EVERY time a domain is registered/backordered/purchased.  Even though you aren’t a domainer, you really need to follow this thought process when registered a domain and especially when doing something as important as naming your business. 

I know a lot of people don’t put a lot of time or energy into naming their business, but this is a big mistake in my opinion.   If you aren’t willing to set yourself up for success, how are you going to succeed?   You’ll want to check the public registry, but if you don’t find what you are looking for, spend some time at Sedo or Afternic searching for names, check backorder lists for good names that are dropping, etc.   If you have to spend $50.00, $500.00, or even more to get the name you want, it is worth it.  You need a name that your business that looks/sounds professional and that you can grow into.

Once you’ve found your dot com domain and have possession of it, you can now name your business!   I would also recommend regging the other extensions (at least the dot net at a minimum if it is available). Mark’s post goes into greater detail about getting a trade name, etc.  

As far as what you do with the domain, it is fairly irrelevant.  Once you own the dot com, you have the power and essentially the ownership of that name.  Owning the dot com domain is sort of like the internet version of a trademark!   If your business is internet-based, you’ll probably want to put a splash page up of some sort.  This can be via WordPress or old school HTML.   That is basically what I’ve done with Apricot Media, which gives my business a homepage, provides people with both information about my business and a way to contact me, as well as it filters interested traffic to a few of my main sites.   By using WordPress, I can later easily add pages to help grow its ranking and become more findable.

This weekend I’ll try to get a post up about how to do a trademark search because I know there will be some questions about that.   Any other questions?  Let me know in the comments below!