So it’s 3 steps, 5 name categories to choose from
and 7 filters to help decide which name is the best for your handmade shop.
Naming your handmade business is not an easy task - and for some reason, it feels like
if you pick the wrong name, you can’t possibly be successful.
And of course, that’s not entirely true but it is one of those important decisions
you have to make early on and it can feel like an impossible task at times, and it certainly
can make you want to pull your hair out. So let’s not do that and dive into this 3 steps,
5 categories, 7 filters method instead.
Bonjour! My name is Deb, I am the founder of Tizzit.co, a membership community for makers
and handmade shop owners, just like your fabulous self and today I want to talk to you about
picking a name for your handmade business.
As I just mentioned in the intro, we’re going to do this in 3 steps - and as we go
along I’ll give you some tips and examples and I might even suggest a few things to avoid
too...
The first step is reframing what a business name is, needs to do and doesn’t need to do for your handmade
shop. The second step is brainstorming using the 5 name categories I'll introduce you to and
the third step is using the 7 filters.
I also want to give credit and mention IgorInternational.com which is a naming agency
that kindly put together a really great guide around naming - I will be using most of their
teaching in this video but of course they go into a lot more depth in their guide so
if you’re interested in diving deeper make sure to check out the link below.
So... what does a business name need to do or doesn’t need to do?
First off, it’s just a name, a practicality. It doesn’t define your success and
it doesn’t need to explain what you do - that’s not its job.
It just needs to evoke a feeling, an emotion and engage your ideal customers if possible
on an intellectual and emotional level. Your name will always be in context - it
will never be “on its own” so it doesn’t need to tell the full story of your products
or brand. Don't let this take so long you don’t move
forward with launching your shop - that’s just a way to procrastinate.
We have to let go of the pressure we feel when we need to come up with a name
because again, your name doesn't define your success.
There is no exact science to naming your
business so let's let go of all this pressure and have fun with the exercises in this video.
And speaking of exercises, let's dive into step 2 - brainstorming using the 5 categories.
Now - this is a brainstorm, so don’t start filtering and judging your ideas before you
put them down on paper. We will do this in the next step, for now, you want to write
ANYTHING that comes to mind as we go through the 5 categories of names.
Don’t filter yet, don’t hold back. You WANT to have some not so good names
and ideas by the end of it - because the more bad ideas you have, the better chances you
also have to find really good ones in the middle.
Category ONE out of 5 is “personal names”
and this one is pretty simple - it means using your name as the name of your brand and business.
That’s it. For me it would be “Deborah Engelmajer”, and that’s obviously not
what I chose, which I’ll explain when we get to the filtering section - but many brands
do make this choice. Think of Christian Dior, Celine, Calvin Klein,
Honda, Ferrari, Tiffany&Co - obviously these aren’t handmade shops but I am using these
because we all know them and have heard them before.
So that’s your first option - using your name. Obviously this does tie your brand pretty
closely to your own personal brand - so that’s not for everyone but it can be an elegant
choice and as the main designer and creator behind your products because well… they’re
handmade - it can work to lead with your actual name.
Category 2 is picking a name that is descriptive
or functional. For example, something I see quite often
in the handmade niche are names like JDG Accessories or
Jeanine Jewellery (which is a mix of personal name AND descriptive because it has the world
jewellery which describes what you are making and selling in it).
Now… the Igor guide I mentioned at the beginning of this video explains why this is, for the
most part, “unnecessary and counterproductive”. Let me read to you a part of this guide because
I think it’s very well said:
There are a few reasons for that: the first is that gone are the days where
you needed to have a keyword in your name to rank on search engines - that is simply
not the case. In fact, you are almost doing the opposite of that because by adding a keyword
in your name, when people search for your shop name, you are immediately competing with
any other website out there that is using "jewellery" as a keyword - and that’s ...a
lot of people. Another reason this isn’t the best strategy
is that when you ‘describe’ what you do in your business name, you actually get lost
in a sea of other shops that are named almost the same as yours and you can’t stand out.
Finally, and I touched on that in the introduction, using a descriptive name ASSUMES that your
shop name will sometimes be presented without any context and that it needs to be able to
explain to the world what it is you do - but that is never the case.
People will see your name next to images, colours, pictures of your products,
or if it's more of an in-person situation like a craft show, or retail space, you will be
there most likely introducing your shop and people will see your products - you won’t just say
“I run a handmade shop called Ella&Louis” - your name doesn’t need to explain exactly what it is you do.
You will likely introduce what you do and the name will be used in a context that will explain what you do.
So you don't really need your name to describe exactly what you do, it's only a small part of your brand and business.
More often than not, adding that ‘descriptor” at the end of your name like “jewellery”,
“creations”, “crafts”, “accessories”, “soaps” or “handmade” is not doing
anything for your brand perceived value and for this reason I often recommend to drop
it, which makes your name a lot “stronger” instantly.
For example, if your name is Leaticia Matis and that's what you want to use but you also sell soaps or jewellery
you could want to name your business "Leaticia Matis Jewellery", "Leaticia Matis Handmade" or "Leaticia Matis Soap"
if you sell soap, but it don’t sound as good or as professional as simply “Leaticia Matis”.
Category 3 are names that are invented, completely made up. They’re not actual words you’d
find in a dictionary. Usually they are constructed to sound and look good, so that the experience
of saying or seeing the name is pleasant. For example: OREO, GOOGLE, ETSY
or my own business: Tizzit.
Obviously that’s what I picked, but it doesn’t mean that's what you need to pick - it’s
an option. The advantages here are that these names stand
out instantly, they are often more memorable and more engaging.
No one also really knows what that name means so you get to define from scratch the identity
that you want to create around it.
The 4th category is experiential and an experiential
business name is a name that - I am quoting Igor International here - “offers a direct
connection to something real". So it’s a known word, it’s not made up
like Oreo or Google but it also doesn’t describe exactly what you do.
Examples could be: If you sell digital invitations for kid parties,
your business could be called "Print&Party". You’re not printing, you’ve got nothing
to do with the party itself, you just sell digital invites that people print themselves,
but the name does offers a connection to what people are really getting and wanting: print
and party. Another example could be, say you’re selling
floral decor, "Azalea", which is the name of a flower - you might not be selling the flower
itself, but the name does offer a connection to what you do.
Finally, our last category, number 5… are evocative
names. Evocative names are not made up, they
are real words that you could find in a dictionary, but they also aren’t describing what you
do or even really connect to it. You might think that sounds a
bit silly - but it’s all about what those names EVOKE.
And you’d be surprised at how many businesses use this strategy.
For example, Amazon - for what I know they dont have anything to do with the Amazon forest…
not even close. What it does is evoke something exotic, different, thriving, and an idea of
something of scale - the biggest forest in the world, the biggest book store in the world
(initially, Amazon was just a bookstore). Another example: turns out you
can call yourself APPLE and sell computers really successfully.
Apple is another evocative name that's not describing what the company does nor is connected to it.
Taking this back into the world of handmade businesses which is why we’re here together
today - an example of an evocative name could be, if you’re selling say leather accessories
for people who love to explore the outdoors… NORTHBOUND, which gives a sense of adventure
and exploration - it evokes these things, but it doesn’t describe what you do or connects
directly to it.
Now that you know about the 5 categories, I recommend you take some time away from
the computer to actually brainstorm ideas within each category. As I was saying even
bad ideas need to go down on paper - you want to have a list of ideas by the end of it that
you can then filter down.
Once you have your list, you’re ready to move on to step 3 which is filtering down
your ideas using 7 filters or 7 questions that will help you decide which name is best.
Here, you might even want to give a grade from 1 to 5 or from 1 to 10 to each of the
name ideas you have for each of those 7 filtering questions. This way by the end of it, you
can see which name has the best score :-)
The first filter is: how does it sound? You are going to have to say your name when
you introduce your business or speak about it - and, most importantly, your customers
will too… Where did you get this cute wallet from? You want people to be able to pronounce
your name quite easily. My name, Tizzit, is probably not the best example for this - it’s
not difficult but I know i often get asked: how to pronounce it. So I might not be
the best example here - but it’s much better than say my personal name: Deborah Engelmajer
which, let's be honest, no one knows how to pronounce. That filtered itself out for me.
The second question is: how does it look and spell? Similarly to how it sounds, how does it look
in written form? How would it look in a logo? Is it easy to remember and spell?
You want to avoid funny spellings of real words - this is harder than it seems to pull
off and often lowers the perceived value of your brand.
With Tizzit - I actually mostly fell in love with the look of it and
how it spells because it’s a palindrome, and I graded it pretty high and
it was quite influential as to why I picked this name in the end.
Filter number 3: Is it distinct enough? Does it differentiate you from your competitors?
That’s an important question and another reason I picked Tizzit - it stands out, none
of my competitors or peers have a name even remotely similar to Tizzit. It’s a bit out
there, but people remember it for that reason too.
4th filter is the depth of meaning. What does this name evoke?
A good exercise here is to ask 5 people or
so around you, without giving them much explanation to write down the 10 first things they think
about when they hear or read your name idea. If nothing comes out - it probably lacks depth,
this will often happen with descriptive names. If they do have a list of 10 things your name
makes them think of, check what those ideas are.
Filter number 5: warmth and humanness. This is really important in the handmade industry
where brands are expected to have a more ”human” element to them - because you are buying a
product made by hand and love, so you want to stay away from names that are corporate
sounding or cold. For that reason names with initials, like D.E creations can,
for example, be on the cooler side of the humanness scale - it often sounds a bit more
corporate.
Number 6 are practicalities, which is usually where people start, and I decided to put it more towards the end but it's definitely important.
Practicalities are things like: legalities (trademarks, business registration) - you want to make sure no one else's business
is named like that, social media handles - can you get the social media accounts under that name,
and probably, most importantly, your domain name as well. Now, it's important to
have a domain name for your business that is your business name, but I don't want you to stress over the actual extension.
Back in the days it was really easy to get a .com domain and nowadays they're all kind of taken, so it's
completely fine, you'll still rank in the search engines and you can have a successful business without the .com - I for example
use Tizzit.co because the Tizzit.com URL was taken and it's not a problem, I've seen many businesses
do something similar. So don't completely write a name idea off if the .com is unavailable
if it's still something that's good enough that you can grab. I recommend that if there are a couple of domains,
if there are different extensions, like .com and .co - grab both so that you can hold on to them and no one else can use them in the future.
Finally, number 7 (and I'm sorry for the dog barking): is it future proof? Can you grow within this name?
This is an important question because where you are right now in your handmade business journey
is probably not at all where you'll be in 5 or 10 years or even 6 months. You may discover that
you're not enjoying the type of products you're making or you'll discover a new technique or you broaden up your product offering.
All this to say that it's quite a normal process of building a business to have those identity crises from time to time.
We all have them. I surely had many myself before I started Tizzit.co. I had an array of business names because
every time I had to reinvent my brand and my business name because it was too descriptive each time - which is how
I learned that lesson the hard way. So it's important to pick a name that you feel you can grow into so you don't have to change
it if you change and pivot your business. Of course, there's no right or wrong choice here, this exercise is
here to help you pick between different ideas once you’re done with your brainstorm, but
as I was saying earlier in this video - your name doesn't define your success - so don’t
put too much pressure on yourself and try to have fun with this process.
Starting a handmade business is an exciting and rewarding journey and I am absolutely
certain you can turn your handmade skills into a profit to be proud of, no matter what
your name ends up being.
I will link below this video to my free resource library for makers and handmade shop owners,
created to help you start and grow a successful handmade business - so make sure you check
it out, and until next time - aurevoir!