Does your business pass the naming test? Ever heard of Frozen Lemons or Eat My Words? Neither did I, but apparently they make lots of money helping entrepreneurs come up with a great name for the new business. In general, Name consultants are paid millions each year to help decide what to call a company. 
When I first decided to start my company I decided to go with an umbrella name for all my businesses and projects. I wanted to have a name that would be catchy, fresh and most importantly, a name that means something. So I opted to go with a name which represents my love for Greek mythology. One of these days I’ll write about it. But back to the topic. In choosing a name for your company, you may have your own criteria and have some ideas on what you want. If you do, then it may be an idea to run your proposed business name through this naming test designed by Eat My Words; its called the ‘Smile & Scratch Test’.
To test out your company’s name, first ask if it possesses these qualities:
Simple –- one easy-to-understand concept
Meaningful –- customer instantly “get it”
Imagery –- visually evocative, creates a mental picture
Legs –- carries the brand, lends itself to wordplay
Emotional –- empowers, entertains, engages, enlightens
Then scratch the name if it meets any one of these items:
Spelling-challenged — you have to tell people how to spell it
Copycat – similar to competitor’s names
Random – disconnected from the brand
Annoying – hidden meaning, forced
Tame – flat, uninspired, boring, nonemotional
Curse of knowledge – only insiders get it
Hard-to-pronounce – not obvious, relies on punctuation
Stay tuned for the second part of this post where we help you figure out what to do after choosing your name.