How to come up with a "dead good" business name

Dead Good Content founder Mark Williams (left) with sisters and brother, Stanley Park, Liverpool, 1976 (clothes models’ own)

Coming up with a good business name remains one of the most enjoyable start-up tasks. I was reminded of that recently, while launching new small-business content agency, Dead Good Content.

Pleasurable as it is, it can be tough and much is at stake. If you get it right, your business name becomes a deadly marketing weapon that distinguishes you from your competitors, tells the world who you are and helps you to attract and retain customers. But get it wrong and it can really hold you back.

“You can always change a businesses name, but it’s better – and cheaper – to get it right at the start”

“Backrub” keywords?

Kabir Chibber, in his BBC News piece, The dark art of choosing a company name, likens new businesses to newborns. “And just like children, the wrong name can scar for life,” he warns. “Imagine if Google had been called BackRub, as in its first incarnation,” he reveals. Imagine indeed.

Before changing name in 1958 to Sony (which is far easier to say), for 12 years the business had been called Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo. Global sporting heavyweight Nike (pronounced Ni-key – derived from the Greek goddess of victory) started life as Blue Ribbon Sports.

eBay used to be called AuctionWeb and PayPal was Confinity when launched in 1998. Amazon supremo, Jeff Bezos, considered Awake, Bookmail, Browse and Cadabra as business names, but registered Relentless.com before settling on Amazon. You can always change a businesses name, but it’s better – and cheaper – to get it right at the start.  

Legal restrictions

There are legal restrictions when naming a business. According to government website Gov.uk: “Your name can’t be exactly the same as another registered company’s name.” You can search the Companies House register to find out if your preferred choice is already taken.

And your name: “Can’t contain a ‘sensitive’ word or expression unless you get permission; or suggest a connection with government or local authorities; or include a word that could cause offence.” Companies House provides detailed guidance on legal restrictions when naming a business.

Only limited companies can use the word “limited” in their name, and you can’t suggest national importance (eg British), patronage (eg Royal), special status (eg Association) or function (eg Trust) if it’s not true.

“Linking yourself too closely to a geographic location can limit your ambitions, as can using your own name. And don’t make your business name so obscure that customers will never know what it means”

Mistakes to avoid

Phil Davis, in his entrepreneur.com piece – 8 Mistakes To Avoid When Naming Your Business – likens a business name to a building’s cornerstone. “If it’s off, even just a bit, the rest of the building is off, and the misalignment becomes amplified,” he opines. Asking too many people for their opinions is a bad idea, he says, while making sure those you speak to have a creative outlook, otherwise “your name will end up too literal and descriptive”.

Davis isn’t fond of one-word business names that result from putting part of an adjective in front of a noun (eg “QualiWidgets”), nor words that don’t provide distinction or personality. Linking yourself too closely to a geographic location can limit your ambitions, he warns, as can using your own name. Avoid clichés (eg “Summit, Apex, and so on”), he advises, and don’t “make your business name so obscure that customers will never know what it means”.

Deliberately misspelling your business name to secure a URL isn’t wise, he says, because people won’t find you when entering the correct spelling into Google. And if you pick the wrong name, change it, Davis says, because the problem won’t “magically resolve itself”.

Short and sweet

In his www.123-reg.co.uk blog, 6 top tips for choosing a business name, Tim Fuell reinforces the idea that simplicity is best when naming a business. “Long-winded names are unlikely to become big-hitters,” he argues. “Apple, Dell, Google, Amazon, etc. Short, sharp and simple wins every time. It’s more memorable, easier to write or type and simpler to engage with,” he explains.

When considering business names, think about how easy your preferred options are to say and spell over the phone, particularly when speaking to people in other countries (you also need to consider whether your business name could cause amusement or offence in other languages). Choosing unusual words and spellings can backfire.

Boring is bad

Amusing names work well for some businesses, but they can be a terrible idea for others, as they can make you look unprofessional. You could pick a word that has no apparent meaning, a tactic that worked well for many successful businesses, including Kodak, IKEA and others.

Writing for Forbes.com, Richard Harroch cautions against coming up with business names that are hard to spell. Before making your final choice, he recommends carrying out online research, to see whether you can get the URL you want. Although “boring is bad”, he doesn’t believe in choosing something that’s too “out there”, pick something likely to resonate with target customers.

““Boss” or “sound” hadn’t quite entered the Scouse lexicon back then, great things were “dead good””

Dead Good Content?

So, how did I come up with Dead Good Content, the name of my new small-business content agency? I had the name about 12 months before starting up. Everyone I mentioned it to told me they liked the name (unless they were just being polite).

Quality has always been vital to everything I’ve done professionally and I wanted that to come across loud and clear in my new business name, but not in a predictable or pretentious way. I wanted something more authentic, more down-to-earth  – much more “me”.

So, I thought back to my childhood, as I often do, and asked how I would have described it growing up in Liverpool in the 1970s. “Boss” or “sound” hadn’t quite entered the Scouse lexicon back then, great things were “dead good”. “Content” was added so there would be little doubt about what we do. For the moment, I’m pretty pleased with Dead Good Content. Will it prove to be a wise choice? Time will tell…

• With 15 years’ experience as a leading writer of small-business content, Mark Williams is the founder of Dead Good Content, which specialises in producing cost-effective bespoke and readymade content for accountancy firms and other organisations that want to market their services to small businesses.

The golden rules of using LinkedIn to attract new customers

LinkedIn has some 610m users in more than 200 countries and territories (20m-plus in the UK). More than 260m LinkedIn users log into the site every month, with 40% of those being active daily users.

LinkedIn describes itself as the “largest global community of business professionals” who “come to LinkedIn [to] consume professional content”. They have “a very different mindset and intent from [those using] other social media platforms”.

According to LinkedIn, 80% of its users “drive business decisions” and its audience has twice the buying power of the average web audience. LinkedIn says 90m of its users are “senior level influencers”, with a further 63m “decision-makers” and 10m “C-level execs”.

LinkedIn is rated the top social network for lead generation, with “94% of B2B marketers using it to distribute content”. It’s hardly surprising that so many UK businesses are using LinkedIn to raise awareness of their brand, generate new leads and win new customers. However, if you get it wrong, it can have the opposite effect. So, what are the golden rules of using LinkedIn?

1 Use LinkedIn to its full potential

Searching LinkedIn can reveal much valuable information. You can quickly identify target companies and key people. Contacting them may or may not prove successful, but using LinkedIn only in this way offers limited value. In any case, usually it’s harder to get to speak to people who’ve never heard of you.

A wiser, longer-term strategy is to build your LinkedIn network and provide your connections with valuable, relevant content, whether links to industry or business news, insightful features, blogs, engaging facts and figures, or links to your own content, published on your website or LinkedIn. This approach can raise your profile and even result in leads contacting you.

Don’t take a “scattergun approach” to building your network. Find the right people at the right companies – think quality rather than quantity.  Send polite connection requests and a brief thank you message to those who accept.

2 Get your posts and content right

Using LinkedIn simply to broadcast your sales messages or beg for business isn’t recommended. And people see right through any “modest bragging” (ie making a seemingly humble statement to publicise your achievements), although it is OK to occasionally draw attention to your successes.     

LinkedIn has evolved from a jobs/careers platform into a content platform. More than 130,000 articles are created on LinkedIn every week, so, your content has to be up to scratch. Give your connections engaging, valuable information, knowledge with which they can start conversations. Think carefully before commenting, sharing or liking other people’s posts, because it will influence perceptions of your business. Be selective.

As LinkedIn puts it – “Share content that matters”. It recommends sharing behind-the-scenes stories, while always including an image and asking questions as a way to “start conversations”. The site also has a feature called Content Suggestions, which enables users to “discover trending topics and articles to share with target audiences”. Furthermore, you can sponsor your best posts to guarantee that they reach a much larger audience.

3 Be a LinkedIn regular

If you’re using LinkedIn just a few times a month, your chances of success are very limited. “Companies that post weekly see a 2 x lift in engagement with their content,” according to LinkedIn. Better to set aside 10-15 minutes two or three times a week for your LinkedIn activity, commenting on, liking and sharing posts, starting and joining conversations, congratulating your connections on their successes and anniversaries, etc. In tandem with posting your own content, this will ensure that you consistently appear on the site.

Vary the times of your daily LinkedIn sessions, to increase the chances that more of your connections will see your posts. Research suggests that the best days to post are Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, early in the morning, at lunchtime or in the early evening. The more active you are, the more visibility you’ll have – but that doesn’t mean spewing out an endless stream of posts. Balance is crucial.

4 Have a winning profile

Whether for your company or yourself, getting your LinkedIn profile right is essential, because you must make a good first impression. You have about 2,000 characters to describe your company, its relevance and what makes it special. Be concise, but don’t leave out key facts. Update your profile regularly, adding to need-to-know information, with key search terms included, so those searching on LinkedIn will find you.

Including a good image on you profile page is believed to attract up to six times more visitors to your page. LinkedIn has published excellent best-practice advice on how to create a good profile page and even has awards for company profile pages, which offers lessons to others.

5 Always be totally professional

LinkedIn is not the same as other social media channels. It’s a professional platform. Showing some personality is good, but always remain professional. Don’t swear in posts nor directly criticise others. Avoid football and politics. If you wouldn’t say something in a face-to-face professional meeting, don’t say it on LinkedIn. Avoid arguments and consider all LinkedIn communication to be public (it can easily be screen-shot and shared).

Don’t be too pushy or bombard connections with sales information as soon as they connect. People hate that. Get to know the person first; build the relationship; find out about their needs, be genuinely interested in them and then explain how you can help. Jumping in too soon with a hefty sales pitch is not advised.     

6 Join the right groups

A good way of ensuring that you’re having the right conversation with the right people is to join the right groups on LinkedIn. There are various groups for UK SMEs. Normally, group managers review requests to join and possibly ask for additional information to make sure that you meet their membership criteria. Membership approval is solely up to the group. Once you become a member, you can make, like and comment on group posts, thereby raising your profile. LinkedIn provides advice on finding and joining groups.

7 Consider getting a LinkedIn Premium Business membership

A free LinkedIn account may be sufficient, but paying a monthly subscription (£49.99) for a Premium Business package can open up many more features, including being able to message many more users, even if you’re not connected. According to LinkedIn: “InMail is 2.6 times more effective than email or cold calls.”

Moreover: “Premium Business [offers] valuable insights [and] complete access to competitor data, industry news and analytics.” Free one-month trials are available. Alternatively, LinkedIn offers a Sales Navigator package, which offers advanced lead and company search. Users can “target the right buyers, understand key insights and engage with personalised outreach”. You can watch a free demo.

And finally…

It’s unrealistic to expect sales straight away from your LinkedIn activity, as with many things in business, you must take a longer-term view. LinkedIn probably won’t provide all the answers when it comes to generating leads and attracting and retaining customers, but if you invest enough time and effort, it could be an important part of your sales and marketing strategy.

• This blog was commissioned by TVC Group/Economist Group and published by Aldermore.

How to design a great business logo

No matter how big or small you business, it pays to have a good logo. The world’s largest and most successful businesses realise this, of course.

As Peter Shadbolt observed in his May 2015 BBC News website piece: “From Nike’s ‘Swoosh’ symbol to Starbucks’ twin-tailed mermaid or siren, the world’s largest companies take great care of their logos,” which, he adds, “connect our minds to the business, without the need to see its name.” He describes this “instant recognition” as “the holy grail for a business.”

In 2000, Shadbolt reports, oil and gas multinational BP spent some £136m researching, creating, protecting and introducing its now familiar sunflower logo (called Helios after the Greek sun god). It suggests “heat, light and nature” says BP, while being “a pattern of interlocking shapes: like BP, a single entity created by many different parts working as one.”

No less a figure than surrealist painter and modern art icon Salvador Dali designed the Chupa Chups lollipop logo

Meaning and power

When it comes to choosing a new logo, “it’s not always love at first sight,” Shadbolt adds, with good logos “gaining meaning and power over time”. And not all new logos are well received. Shadbolt recalls Gap unveiling a radically different new logo in 2010, only to scrap its introduction, following “public outcry.”

Caitlin Jordan’s blog, The Hidden Meanings Behind 50 Of The World’s Most Recognizable Logos is worth reading. You learn many wonderful facts, such as no less a figure than surrealist painter and modern art icon Salvador Dali designed the Chupa Chups lollipop logo.

And you may not know that Portland State University student Carolyn Davidson was paid just $35 for creating the mighty Nike logo in 1971. Later she was given company shares, but on first sight of her creation, Nike founder Phil Knight, said: “Well, I don’t love it, but maybe it will grow on me.”

Did you know that the world famous Coca-Cola logo was created in 1885 by Frank Mason Robinson, the fledgling company’s bookkeeper?

The evolution of the Google logo is interesting. And did you know that the world famous Coca-Cola logo was created in 1885 by Frank Mason Robinson, the fledgling company’s bookkeeper.

Why have a logo?

According to celebrated American graphic designer Paul Rand (1914-1996), creator of logos for IBM, the American Broadcasting Corporation, UPS and many others: “A logo doesn’t sell, it identifies. A logo derives its meaning from the quality of the thing it symbolises, not the other way around. A logo is less important than the product it signifies; what it means is more important than what it looks like.”

Rand’s opinions about corporate logos are absorbing. “If, in the business of communications, ‘image is king’, the essence of this image, the logo, is a jewel in its crown,” he tells us.

“A logo derives its meaning from the quality of the thing it symbolises, not the other way around” – Paul Rand

Rand likens a corporate logo to a flag, signature or escutcheon (a heraldic shield or emblem shaped like a shield).

How to design a good logo

For Rand, the effectiveness of a good logo depends on its “distinctiveness, visibility, usability, memorability, universality, durability and timelessness.” He states: “A well-designed logo is a reflection of the business it symbolises. It connotes a thoughtful and purposeful enterprise, and mirrors the quality of its products and services. It is good public relations – a harbinger of good will. It says ‘We care’”.

“Simplicity is difficult to achieve, yet worth the effort” – Paul Rand

In his 2015 LinkedIn post, Mark Facer, founder of Sheffield-based Neon Thunder Creative, offered his tips on creating good logos. He recommends keeping it simple while memorable (“Great logos can easily be recalled from memory. Who doesn’t picture the magnificent golden arches of McDonalds when they hear the word French fries?”). He advises: “If you’re unsure about your logo, ask others if they can remember it a few days later after being shown it.”

Facer also highlights the importance of versatility. The best logo, he says, “are equally fantastic in colour, grey scale, black and white or reverse”. They work at any size and work well regardless of the environment in which they appear.” Good logos, he says, engage the appropriate audience to “convey the essence of the brand”, while having a timeless quality that gives them staying power.

Last word, suitably, to Paul Rand: “The role of the logo is to point, to designate ­– in as simple a manner as possible. Simplicity is difficult to achieve, yet worth the effort.”

• This blog appeared originally on the HSBC Knowledge Centre website and was commissioned by Atom Content Marketing.