The name of my first company – ExtravaDansa – was created in about half an hour, on the way to a statistic exam. I was 19 with no care in the world, living the life. I felt that ExtravaDansa captured what we were about to start- a production house of dance. Putting all dance style shows together within the same team of artists, high quality costumes, focus on model type of artists was truly something special back in the day.

However, the reality hit us real hard when we found out that 9 out of 10 people will make a mistake in the name – Extravagansa, Extravaganza, Extravadance – simply faux paux. When people don’t know how to spell the name of your company, you are off to a hard start.

Coming up with the name 4in1ARTISTS was a quite longer process. I have felt the need to create a name unique enough to capture the special and innovative product, that has started to naturally form in ExtravaDansa. This brand name sounds a bit odd and untraditional, and with its uniqueness makes us a fantastic SEO ranking. And thats a key to a good marketing strategy in the age of online marketing. From my experience, I can say that it is always better to choose a strange, but unique name, than to choose a generic one.

While creating the name DreamJobSupport,I have came across fantastic websites – websupport.sk and godaddy.com. These websites allow you to check within seconds, whether the domain you wish to have is free. If you wish to expand to international markets, think of using .com domain – the ‘ must have ‘ for companies with an international focus. The app is simple, fast and one domain costs in average 9.90€ a year only!

Creating the name NeonHeads was like giving a birth. Long and painful process with a happy ending. And I would like to share with you some of the things, I have learned during this journey.

• The TOP priority is to have a truly unique name. At the beginning I have worked with words like smart, emotions, art. And that, right there was a bad choice, because there are hundreds of thousands companies that are using the same words.
• The name should be catchy and ease to pronounce. The 127^th name when creating NeonHeads name was SmartArt – beautiful and catchy. Or that’s what I thought. But then I faced a problem – SmartArt had no uniqueness, which will eventually lead to a horrible SEO ranking.

• If you decide to go global, you will face a lot of troubles and challenges. Remember that you have to check different markets, cultures and languages – if the name you choose will invoke good emotions across all markets you decide to expand to.

• Now, if you’ve found THE NAME for your company, check whether domain with such a domain is free and not registered just yet. You can use for example websupport.sk, goddaddy.com and many others reliable sites. If you want to be a global company, always choose .com domain, that gives you a bigger and more international exposure. Even if Europe is your main market, it is better to go for .com, than .eu.

• Here you are – with your perfect name, registered domain. Next step is to imagine how are you going to market your company under this name. For me the the name NeonHeads have clicked perfectly, when I imagined big and stylish busts – all in neon colors in our offices, costume factories or dance hall. Right at that moment I visualized the whole new company – I have pictures of our business cards, letter – head papers, John Neon as a persona for our marketing guerilla (* marketing guerilla is a advertising strategy concept for small business to promote product or services in an unconventional and untraditional way with little budget)

• The name should be easy to pronounce. OK, with NeonHeads we face little problem, when people sometimes pronounce it NeonHats – but nothing is perfect, right?

• Check if there is possibility to register your name in the product areas of your company. If you want to go global, then check globally. I have registered it with a company steiniger.org – true professionals. Until now I have paid only 400€ and it is registered for the whole world. Don’t be afraid. It is a little bit longer process, but you will be protected from the very beginning of the application process, which they will not approve if somebody has already registered the same meaning. So you will know right away if you are unique or not.

• If you know you will be expanding the portfolio of your services and products, choose a name that will not restrict you in any way and you can add it as brand to other activities. After several years, the name ExtravaDansa started to restrict me. I have developed another 11 different divisions of production in the area of ART, FASHION, and ENTERTAINMENT. Dance shows have become only a small company’s portfolio, that had dance in its ‘name. It has complicated things in the sales of other 10 divisions. Which is why, after 13 years, I have decided it was time for a new era, new and fresh brand. With this brand I was more careful and went with a name that is more flexible. I can highly recommend this strategy to you as well, as it is very hard and emotional to say good-bye to your brand.

• Trust your gut!

• Don’t put too much stress on a perfect name. Company’s name is important, but not as much as the quality of your work. Excellent work (sales, marketing, product itself should supplement each other and work in a symbiosis) will guarantee a success for your company, even with a name jiberish.ufo

 Break a leg.

           PM