Brad Flowers is the author of “The Naming Book” and co-founder of Bullhorn, an agency that builds confident brands through language and design. He has a degree in English literature, which Flowers says he finds more useful than he expected. Flowers also co-founded and currently serves on the board of the non-profit community bike shop, Broke Spoke. Here he outlines a method for creating company and brand names with impact.
I remember the feeling well. It is clearly anxiety. First, there is the blank page. Then, there is a mostly blank page with a few bad ideas. And, then, there is stuck. No more ideas; no way forward. All of the ideas seem stupid. And, panic. Yes, maybe it is panic, not anxiety.
I get it. You want to start a business to do the work. You aren’t starting a business to name businesses. Naming is hard and painful. It feels personal but also professional. Should it say something about you or about your business? Is it better to be specific or general, or should I use a metaphor?
I started a business that names businesses, and I still found naming Bullhorn terribly stressful. Over the course of 10 years, I concluded that we need a repeatable process. And, that process not only helps us but the entrepreneurs who need to go from an idea to a name that instills confidence, not panic.
After reading everything I could find on the topic, I decided to write a book about it. It’s called “The Naming Book” (www.thenamingbook.com). Effective title, right? It is what it says.
Breaking down our process, I realized there are two hard things about naming. One, it is hard to know what criteria to use when comparing one name from another. Looking back, this was a major problem for me. Did Bullhorn need to be trademarkable? Should it sound serious or informal? What about spelling? Should it be easy or hard? I didn’t consider these and I should have.
The second hard thing is generating a wide range of potential name ideas. I tell a story in the book of sitting in Chevy Chase Laundromat and trying to fill pages with ideas. It was terrible. I don’t think I had a single idea until putting the clothes in the dryer. Then, the list was very short in comparison with what we do now. We got a little lucky with Bullhorn. I don’t want to take that risk anymore. Over the years we have expanded those two pain points into five steps that anyone who is willing to put in the time can follow and generate a good name.
Here is an overview:
Establishing criteria
First, we start with establishing criteria. What kind of business you are in and what kind of person you are matters. You will learn from linguists what makes a name memorable. You will learn how to translate what makes you and your idea unique into actionable naming guidelines.
Brainstorming
This step teaches you new brainstorming techniques to generate lots of words. It also helps you put aside your internal editor and get the ideas tumbling around your head out and onto the page.
Compiling names
In this step, you learn about the different types of names. You will learn how to use your brainstorm lists to create a range of name types from compounds like Facebook, to affixed words like Shopify, to metaphorical names like Amazon.
Expanding your knowledge
We won’t stop there, though. This step is about expanding your knowledge base. We look for obscure words, foreign language words and other sources of inspiration. We also look into history, culture, and mythology to pull out the gems that make for interesting business names.
Deciding on a final name
Here we cut the list from hundreds of ideas (yes, you can generate hundreds of ideas) to just one. We get out our criteria from the first chapter. We also look through a couple of additional tests to make sure the name is suitable for you.
Naming is difficult, but armed with an effective process, you can do it.