We getting a restaurant started, but having a hard time coming up with the “perfect” name. We have over 20 ideas…..

Also, I don’t want to put ‘grill’ in the name, but my partner is very animate about having it. What are good arguments for both sides?

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Jay’s Answer: Ideally, you want a name that’ll last and won’t tie you down to a specific menu. A “grill” restaurant may be great if serving lots of grilled food appeals to your target audience. Likewise a “seafood” restaurant might be just the thing. The name may be something obscure that provides a “hipness” factor, or it may be more straightforward so people quickly understand what you’re selling. Perhaps start by creating the menu – what you’re serving. Then, sketch out what you want the restaurant to look like. Then show both of things around, to see what words people use to describe it.

I am looking for something whimsical to sell bridal services for a salon and spa. Preferably short and to the point. Something about us taking care of the bride on their special day.

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Jay’s Answer:

• Radiate On Your Wedding Day
• Wedded Bliss Begins With Us

Our clients can be great advocates for us. As such, we’d like to reward them by creating “in-the-loop” special evening events for our best clients. During these events, we’ll gave them a “taste” of some of the new “value-adds” to the service they receive. I’d also like to invite some of our hottest (in terms of buying urgency) prospects to get a taste of being a client and perhaps speak with some satisified clients.

What sort of agenda would you recommend? Ideally, I’d like to have it in-house so they can meet our employees, etc. Budget is fairly small, but I’d like to make it fun/somewhat informal.

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Jay’s Answer: If you want your clients to feel like VIPs, don’t just try to sell them more services, teach them something about how to use your services more effectively. For example, have one of your clients that recently had “wow” results, share their tips with the other clients. That’ll position you as the expert, and give extra exposure to one of your clients. That’s a great win-win.

Trailer:

Episode theme: People whose businesses are a family tradition.

Loren Poncia‘s family has lived and farmed on the same ranch site in Tomales, California since 1902, when his great-grandfather Angelo, first immigrated to the United States and started working there.  His family-owned Stemple Creek Ranch raises 100% Angus beef and lamb.  Their animals eat organic clover and grass and are never subjected to artificial hormones, growth promotants, or antibiotics. Stemple Creek Ranch is environmentally conscious and values biodiversity in their pastures and riparian areas. They strive to work with mother nature to keep the land abundant and the animals healthy and happy.

Website: Stemple Creek Ranch
Address: P.O. Box 85 Tomales, CA 94971
Phone: (415) 883-8253
Email: Loren Poncia

Tripp Carpenter runs Espenet Furniture (in Bolinas, CA). He has worked with wood since he was six years old. His father, Art Carpenter (the creator of West Coast style of sculptural furniture), passed on his self-taught knowledge to his son. In addition to dreaming up his own functional and artistic woodworking pieces, Tripp continues to produce editions of his father’s famous designs, including the “Wishbone Chair”.

Website: Espenet Furniture
Address: 1100 Olema-Bolinas Road / Bolinas, CA / 94942
Phone: (415) 868-1542
Email: Tripp Carpenter

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I need a tagline for a designer who would like to convey luxury, comfortable yet elegant.  This Interior Design company is boutique in size.

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Jay’s Answer:

• Quiet Sophistication Can Be Yours
• Do Your Rooms Reflect Who You Are?
• Elegance And Comfort That Works For You

I am starting my own wedding planning business and really need help with a name.  I’m having trouble finding words that convey my brand and stand out.  I want to known as someone who is great at all of the details, will ease the stress of planning, and will  provide creative ideas to give the bride a wedding that she will love!  I’m having trouble finding a name that is unique enough to stand out.  I tried to use something dealing with the Periodic table (using the concept of my services addressing all of the essential elements of a beautiful, classy wedding).  I started with “carbon” since it is the most essential element for life on earth, but passed it around to some friends and they did not think it sounded catchy for potential brides…what do you think? I’m stuck…I really want something that stands out, but that also gives an idea to what my business is about.  Could you please provide some direction?

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Jay’s Answer: Names are a funny thing. As a business owner, you’re focused on finding the right name to make your business stand out from your competition. But if you go too far afield, the name only means something to you and is lost on most of your potential clients.

The periodic table connection is quite fun, but unless you’re targeting science-minded brides, I’m afraid your idea will confuse rather than amuse.

You can likewise come up with names that get lost among all the other names (“Here Comes The Bride” or “Your Special Day”) and therefore isn’t memorable.  So what to do?

You need to focus on your target audience more first, before you can create a name. For example:

• Where are you located?
• Who are you targeting?
• What age brides?
• First-time marriage or re-marriage?
• What budget?
• Specializing in what type of event: high-end, low-end, natural, green, traditional, religious, etc.?

I can go on-and-on, but my strong suggestion is to first become an expert at a niche (“First-time brides over the age of 40 living in Cincinnati-area, with a non-traditional flair”). Then, let your name derive from your niche. I’ve written a number of articles on this process, including:

http://www.manygoodideas.com/2008/10/01/unpeeling-your-marketing-onion/
http://www.manygoodideas.com/2007/01/01/whats-your-niche/

I am a RYT registered yoga teacher. I am inquiring a few tips on what a consumer wants out of a yoga website and how to name my new company. I currently work at a Mental Clinic LLC, and I would like to incorporate their business with mine. They are one of a kind, therapy partnered with Holistic services including ti chi, massage, reiki and yoga. For my personal practice, I plan on creating a website, and it needs a name. I teach HATHA YOGA, which is a more gentle type. I teach most people over 30 years of age and really try to achieve a more stress-free way of living.

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Jay’s Answer: People look for websites for all sorts of information: location, pricing, schedule, services, and details. Additionally, the content/look of the website must appeal to those you’re targeting.

As for a name, you’re looking for both a domain name and a business name. A business name needs to be unique in your county, so you can file a DBA. Your domain name ideally is the same as your business name, but if it’s “similar enough” that’ll probably suffice for your needs.

Unless you’re targeting people already familiar with yoga, Hatha doesn’t mean much to them. Since you’ve been teaching awhile, why are people taking your classes? Is it for stress-reduction, flexibility, community, etc.? Focus on the key benefit, and reflect that in your name, tagline, and the rest of your marketing materials.

I have a client who is a Dentist and he is the most sincere and ethical guy you could ever hope to have look after your teeth. He wants a website that gives people a lot of information they can use and that will dispel some of the fears and concerns people have of going to the dentist.  He has a small practice for families and doesn’t want to frighten them by getting too big but he does want new customers.

He is conservative and not flashy, sincere and not pushy.

Do you have any suggestions? It needs to sound sincere not cliché.

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Jay’s Answer: Here are a few of off-the-top ideas:

• Protecting Teeth Since 2001 (or whenever they started their practice)
• The Next Best Thing To The Tooth Fairy
• The Tooth Fairy’s Best Friend

Trailer:

Episode theme: People who decided to skip college and instead learn business skills by trial-and-error, rather than by formal instruction.

Jon Gillespie-Brown is a United Kingdom-born entrepreneur, business mentor and author (So You Want To Be An Entrepreneur) who now lives and works in the San Francisco Bay Area. A lifelong entrepreneur, he has established and grown more than a half dozen businesses, and remains the active CEO of two of those companies Nalpeiron, Inc. (the leader in hosted software licensing solutions that maximize revenue for developers and publishers) and Digital Ventures (a band of entrepreneurs and angel investors that mentors, advises and provides seed investment to emerging companies).

Website: Nalpeiron
Address: 2225 E. Bayshore Road #200 / Palo Alto, CA 94303
Phone: (888) 800-8818

Neal Gottlieb started Three Twins Ice Cream in 2005 with $75,000 in lieu of returning to business school. The company started with one small shop and has grown rapidly from its humble beginning and now includes 3 stores, a dedicated organic ice cream factory, a farmers’ market business, bulk ice cream for restaurants and cafes and packaged ice cream for supermarkets.

Website: Three Twins Ice Cream
Phone: (415) 577-0144
Email: threetwins@gmail.com

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My company’s name is yellO.pk… It is a social network which is a map based information portal of the city. It has 4 major sections. Blogs, Events, Business and Classifieds. We want to run scroll ads on cable Tv… You know like the way bulletins are running on news channel.. We have a 40second slot, where we can show 5slides of 8seconds each..

yellO, Blogs and events can be combined if required. I need 4-5 words for each of the 4 sections…

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Jay’s Answer:

• The newest FREE buy/sell marketplace. yellO.pk
• The newest FREE business listings. yellO.pk
• The latest local events. yellO.pk
• What’s Happening? yellO.pk