Get your Business Real Estate correct
I’m not sure that the correct term is Real Estate but as it means your home, your land, your property, I will stick with it for the purpose of these thoughts. It’s really important that this is thought through thoroughly in the early days of a business or new product range.
Your business Real Estate is your business name and all that goes with that which is:-
- Limited Company if that is your choice
- Domain and recognisable email
- All relevant Social Media platforms and maybe some you haven’t thought about yet
Now for more detail.
First of all, your company name. I would advise that whatever you choose it says what you do therefore you DON’T need to add a further description. Far too many new business owners fall into the trap of choosing something quirky thinking it makes them stand out from the crowd. It does just that but they then have to spend ages explaining what they do. Keep it simple unless your marketing budget is bursting to full and you can spend on explanations. I sometimes think that ‘Creatives’ are the worst culprits on this.
But that’s not all: does it work well and is it available as a web domain? Availability is the first issue but close on the heels of this is “who else has something similar?” I.e. you’ve got .co.uk so who has .com or .biz and if they are in the same or similar market, will that lead to confusion and ranking problems?
Another point often overlooked at this juncture is how long a domain name you choose. You might be tempted in the search for uniqueness to have the whole jing bang: evergeendeciduousconfinersofshooglynail.com. Yes, that would be easy to get but pity your poor online searchers having to spell that correctly to find you. Play around with your options, road-test them on business friends and don’t leap at this too quickly.
Now you think you’ve got it sussed. Sorry, still more to go: your Social Media availability. The same tips stand true here for ease of findability. Make it so simple for people to find you. Do register your name for as many platforms as you can – some you might use right now, some in the future but better to have them secured now. You never know what will be the next big thing. Tip here is keep it short. After all you may well wish to also put these links onto your business card so short is best.
And now that we are at business cards: short names, snappy taglines, plenty contact options, clear fonts, great logo……. all matter. Get a professional to design it and avoid online print options if at all possible.
To finish with that words of that well know advert “You’re worth it”
(Article kindly contributed by Janet Torley)
