How to choose the best name for your woodworking business
In this article I am going to help you go through all the steps you will need to choose the best name for your new woodworking business.
I will cover all the different options you need to consider before making that crucial choice.
Notes to consider before you even start
Two opposing comments…
- Sometimes the name doesn’t matter at all because your business might run on word of mouth, or your advertising campaigns (or many other variations) and people will phone, call, click and buy without even seeing the name. I am saying that choosing a name shouldn’t be an issue and should not take up too much of your time.
- Your name is everything. People will trust your business based solely on the name. The name will create an exact image of the style and quality of your product. Once you have chosen the name, made logos and more, you will be stuck with it forever.
Once you choose a name you must stick with it.
It will be on your permits, your website, your email, online directories, and hundreds of other places that you do not want to have to change in the future.
Check that it doesn’t look silly as a website URL.
I know this might not seem important to you now, but when people are giggling each time they see your website URL, it might become embarrassing.
For example – Farseason.com could highlight the wrong combination of letters. Farseason.com Farseason.com. This is probably not a great example, but it was all I could come up with in a few seconds of thought. But after 14 years of doing online marketing for people and businesses I have seen some that were bad. Just double-check it before you take that final step.
What if you sell the business in the future?
Give this a bit of thought. If you use your personal name (for example) and then sell the business, you will have no control over what happens to your name once you no longer own the business.
The easiest way to find a name for your woodworking business.
Business name generator.
It was easiest for me to show you how to do this in a video, so I went and did one for you. You can watch the video for a better point of view.
If you prefer to read an explanation, then here we go. Search for a “business name generator” online and choose one or two to test. Put one or two of the words that you would like in your business name into their “Name” section and hit the button.
It will then go and generate a bunch of possible business names for you to choose from. Once you find one you like, then go and see if it is available. (Comment here – please note that most of them will send you to the GoDaddy registrar. I do NOT suggest that you use them at all. See more about getting a domain and hosting at the bottom of this article)
Use your own name
Before I go into all the reasons to use your own name and then all the reasons NOT to use your own name, I wanted to mention a thing that is important.
No matter what you plan to do – from a business point of view – If you do anything at all online you should try to buy your own name as a domain. I was lucky and managed to buy RobertBruceAnderson.com, and I can keep it, brand it, prostitute it or do anything I like with it at any time in the future.
Ok, now if you choose to use your own name in your business title, you had better be aware that there are a lot of things that could affect you in a personal way from choosing that route.
One – The need to keep your reputation as clean as possible as it can become something of a massive necessity. Service issues, trolls online, reputation management issues and a ton of other things will become part of your daily routine in working to keep your name clean.
Sadly, there is a massive percentage of people who are stupid, jealous, petty and just misinformed online who all think they are allowed to do bad things online that might hurt your name.
Two – Once you get known, your name will not be able to be used in any other way in the foreseeable future.
Three – if you sell your business, they will probably keep your name as the reputation of your business will be tied to the name. That means that you cannot go and open another business and use your name again.
Four – on the plus side, it could become a powerful brand and it then becomes hard for others to try to copy your business.
Use the keyword for your core product.
The name of what you do in the name of your business will help people understand what you do easily. This is a good thing if that is almost all you do. For example, Brant Wood Carving Studio. You told them where you operate from, you told them that you carve wood, and they can see that you are creative because you have a “studio”.
This is often the best and simplest way for you to name your business.
It will rank very well online for your chosen niche and the carving niche as Google and other search engines will know exactly what you do.
You could do this example in a lot of varieties – like this…
Brant Wood Carvers
Brantford Wood carving studio
Bear Wood Carving Company
Animal Wood Carving Factory
Chainsaw Carving Studio.
WARNING – While I highly recommend that you use this method, you need to remember the following issue. If you then started to make furniture too, people will always get confused and will also think that you are probably good at carving, but maybe not so good at furniture – simple because of what you “told them “About yourself in your name.
Is this your passion or simply a business to make you a living?
If you are simply doing this as a business – a means to an end – then keep it simple, keep it descriptive.
For example, Country Style Furniture or Cottage Furniture Store. If you really want to go generic, then do something like Best Contemporary Furniture Supplier.
If it is your passion, then name it to suit your style and personality. You know, like Dragonfly Pieces, or Purple Pole Furniture.
Your planned marketing method? Expired domain and keywords.
Using an expired domain to get instant orders works well.
Here is the problem, you do not have that much say in what the domain is, you will only be able to get close to what you do.
You search for and buy an expired domain that has powerful SEO and other properties already built into the domain. This will save you years of SEO effort and could propel your new business to the top of the search engines almost instantly.
Therefore, would it really matter what the business is called if your order book is full from day one? (Actually, I think it does matter)
If you would like to explore this option seriously, please message me and book a meeting and I will go through all the things you will need to do to make this work.
Run a naming contest.
I know of a few people who paid for a naming contest. I remember at the time being asked to look at a list of the names that the guy felt might be good options. There were a lot of cool name options and if I remember correctly that person went with one of their original name choices that they were considering before the name content.
See above – Using a name generator – as a better way of getting some quick name ideas.
I would not do a naming contest if I was looking for a new business name.
Check to see if the name you like the most is not already out there.
Registered business names could come and haunt you once your business starts to get noticed and a well-established business with the same name or a very similar version could take you to court. Generally, a simple Google search should be enough to check if it is in use somewhere or not. Another way would be to do a domain availability search.
Please see the video I made on this subject.
Play with words
This is another way to come up with some good-looking names for your new woodworking business.
What is another word for woodworking?
Woodwork | Woodshop |Factory| Carpentry | woodcraft | Joinery | wood turning| cabinetmaking | Scrollwork | Furniture manufacture | Wood carving
Add colour words.
Black is the most popular, but any could do.
Add a nature word.
Rock | River | Cedar | Oak | Mountain
Add a descriptive word
Cottage | Farm | Road | Country
So, using this method you could end up with possibilities like this…
Black Rock Joinery | Blue Mountain Woodworks | Red River Cabinetmaking.
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This next section is not what the entire page is all about, but if you are choosing a name for your woodworking business, then you are going to need to buy a domain and get hosting.
I worry that if I do not help you, you will need up with the worst combination of the two that is out there.
This is extremely possible because some of the worst hosting companies are also the biggest and you are going to stumble over them all the time.
Bad hosting is a massive issue.
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