Who-am-I-dot-com?

The internet is an undeniably vital part of doing business these days. People often get their first impressions of you based on your virtual storefront—especially under-40’s. Is it tidy? Is it well designed? Is it professional? Is the information easy to get to? Is it easy to use? Or does it look like it was designed by a drunk monkey with a spray can?

This is the value of a good designer (and why M should shaking in his shoes right now at the thought of losing me, serving as further proof that he’s an idiot).

Early in the process of starting a new business, you have to name it.

One of the more peculiar problems with this process is how to deal with choosing something that will translate into a good website name. Having worked with many other people on identity/branding packages for years, I know all about it! I can’t tell you the number of clients in the last couple of years who had their hearts set on some cleverly homegrown name only to find that they can’t use on the web at all (not to mention trademark infringement, etc.).

For instance, let’s say you errantly choose to name your company ABC Productions, Inc…. well, guess who owns abc.com? … or abcproductions.com?… or abcstudios.com? That’s right—not you! The same goes for just about every normal combination of words and letters you can come up with; at least ninety percent of the time, it’s taken. This makes it incredibly difficult to choose something unique yet still memorable.

Why? The web has been a popular place for a long time—growing in leaps and bounds especially over the last ten years—and in that time, people have snapped up all kinds of crazy combinations of dot-coms in anticipation that somebody will pay big bucks for them. Quite often, they do.

While I wasn’t smart enough to secure the big brands, I did get several variations of my-own-name-dot-com. Even so, I hesitate to use my name to name my own production company (I tell my clients that too). While that’s fine for a private website or for self-promotion, I’m just not comfortable mixing business with personal (if one goes south, the other suffers).

As it so happens, this afternoon, I remembered a particular word hearkening from my childhood. It instantly clicked! I checked, and it’s available in every combination!

The word? When we were kids, my best friend and I created a name for our doll hospital which was a screwy combination of both our names. She hated it because my half of the name came first. Thirty years later, it remains a name that’s unique, memorable, easy to spell, and means something (to me). It was an a-ha moment—and in my mind, a very good sign!

If this works out, I’ll have to send a thank-you note to my childhood friend!