Choosing a name for your business is a big deal. or is it?

Many business books and teachings will tell you to make your business name describe what your business does, like “Joe’s Plumbing” or “Farm Fresh Foods”. I feel that strategy is a little dated… We live in a different world now, we live on the web, not in the yellowpages.

There are 3 tools I use when looking for a name.

Domain Search, Google Search, and Business Registration Search.

Domain Search.

This is the place for brainstorming.  It doesn’t do much good anymore to just think about what name you would like to have because they are most likely taken.

If there is a competing business with the same or similar name, you will probably find it here, before you go any further.

Keep domains as short as possible.

Don’t use inappropriate TLDs like .org for your business.  .us is becoming more mainstream, .info is ok for some but it’s still best to stick with .com  (.biz and .ws are still second rate)

Google Search

Search all combinations of your domain for competition.

Look for shorter versions!  if your business name is www.bestplumbingbusiness.com  but someone already has www.bestplumbing.com and they are in competition with you MOVE ON… you will lose business.

You want you name to be distinct, to avoid confusion with the competition.

Business Registration Search

• Once you have made it past the first two steps you can move on to checking if your name is available.
• Most states have an online tool to search for business name availability, check your secretary of state website.
• If you find a business with a very similar name it’s time to go back to step one.

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So after poking around a bit I stumbled onto Phone.com.  After reviewing their site and what they do better than others, I feel they would be a safe bet for your virtual PBX / VoIP needs.

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