What's in a Name?

Naming things is not easy. Naming a business is sometimes more challenging than naming your own child -- although I know you feel the business *is* your baby. We all think differently about business, ideas, marketing, and selling. The way we classify people in our own mind for later retrieval depends on: (1) what they communicate about their brand and business; (2) how we look at the world.

I've been involved in naming new products and services as well as rebranding old ones throughout my career. Do you have a generic-like product that is going to be launched in an already crowded marketplace? Is the product going to be competitive pricewise? Tri$um, that is your name. Honest, we came up with this and trademarked it (that will be a separate conversation).

The frequent travelers on this site may notice that I've done some work to clean up my sidebar and add new friends. Because my blog name, Conversation Agent, is quite common (the tagline does explain what it means) I've added links to Why I blog and my Blogger Story courtesy of Diva Marketing Toby Bloomberg right under the about page. There is a reason to the name, which will become apparent over time.

The inspiration for this post came to me as I was thinking about how to break down my blogroll in easy-to-find lists that made sense. The Essential Blogs are the thinkers who inform my big picture work from different perspectives. And here's the most important piece: inspire me to action. Thinking and learning are not enough, we must also execute on those ideas.

• Seth Godin wrote a couple of great riffs on naming and collected them in Small is the New Big. Great marketing is about opening communication lines with people who will want to talk about your story and buy your services and products because of their experience with you.
• David Armano blogs about creativity, insights, and ideas. Experience design can be brought to life -- witness how we engage with some brands vs. others. Logic+Emotion will teach you how to design and architect interactions in the marketplace.
• LighterFootstep.com has a lofty goal: sustainable living. If you haven't thought that this should be a mainstream conversation, think again. It's about us, all of us -- our businesses, our families and friends, and simple yet impactful ways we can make a difference.
• Bob Sutton is teaching us how to make a difference at work through doing and knowing the hard facts. His latest work, The No Asshole Rule talks about bullies in the workplace; it applies to all spheres of life. Sutton's work illuminates my passion for research on how to put knowledge to good use.
• Guy Kawasaki is my tribute to entrepreneurial thinking. There's a difference between being enterprising (= energetic, bold, and full of initiative; venturesome) and being an entrepreneur (= The Art of the Start; one who undertakes to start and conduct an enterprise of business, usually assuming full control and risk).
• Micro Persuasion Steve Rubel keeps me on my technology toes. The years working at a tech start up were the fastest I could recall. Having a resource that helps keep up with the rapid changes in technology and explore what they may mean is valuable.
• Tom Peters has a fascinating way of thinking and a passionate voice that speaks to the world of business in the stern ways of accountability.

Naming things is necessary. A brand name is the beginning of a meaningful communication; what you deliver is why people come back for more.

Comments

[Mary-Louise Boyd]

I work for Guy Kawasaki, and I would like to thank you for your comments about Guy and his book!

Mary-Louise
Online Assistant

http://blog.guykawasaki.com/

[Chris Baskind]

I seem to be in pretty heady company here, Valeria (and hello to Seth, David, Bob, Guy, Steve, and Tom).

Thanks for your continuing support. Here's to the sustainable future.

[Lewis Green]

Valeria,

Thanks for making me a part of your lists. I am honored. By the way, I have changed my blog name three times, and think I finally found the right one.

As you know, changing business names can disrupt brand development and might even damage it. So we need to get the name right early on, or risk confusing our brand image and frustrating our current customers.

Give Carolyn a shout at http://thoughtsphilosophies.com/?feed=rss2. She is looking to meet other bloggers in the Philadelphia area, and I mentioned that she should check with you about our NYC gig.

[Valeria Maltoni]

Mary-Louise -- thank you for taking the time to visit and leave a message. I've been an avid reader of Guy's blog.

Chris -- I haven't seen an animated Gore as I did last night. I know you were planning to write about "An Inconvenient Truth".

Lewis -- do let me know how you'd like me to call your blog. Yes, I have met Carolyn by phone and invited her to our events with the Fast Company network.

[David Armano]

Valeria,

Goes without saying that I'm honored to be called out in your post. You've made wonderful contributions in this space and I share your passion for execution.

And I would also like to say bravo for being bold enough to name names. There is often times a little voice inside of us that says to do the opposite. We never want to hurt the feelings of others who we may leave out. But then another voice speaks up and says "this will help others—because it helps me".

When Roger asked me who influenced me in my early days of blogging, writing—I had no issue with naming names because it was all true, and truth can go along way. Expecially when combined with empathy.

Keep up the wonderful work here.

[Lewis Green]

Valeria,

bizsolutionsplus is just right. Thank you for asking.

[Valeria Maltoni]

David:

As the old song went, there's a time for every purpose. I think some resources say more about the blogger than they mean to say about who's 'in'. I have mentors who do not blog and I'm sure they won't mind me not naming them here. That's the point about context.

Things are always flux and we continuously redefine our own "boundaries" all the time. I expect if I do my job of learning and participating to this conversation well enough, this blog will look very different in the future.