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.