How To Build Your Online Presence On The Cheap – Step 2: Choose Your Name Wisely

This series started in a previous post, so be sure to read the first installment before diving into this one. There is a certain progression that should happen in correct order for the best results, so be sure to follow the whole series by subscribing to the RSS feed or receiving the updates in your email inbox!

As stated last time, the key elements I am focusing on in the series are:

Your Brand – how you will be identified

What makes a good brand?
How to choose a brand name
Your logo

Your website/blog – the hub of your online existence

Build it
Promote it
Feed and Water it

Social Media – spreading your message

Which channels are right for you?
Twitter
Facebook
LinkedIn
Flickr
Delicious
Digg

Customer Service – what’s the point of traffic without it?

As we look at how to choose a name – or how to promote your existing name with your online identity – it is important to rely on your answers to the questions from the previous installment. Be sure to have them in hand – especially your goals. If there is one golden rule I have learned in every occupation and endeavor I have undertaken, it is that you MUST hold everything up against your goals. Before you make a move or a decision, you need to ask the question: will this help me accomplish my goals? If the answer is yes, then go for it! But if the answer is no, don’t bother. I wouldn’t suggest completely trashing an idea or thought just because it doesn’t line up with your goals – save it just in case. You never know – your goals may shape into something that could benefit from the idea later, or the idea may help to birth something that does help your cause.

CHOOSING YOUR NAME

If you haven’t already chosen your name, here are some suggestions to aid in the process:

Of course, your goals: what are you setting out to accomplish? Write down your ideas for names and see what thoughts and reactions they inspire. Show them to friends and family and ask for their opinion. What do they think of when they hear and see each name? Write down their responses next to each one and then come back to your list when you’re done and evaluate.

How does the name look and read? This may sound silly, but we’re talking about the visual aspect. When seen online, your name is going to be read – not heard. So people will identify with it first visually, then how it sounds in their head as they read it to themselves. While this could seem elementary, try taking a look at the names people and organizations are using on social networks. How many of them make little or no sense to you, or are hard to pronounce, or inspire a negative response or, even worse, no response at all? Just because there are millions of usernames that exist and you need to create a unique one doesn’t mean you have to settle for something with way too many consonants and numbers! Get creative! And think about how your name will roll off people’s mental tongue as they read it in their Twitter stream or on their Facebook page.

Is the name you want available? In this day and age you must make absolutely sure that your name of choice is available as a domain name and as a username across multiple social networks. So no matter how original or clever or cute your think the name you have decided upon is, you must include this step in the process or else suffer the deadly doom of being unable to promote it online. There are some simple tools that can assist you in the process:

Domain name: look up your domain name’s availability (I like to use Network Solutions). Just type in your domain name and cross your fingers! If your domain is available, I say buy it right now before someone else gets the same idea! If it’s not, and the suggested similar available domains don’t grab you, then cross it off your list of choices. Your domain name absolutely MUST line up with your brand name. Without this, SEO, advertising and all promotion suffers. You can still survive, but why start off with obstacles you could avoid?

CLICK HERE TO CHECK YOUR DOMAIN NAME’S AVAILABILITY

Social Networks: I’m sure there are countless tools – free and paid – to check your brand name’s availability. But there’s one called KnowEm that I’ve used and it’s free, quick and very simple. You just type in your name, hit the submit button, and then watch as it tells you if your name is available on 120 popular social media websites! I would strongly suggest doing this with your name(s) of choice because if your name has already been taken you will be unable to use anything but a variation of it and this will cause confusion, if not legal action.

CLICK HERE TO CHECK YOUR NAME’S AVAILABILITY ACROSS 120 SOCIAL MEDIA NETWORKS

ALREADY HAVE YOUR NAME?

If you already have a name and a domain name, and possibly even started promoting yourself online using that name in social networks, I just have one suggestion to help improve the growth of your online presence:

Evaluate: Is your current name well-known already? Does it meet some of the requirements brought up in the previous section? Do you have a consistent name and/or brand that permeates your website and your social networks? Do all of your online channels support each other or do they conflict? Are you using the same name throughout? If the answer is no to any of these questions, I would strongly suggest considering starting over or at least a “redo”. Yes, it’s a lot of work, but if you’re not getting the most out of what you’re doing, it may be time to change. Yeah, I said the ‘c’ word. No apologies. It’s one of my favorite words.

If you are discovering that the latter is your situation, and you need assistance or guidance in the redo, feel free to contact me. I could write a completely separate series on that aspect, so I won’t go into it here right now. But I would be happy to assist you in any way I can. I’m not trying to sell you anything. I promise. If I can give you some suggestions that aid in your process, and through it you and/or your organization are able to grow, then I consider myself lucky to be a part of it. I am here to help, so please don’t hesitate to ask.

A FINAL THOUGHT

as I say so often, I am not an authority on these things, but I have learned a thing or two over the years and especially in the past few months as I have been building my own online presence as well as several of my clients’. With that in mind, take a look at my own brand name: bkmacdaddy. It’s not necessarily something that lines up with a lot of the things I suggested above. That’s because I started using it over a decade ago before I understood any of these things. It happened to be unique enough that the domain name and social network names were all available, even after I had already been using it for years, so in that area I lucked out. But what does it make you think of? How do you pronounce it in your head? What did you think when you first read or saw it? I’m actually really curious to know! I pronounce it “Bee Kay Mack Daddy” because it’s actually a mix of my initials and my last name (Brian K. McDaniel). I think it’s a name that people question and maybe laugh at (Mack Daddy is slang for “ultra pimp”). I honestly don’t know what you guys think about my name.

But here’s the kicker: I’ve found a way to brand it that supports my goals. My avatar, logo, website and social networks presence are all united to present the bkmacdaddy brand as one that is personal, professional, caring, humorous, confident, approachable and has integrity. But you don’t get that from the name! You get it from the personality behind the name and the visual elements I have created to promote it.

So if you already have a name but are thinking you may need to start over, I share with you my own experience as hope. Who you are and what you do is more important than the name you do it with. You can have a great name and destroy it with lousy branding, terrible customer service, a bad attitude or any number of other things. But the reverse is true also. You can have a mediocre name but brand it and promote it and live it in a way that strengthens and grows and supports it to the point of becoming a household word. In the end, it’s optimal to have both: a great, catchy name and a quality product and personality. But take heart knowing that if you can’t or don’t want to invest the time, energy and possible money into a redo, you can still survive and even thrive online if you do it right. We’ll look at how in future installments.

If you have any questions about anything I didn’t cover here for you, please leave a comment. For me, the joy of this whole blogging thing is the interaction and discussion. So let’s get it going! And don’t forget to subscribe via RSS or email to make sure you don’t miss the next installment of the series.

PREVIOUS: « Step 1: Start With A Good Brand
NEXT UP: Step 3: Your Logo »