Money Rehab with Nicole Lapin - Brainstorming Your Brand Name (Plus a Bonus!)

Episode Date: November 9, 2021

You’ll have to do a whole lot of hard things when you’re starting your own business… we’re talking tax forms and paperwork galore. While coming up with your business’ name is more fun than doing all the tax stuff, it’s somehow just as hard? Today Nicole gives suggestions on how to brainstorm your brand name, and tells the story of an online bully who tried to sue her over a domain name. Yeah, you’re gonna want to buckle in for this one.

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Well, it doesn't. Charge for wasting our time. I will take a check. Like an old school check. You recognize her from anchoring on CNN, CNBC, and Bloomberg. The only financial expert you don't need a dictionary to understand. Nicole Lappin. What's in a name?

Well, a lot. Just like you stress over the name of your kid or your puppy, you should be equally thoughtful about the name of your business. Today's Money Rehabber is looking for a little advice on that subject. Here he is. Hey, Nicole, my name is Sky, and I'm starting a digital marketing consulting firm. I've done a lot of the paperwork, but what I'm finding to be the hardest part about starting my own business is deciding on the name. I'm just totally drawing a blank and haven't come up with a single option. Where can I

go to find out a good business name? Oh, Sky, Sky, Sky. I wish there was a shortcut to finding the perfect business name. There are some brand name generators on the interwebs that are fun to play around with. But the short story is you are going to have to do this one on your own. And you'll be so glad you did because your company name is a big freaking deal. You'll do a lot of hard things when it comes to running your own business. And I'm not going to say that coming up with a name is the hardest thing you'll do, but it is the first hard thing you'll do. But I'm here to help. Here are six things to help spark inspiration when picking a name. Number one, go dictionary diving. When the founders of Twitter were naming their company,

they literally opened up the dictionary and found the entry for Twitter. The rest is history. The same thing with Google, though. Most people think that Google is a made-up word. In fact, the founders used a creative spelling of the word Google, G-O-O-G-O-L, which means a number that is equal to one followed by 100 zeros. The idea was to connote in just one word the massive breadth and scope they wanted their search engine to have. So dust off your dictionary or pop over to dictionary.com and start treasure hunting. Number two, invent a language. If you can't find a name that you like in the dictionary, consider just making up a word like Xerox or Kodak. The thing to keep in mind here

is that since these are not actual words, there's no sentiment attached except the one you create through advertising and marketing that customers relate to. If you don't want to or don't have the money to do that right now, steer towards something that's already out there. Number three, go halfsies with make-believe. If you can't think of a made-up name and you don't want to go with a boring one, well then smush two together, like Instagram or Facebook. And don't forget about the startups out there ending in L-Y or if-I or able, like Bitly, Spotify, Shopify, and Giftable. Number four, is it sticky? In business speak, stickiness refers to how memorable the name is with customers. The best names are those that you don't have to write down to remember

even after you hear them for the first time. Number five, is it visual? The founder of the equipment company Caterpillar came up with the name after hearing someone describe his tractors as crawling like a caterpillar. He loved that visual and so was born the name of one of America's most iconic companies. Number six. Shorties but goodies. Studies have shown that briefer is better when it comes to company names. Nike, Apple, Pixar, and eBay are all just two syllables. Long names are harder to remember and harder for people to tell their friends about, which is the best and cheapest marketing you can

get. After you've narrowed down your favorite names to about five that you've tested and love, then do a trademark search through the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Chances are you aren't the only one to come up with the name, but you might be the only one in your vertical to have it, which makes all the difference in the world. You don't have to trademark your name, but you might run into issues if someone else says they registered for the trademark and you're using it, leading to a mountain of legal fees and other hell. So guys, story time. I started my media company in 2011 at the end of the so-called Great Recession. I had just left hardcore business news where my primary audience was old,

rich white dudes. And by the way, I'm not stereotyping here. That's exactly what the Nielsen ratings showed. I wanted to reach a younger audience of mostly women who didn't seek out money news, but I knew needed to most. I thought Recessionista was the perfect name for one of the digital properties in my media company. I paid a few grand for the domain of Recessionista.com, hired a trademark law firm to secure the mark for the site, started creating original video content, and built out tools like an easy-peasy expense tracker. It felt like the whole thing was just that, easy-peasy, until it wasn't. I heard from a woman. In fact, everyone I knew heard from this woman. Let's call her, gee, I don't know, Harry Mall, because I can't say her real name. She had a small shopping blog that I had never heard of, and she was calling herself the Recessionista. This woman apparently

registered for a different kind of web media site. As I would soon learn, there are a ton of different subcategories that you can apply for. Harry Moll freaked the fuck out that I had something similar, even though her recessionista blog was about shopping and my recessionista site was about sneak attack, money advice, and tools. The fact that our content was totally different didn't matter to her. This lady sent me mean letters. She sent mean letters to everyone she could find on my website, like my agents and my publicists and all the people, like my fifth grade teacher. No, that's not real. But she harassed me on social media like crazy, like mean stuff that I never responded to until now. And then

Harry started suing me. I was happy to each have her own recessionista thing going on, like you do you, Harry, and I do my recessionista. But she was not backing down. And you know me by now. I don't back down either. But that meant I was going to be paying tens of thousands of dollars defending myself against this lady on a lapin destruction mission. The thing about the legal system is that you must defend yourself from even the most bogus claims or you automatically lose. This went on for a couple of years. She didn't want to settle. She didn't want to peacefully coexist on the expansive interwebs. No, no. Everywhere I turned, there was Harry Maul harassing me in some way. Thankfully, time, although it still stings as you can imagine,

and economic trends worked in my favor. As my first book was coming out and the recession was long in the rearview mirror, I expanded my money and content offerings online, folding recessionista.com and the rich bitch brand into my website, nicollelappin.com. It wasn't because of the blog, lady, but because the times had changed and what I felt was important changed. I wanted my brand to be aspirational, not just about saving money, but also about helping people earn and make money. However, I can tell you that not having to deal with Miss Harry Mull any longer was also a huge bonus. I tell you this cautionary tale because trademark spats can get ugly, no matter how carefully you set yourself up and lawyer up.

And sometimes the best plan is not a plan at all, but a pivot. But fun fact, if you go to recessioneastern.com, I will never, never not own it. It does go to nicoleappin.com. Live in for the win. For today's tip, you can dig straight to the bank. When you're picking your name, test it out. Set up a Zoom meeting with a group of 10 friends

and throw out a list of potential names. The one the group remembers without looking at their notes is probably your winner. Money Rehab is a production of iHeartRadio. I'm your host, Nicole Lappin. Our producers are Morgan Lavoie and Mike Coscarelli.

Executive producers are Nikki Etor and Will Pearson. Our mascots are Penny and Mimsy. Huge thanks to OG Money Rehab team Michelle Lanz for her development work, Catherine Law for her production and writing magic, and Brandon Dickert for his editing, engineering, and sound design. And as always, thanks to you for finally investing in yourself so that you can get it together and get it all.