Podcast

Selecting The Best Type Of Company Name Or Product Name: Are Descriptive Names Superior?

By Marcia Yudkin

In her book Roadmap to Revenue, Kristin Zhivago argues against arbitrary or unusual names for products and companies, claiming that sales will always go up with a name that simply describes what is being sold.

“Just the other day I was trying to remember the name of a stock photo website I had used only once,” she writes. “It wasn’t an easy name to remember (such as StockPhoto.com). I tried to find it via Google. It was, as it turns out, ‘Veer.’ It wasn’t in the top 25 search results, and the name was so odd that it would have been easy to click on any other odd name, hoping it was the site I was looking for. StockPhoto.com has an advantage over Veer, right out of the gate. If you have a name like Veer, come up with a new name that is memorable and descriptive.”

I found Zhivago’s example surprising, since the following companies compete against one another with minuscule differences in their names:

StockPhoto.com

iStockPhoto.com

BigStockPhoto.com

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2R5zlJkmOC4[/youtube]

eStockPhoto.com

AStockPhotos.com

OStockPhoto.com

MyStockPhoto.com

Looking at that list, are you certain you would remember correctly which of these you’d previously visited? I would definitely not be sure about that. Now how about these competitors:

Getty Images

Shutterstock

Fotalia

PictureQuest

Mira (“look” in Spanish)

Outside of the realm of stock photos, examples of descriptive names include Quick Oil Change, Shampoo Etcetera, Animal Crackers, Green Home Accessories and Bargain Domains.

Descriptive names do have advantages, but distinctiveness in the eyes and minds of customers is not one of them. The more flatly descriptive a name is, without an unexpected or creative element in it, the more easily it is confused with names of competitors.

Descriptive names are more likely to receive fortuitous search engine traffic, because they include syllables or words potential customers type when searching for a vendor. Normally they’re also easy to pronounce and spell. And with a descriptive name, those who haven’t transacted business with the company before can easily guess what line of work they are in.

On the minus side, descriptive names often cannot be trademarked. They have little cachet. Because the names are dull, they don’t lend themselves to imaginative branding or design. Their descriptiveness can inhibit growth beyond the specifics in the name. And as mentioned, confusion with similarly descriptively named entities is common.

Need some hard evidence that descriptive names don’t necessarily improve popularity? According to Alexa.com, which quantifies and compares traffic to web sites, Veer.com ranks 9,083 in popularity worldwide, while Stockphoto.com has a much lower popularity rank of 235,934. Veer sports a registered trademark, while StockPhoto does not.

So in what circumstances would I recommend descriptive names? First, when you have evidence that business has suffered because of an overly creative name. Second, when you’re a startup and need all the search engine optimization advantages you can muster. And third, when you’re hoping to horn in on a similarly named company’s success, knowing that customers easily confuse descriptive names. (Whether such horning in is an ethical strategy I’ll leave to you to decide!)

About the Author: Marcia Yudkin is Head Stork of Named At Last, which brainstorms catchy tag lines, company names and product names according to the client’s criteria. Download a free copy of “19 Steps to the Perfect Company Name, Product Name or Tag Line”:

namedatlast.com/19steps.htm

Source:

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Podcast

Network Marketing Tips To Ensure Your Guaranteed Success… From An Mlm Veteran

By Frank Wilmink

Working for yourself in your own business can be extremely rewarding. Here are my best 7 network marketing tips that will guarantee your success in any network marketing company.

Network Marketing, also known as direct sales or MLM, is not about housewives buying or selling Tupperware while gossiping over a cup of coffee and a cream bun, or a high pressure salesperson trying to convince you that vitamins and minerals will make you a millionaire if you could only get your friends and their friends to do the same. This couldn’t be further from the truth. It’s neither a hobby or a get rich scheme, but an opportunity for you to earn a substantial income running your own part time or full time business. What does it take to succeed in this business?

These network marketing tips will ensure you will succeed in this business.

Here are 7 network marketing tips that I have put together on selecting the perfect MLM, based on the MLM experience of nearly 40 years.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNbxwWZ1D30[/youtube]

When selecting an opportunity the first tip should be STABILITY. How many years has the company been in business and what growth rate have they experienced?

Are the products or services the type of things consumers will use and need more of? By this I mean will the consumer need the product on an ongoing basis e.g. Monthly?

Pay Plan. How is it structured? Is it fair and generous to all who join in the company? If this is not fair you and your downline ( enrolees ) will find another opportunity and leave. It comes down to how many cents out of each sales dollar that you get paid back each month, and perhaps how fair is the distribution of these cents between the old members and the new members.

The fourth network marketing tip is the integrity of the management and the company. You need to investigate the company as much as possible and determine the experience of the CEO. Their experience and background in the network marketing industry is important to the company’s success and additionally your success. Do they have a good reputation should be a key concern of yours.

Momentum and timing. Look at where the company is at and where the product is situated on the time line. It should be on the climb with plenty of momentum and demand still remaining.

Is the support, training and business systems sound? You may have chosen a great company with excellent management, a great and fair compensation plan that very generous, and plenty of momentum and stability, but if the system doesn’t work with you, all of that doesn’t make it connect.

The last and probably most important network marketing tip that you need to follow is that you need to listen and learn from your mentors or upline. It is in your interest, and your upline’s, to ensure you succeed. Your mentor should be encouraging you to follow in their footsteps and teach your enrolees to learn as you have done.

Additional to the above network marketing tips, there is a new addition to the sound advice that new MLM companies are adding to their training. This is using the internet. This is the new technology that will get you new enrolees without home meetings or one on one presentations.

To learn more about using the net to get your network marketing business moving really fast, I suggest you learn how the gurus have done it.

About the Author: Frank Wilmink is a multi-figure earner and has been involved in the

MLM industry

for many years, earning a full time income from showing people how to earn a residual income. Frank works with his team devoting his time, energy and effort into helping other Network Marketing individuals achieve

their success

.

Source:

isnare.com

Permanent Link:

isnare.com/?aid=679624&ca=Marketing