How important is your business name?

[Chris Harding]

Actually since Corey has now posted I think you cannot do better than what he has!!

Seriously "Bill Edmunds Weddings" really says it all ..it's personalised and it depicts your business perfectly without slotting you into a gendre. If you shoot cinematic wedding films on a Red or shoot low budget weddings on a Handycam you are still Bill Edmunds Weddings!!!

There is also no harm at all in dual branding for either weddings (high and low end) or commercial jobs and use Gulf Films for more commercial/business productions.

Chris

[Corey Graham]

Originally Posted by Chris Harding

Actually since Corey has now posted I think you cannot do better than what he has!!

Thank you Chris, that means a lot!

[William Smyth]

For me, using my name really wasn't a good option. My name is so common (even with the slightly uncommon spelling) that it just seemed too anonymous. Joe Doe Videography, anyone?

Plus, while I shoot most of the weddings, I do have other shooters working for me.

We tried to come up with a name the evoked a certain feeling that was somewhat different than the usualy wedding video company names.

From a marketing standpoint, maybe the best names are things like, Miami Wedding Videos or Boston Wedding Videos. Let's face it, when a bride starts searching for a videographer online, those will be the keywords she uses on Google.

[Joe Thompson]

Bill,

There is another option of course. You could just change your name. If you're fortunate enough, and cool enough to be called Don Bloom, which is even one syllable less than James Bond, you're truly laughing :) Heck, all you really need at that stage is a tag line to go with it (Don Bloom | Shooting to thrill). I can see it already, Wix.com - Website built by EmiliaandBill based on Blank Website, International wedding cinematographer and legend 2012.

Anyway, you asked a simple question, but unfortunately you won't find a simple answer on here. You can look at the replies, or you can take a look at those inspirational vendors on the eventDV top 25 list, and you'll find guys using frilly & sentimental names, and guys going by their non cool name which is making them big bucks, so no black and white answer as to a 'best' company name or domain.

Firstly, what tickles YOUR fancy first and foremost. Forget about those search engines for a second, what rocks your boat? It's your company perception that you're building up, so make sure you're 100% happy with how it's perceived by YOU. Costly to change again later. Get it right now, and take a long term view of your goals and ambitions. If you expand, your company identity shouldn't need to as well.

Next get your Customer's hat on. Joe Thompson is not cool, and i decided that i could add a personal touch in my end product, so decided to go with a company name that ticked the boxes and criteria below.

short | catchy | memorable | consistent | marketable | available | relevant | expandable | unique | familiar

With the customers hat on, I like as few syllables as possible in a domain & company name, but heck i'm just lazy. Keep it short and snappy. By finding a short syllabled company name, you're increasing the chances of being remembered, being found, and not forgotten. Try and choose words that are familiar, that customers will not mis-spell. I hate having to type long urls, it's a pet hate of mine. I will goggle a short version of it, to try and avoid the long ordeal of typing it.

i.e. I'll just google Joe Simon

For me it's a bonus if the customer gets a vision of your market, or the feature package or service that your selling, through your company name, before even looking at your portfolio, so if you are going with a frilly name, perhaps choose words that are relevant to the perception you're trying to create of your company. Not hugely important, as this is where your online branding comes in.

Bare in mind, that customers will see 10 results on any search page, so a catchy domain could just be the difference. In a congested industry, being unique is vital IMO, and if a Bride is undecided after looking at 3 portfolios, she might just decide to go with the guy or gal, with that unique and catchy company.

Nowadays, i think social networking is important, and if you're a user of twitter, facebook or vimeo etc, you might want to check that your chosen name is available on these sites, before committing to your end selection. Important to some, may not be to others. Probably being a perfectionist, but i'd like to keep consistent identity across all sites that i use or market on.

Lastly, there is the small matter of branding, touched on above, and there's a story to be told on every website, so choose a name that fits a theme, because this just might be another small deciding factor that makes a bride choose you.

I purposely didn't include 'searchable' in the list of criteria that's important to me. I feel that if you keep a blog (which I do), and if you regularly update a blog (which I tend to do), then search engines will pick up on relevant content within. I've googled wedding cinematography, and only 2 results showed up in my region, with the word "weddings or video's", so a lot of clever tagging can be done on your site. Interestingly, most were non cool names.

To conclude it's personal preference at the end of the day bill. Find a name you're proud to call your company. Also, it's one thing getting in the top 10 of search engines, but you still need the customer to walk into your shop, so to speak, and remembering you after the experience, so bare that in mind.

[Don Bloom]

I was going to change my name to Bill Edmunds or Joe Thompson, but since I couldn't decide, I have to keep what my parents gave me. Too bad James Bond is already taken.
O|O
/--\

[James Strange]

Think i've got you all beat in the unfortunate name area.

My name is James Strange

I trade under StrangeWorx Productions

When I set up, I didn't know how i'd make my living,

9 years later, for better or worse, I am a wedding video man.

In hindsight, I think JS wedding films would have been better, and I toy with the idea of changing every no w and then.

But I am pretty established as StrangeWorx Productions, and everything involved in changing is pretty daunting!

But, StrangeWorx Productions is quite an unusual name, it doesn't make it obvious what I do.

I've recently added 'wedding films' to the end of 'StrangeWorx Productions'

Still think about a total change though.....

[Chris Harding]

A small but important point is that spelling your business name should be easy. I started a business for my son doing Weighing Software so we called it "softweigh" ..pretty logical and simple I would have thought??? People still stuggle to find the website because they look for "softway" so in James's case having the "X" in your business name might cause people not to find you as they could quite easily look for "Strange Works"

Chris

[Michael Simons]

Originally Posted by James Strange

Think i've got you all beat in the unfortunate name area.

My name is James Strange

I trade under StrangeWorx Productions

When I set up, I didn't know how i'd make my living,

9 years later, for better or worse, I am a wedding video man.

In hindsight, I think JS wedding films would have been better, and I toy with the idea of changing every no w and then.

But I am pretty established as StrangeWorx Productions, and everything involved in changing is pretty daunting!

But, StrangeWorx Productions is quite an unusual name, it doesn't make it obvious what I do.

I've recently added 'wedding films' to the end of 'StrangeWorx Productions'

Still think about a total change though.....

"People Are Strange Productions" wouldn't work?

[Don Bloom]

Originally Posted by Michael Simons

"People Are Strange Productions" wouldn't work?

Jim Morrison might file a lawsuit. Oh wait, I guess he wouldn't.

[James Strange]

Flashbacks of childhood bullying....

That's song was sung to me ..... A LOT!

[Bill Edmunds]

Thank you to everyone here. Great insight and advice from all of you! I'm probably going to go with Bill Edmunds Wedding Films since it will associate the business with, hopefully, a personal touch. And its easy to remember.... I think. I have used the term 'Films' to connote creativity and to stand out a bit. I haven't encountered anyone who thought I was actually shooting on film... and DLRs footage looks like film anyways! A ton of movies are shot on video as well, so you could argue they technically aren't films. But Peter Jackson and George Lucas seem to be doing okay ;)