8] What's in a name?
Perhaps you're thinking this should be point number 1? A name is important but it's not what it is but more how it's used.
The key to creating a memorable brand is consistency, we've already discussed the importance of consistency back in blog number 5 – and same applies with your business name. No matter what you choose: your name, a name that sums up what you do or something abstract – the name needs to feature consistently across all customer-facing platforms. This instills trust that you are a legitimate business, nothing crushes that illusion more than an email address that is not your business name. Who appears to have invested more into their business ensuring longevity: caroline@mysteryhare.com or caroline@hotmail.com? By having your business name within your web url, social media pages and email address you show potential customers that you have invested time and money into creating a professional facade on all your contact points – anyone can have a hotmail or gmail account and close their business the very next day but someone who has gone to the trouble of obtaining an email address that matches their url gives the impression that they're doing things the right way and plan to stay in business for a long time. This works to instil trust in customers right from the offset and that's how we create a loyal customer base! Repetition > Recognition > Reputation.
The added benefit in naming all point of contacts in the same way means you're making it as easy as possible for people to find you, even if they've lost that business card
website address – mysteryhare.com (using .co.uk show that you're a UK business, .com shows aspirations that you want to be, or already are, a global business)
email address – ensure that your website url is EXACTLY the same – caroline@mysteryhare.com , info@mysteryhare.com , sales@mysteryhare.com the more variations you have, the bigger you appear as a business and you can also segregate different types of emails depending on which 'department' they're being emailed to. It helps inspire confidence for customers to contact you
social media – have a personal account (remembering that potential customers will look at it to get a true flavour of who you are, and also have an active business page too where your messaging is all about promoting your business – facebook/mysteryhare , @mysteryhare
blogging – this should come directly out of your website but if you're doing a blog before investing in a website then this, again, should be in your business name: mysteryhare.blogspot.com
If you're thinking you've done none of this, or you have different variations of the same name but not close enough to be memorable - don't worry, the first step of streamlining processes is to first gain an understanding then coming up with the solution. Start with the easiest solution first, social media group and business pages can be changed relatively easier and use to as a tool to refresh your page and possibly gain new followers. If nothing else, it's creating content to talk about on those pages, if you have a website, post about it, talk about it and create an interest in your brand. As a small business owner, we have the freedom to change and pivot over and over again because we're in it, learning and growing every day and sharing our growth with others creates an interest and shows potential customers that we're flawed and honest and striving to constantly improve ourselves!
There's so much more to know about your business, feel free to send specific questions for me to help you with or join my Facebook Group East Anglia Small Business Branding where we can all help each other to succeed. I'd also love to hear from you about anything to do with questions and you can find me at 07525 246 734 or caroline@mysteryhare.com