Trying to find a name for a business too long :(

I always over-think the name of a project and I find it holds me back way more than it should, so I've devised a system that helps me get to a name I can use and move forward with. Its a work in progress (and this is off the top of my head), so open to feedback.

Usually my ideas are web based, so the deciding factor is often domain availability. To help me, I use these steps.

1. Only use .com and .io, it simplifies things and they're cheap. Open domainr.com for quick and easy availability lookup. Domainr is cool because it'll also show you other domains that might suit your keyword too, like if your site is mydevportfolio.com, it'll suggest mydevportfol.io. (full disclosure, that's my recent side project, feedback appreciated) 👍
2. SEO is key, so my go-to to start off the process is often things like my[keyword].com, [keyword]hq.com, [keyword]central.com etc. If you're lucky, one of these will be available, but it's getting rarer nowadays. So we need to go deeper.
3. Next, I'll look at synonyms. Open up thesaurus.com, type in your main keyword and see what comes back. This can be fed into the rest of the steps to find suitable variations.
4. My next port of call is usually looking at [verb/adjective][keyword].domain. Some of my go-to adjectives are: fresh, sharp, open, free, hot. Some of my goto nouns are: spark, air, bounce, break, snap. Feel free to pop these into thesaurus too to find more.
5. My next goto if I don't find a suitable one in the steps above us to get a bit creative with language. I'll open up Google translate and translate from English to Latin. Often Latin spits back decent words that don't make sense, but sound cool and can give a nice story to your brand. Put in your keyword and synonyms and see what comes back. This doesn't work all the time, but can spit out gems sometimes.
6. If I still haven't found a name I'm happy with, I'll look to the animal kingdom. What emotion do you want a customer to associate with your brand? If its strength, why not use something like lion, bull, rhino, bear. If it's friendliness, try koala, kitten, puppy, panda. Figure out the emotion and then Google to find animals that best fit that. Once you have some to try, combine them with your keyword and/or a verb or noun. So [noun/adjective] [animal].domain. Freshpuppy.io, sparkbear.com. Or if it makes sense, mix up the animal with the keyword. Koalabooks.com, gorrilladesign.io etc. One of the advantages of this approach is it gives you ideas for logos that suit too.
7. Colours. I have a blog post on how to "cheat" when picking a colour for your app (automatically inspiring a certain emotion in a customer). Use this to identify what colours might suit your business, and try inserting them instead of nouns/adejectives. Once you identify the base colour, Google different shades of that colour to get some ideas. Violetbooks.com. Limedesign.io.
   http://chrisdermody.com/colour_scheme_minimum_viable_product/.

That's everything I use. Just off the top of my head. I must write a post on this actually, even just for using myself. I forget half the tricks and cool nouns/adjectives to use. Maybe a shared Google sheet might work well for this actually as a tool the community could use... Hmm...

I hereby name you... SliceToSite! The .com is available.

Definitely do not overthink the name and don't spend too much time on it. In worst case scenario you can always change it later. What's important is to actually get started, start creating value and building an audience. Getting stuck thinking of a name won't help in any of these efforts.

Here are three approaches I normally recommend when trying to think of a name:

1. Use descriptive words that are connected to your purpose. Such as Indie Hackers and Product Hunt.
2. Come up with creative name ideas by mixing and compounding whole words, misspelling words or inventing new words. Such as Google, Instagram and Ikea.
3. Just use your full name as your brand name too. Such as GaryVaynerchuk.com, KaylaItsines.com and AustinKleon.com.

If you're really stuck, just use a site such as Namelix.com. You enter a keyword or two you're targeting and this tool uses artificial intelligence to generate short and brandable names for you to use.

I go to http://www.dinopass.com, generate "simple password", get rid of the numbers (or sometimes not), and use that 😎

Dont worry much about the name.
Just call it anything. Pick any abstract name.
People will come to you if you have good reputation.
Don't waste time thinking about a business name.

Try to keep the name short if you can. I find people have trouble remembering my side project name bestfoodnearme

Good name could be - D2 Promotions

Ryyple333

Mustard Cricket Studio, at MustardCricket.com.

One possible option is to search for domain names based on keywords, find a really good domain name and make it your business name as well.

I recommend checking out Lean domain search for that. It's how I found the name "foundertrek.com" which I chose as the name for my business FounderTrek.

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