Day 20: Giving Your Biz A Name That Sticks and Meshes with Facebook, Your Invitation Letter and USP

Think of your biz as a mobile, hanging from the roof so that every part influences the whole. This is a principled way of holistic thinking that applies as naturally to your business as it does to your co-ordination. The name of your biz of one of those moving parts that influences the whole. In my comprehensive 12-part system for building a niched Alexander Technique business, your name is a critical: a name that communicates instantly the identity you are crafting within your niche. Think of some famous biz names… Samsonite suitcases named their company after the mythical figure of strength and so did a shoe company: Nike, the Winged Goddess of Victory. Both stick. Virgin because "we are virgins at business" and innovate, challenge and really do “make it” in lots of new markets. The original concept for Skype was Sky-Peer-to-Peer, which morphed into Skyper, then Skype. Now we all "skype" each other. We "google it" too. Google was a misspelling of googol - a 1 followed by a hundred zeros - because google was the closest domain name still available to them back then. Notice they are all one word names. Even long worded companies - like Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing - saw the light and became: 3M. Heard of them? Yellow sticky notes. What are you called? Peter Grunwald followed a similar one-word-for-your-business path with "EyeBody." So did I with BodyChance. Two examples in our own field. Why BodyChance? 1.English words are chic in Japan: people love seeing English, even on their food menus; 2.Both the words "Body" and "Chance" have been in the Japanese lexicon for 100+ years 3."Chance" has a lucky feeling in Japan; "taking a chance" as being risky is not implicit. 4."Body" hints at something physical - you will be touched, your body is involved! 5.It's easy to say, easy to remember, and doesn't frighten people off like "Alexander Technique" does. 6.As a made up word, it could be easily trademarked, protected and searched online. The last point is critical. Give your uniqueness legal protection - find a name and trade mark it. [NOTE: This second half of my blog is a paid area getting more practical about my general comments above with the other teachers and students in my ATSuccess group. You can join anytime to be part of our discussions.]

When you enter a niche, it is usually crowded with other people pushing their ideas. (If it is not, you are probably in the wrong market!) Look at the fitness market - every month some new branded class comes out, trademarked and licensed, seeking to become the latest trend. Personally, I was so glad I had trademarked BodyChance, because later a New Zealand company Les Mills arrived on the scene offering trademarked classes in bodypump, bodybalance, bodycombat, bodyjam, bodystep etc. They are a 100 million dollar company - I could have been slammed to the ground without legal protection. These days, in Japan, people are now coming into our studio saying: "Oh I went to Alexander Technique and didn't get it, but then my friend said ‘Did you try BodyChance?' so I came here." Branding eventually works, providing you are in a niche with a chatty community. That's what giving yourself a name does - gets you uniquely identified in a crowded market. Give your Self the strategic long-term advantage by building your brand now. Let's assume you will build a great reputation in your niche: so what will people call you? By your name, but what happens when you can’t handle your audience any more? Stop growing? Prices up? All options. Get your strategy clear… What will yours be? How To Find Your Name 1. Get ideas from your USP: find a name that implies that: it may be symbolic, subtle or blatantly direct. See examples above of famous company names above. 2. Make it simple: most memorable names are singular. Say it out loud, look at it in print - how memorable is it? Is it unique? 3. Make it a trademark: a made up work works for that. Search for it in the database of your country - does someone already use it in your class? (In Australia and most countries there are something like 42 different classes that trademarks can be registered for use within.) Part of your decision revolves around your longer term intentions. Are you going to remain a single operator? Then incorporating your name may help with that. Jeremy Chance’s Self-Care Seminars could be shortened to ChanceCare Seminars where “ChanceCare” is the brand name. However, if you are going into a market with a longer term view of building a biz that would employs others - those you train for example - then finding a name that does not create an expectation you will deliver the seminar is better. A good name, like a USP, takes awhile to find. When I started a magazine on Alexander’s discoveries, I spent months trying to find a name. One day, sitting around with my mother, she said “What about calling it DIRECTION?” Yes! It was immediate. So obvious once I Alexander's discovery it - and yet it took months to get there. Yours is waiting. You just need to find it… Start now. https://www.facebook.com/groups/ATCSProMembers/