Name Awards

Top 10 ways to find a free .com name in 2010

Every week someone cries on my shoulder about how hard it is becoming to find free .com domain names. Well they are disappearing at a rate of 1 million a month, and have been doing so for a while, so what do you expect if you are only waking up now?

Anyway, here are my professional suggestions. Let me know what you think or pass along the list, with due credit to Athol Foden of Brighter Naming.

1. Use a number in your name. e.g. 3Com, 2Wire, Tack360, etc. Works best if name is mostly seen online and not used much on the phone.
2. Use a different form of a verb.  e.g  Learning Spanish instead of Learn Spanish say. Or Brighter Naming instead of Bright Naming. Non-English languages often have lots of conjugations of their verbs providing even more options.
3. Personalize or localize the name.  e.g.  iFly, MySpinnerTricks, YourBicycleTracks, OurFishingTrips, TexasBigGameSupporters, ScottishCurlingClub, CollegePaymentsUSA, etc.
4. Coin new words from classic or other roots:  Miradiance  (Mira is Spanish/Latin for view), Frito Lay (Frito is Spanish for fried), Verantis (From verity = truth and Atlantis)
5. Use initials as well:   PFChangs, PrintDNA, SugarCRM, NGMoco
6. Combine parts of words: e.g. Solyndra from solar and cylinder, Sony from sonus and sonny, Transcera from transcend and era. Or even combine languages: e.g. NeuStar  (German + English words), Tambrio (English + Spanish).
7. Go Hawaiian, or African, or …     Akamai, Wiki, Ubuntu, Zynga
8. Squeeze vowels in (to make smoother pronunciations) like Avidasports, Affinaquest, or out (aka IM speak) to make for very short names like Flickr, Loopt, VCTRY.
9. Go phonetic with something that just sounds good and create your own meanings:   Cisco, Kinkos, Zanitar, Jamba, Brivo, Ariba, Skype
10. Work with a professional naming agency or consultant that tracks free domains and can also quickly implement one of the above techniques.

Number 10 is probably the least expensive solution when you consider the management time and legal headaches they also solve, especially now that competition has driven prices down to $6000 for corporate accounts, and much less for individuals or small businesses.

Invictus breaks through noise of film names

I had the pleasure of spending Xmas dinner with a Hollywood insider who was pointing out to me how bland and descriptive the titles of movies had become. Even Avatar borrowed a popular online gaming term.

And then there is the exception: Invictus.  Fancy naming a movie after an old poem. But also how clever and inspiring. Because while this movie is about Mandela and his first days in office in South Africa, it is also about many other things as people wrestle with massive sociological change. So much more than a specific story. I especially liked all the little vignettes that Clint Eastwood added to the movie so you never get bored (I only just managed to stay awake in Avatar as it is so predictable).

Like many books, the title is taken from one small key episode in the whole work. Now don’t you forget the great last paragrah of William Ernest Henley’s epic poem:

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

Oh dear…TabletMac is such a heavy name!

A year from now people will be so used to playing with their TabletMacs they will have forgotten what a heavy a name it has. Shouldn’t that word be reserved for companies taking their medicine? Who the heck came up with it anyway? (Probably Moses and his stone age friends).

Yes Apple, we know you have lots of brand power and marketing reach, but we are not accustomed to seeing such boring heavy names from you. It is time for a new category name, even if you have to cross over something like you did in moving iPod from internet kiosk usage.

This time you have Kindle and Nook giving you a run for your money on the book front too. Of course, we know you plan to become the standard for video reviewing too. So why not Vpad, or Vpod or VMac or PadMac… almost anything is better than the langourous Tablet name.

Emergency Golf released for all those facing their first rounds

Well this post is to announce a small book of my own, so I won’t be as egotistical as to try give myself a name award for the title. But I would appreciate any comments or feedback on whether the title grabbed you or not. One good thing about book titles is that you don’t have to check trademarks, because one bad thing about book titles is that you cannot protect them, and duplicates are allowed.

Since many sales, marketing and branding conferences include potentially a round of golf, and since many business deals are still done on the golf course, you may want to download a copy of Emergency Golf from FodenPress.com if you have never played before. I am trying to save you the heartache and angst I suffered on a number of occasions.

That is why I call myself the world’s worst beginner. But that is also why I have this unique viewpoint. I know first hand the little things that bedevilled me and lead to a number of false starts. You will probably save the complete cost of this book in lost golf balls the first month you are out there!

At very worst, you will enjoy the first few days more , especially if you have no time for lessons. Plus you will not hold up the rest of the group or make them mad at your basic ignorance of what they think of as a lovely game.

A big name award for the first kid’s book on naming

Well if we are going to issue name awards to names and their authors, then we had surely best also consider authors who write books for kids that are based on a naming story. Especially if it introduces kids to a simple naming process!

More importantly, it is a fun and educational and travel read for any young reader. It will also be enjoyed by the parents of younglings if you read it to them - at least the first few times!

Download a copy today from FodenPress.com and surprise them on the trip. Just when they get restless, pull it up on your laptop. Most adults with a young heart will also enjoy the story and see different overtones and places than the kids. But you can all enjoy the critters coming to life as well as the great illustrations.

On top of that, children can later go to the companion website (www.chimona.com) and look up more details on their favorite critters, as well as check the glossary for explanations of big or foreign words. If this sounds like a shameless plug for How Kelvyn Got His Name and the author Rosie Reay then it surely is… but I only do this when I really believe in the product, even when I am not an innocent bystander.

I am in awe of your story telling ability Rosie and can’t wait to help produce the rest of the Chimona Chronicles, along with our great editor Kyra Dawson of  The Brighter Scribe and our new favorite illustrator Candice McMullan. It will be fun to see even more critters come to life and start their travels around Lake Okenagan - or even around the world.

Concise and correct copy from Canada

Over the recent years I have encouraged a number of family and friends to start their own blogs. People I knew who could write - but people the world had not necessarily heard about - let alone hired for a writing gig. Then I finally got Kyra Dawson to blog - and she can’t stop. This is when you know you have hit a creative gusher!

Real artists just have to paint, real dancers have to dance, real singers have to sing, real namers have to name, and real writers have to write. It is in their soul and blood and must find release. The Brighter Scribe is one such person.

So if you are looking for a good copywriter, editor or blogger for your business, consider making a call to Canada where the air and writings are so clear - and the dollar goes further. The Scribe’s Desk may look a little messy - but elegant words flow fast and easy in this blog about books and movies. But Kyra can write well about most subjects, and is especially strong writing about books, sports, family, kids, pets, nature and health.

In addition, she has just done a great job editing my sister’s new book for children that will be out soon. Plus she is based in Vancouver, Canada, where so many Hollywood companies go to save a dollar - and more and more to employ the great Canadian resources available in British Columbia.

Now there is no need to deal with cultural and time zone issues to off-shore your writing projects, when you can near-shore them just north of the US border.