Should you Brand a Name or a Concept?

Hi Beth -

I went through a similar struggle for quite a few years. After initially using the business name Jeff Fisher Design, I toyed with adopting more of concept name and eventually settled on using Logo Motive, or some version of that name. Clients, friends, family and design industry peers were very vocal in their opposition to the name. The primary complaint, or observation, was I had spent years developing a reputation as "Jeff Fisher" and, with a name change, I would be losing that investment and value. The evolution of my business name and identity was a ten-year process. In the end, my solution has served me well now for over a decade and no one has any problem finding me on search engines through the use of a variety of keywords.

Best of luck with your marketing and promotion efforts.

Jeff Fisher | Jeff Fisher LogoMotives | Tweet! Tweet!

Hi Beth -

The goal with trademarks is to have a strong trademark. For word marks, the strongest word trademarks are words that are arbitrary or fanciful such that when consumers see the word, the only thing that comes to mind is the source of the goods or services.

When I say EXXON, who do you think of?

You have a lovely name, and your last name, HEMMILA, falls into the arbitrary and fanciful category in my mind. I also like HINT.

One thing that you can do easily is check to see if the trademark is registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. You can do that online here:

http://tinyurl.com/5f5lr6

If another jewelry seller is using HINT, you should go back to the trademark drawing board.

Best of luck with your business.

Mark | http://www.walterslawfirm.com/

Hey Beth,

I feel your pain. Naming your business can be one of the most difficult parts of getting it off the ground. It's easy to over-analyze and drive yourself crazy.

The name I selected for my business is Nocturnal Graphic Design Studio, LLC. It's a mouthful, and I typically shorten it to Nocturnal, or Nocturnal Design. It is derived from the fact that many years ago, while employed as a Creative Director with another agency, I was dabbling in the occasional side project at night, after work. When those side projects got to be a significant volume of work that made it reasonable to establish a business, for tax purposes, Nocturnal seemed like the appropriate name, given the circumstances. Eventually, when I struck out on my own full time, the name came with me.

It's served me well. There is a part of me that would have selected something different had I known at the time that I would be launching my own studio under the monicker (it wasn't my intent to do so back then). But, I have a great deal of equity in it now, so I won't be changing it any time soon.

I don't know that there is any moral to that story, but I thought it would be helpful to share how another entrepreneur decided on a business name.

To your case specifically... I like HINT. It's whimsical, mysterious, short, and easy to remember. Your name is beautiful, but I can see how spelling errors with Hemmila might present a problem, plus it might be difficult for people to recall the name. HINT is a word we all know, and it's easy to remember.

You have a unique situation because you are an artist. Although you're selling a product, it's really your name that gives it it's value. Have you considered HINT, by Beth Hemmila? Visually focus on the HINT part, and keep your name as sort of a tag line. Eventually, one or the other will develop the equity, and you can drop the other. Remember, POLO is actually POLO by Ralph Lauren. Everybody just says POLO, but his name is always emotionally attached to that brand. That's just an idea to consider.

I concur with what Mark advises above. Trademark issues should be addressed. A quick online review of the Oregon corporation commission web site will probably reveal if anyone else is using HINT. Beyond that, it's always advisable to consult a trademark attorney. After deciding on a name you'll need to develop a visual identity, i.e. a logo, business cards, a web site perhaps, and some other collateral materials. Before making the investment in design and production you want to make sure that you have the full rights in your business name. You don't want to have to throw away a lot of material because you found out after the fact that you're infringing on someone else's copyrighted name.

Bottom line is that, like Jeff above, you can successfully change your name later if you so choose. Ideally though, you'll want to have so much equity and recognition in the name and brand that changing it wouldn't be worthwhile. So, start with your best foot forward, and select something you feel you'll be comfortable with for the long haul, and then make sure you address all the legal issues so you aren't surprised by something later.

Good luck!

Beth, I too went back and forth on this for a while. Ultimately, I decided that I didn't want the name to be about me, but about my product. I wanted to create a "new" name to develop a unique identity for my cosmetic and accessory bags so I created Vemayca using a combination of names in our family. With that said, for you I like what Ken stated earlier, HINT by Beth Hemmila. HINT is easy to remember and simple to spell. You can create a strong brand around this word with a strong graphic design (with a hint that you design jewelry). Good luck, Veronica

Everyone else has already contributed great thoughts. Its always a struggle. I named my business after myself because I needed it done fast and I didn't have to file a fictitious name statement. I am still toying with changing it, especially if I end up moving out of the area I am currently in.

A couple benefits of naming a business something other than your name are:

-Better resale possibilities. Someone could easily take over your company when you are ready to sell and/or retire and design in your style or direction. No one will feel slighted that their name isn't on the door and no one will resent the old owner since their name is not in the business name. If I were to buy a business, I would buy a concept name (obviously, this is different in the case of large corporate mergers, where a designer, if big enough- such as Ralph Lauren, is a prestige brand).

-If the company doesn't work out, or you want to discontinue it or go a different direction for whatever reason- your name is not associated with a business closure or failure. You still have that protection.

I like HINT, but the all caps make me think of code language such as HTML. For whatever reason, I am drawn to lowercase. hint. Hint. HINT. Its a great name and concept, with tons of potential.

I like the idea of having a brand concept for your jewelry - and I enjoyed hearing how it came about. I would agree that using Hint by Beth Hemmila gives you the best of both worlds, with the visual focus on HINT, much as it currently is on your etsy site.

Another advantage to having a separate brand name is that it mentally reminds you that the business is a separate entity - something that's very hard for artists. A business is like a child - it has come from you, and feels like part of you, but it is ultimately separate from you.