How To Name Your Interior Design Business
Wondering how to name your interior design business? It's not easy, is it? I know you want to pick just the perfect name and oftentimes you're not exactly sure what you should pick because this isn't a decision to be taken lightly.
Picking the perfect name for your business doesn't have to be the thing that keeps you circling the cul-de-sac of indecision. You're just coming out of the gate and please don't feel like this is as important as naming your child. You can always change it down the road if you need to as you discover more about what your business is about. And believe me, this entire business of yours is going to go through more changes than a Kardashian's ass.
How To Name Your Interior Design Business Without Screwing Yourself In The Future
If you're totally committed to finding the perfect name right now you are going to have to take some time. Maybe even hire a copywriting company to help you flesh out your ideas. If you're bootstrapping this, then time is on your side and you could go the super easy route. Use your name.
My first business used my initials: AJW Design Co. Then I thought that is wasn't descriptive enough and went with Alycia Wicker Design. Yeah, I'm sure that send shock waves out into the universe. Not.
When I decided to shift gears, I chose the nickname we called our shelter dog... Mupplebee. Nobody in the world knew what the hell a Mupplebee was, but I didn't care. It worked for that period and business.
Now, what am I using? My name. If you don't want to dance around like you're walking on coals at Tony Robbins' fire-walking exercise, just use your name and move on with solidifying your business foundation.
Don't Want To Use Your Own Name?
There are times when you haven't been blessed with an easy name to spell or pronounce. I get it. I never could find my name on a souvenir key chain. You have some other options here. If you can shorten your first or last name like Gary Vaynerchuk (Gary Vee) then do that. Now, how about storytime to make it crystal clear on how to name your interior design business? Perfect, read on.
MEET SOPHIA.
She's a hippy-dippy kind of chick. She loves flowers and is known for how she includes floral designs into all of her work.
So she had the brilliant idea to name her design business Flower Design Studio.
Then she had this convo when she went into her 30-second speech about what she does.
"I'm Sophia and I help baby boomers who love to relive their happy hippie times by recreating the peaceful and loving interiors incorporating flowers into each design. You can Google me at Flower Design Studio."
Unfortunately, she was talking to someone who took too many pills in the 60s and lost their ability to spell.
So to Google they went and entered "Flour Design Studio".
Not to mention all the calls she gets from people who think that she's a florist. #fail
Oops.
MEET GINGER.
She specializes in Island and Tropical decor for those who want to get their relaxing vacation vibe on in their 2nd homes.
She met a couple who seemed really excited about hiring her. They asked her for the name of her company.
"Oh, I wish I brought a business card with me, but it's Cralegwick Interiors."
They responded with: "Oh, that's an interesting name."
Ginger said "Thanks!" as she tilted her head to the left.
The addled brain hippy went back home and tried to Google what he thought Ginger said. No luck. And another was client lost.
MEET BLANCHE.
She specializes in creating sexy master bedrooms to help clients keep the love alive in their relationship.
She goes to a swingers meeting ( #dontjudge ) and finds a couple who thought swinging was just what they needed to bring the magic back, except they felt awkward hooking up with the portly couple from Bakersfield.
Blanche told them that she knew exactly what they needed to spice up their relationship and creating the perfect environment for them to fully express their love was just what they needed to feel safe and get their sexy on.
They were sooo excited (not in that way) to hire Blanche. Blanche, of course, didn't have a business card with her because there weren't any pockets in her pleather catsuit. So she said:
"My website is Cream Interiors."
They went home and Googled her business: "Creme Interiors"
They found nothing and another client was lost.
People may and probably will mistake the name of your company. Face it, people are not that obsessed with you like we think they are.
You may have thought it was perfect and clever but clear wins every time. Someone could Google your name and end up at your competitor's website. That would be sad times at Ridgemont High.
DON'T MAKEUP HARD TO PRONOUNCE NAMES.
Like with Ginger who named who business "Cralegwick Interiors" she thought it was great because it paid homage to her maiden name, and her mother's maiden name and her husband's last name. It is hard to pronounce and not easy to remember.
DON'T CROWDSOURCE.
Everyone has an opinion on how to name your interior design business and opinions are like a-holes. So don't ask everyone else what they think about your twenty ideas. And if you do (because you can't help yourself) don't be so stubborn that you ignore people when they tell you that they don't understand your name. This is your baby, not theirs.
DON'T PICK OR MAKE UP SOME WEIRD NAME.
The worst thing you can do is name your business with a weird fucking name that makes people go WTF? Your goal should always be clear instead of being clever.
You're overwhelmed because you're trying to be creative... and yes, you are. However, as creatives sometimes this makes us so frustrated because we think we can come up with something ah-mazing and that is when we realize that we're not epic wordsmiths.
Naming your business "Shit Pickles" today might be hilarious and funny, but years from now you may be totally embarrassed with that name.
DON'T USE A MAP TO NAME YOUR BUSINESS.
While you may live in Dallas, "Dallas Interior Design" may not serve your long time goals. What if you expand into a product line? You may grow your business to serving clients living elsewhere beyond where your name implies.
BE CLEAR.
You're in the business of interiors, so using "interiors", "spaces", "rooms" or any other variation of what you design helps your clients understand what you can do for them. If a plumbing company named themselves "Turd Burglars" would you know to call them for your next plumbing issue like a backed-up sink? No. And it would take a lot of marketing for clients to associate "Turd Burglars" with plumbing.
DO RESEARCH.
Make sure that someone else isn't using the name you've come up with. You would hate to invest your heart, soul, and money into a name that you would eventually have to change.
CONSIDER HIRING A COPYWRITER.
They are geniuses with words. See if you can find one who can help you come up with a fabulous name. They often come up with ideas you wouldn't have considered or thought of on your own.
What To Do When They Don't Have Your URL For Your Business Name?
There you are ready to get your own interior design website started and you start to look for the perfect domain URL only to find out that the name you want isn't available.
Maybe there's another Jane Smith who already has her website established. Or maybe there's some dick out there that just bought the domain name and is waiting for someone to make him an offer. There may be a less dickish reason why they purchased the domain, but either way, it's not available.
Sonofabitch!
Alright, let's calm ourselves down a bit... did you know that your business name doesn't have to match your domain name. For instance, Tesla (the car company) doesn't have www.Tesla.com, they have www.Teslamotors.com. It's no big deal.
WHAT ARE YOUR OPTIONS WHEN YOU WANT THE PERFECT NAME FOR YOUR INTERIOR DESIGN WEBSITE?
BUY THE DOMAIN YOU WANT FROM SOMEONE ELSE
You could see if you could buy the domain from the person who is holding on to your "I MUST HAVE IT" domain. You might have to shell out a chunk of change after you figure out who you have to talk to. In some cases, that can be the biggest hurdle.
If you want to figure out who owns the domain you want, start your search at WHOIS. You may find their contact info there. It may be private and you'll have to contact the general email address shown there.
WAIT FOR IT TO EXPIRE
If you're not quite ready to reach out to someone about buying the domain, you can monitor the domain to see when/if it expires. If you do want to go this route, know that if you register through a service to notify you about when a domain expires that there are people out there that monitor when people are waiting for a domain to expire so they can try to snatch it up because they think there's some money to be made.
GET A DIFFERENT DOMAIN EXTENSION
There's another option, but I'm not going to recommend it. You could register janesmith.info because you can't get janesmith.com but the BIG problem is that people may not remember to type .info and end up at the .com instead.
PICK AN ALTERNATIVE DOMAIN NAME
You're in the interior design business. You have lots of options!
If you are set on using your name, then try adding words to your domain name like:
janesmithinteriors.com
janesmithdesigns.com
janesmithinteriordesign.com
janesmithdecor.com
janesmithdoesdesign.com
seejanedesign.com
You could also go another way that might be pretty fun. Think about all the things about design and decorating...
Living Room, Dining Room, Office, Chair, Fireplace, Desk or something like Pop Of Color (well, let's scratch this shitty one).
Using these words could be super fun! Like:
janeslivingroom.com
designsfrommydiningroom.com
fromthedesignoffice.com
bythelightofmyfireplace.com
designingatmydesk.com
I know it feels like the end of the world when you can't register the domain name of your dreams. However, know that you have lots of options when it comes to picking a domain URL for your website.
My Advice On How To Name Your Interior Design Business
Worrying about how to name your interior design business shouldn't be the thing that stops you when it comes to building your business. This shouldn't be the biggest decision of your business's life.
Put a time limit on this. Then go with something because I want you do get out in this world and do what you do best!! Promise me, okay?
Now go your research, pick a name and go with it.
Hola! I'm Alycia Wicker and I help online interior designers grow their business.
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