SustainableWork

Your life as a new entrepreneur will bring you to the crossroads of 'I need the money' and 'I don't want to do this work', more often than you think in the early days.

When we started SmartSkim my first year's income was well below the poverty line, a statistic my daughters now wear as badges of honor because they lived through it with us as young people old enough to recognize what was going on. Startups can be financially challenging, but you don't need me to tell you that.

What you may need me to tell you is that as a new entrepreneur you don't have to take every job or every client that appears. The goal of smart startups is just the opposite.

I turned down a potential client this week even though the money would have been great. As Business Diligence rolls out, all new additions to the client list are helpful.

My problem was the client. He was a new economy guy who wanted to start a business in such a way that he could 'monitize it' by automating a web site to generate income. He assured me he'd read all the articles about gaming Google and been to several 'keyword seminars'.

Don't get me wrong. I'm a huge believer in using the web to communicate the stories and values of small enterprises. There has never been a more powerful tool in the history of the world of entrepreneurship. Back at SmartSkim, we were a very small manufacturing company, yet we had devoted customers on 6 continents. We did it with only four people on the payroll, due largely to our ability to leverage the web.

But this new world of monitizing web sites by generating keyword searches and selling Google ads while having very little content of value leaves me cold.

Small business startups are like making meat loaf. You've got to plunge in. You've got to commit to mixing up improbable ingredients. You've got to clean up the resulting mess. The process is not automated or done without effort. Yet the results can be wonderful and nourish you well beyond the event.

I turned down this potential client. He will not be the last.

The way to make Google work for you is to choose a truly great name that Google can find quickly and then build out your site with great content and a great offering to your end users. It's your job as a marketer and a salesperson to then make that name known. I helped several new clients pick names and launch last month. Within 2 weeks Google had found them and put every one of them at the top of searches with hits numbering in the millions because they had a unique name that served their offering well.

It's not keywords. It's content.

The world needs startups that solve real problems, not ones that are launched to scam Google algorithms.



SmartSkim™, my last startup

Labels: entrepreneurship, naming enterprises, startups

If your new biz is some kind of gotta-have-it, Web 2.0 breakthrough, it really won't matter what you name your enterprise (my hat's off to Wufoo.com).

If, on the other hand, you'll be among the 99.99% of us that will need to convince our potential customer base that our new biz has merit and value for them, I've found that you have to start selling your proposition immediately. This starts with the name of your enterprise.

It's the first thing your potential customers hear. I recommend you weave what you do into the name. Be subtle or not, just get your value proposition stated so that the target audience gets it and wants to hear more.

I apply this test to all kinds of enterprises... for profit, non-profit, social entrepreneurs, everyone.

My ex business partner Mary just told me about a GREAT name along these lines, called Bag, Borrow or Steal, the name of a new firm that rents designer handbags. It's fast, funny, hip, and gets the value proposition into the first moments of contact.

So, here's a short 10 step test I take clients through when naming their new biz:

1. Make the name say what your enterprise does. Use subtlety, humor, in-your-face shock or drama, but get the value proposition stated in your name.

2. Check that the domain name is available before you name your biz. You need a domain name equal to the name of your biz. Period. It's not as daunting as you think. Unexpected word combinations that describe your project will be laying around.

3. Make sure the name is legally available in your state. Most states have the name registration done through the Secretary of State or their Dept. of Financial Institutions, etc. You need the legal name as well as the domain name. Do these in parallel and do this quickly. When you find you have availability for both, and you REALLY like the name, jump on it.

4. Search the name online and see how many direct and closely related hits you get. If it's going to take you generations to climb the search rankings with a generic name, consider something more specific. I've had clients show up within 2 weeks at the very top of Google searches just because they named their enterprises wisely.

5. Say it out loud to see if you REALLY want to introduce yourself with that name, as in, "Hi, I'm Helen from Jumbledoodle Widgets". You're going to be (hopefully!) saying this a lot, so make sure you like the way it sounds to you and gets your meaning across quickly to your potential customers.

6. Answer a pretend phone call with that name in mind to see if it works for you, as in "Good Morning, Unsightly Undershirts, this is Bill"

7. Type out the name inside the space of a business card (2" x 3.5") to see if it fits, as in "AAA Articulated Angles and Architectural Anomalies of Albuquerque, LLC". Anything left for a URL or a phone number?

8. Put your new name into an elevator pitch, even if the content of th pitch isn't in place yet. Can you live with that name in that venue? "Hi. Scientific Sausage Products makes the best hot dogs for kids parties ever created." Hmmm. Perhaps reconsider if that's the market. What about, "Wacky Wieners will make parties so weird and so fun, that every kid in attendance will remember it 30 years from now."

9. Type up an imaginary eMail signature using your proposed name. Do you like the way that works?

10. Does the name attract attention in a press release. All small enterprises rely on guerilla marketing (link below). You need to snatch the interest of people who are being pitched more than you can realize. "Acme Products announces new flavors" does not hold a candle to "Flavor Explosions breaks Richter scale with new taste treat".

These are good tests. I do them with each start up for myself and for clients. Importantly, it helps set me up with a name I can be proud of and speak confidently about as I launch it into the world.

That confidence is priceless for a startup.

Choose well, and go get 'em friend.

Bag, Borrow or Steal

Guerilla marketing

Labels: business plans, marketing, naming enterprises, startups

I recognize the idea of a slow start up movement is not for everyone. But it can be a very appealing path for many entrepreneurs.

The world will still be moved and shaken by fast start ups that get faster and better. I love that approach also, but a slow start up movement for those not involved in official start up channels has great merit.

Before I leave this slow start up movement idea, I'd like to post a real world example that I've just advised a friend to follow.

She thinks she wants to start a new enterprise and have it up and running so that it could support some or all of her income in a year or two.

Good. We've got a start. We've got a goal. Now let's get it underway.

The first thing to do with a slow start up is hurry. There are two things you need to do ASAP.

Let's assume you've identified a field you can make a contribution to.

The very first thing you need is a domain name. The web is where you'll tell your story. Your domain name helps define your story.

Ideally your domain name should also be the name of your enterprise.

To get to a great name, focus on what your contribution will be to your market, what solutions you will deliver. Those words and ideas can be woven into a short, memorable name for your enterprise which in turn becomes your domain name.

Naming enterprises can be like magic. You're bringing something exciting to life unexpectedly. Take some time with this. Then hurry up and get that name.

You’ll need to register the name of your enterprise with your state and your domain name on the internet as fast as possible.

To do this you need to research both simultaneously.

Start by researching available domain names. You can be hugely creative in the combination of words and numbers to get a really great name. There are about a million new domain names registered daily according to domain name tracker DomainTools, so you should move quickly.

There are many sites that let you research domain names. I find it's usually best to register the domain name with the group you'll use to host your site. These sites have simple search engines that can quickly tell you if the name you're searching is available. I have used LunarPages.com for the most recent sites I've set up. Their support team is first rate and prices are great.

Let’s say you’ve found a name you love and one that will tell your story well. Next you need to make sure that name is available in the state where you live.

Most states let you search on line to see if the name is available. (More on this soon, but I believe that forming your enterprise as an member controlled LLC is wisest for seed stage start ups and sole proprietor type enterprises). In this case, you’d search your state's availability using your proposed name ‘Widgets, LLC’.

To locate the site for your state, search using your state name and the search terms "register LLC". You can also call any local office associated with economic development and they can help you find this information. My state of Wisconsin has a very simple on line form to create an LLC. It takes about 10 minutes to complete. Cost to register a Wisconsin LLC is $130.00 (12/16/06). Try to go direct to your state and do it yourself on line if you can. You don't need 3rd parties to do this for you.

If the name you’ve chosen is available on the internet and in your state, go get ‘em. Take a deep breath, enjoy the moment, and reserve the name in both spheres.

You don't need to launch your organization or put up a web site now. You're just preserving the domain name and the legal name where you live.

If you’re ready to take your first enterprise steps, lock down your name as fast as the muse allows. Done right, it can light your path and help you jump out of bed every day.

Then you can settle back and enjoy your slow start.



LunarPages domain search

Site for State of WI on line LLC registration

Current stats for active domains at DomainTools.com

Labels: naming enterprises