Your Name is Your Best Advertisement

2008-06-02 | Filed Under Virtual Assistance |

How did you choose the name of your Virtual Assistance company?

Hopefully, you didn’t do what I did. I was sitting out on the deck one beautiful June day, wondering what I wanted to do with the rest of my life (for the gazillionth time over the past 40 years). I had just read Barbara Sher’s book, “Refuse to Choose” so I knew that I needed a profession where I could constantly be learning and doing different things. I didn’t want to be doing one thing long-term, and I wanted to help as many people as possible. That’s when it hit me — Short-term Solutions! What a perfect name! I could do anything that sounds like fun with a company name like that.

So I wandered through the Internet, looking for a business structure that would encompass such a fantastic idea. I found something called Virtual Assistance. It sounded perfect, so I started called myself a Virtual Assistant. I printed up the business cards and designed the website and went out into the world of networking.
My first clue that my company name wasn’t going to be my best advertisement was when the first 50 people I talked to asked if I represented a temp agency. Uh oh. “Well,” I explained “I’m kind-of like a temp agency of 1.” Fortunately, almost no one in my area had heard of Virtual Assistance, so as I was educating them on what a VA was, I was also educating them on what “Short-term Solutions” meant.

If I had known then what I know now, I would have chosen a name that was specifically geared towards Virtual Assistance. Something that contained the keywords that potential clients search for. It would have removed a barrier that my clients have to hurdle in order to find me.

But, then I wonder, maybe Short-term Solutions will be a perfect fit for that next business that I decide that I just HAVE to start :-)

I’d love to hear how you “discovered” your company name. Please leave a comment and tell me about it.

Post Linx
Permalink | Trackback | | Print This Page | 2 Comments

Comments

2 Responses to “Your Name is Your Best Advertisement”

  1. Janet Barclay Janet Barclay on 2008-06-04 6:45 am

    I decided to add virtual assistance to my services about a year after I’d started my business, and needed to change my business name to something that would reflect both VA and professional organizer. (I also wanted a name that would still make sense if I later decided to stick with one or the other.) I struggled for days, then one day it just came to me in a flash!

  2. Melodee Melodee on 2008-06-04 11:07 am

    I love your company name – it’s professional and friendly at the same time. It’s great when you let your subconscious work on a problem for a while and it hands you the answer :-)