It is small business week and the blogs that I am reading this week are packed full of great useful tips for me and many of my clients.  The one that is on my mind right now is regarding how to choose you business name.

When I look back at choosing my companies name, I can honestly say, I started with just my name being business name.  Then, I moved on to my initials.  Pretty common moves so far…  Then, I added 26 (my anniversary date) to my initials.  It was starting to feel better but we were still not there.  Then, my husband called one day and said, “I got it, Design 26!”  I loved it right away.  It sounded catchy yet creative yet it was going to require someone to think “I wonder what the 26 stands for???”  For me, I felt that would bring my customer closer to building a relationship with me.  They would reach out and ask what the significance was of the 26.

My company name stayed that way until I re-organized my website.  In that process, I was consulted to add the word “Graphic” to my name.  Design is a very broad word and adding the word graphic to it would give my customers that much more knowledge in what I offer.  It also would help Google find me when that customer searches for a graphic designer as opposed to just a designer.

So, my name has been changed now for a little over six months.  My business cards haven’t changed yet.  They will once this stack runs dry.  I would love to hear your thoughts regarding my process.  Recently I had someone ask me what a graphic designer even did.  That made me think again about whether or not I had chosen the correct name…