What's in a (business) Name?

Followers of the ancient Kabballah believe that a Childs' name determines his destiny. I think
this is true of small businesses as well.

So what's your business name? If you don't have one yet, or even if you do, read the article below, you may come up with some new ideas.

You could go the easy way and go with "Caricatures by Joe Shmoe." Most caricaturists I know do this. This works especially well for individual artists since you don't have to trademark your
name. It also simplifies things at tax time for sole proprietors. Pretty straightforward too, which has the advantage of helping to "brand" yourself. You don't have to be a sole proprietor to use this method; Kaman's Art Shoppes is an example of a larger business that chose to go this route.

Then there are those of us who want to be a bit more creative. Or funny. Krandel Newton's "Butt
Sketches" comes to mind. This is a terrific way to draw attention to your business.

My sole proprietorship is named "Making Faces," I have a small caricature logo of myself sticking out my tongue I always place underneath it on business cards. Always got me plenty of attention, which translated into a lot of busine$$.

There are plenty of creative names out there, such as Robert Bauer's "Goofy Faces," a bit of a larger company,  and Ron Kantrowitzes "Mugshotz." This method has the advantages of standing out from amongst the crowd, although you'll have to do a little legwork in order to secure your business name.

First go to www.trademarkia.com to trademark your new name. You'll need to do a search to make sure no one else has your name in our field, but you can do that right on the site. Next you'll need to go to your local business licencing department in your area and get an assumed name certificate. And make sure you get the domain name for your website before someone else snatches it up! They're only usually about $12.00 and you can do a free search as well as purchase your domain name at www.godaddy.com.

Whichever you decide - straightforward or creative, its imperative that your
business name makes it self-evident that you're a caricaturist. Or a comic book artist. Or whatever your chosen field is.

Also keep in mind that your name will probably show up alphabetically on agents
lists and on lists on the Internet, so you want a name that will show up alphabetically, for example, A+  caricatures.

The adding of -icatures or -atures to a noun (for example, ipadatures TM) is a trend that seems to be on the downswing. The drawback of this type of name is that it's NOT recognizable to the general public as a niche in the caricature market. When people see this type of hybrid name, they often wind up scratching their heads and saying "huh?" Not very good for advertising when you have to explain your name to each and every one of your customers.

Several of the newer businesses out there such as Sean Garners "Zombie
Caricatures TM", and "Facetime Caricatures TM", are opting not to go in that
direction.

Finally, remember that you'll be using this name a LOT. It's like naming a
child. You'd better be able to love hearing it, saying it and typing it ad
nauseum.

Name your "child" well, and watch it grow into a full-grown adult with pride!