How to Choose Your Freelance Business Name

Knowing how to choose a suitable freelance business name is an important step on your road to success. Your business name is often the first thing people see or hear about your business, so it needs to make a good impression.

This post will guide you through the process of picking a great business name by exploring seven important steps:

1. Choosing your name or a company name
2. Keeping your services in mind
3. Researching the competition
4. Considering your target audience
5. Making it memorable
6. Avoiding restrictive names
7. Checking availability

Let’s get into it!

Choose Your Name or a Company Name

It’s worth considering whether you want your business name to be your name, something completely new, or a combination. For example:

• Your name (e.g., Emily Smith)
• Your name combines with a descriptive tagline (e.g., Emily Smith Content)
• Your initials (e.g., ES Content)
• A creative name related to your specialism (e.g., Wordsmith Content)

There are potential pros and cons to each option.

Using Your Own Name

In the past, the founders of companies would almost always name their businesses after themselves (e.g., Disney, Ford, Calvin Klein). Here are some benefits of using your name:

• Enhances personal branding. Using your name creates a direct association between you and your work, which helps to build your professional reputation. If you already have a good reputation in your industry, using your name will build on that advantage. 
• Promotes authentic marketing. Using your name, and building a more personal brand, can help you foster a more personal, authentic connection with your target audience (rather than being a faceless company).
• Boosts trust and credibility. Using your name can make your business seem more approachable and trustworthy. Many clients prefer to deal with a specific person, rather than a large corporation.
• Conveys affordability. Doing business with a bigger company often means paying larger teams of people – which could equate to a heftier price tag for the client. Using your name often signifies a smaller business, which makes you appear more affordable.
• Enables flexibility. If you decide to expand your service offering in the future, you can do so without changing your business name.

There can also be downsides to just using your name:

• Implies smaller scale. Some larger clients may assume that, as a one-person business, you won’t be able to handle more complex projects.
• Blurs personal and professional boundaries. Using your name means your personal life will be tied to your professional. For better or worse, public perception of you and your business will be connected.
• Limits branding. A creative business name is often more memorable than a personal name. It’s also harder to convey your services through your name alone.

Using a Company Name

If you don’t want to name your business after yourself, the sky’s the limit regarding what you can call it. There are lots of benefits to choosing a company name:

• It’s more memorable. You can choose a name that is creative, catchy, and easy to remember. 
• It clearly describes your services. Personal names don’t say anything about your business. A company name can provide insight into the services, products, and value your business offers.
• It’s easier to register. A company name is less likely to be taken than a personal name. You are also less likely to encounter someone with a similar name.
• It has a broader market appeal. A company name can help avoid any negative associations that come with being a one-person operation. A company name can suggest that your business is more established and that you can handle larger, more complex projects. 
• It’s easier to expand or sell your business. If you want to grow your business – for example by hiring employees – a company name may better represent your team. If you decide to sell your business, buyers may prefer a name that isn’t closely tied to an individual.

There are some potential downsides to using a company name:

• Reduces initial brand recognition. If you already have a good reputation in your professional network, using your name can help boost brand recognition when you first set up your freelance business. By contrast, establishing a new company name can take a lot of effort.
• Feels more impersonal. As we mentioned, some clients prefer to work with individuals rather than companies, forming a more authentic connection. Impersonal, corporate branding may not appeal to them.
• Harder to manage client expectations. A company name may imply a multi-person team, rather than a single freelancer. This could lead to mismatched expectations in terms of things like capacity and turnaround times.

Keep Your Services in Mind

When choosing a company name, keep the services you offer in mind. Your business name should give prospective clients a clear idea of what to expect. Highlight any specialty or niche you excel at and reflect any values you’d like your business to embody.

Here are some examples:

• A creative writer who specializes in romance (e.g., Heartfelt Creative Writing).
• A virtual assistant with a focus on office administration (e.g., Admin Angel).
• A tattoo artist who excels with pictures of animals (e.g., TatZoo).
• A proofreader with a keen eye for detail (e.g., Grammar Guard Proofreading).
• A tour guide who cares about the environment (e.g., Green Treks).

Research the Competition

Don’t forget about your competition. You don’t want your business name to be similar or conflict with existing businesses. There are several ways to check whether your name is already in use:

• Use a search engine (such as Google) to see if there are any websites or social media accounts with the same name (or a very similar name)
• Check business directories (e.g., Yelp) 
• Check trademark databases (e.g., United States Patent and Trademark Office)
• Check domain name availability (e.g., using Squarespace)

Researching the competition will not only help you know what names to avoid, it can also act as inspiration for coming up with something unique.

Consider Your Target Audience

After evaluating your competition, turn your attention to your potential customers or clients. Follow these steps to make sure your name resonates with the people you want to do business with:

1. Identify. Who is your target audience? What are their needs and how do you plan on meeting those needs?
2. Reflect. Think about the preferences of your target audience. You will want to choose a name that aligns with their likes and avoids their dislikes.
3. Communicate. Ensure the name you’ve chosen effectively conveys the value you want to provide.

Make it Memorable

When considering your business name, think of something that people will remember. You don’t want it to be too complicated or complex, and it should resonate with the type of people you want to attract as customers or clients.

While researching your competition, consider what you like and dislike about other business names. This kind of consideration can help you in picking a name. Other things to think about when coming up with a memorable name include:

• Clarity. It’s good to have a name that is easy to remember and spell. Make sure the name is easy to pronounce and has a clear meaning. 
• Tone. Choose a name that aligns with the style of your business (e.g., clever, creative, funny, serious).
• Distinction. You don’t want to copy another business. Having a unique name will make it more memorable.
• Emotions. A name that touches on emotions or inspires pleasant memories will help people remember it.

Avoid Restrictive Names

You don’t want your business name to hold you back. If you think you will expand the products or services you offer, pick a name that will be appropriate for the future. If you’ve decided to use a trendy name, you should be aware that other people may be using the same trend for inspiration for a name. Also, consider how the name will age after the hype has faded.

Words associated with government agencies or operations (e.g., police, trust, bureau) may need special permission to be used in a business name. 

Avoid names that could be considered offensive, discriminatory, or overly political. Be sure that the name you choose can grow with your business.

Check Availability

This step might have been partially completed while you were researching your competition, but there are some more things you’ll want to check. After you’ve come up with a few good names, you need to confirm they are available for any marketing material, email addresses, websites, or social media platforms you want to utilize.

Most freelancers market themselves online, and the value of an online presence can’t be overlooked. To make sure your prospective names can be used for a website, you can check out a domain name registry. If someone already has a website with your preferred name, consider altering it slightly or using a different extension such as .net or .xyz.

Becoming A Freelancer

If you want to kickstart a flexible, fulfilling, new, freelance business, check out our CPD-accredited courses. They can help anyone start a rewarding new career in proofreading and editing, content writing, and more.

Don’t worry if you don’t know which one of these options is right for you, take advantage of our free lessons and start learning today!