Podcast Episode 020: Naming Your Massage Biz

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In this Post: In Episode 020: Naming Your Massage Biz, we uncover tips and tools for effectively naming your business to set yourself up for success.

“ALIGN WITH THE MASSAGE BUSINESS MAMA” A PODCAST BRINGS YOU

EPISODE 020: Naming Your Massage Biz

Naming your massage business is something we often see slow therapists down. They get stuck in the creative cul-de-sac of trying to come up with the perfect name and, in so doing, stale out on making progress in other areas of their business. It makes sense. It’s hard to purchase a domain or make business cards when you are still unsure of your name!

In this episode of “Align with The Massage Business Mama,” we challenge you to PICK A NAME! We want you to commit to nailing down your name so that you can MOVE ON!!! Sound like a plan?

Steps for Naming Your Massage Biz

1. Brainstorm – Take pen to paper and list out all the possible names you can think of that might work for your business. Remember the golden rule for brainstorming. At this stage in the process, no idea is a bad idea. Write down everything that comes into your head.
2. Keep it simple – Now that you have your extensive list, you can start thinking critically. We are all about a play on words. However, this may not be the best strategy for naming your business. Let’s take Ali’s business, for example, Kneading Hands. She thought it was so clever when she came up with this name while still in massage school. She was SOOO excited. So, she ran with it. She built a practice. However, over the years, multiple times, she has been mistaken for a bakery. Obvious is best. This eliminates confusion. Why make it hard on your customer? Also, when you have keywords, like massage and spa, in the name of your business, you will rank higher for SEO when people search for massage in your area.
3. Avoid hard to spell or pronounce names – Hard to spell or cutsie spellings only make it harder for potential clients to find you. Same goes for hard to pronounce names. Clients will have a really hard time googling you when they can’t figure out how to spell your name!
4. Think about if your name is easy to remember. You WANT your clients to be able to remember the name of your business.
5. Consider your end goal – Is your ultimate goal to work only with yourself? Or, do you want to have a multi-therapist practice eventually? Or maybe, you want to start a massage franchise someday. Our end game can help dictate names that are good versus names that won’t stand the test of time.
6. Avoid specific locations in your name. There is a hair studio in my town called “Off 7th Studio”, this is cool because it allows clients to know exactly where to find them. However, if they ever were to choose to move, they would either have to change their name or risk confusing a lot of their clientele.
7. Do some thorough research to make sure no one else is using your name. To do this, search your secretary of state website to confirm there are no businesses already using your name.
8. Search to make sure the domain is available for the names you have narrowed down.
9. Get feedback on the name.
10. Commit and move on.

Getting a DBA

You can ALWAYS go back and change your name! Even if you have already set up an LLC or a Sole Proprietorship under a different name, you can still go back and file for a DBA – Doing Business As. You can file as many DBA’s as you like. So, if you change your name a few times, no problem, you can still operate under the same umbrella.

Now is this a strategy we suggest using frequently? No, not really. But it does at least give some peace of mind and FREEDOM if you want to change your name after you have set everything up.

Another thing to keep in mind is the same is true for websites. If you build a website using a name you turn out hating, you can purchase a new domain and direct your content to the old domain. This would mean you wouldn’t have to start a website from scratch, and anyone who knew you under your original name could still be directed to your website.

Again, we think it is better to pick a name and stick with it. Waffling in the back and forth ultimately will drive you nuts! But, knowing that you can use a DBA and a website redirect might be the push you ultimately need to COMMIT to a name.

Listen here: Episode 020: Naming Your Massage Biz