How To Choose A Blog Name You Won't Hate In 2 Years

(Last Updated 26/11/2017)

Are you finding it hard to choose a name for your blog?  Do you spend weeks coming up with new names and then questioning yourself, editing the name, and changing it

- A G A I N ?  

Do you find that even when you find a name you love, the question arises, how will I ever know if
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                                     THIS. IS. THE. NAME.

Yup, this is a common problem. I’d like to formally welcome you to the, I can’t settle on a name club.

Fear, worry and hair pulling early on in the naming process is absolutely normal (though not preferred).   Everyone in the, I can’t settle on a name club, has been there.

It’s a lot of pressure to deal with, this is a project which you could be working on for the next 5 - 10 years or more.  Some writers work on their blog for several decades of their lives.

Right here, right now, we are going to help you find that name.  

We are going to move you out of the

                               I can’t settle on a name club

and into the

                               Eureka moment 24/7 club

                                 It's much more exciting over here! 

You could do without the stress right, this is supposed to be fun.  

Remember??

Can you remember that moment when you decided you would start a blog, that rush of excitement!!

Well, getting your notepads in a twist isn’t doing anything for your creativity & is just leaving you feeling stuck before you’ve even started.

So, let’s stop the freaking out right now.

And remember that excitement you felt at the beginning of this project.

I can promise you, once you understand one simple fact, some of that stress is going to faaadeeee awwwaaaay.

That simple fact is…

                                    Naming is a process !!!

The top Creative Directors in the world go through a process to get their final ad concepts. QUOTE

The top CEO’s in the world went through a process to get their company names.

And you will need to go through a process before you settle on the final name for your blog.

So, if you find yourself with a million notes and ideas then don’t worry.  You are following the path of countless other creatives before you & you are on the right track.

Koepke, Creative Officer for  SapientNitro an Ad Agency in the USA explains,

“There's a lot of fear involved, because you feel a lot of pressure to come up with a brand new idea.  In reality you're just putting pieces together of a puzzle that many people have put together in the past."

As Koepke says, release the need to create something totally new.

I’ve been in the same position you are in, many, many times. It is so common to feel a sense of uncertainty and fear at the naming stage & pile up the pressure.

However, the more fear and overthinking you do, the less creative you become. So, before we move on, take a deep breath.   If you already have a ton of notes and ideas you are doing a great job.

If you haven’t got to the note-taking stage no problem.  I’m going to outline in just a minute a step by step process you can follow for naming your blog from start to finish.

But first, let’s get on the same page with something.

The Creation Process Myth

Just after University I was very blessed to have the opportunity to shadow a Creative Director at Ogilvy Advertising Agency in London. Ogilvy are responsibly for some of the most iconic ads of all time.

I remember sitting in the office with a brief in front of us, both staring and thinking. And then occasionally one of us would pipe up with a suggestion.

At one point the Creative Director said,  

“everyone else in the office thinks we never get any work done, we just stare into space for half the day, but that’s how we work."

It’s a complete myth that the greatest ideas come from a loud, chaotic space. If you’ve ever attended a corporate brainstorming event you might know what I mean.

Studies on brainstorming back this up as well. This study from 1953 found,

“it must be concluded that group participation when using brainstorming inhibits creative thinking.”

The Two Part Creation Process

Whiteboards, marker pens, post it notes & shouting is just the first stage of the creative process. The Eureka moment usually happens on the toilet.

Brainstorming sessions do have their place. They stimulate concepts, ideas & creativity.  But, usually the big idea comes after the event.  Someone ties everything together and out plops (okay enough with the toilet humour now) the BIG IDEA somewhere quiet. 

So, enough of the explanation, I hope we are on the same page now.  Let's get into the process of HOW you come up with your blog name!

There are two parts to the creation process.  Within each of those parts it can be further broken down into a process which you can copy and use for your very own EUREKA MOMENT!  

Part 1: Creative blog brief & brainstorm

Creating a blog brief:

It is important to capture the core of what you want to create with your blog in a brief.  This should happen before your brainstorming session & needs to be given to everyone coming to the session.

Please don’t switch off here.   (image)

Don’t worry, it doesn’t need to be a huge long, boring document. The purpose of it is to help you to define what your blog will cover, who it will help & how it will help them.

Include as a minimum:

Description of your ideal reader
Description of the types of topics you want to cover
Description of the problem you are solving for your reader
The name’s of the top 5 blogs in your space (your competitors)

For extra creative process points:

Tone of voice
Initial thoughts on branding & styling

 ​                            DOWNLOAD PDF PRINTABLE BRIEF

 ​                            DOWNLOAD PDF PRINTABLE BRIEF

Brainstorming with your tribe:

You might be wondering why I dispelled the myth on brainstorming in a group and now I’m asking you to brainstorm in a group.  If you are feeling hashtag confused let me clear it up first.

We are not expecting you to have your Big EUREKA moment during this brainstorming session.  The session is about collating research and ideas from different people.  And, for helping you to feel supported and excited about this process.

The Eureka 24/7 club is all about fun remember!!

And brainstorming is so much more fun with other people.  When it comes to the first stage of the creative process more heads are definitely better than one.

Here is a step by step process you can follow to set up your session.

6 Step Naming Brainstorming Session

1. Make sure the people coming to the session have read your blog brief.
2. Ask each person to print out images they feel represent your blog brief accurately
3. During the session ask each person to explain the images they brought and why they feel it represents your blog brief.  Use this as a launch point for discussion.
4. Collate the images which you feel best represent your blog so you have a visual representation of it.  Don’t worry about it being perfect, perfection is not needed.
5. Play the naming fireball game!!
6. Take lots of photographs of the session on your phone so you can remember the buzz + excitement.

The Naming Fireball Game

The naming fireball game is the last stage of the brainstorming session.  In the fireball you go round the group and each person calls out a name. It’s about quick fire answers, write all of the names down on a whiteboard or a piece of paper.   

Move from one person to the next and keep going for several minutes without stopping or questioning anything that comes up. 

The goal is to get as many names as possible in the set time.

If you are leading the fireball round and jotting down notes, make sure you include yourself in it as well, you will want a turn calling out a name.

For extra points print out the sheet below and use it as a real life fireball, ask members to throw it around the circle.

                                         DOWNLOAD FIREBALL

                                           
​                                          DOWNLOAD FIREBALL


Part 2: The Eureka moment

Go sit on the toilet. The End.

JOKE!  (though it couldn’t hurt ;))

Now it’s time to step into your awesomeness as a creative genius. What we’ve done up to this point is primed your subconscious mind with lots of material and ideas  for the name of your blog.

The next bit is actually not about doing much at all.

All you need to do is practice listening.  The ideas are already there.  Your big Eureka moment already exists.  

It’s just a question of listening and believing when it comes through.

Something I like to do is read through my brief & my brainstorm notes before bed. Make sure you have a notepad close to your bedside table to capture your Eureka moment(s) when they come.

If more than one name comes keep writing them down.   Eventually, you will find a name that feels right.

When you find it, you find it, there is no questioning.  

There is a feeling in the pit of your stomach that this is it and it could not be any other name.

I hope this has encouraged you that your Eureka moment is close! Follow this process and believe in your own creative wisdom.

Let’s end with a couple an example from one of the top entrepreneurs in the world just to show you…

                                                                       NAMING IS A PROCESS

The Eureka moment 24/7 clubbers are in great company!

http://eepurl.com/cs41o1The Story Of How Twitter Got It’s Name

Twitter was almost called “jitter” or “twitch”.  Thats right! Co-founder Jack Dorset explained in an interview, “We wanted a name that evoked what we did. We wanted something that was tangible. And we looked at what we were doing and when you received a tweet over SMS, your phone would buzz. It would jitter. It would twitch. And those were the early names, Jitter and Twitch.

And neither one of them really inspired the best sort of imagery. One of the guys who was helping us build and create the system, Noah Glass, took the word Twitch, and he went down the dictionary.

And we all looked at the Oxford English dictionary at the T-W’s, and we found the word Twitter. And Twitter means a short inconsequential burst of information, chirps from birds. And we were like, that describes exactly what we’re doing here. So it was an easy choice, and we got twitter.com for some very low price, and we named the company Twitter.

You see! 

You are in great company, the biggest companies in the world go through a process as well. If you are keen to try this 2 step process download the documents in this post.  OR for an easier to manage version SIGN UP HERE and we will send you an email with just the practical steps for this process & the documents you will need. 

It is a big time saver.

                SEND ME THE TWO STEP PROCESS & DOCUMENTS

As usual, let us know your thoughts in the comments below. 

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