I've been through the wringer a couple of times when naming a business and picking a domain name. Seriously, I think I've done it 7 or 17 times. For Tin Shingle, it resulted in a major company mailing us a cease and desist letter when our trademark application was days away from being approved. It was during the Publication phase, where companies have 30 days to challenge you. And challenge us they did.
We fought it for a year, and then gave up an settled. But going through the rebrand process was actually a great experience that resulted in one of my best names for a business: Tin Shingle.
I published three tips here in Tin Shingle's Tips section, so go check those out. But here are a few more inspirations behind the name:
- Signal to the Artists: Marketing is a business thing, and artists don't usually think of it as a priority. Additionally, I wanted to attract makers at the early stages of their careers. To get with Tin Shingle early and propel their brands.
- Work with my hands: I crave building things and working with my hands. I don't do it so often, but I dream to. Most of what I do is in the digital space, so having a business name that implied something physical was important to me.
- Have it be totally, totally unique. I stress this in the Tips article, but I'm saying it again. Please. Don't remove one word to make your business name different from a similar business name. Just think of something different. You risk handing all of the earnings from your marketing efforts to your competitor!