Investors need to incorporate their businesses to add protection from liability and establish brand equity. However, few investors take the time to formulate the latter of the two.
Too little effort is put into choosing a name for a real estate business that will create a positive image, be influential, and establish a good reputation.
Although having a snazzy name for your new real estate business does not guarantee success, it does mean that it is important to pick the right name. According to Leonard Ang, CEO of iPropetyManagement, “Your company’s name can make or break future performances because it can really help you stand out in a crowded market. Stand out, have fun with it, but maintain credibility, always.”
Your business name is important because it will be the first impression you give to potential buyers and sellers.
As many real estate investors have learned, if you don’t take the right steps to prepare, your career will be shorter than you want it to be. That includes taking the time to come up with the right name for your investment company.
Whether you’re a new real estate investor looking for creative company names or an experienced investor looking for alternative house flipping business names, here are some steps you can take to find the best name for your business.
Pro Tips For Picking Catchy Real Estate Business Names
If you’re wondering how some real estate companies arrived at their names, it may be helpful to analyze why you admire them. You can learn lessons on how to start formulating your business name by identifying elements in great real estate company names that you like. Check out some tips below for choosing the best real estate company name for your business.
- Don’t use names that are too specific, as this could limit your business in the future.
- Look at your mission and values for potential inspiration.
- Make sure to look up your ideas to see if they are already trademarked.
- Think about how your business name will look on your website and social media.
- You should order a few mock-ups to see how certain names will look on your marketing materials.
- You should check online to make sure your name does not mean anything negative or have any double meanings.
- Check how many other businesses share your proposed name by googling it.
- Make sure the domain name you want for your business is available.
- You should check social media to see if the username you want is available.
- Consider what might change in the intervening years and whether the name will still make sense. You should think about how well the name will work in the future. Consider what changes might happen in the next few years and whether the name would still be appropriate.
- Maintaining a consistent message is important, especially if you have loyal customers or existing marketing materials.
- You should be careful when choosing alliterative names or acronyms because they might have a hidden meaning.
-
Make A List
First, brainstorm and write down as many ideas as possible.
The hardest part about being creative is getting started. It can be overwhelming to look at a blank page and feel like you have so many options.
Start by writing down any and all real estate names you can think of. It doesn’t matter if they’re not great or if they already exist. The important thing is to get started. You can come back and improve your ideas later.
Making a list of qualities you want your business to be known for can make the process easier.
What qualities do you take pride in? Write them down and consider how you could use them in your business.
Then, catalogue your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats After that, determine which marketing channels will be most effective in reaching your target market List your competitive advantages and the real estate niches you wish to focus on. Then catalogue your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. After that, determine which marketing channels will be most effective in reaching your target market.
Your business name can be inspired by descriptive adjectives, emotional responses, or images that you want your audience to think of whenever they see your business’ name.
Try to come up with a list of at least 30 ideas. It may take a while to come up with so many ideas, but it will be worth it in the end.
This list is a place to start gathering ideas. You will eventually narrow down the list.
-
Use Your List To Power A Business Name Generator
There are many online business name generators that can create a list of names using the information that you provide them.
Some of them include Brand Root, NameLix, and Name4Brands.
You can create a variety of names by populating these lists with your adjectives and ideas.
These lists can help to provide more inspiration, and narrow your choices down. Keep your choice to around 20-30 of them, and keep repeating the process if needed.
-
Avoid Hard-To-Spell Names
Now that you have a long list of possible business names, it’s time to refine that list and create a shortlist.
Get rid of any company names that are hard to spell. Even if they look great on paper, in a world where there are other well-known companies with easy-to-spell names, there’s no need to make things more difficult for yourself.
If your brand name is difficult to spell, you are making it hard for potential customers to find you online and remember your name.
-
Don’t Pick A Name That Limits Your Business Growth.
You need to focus on your real estate niche and hyperlocal area, but make sure you don’t limit yourself.
For example, if you name your company “Savannah Golf Real Estate”, you may find yourself limited to the city of Savannah and golf real estate if you expand.
-
Use A Name That Conveys Some Meaning
There are many successful companies in Silicon Valley, such as Etsy, Uber, and Google. These examples are now household brand names. However, these names on their own don’t tell you anything about the nature of the business.
In order for new clients to know what these businesses do, these companies need to spend a lot of money on marketing and advertising.
-
Avoid Puns, Pop Culture References, Memes, and Cliches
A career in real estate is a long-term investment, whereas pop culture, memes, and fads have a very limited lifespan. What may seem fashionable and cool today can easily become dated and unappealing just a couple of months away.
What is funny to you and your friends may not be seen as funny by your clients. You should be careful with using puns or other jokes in your business communications as some people may find them unprofessional.
You are helping clients make one of the biggest purchases of their lives, so your business name needs to make them feel confident and professional. Avoid using puns, cliches, and pop culture references.
-
Pay Attention To How Your Name Sounds, And The Acronym It Makes
Apple’s iPad announcement was met with criticism due to the name’s similarity to a feminine hygiene product. While the connection is not often made today, Apple had the brand power and customer goodwill to overcome the initial naming error.
If you’re just starting your real estate business, you won’t have the same built-in goodwill that Apple has to overcome a poor naming decision.
Choose a business name that sounds good when spoken aloud in multiple languages, paying close attention to possible negative connotations in other dialects.
If you want to make sure that your company’s acronym is not offensive, rude, or carrying a second unintended meaning, you should look at it.
To avoid making a mistake, it helps to get the opinion of people from other age groups and backgrounds on your name ideas.
-
Keep Your Hyperlocal Market In Mind
It is important to choose a business name that won’t restrict your company’s growth potential, but you should also keep your hyperlocal market in mind.
The location of your first real estate office is especially important because it will determine the success of any future expansion plans.
Choose a name for your business that is appropriate for your current market, but won’t limit your ability to expand in the future.
You should focus on golf properties now, but don’t let the name limit you. For example, “Green Fields Real Estate” works for golf properties, but if you decide to expand elsewhere it isn’t just limited to golf properties.
-
Make Sure The Name Is Available As A Domain Name And Social Media Accounts
Digital marketing and social media marketing are essential for success, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic and with the potential for more lockdowns in the future.
If you have a shortlist of names for your new business, you can check to see if the .com domain is available for any of them.
Checking if a given domain name is available for website hosting can be done for free with most website hosting providers.
Choose a business name that is available as a domain name and as social media handles on all social networks to make it easy for customers to find your business online.
-
Shorter Is Better
The shorter your business name is, the easier it is to remember. Try to keep it to 2-4 syllables if possible, but it can be longer if it’s easy to say and remember (like if it has alliteration or if it rhymes).
-
Make Sure YOU Like The Name
Make sure that you will be happy with the name you choose for your real estate business for the long term. To increase the chances that you will like the name, put your chosen name aside, sleep on it, and come back to it later. If you still like it then, it is likely that you will still like it in the future.
However, do not just stop at putting some distance. Show your business name to others, get their opinion, and see how your own opinion changes based on their feedback.
The reality is that our own preferences are significantly influenced by the opinions of others.
Conclusion
It’s important that you choose your company name carefully since it will have a big impact on your life for years to come. It can be expensive to change it later, and it might also confuse your clients and prospects.
The suggestions in this article will help improve your chances of getting it right.
If you’re interested in taking a look at AgentFire’s real estate marketing tools, including its single property website construction tools, you can schedule a tour and demo.
It takes a long time and a lot of money to market your business to potential customers.
Choose a name for your business that will make it easy for your target audience to understand what your business is about.
The name of PorchLight Real Estate Group suggests that there is a welcoming light outside your home, inviting you to come in.
The logo and imagery help to send the message even further.
