domain Received some great advice on brandable domains

[Rothex]

Hey NP,

I received some great advice on brandable names from @Joe Nichols on my appraisal thread the other day and I wanted to share it here. The domain in question can be determined from the keywords that are referenced and the extension is .com. I've also included a link to the full thread below.

https://www.namepros.com/threads/closed.1057199/#post-6499727

Does anyone else have some points to add? What are your own experiences with brandable names?

And thanks again @Joe Nichols!

Hey @Rothex,

I had a quick look at both your keywords (Calorie and Whisperer) in namebio, and neither one appears to be particularly popular in the aftermarket.

I also had a look on Google, and the term itself doesn't seem to be in use anywhere.

From a strictly subjective standpoint, as a brandable name, I don't think it's very intuitive. By that I mean that I'm not sure the two words really belong together. The popularity of the "whisperer" term came from (I think) the Horse Whisperer novel and movie, and so the word really needs to be paired with a living creature to make any sense. Check out this definition from Dictionary.com:

"Whisperer - a person skilled in taming or training a specified kind of animal, typically using body language and gentle vocal encouragement rather than physical contact."​

For this reason mainly, I think you'll have a difficult time finding a buyer for the name. Brandable names are so hit-or-miss already, but especially when they don't have clear, existing end users. So if you're going to invest in one that doesn't have any existing end users, the two words really need to have excellent synergy (borrowing a term from @Keith DeBoer there) to be worthy purchases.

Unfortunately I'll have to give this one a reg. fee valuation, but I would still put it up on the big marketplaces with a low XXX BIN and see what happens before renewal time comes around.

I do like a couple of the names on your portfolio site, so keep plugging away! You're on the right track with Specialty/Movers.

Not a problem! And I agree that it can be challenging to find good brandable names, especially without breaking the bank. Brandable names have become very popular in the last year or two.

Some good rules of thumb for two word brandables are:

1. Generic is good... but keep it simple. Generic names can be applied across a wide array of industries, so owning them means increasing your pool of potential buyers. A great example was discussed on a Domain Sherpa show I recently watched. One of the pros sold EasyAngle, which sounds great, uses the "Easy" qualifier, which is so positive and brandable, and "Angle" is generic enough to be applied in a lot of ways. On the flipside, if you get too fancy with generic names you end up with stuff like SleekNet or LushLink, two names I registered early on (blech).
2. Industry specific names should be bang on. This is where synergy comes in. If one word is a product or industry, the other word should match it beautifully (or at least nicely). EnginePros, CreativeCook... stuff like that.
3. If at all possible, only buy names that will be useful to existing businesses. This way you know you already have some potential buyers, and if you don't feel like waiting around then you can approach them yourself to try to make a sale. Seems kind of common sense, but I hadn't really given it nearly enough consideration until another member here mentioned it to me.

Joe

 

[DN_Hunter]

In terms of "Brandable" Domain Names, the points mentioned are pretty good, but that's just "half" of the story. Those points deal with combining real dictionary words to create a brand.

But there's another side to "Brandable" domain names. They don't necessarily have to be real dictionary words. Think Xerox, Kleenex, Nike, Spotify, Pinterest, etc... These types of brandables can be a slight change to the spelling of the real word, a "Mashup" between two real words (i.e. part of one word combined with part of another word), or completely made up words (combination of letters that are pronounceable). All of these types can be marketed to form a unique Brand.

For the "Made Up" variety, I prefer to keep them shorter in length, but there's no hard rule on how long they can/cannot be. And I prefer that they sound good when saying them out loud, and lean towards a positive / cheery sound/meaning (rather than a negative / gloomy meaning). Unless "Negative" is what you are after...

Regards,
DN

 

[Rothex]

Excellent point as well @DN_Hunter. Would you say companies are looking more for short pronounceable names like Uber and Hulu or do you see an equal interest in the chaining of keywords that make up a brand name?