The Copywriter Source

Did you know that naming your business is copywriting? It is also SEO (search engine optimization). Why? Because the name that you choose for your business affects a lot of things. The name of your business tells people what your business does. It tells search engines what it does. If people can’t figure out what your business does by the name, then you should at least have a good slogan for your business.

Let’s add some clarity.

That doesn’t mean that if you sell food, that your business should be as simple as “Food Business”. That’s where semiotics come in, or that is, symbolism. Sometimes symbolism can be in a name, or even a logo. They can be simple or figurative.

Did you know that a person’s name can communicate an industry?

There is a lot to a name.

From the time you are born, people will begin to treat you according to what you are named. You may find that some people have different reactions to your name in relation to the cognitive bias that they have with it. One person may have a positive bias with it, while someone else may not. The Atlantic found out that some people are treated differently at their place of employment if they have a simple name.

What do you think of when you hear the name Charles Schwab?

You think finance.

Although it is named after a founder, there’s something about the name that carries the weight of finance.

Maybe it’s because the name Charles means “free man” and the surname Schwab is a German name, meaning that someone is a Schwabian, or rather it actually means someone who owns a business or property. It just so happens that Charles Schwab founded a wealth management company.

A name carries meaning, and that’s the reason why people in some industries use a pseudonym, such as Marilyn Monroe. Archibold Leach was the real name of a film actor who went under the pseudonym of Cary Grant. You can probably see why he went by the pseudonym.

The font that you use is also important.

When naming a business, everything should be congruent and consistent, and that the font fits with the name and industry.

Imagine if the Charles Schwab logo was written in a font like Comic Sans.

Everything that you write for your business should require much intentional thought. If it is not, then you risk being inconsistent and poor communication. And that is whether you have a huge business or a small business.

There is little toleration for arbitrary choices in today’s business world. Everything should be intentional. Yet, some business owners do not believe that what they name their business, or what they write on their business ads matters. Think about it this way. Would you want your salespeople to communicate poorly with customers?

It’s better to have a name that sounds serious than a name that is trying to sound unique. Companies like Grammarly, for instance, create business names from gerunds that when first heard, sound like poor grammar.

While the name of the company is memorable, it wouldn’t be advised that a small business name their company this way. For instance, Grammarly was built with venture capital from the start, and businesses that have a lot of capital and growth are used to taking risks. That matters a lot when choosing a silly or “clever” business name. The name “Grammarly” has proven to be a very successful choice.

A lot of times, companies try to give themselves clever names because a lot of business names have a copyright, and it is a good way to establish uniqueness.

Taglines and Slogans

Directly underneath your company name is sometimes a tagline, or a slogan, and that’s why we’re discussing this topic in this section.

It’s not a bad idea to have slogans and taglines.

They are fun for both the business owner, and the customer, and they represent good communication because they help people remember the name of the business.

However, just like your business name, your taglines and slogans should flow from what your business is about. There should not be arbitrary.

You may be tempted to use alliterations like, Reliable Relatable Remarkable. That may be risky because while you did render an alliteration, it sounds fake and superlative in nature. You would be much better to come up with a tagline that flows from your company’s mission and core values, or even one that emerges from your track record, such as “Helping businesses with smarter inventory.” This is a mistake that I often see when browsing through small business websites. They use advertising cliches instead of what will communicate best to the reader.

Another mistake is when small businesses add insignificant or even inaccurate details to the homepage of the website, often directly under the tagline. This can be copy that states things like “our qualified and friendly staff are always there to greet you”.

Most people landing on your website simply do not care about how qualified your staff is. Your customers are not hiring managers. They are there to get the product and get on with life. This is mostly true unless your staff’s qualifications are the product, such as an accounting firm. In most instances, customers don’t care about how many degrees your staff members have, or where they went to school, but as long as they are competent enough when it matters.

Another error is using cliches like “our friendly staff”. Is your staff really friendly? While that would be wonderful if it were true, you know that even the most happy people can get in bad moods. So, realizing that, you should never describe your staff as friendly in your website copy. So, if you write something about your staff, make sure it is true.

Content

The content that your business makes for websites, television, radio, and the internet is directly relatable to your business name.

The content that your website and business makes should be directly flowing from the business name, slogan and tagline.

Remember, that content was around before SEO, and your content should be more than just optimization. Big and small businesses both make the common mistake of simply having content to have it, and not to communicate with the customer.

This results in bland, perfunctory content that does not flow from the company’s name, mission statement and core values. Perfunctory content can generally be described as poorly communicative, general, boilerplate information that is catered to everybody instead of somebody.

Smart companies make very intentional content, that is original, and relatable. You can get all the information about anything you can think of from an encylcopedia, wikipedia, journal articles, and search engines. What does your content go into detail about that general information hubs do not?

For instance, when you look at the ToDoist website, you see that they have a lot of articles. These articles flow from the company name, ToDoist. The company designs a productivity software that helps people keep track of tasks.

Therefore, it’s no surprise that their articles are about anything related to productivity. Avoid the temptation to use your company blog as a personal journal with random musings, such as what you watched on Netflix. If you must, make a different website for that. Company blogs are public facing, and should have everything to do with the company, the company’s industry, or related topics that may be beneficial for customers and users.

Key Points

Realizing that copywriting is about communication more than persuasion will open up a lot of new opportunities. This will help you generate copy that communicates.

Copy that does not communicate properly doesn’t sell as well as copy that clearly establishes what it is that you do. That often begins with your business name.

Don’t worry, because if you have already chosen your business name, then you can still get around that with strong copy that communicates clearly, the benefits of your product, who it is for, and how to acquire it.

• Business names are the first form of copywriting in any business.
• Choose a business name that is relevant and communicates what your business is about.
• This business name can be direct, symbolic, but never irrelevant or silly.
• Never randomly choose a business name.
• Often successful companies with clever or silly names are backed by venture capital.
• The business name should flow with the mission statement and core values.
• The tagline and slogan should flow from the business name, and core values.
• Content should also flow from the business name.

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