Know-How Exchange : Taglines/Names

As you say, "it is very competitive". How do you plan to be different? To provide customers with something that is missing? To tightly target a specific niche? Your planning should come before your name development.

Let's put this another way: what can you offer your customers that nobody else can (or will). Looking at who you are and what makes you special is the key here.

If you're not sure, send an email to at least 10 friends and simply ask them what they think about you. There will be some quality that runs through every response you get. With that you can get a glimpse of the things you can't see in the mirror each morning. This will make your tagline almost write itself.

Using this for your business will mean that you have something that makes you stand out - even if it's only for a small niche.

Before you leap in an purchase a franchise, contact a number of other franchisees (both new and old). What worked for them to get known? FB & blog by themselves are unlikely (by themselves) to build a following. It's about what you know, who you know, what you can do for your customers better than other agencies (or by DIYers), etc.

A name should also convey a specialty - otherwise you're just like the myriad of other franchises. What are your thoughts about a specialty?

You'll do yourself a big favor if you approach this by developing your marketing plan (and a business plan) before you do anything else. The process will force you to deal with the very issues that undo most new businesses. Ignoring those issues, or assuming they'll be taken care of by the franchisor, is a sure road to failure.

You might want to get your hands on a copy of the report "The 3 Pitfalls That Kill Most New Businesses ... and How You Can Avoid Them" (https://bit.ly/SstLq2). It could save you a bundle.

A creative name alone will not generate a large following. You need a name that's relevant and that matches the terms most searched for—particularly for an online presence.

Use the Google Keyword tool and search for matching and related search terms in the travel niche. Then, use a tool such as Market Samurai to assess page rank and site visibility potential. Your site or your own line presence MUST be able to out rank sites with PR of 1-3. Any sites you go up against with a PR of 3 or more will be harder to rank against and therefore, limit your potential to become visible.

Even if you go with a Facebook presence first, once you've found a key phrase you can rank for and rank for well, you really need to look at the availability of a matching domain name.

To avoid the risk of a key phrase rich domain being swiped out from under your nose, do NOT use a regular domain registry to do this, instead, use the domain search tools at fabulous.com. When you find a domain that matches your highly searched for search term that has a low number of competing sites BUY IT! Even if you don't get to publish the site for another 3 months (while you're creating content for it), you'll still have the domain name. When your site is ready, and once you've built up a following via Facebook, you then use social media to drive traffic to your new site.

You may find it easier to make money with your site by offering advertising, by signing up with Google Adsense, and by presenting affiliate offers. If you're going to offer affiliate products and you're based in the United States you MUST abide by FTC rules regarding your recompense as an affiliate. Read more here: https://www.ftc.gov/opa/2009/10/endortest.shtm

Good luck! A tip: start small and grow it from there. It's easier to find your way that way.