Six-Week Start-Up. Rhonda Abrams

      Try different ways to search (“New User Form,” “Structured Form,” etc.) to see the various results. Begin by searching as broadly as possible—singular and plural forms of your words, similar words, alternate spellings, and so on. Results may show both “live” and “dead” marks. Dead marks are those that previous owners have let lapse.

      Keep in mind that even if a particular name or mark does not show up as being taken, this does not necessarily mean you will be able to trademark the name/mark. Some names may already be in use in interstate commerce but may not have been officially registered. Other names/ marks may not be allowed to be registered as trademarks. So don’t print up thousands of dollars worth of brochures just yet!

       Check It Out

      Start your trademark search at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office website, www.uspto.gov

      In Canada, you can do a trademark search on the website of the Canadian Intellectual Property Office, www.cipo.ic.gc.ca

      And remember, you may run into difficulty if you use a name that is similar to a bigger, better-known company even if you think you can get a trademark. McDonald’s, for instance, has been very effective in keeping others from using the “Mc” as a prefix for many different kinds of products and companies. A juice bar company was able to keep other juice bars from using names starting with the letter “J” just by taking them to court. Often, it’s the company with the biggest bank account and most lawyers, rather than the ones with the law on their side, that controls a name or trademark.

      If you are going to spend a great deal of money investing in a name and trademark, you might consider using a professional trademark search firm or hiring a trademark attorney to conduct a more complete search.

Secure a domain name

      An important part of choosing a business name and getting a trademark is researching the website addresses that are available. Before the Internet, you might have happily been able to do business in one state without being confused with a business using the same name in another one. Today, however, you need a “domain name” that is utterly unique, not just in your city or state, but in the world.

      A “domain name” is the name by which your website is identified and found. It is also known as your company’s URL (which stands for universal resource locator).

       Check It Out

      Sites you can use to register your domain name include Network Solutions (www.networksolutions.com), Google Apps (www.google.com/enterprise/apps/business), and Intuit (www.intuit.com/domain-name-registration/).

      To find out if your preferred URL has already been claimed by another company, you can check with any of the companies that host websites or with the Network Solutions website, www.networksolutions.com. (Network Solutions was one of the original official keepers of the domain name registry.) Type into the WebAddress search box up to 10 names you’d like to use, including the suffix (three-letter code such as .com, .net, .org) you’d prefer. For example, if your desired company name is Widget Manufacturers, type in widget.com.

      Don’t be disappointed if your desired business name (even your trademarked name) has already been taken. Today it’s increasingly difficult to find a website name that exactly matches your business name. With so many companies vying for valuable virtual real estate around the world, chances are good that another organization has already claimed what you would consider the perfect URL. And then there are “cyber squatters”— those people (or organizations) that have bought domain names with the intent of selling them to businesses that might want them later. It might not seem right, but even if you get a trademark for your business name, someone else may legally own the right to that domain name, especially since companies can have the same trademark name in different categories.

      Try to find a domain name that is as close as possible to your desired company name. Use the entire company name, for example, widgetmanufacturing.com, or adding a “co” or “inc” to the end of the name—i.e., widgetmanufacturinginc.com—if the basic URL is taken. And you can choose a different suffix, such as widget.net, to distinguish your URL from one with the more popular .com suffix.

      Although a domain name is only as good as the marketing budget—and the business—that it is attached to, it is, for most, a critical part of doing business. Some people even modify their company names slightly to make sure they can get a domain name that works for them. And, of course, you can always investigate who owns your perfect domain name (by typing it into your browser) to see if it’s for sale, and make an offer if it is.

      Ultimately, however, the success of your business won’t rise or fall on your domain name. You will have many other means for spreading the word about your business—business cards, brochures, networking events, advertising, word-of-mouth, and so forth. If customers like you and your company, they’ll find you online.

Consider logos, taglines, and colors

      Your company identity consists of more than just your company name. The colors you choose, the typeface you use, and what kind of tagline and logo you develop (if any) convey a message to potential customers. Right from the beginning of your business, you should consider what message you want to send and select a corporate identity appropriate for the type of business you’re starting. You should then use those elements of your corporate identity consistently throughout all your marketing and communication materials.

       Logos

      All of us are familiar with logos: the Nike “swoosh,” McDonald’s golden arches, Apple Computer’s apple-with-a-bite, Target’s red bull’s-eye. A logo is an image associated with your company, giving the public another way to remember you.

      Visual images make your company more memorable. There’s a reason for this: People learn things and remember things in many different ways.

      When prospective customers see your logo as well as see or hear your company’s name, they’re using more of their brains to process the information—both the verbal and the visual kind. So you make more of a mental impact when people associate you with both words and images.

      A good logo conveys something positive about your company. The Target logo, for instance, is simple and elegant. It tells customers that Target stores are where they’ll find exactly what they want at exactly the right price. The bull’s-eye logo also suggests competitiveness, accuracy, and efficiency, traits that shoppers—and shareholders—will appreciate:

      If you don’t have the money to have a logo designed, an inexpensive way to add a visual element to your business name is to just add geometric elements: lines, squares, diamonds, and so on. In my first business— business consulting—I used three sideways triangles, suggesting to prospective clients that I would help them move their business forward:

      A logo doesn’t have to be a drawing or illustration—you can make an “illustration” of just words. This is called a “logotype,”