Hi guys,
I was trying the new Name My Company app at
https://www.brandbucket.com/name-my-company/
Initially, I was thinking I would try to suggest one or two of my own names if they were a good fit or suggest someone else's name if none of mine would work. I ended up suggesting a few of my own and a couple that weren't mine.
If you have a decent size portfolio I think it could be a good way to promote your own names. (though I wouldn't suggest forcing one of your own names if it doesn't work well with the idea)
Even more importantly, the app provides a good window into how potential buyers think. Reading a few of those descriptions really got me thinking from their perspective. It was somewhat enlightening if not unsettling to see how a few of my names that I thought were pretty good didn't seem quite up to snuff when I was trying to find a proper name for these potential buyers. I came away from the experience with a reaffirmed belief that I need to be very selective in my name picking process.
I'd recommend checking out the app.
@AndrewRice -
Glancing at the link this morning, I see your point about the interesting perspective the write-ups provide when complimented with the names entered. It does put you in brainstorming mode.
Some observations / suggestions for the app...
1) (positive) - Several voters entered
descriptions with their votes. The descriptions were insightful, but more important, I found myself drawn
first to those names with a few words of concept added. So, as a 1st time viewer (virgin eyes) to the app - voting is nice, but making the extra effort of adding a description when voting definitely gets a person's attention and caused me to pause for a moment to think. Descriptions engage.
2) (positive) - Definitely interesting to see which names have 2+ "up" votes. I found myself ignoring those names with 0 or only 1 vote. It was funny that instinctively I assumed 1 vote to mean it must be the voter's name - and I recognized afterwards that may not be the case - but to be honest that was my 1st impression. I found myself drawn primarily to those names with
2+ votes.
3) (negative) - I would be interested in contributing (voting) on a few entered names to share my views with the Name Requester, but the app requires a Twitter account to vote. Not interested in having a Twitter account, but it would be nice if (for example) any member of BrandBucket with 10 or more Accepted names would be allowed to vote and share their insight with the Name Requester. I found the Twitter account requirement a drawback.
4) (negative) - There needs to be a way to "down" vote (not by other sellers) but by the Name Requester to downgrade some of the shotgun submitting by name owners of 1-2 names that they entered to each and every Name Request topic. The shotgun submitting clutters the app. The sorting by "up" vote tally does address this issue a bit, but spam entries gives a cluttered feeling to each list of entries.
5) (suggestion) - The feedback loop could be greatly enhanced if the original Name Requester were to have the ability to "like/dislike" each of the names submitted. Similar to PickyDomains, this would provide feedback to those submitting names as to the type of names that the Name Requester finds to be a good match (and the process of clicking "like/dislike" by a Name Requester is a decision process - and might move a browsing buyer closer to a purchase).
6) (suggestion) - If possible, there should be a "reward" system for those who vote "up" on a submitted name that is later purchased at BrandBucket. Ideally the app would limit a user to no more than 3 votes per Name Request and the system should incent those who vote "best" (defined as consistently voting "up" on names that are purchased). The reward could simply be 100 BB Credits if the name they "up" voted was purchased and 10 BB Credits if the name they "up" voted was "liked" by the Name Requester. Another "reward" idea might be a Top Voter ranking system added to the app to recongize those users who have voted "best". A way to recognize users (voters) for their time & insight contributing votes.
Overall - The app is an interesting promotional idea. If there could be a way to reward for quality voting, this app could be an extremely powerful communications loop between potential buyers and sellers.
-Jim
