Starting A Blog: Picking Your Name

On Friday, I talked about Deciding Your Niche and how your niche will define you as a blogger.  I encourage you now to get out another piece of paper and begin brainstorming your blog name.  Keep the paper with your niche (what your goal for blog is) and begin to find a name that works for you. 

As you pick your name, here are a few tips that I used when changing Money Saving Tips for a Keeper at Home to Empowering Mommy:

1. Pick a name that is short and sweet.  A blog name that generally is over 4 words is going to be hard to remember, hard to say, and even harder to remember the URL for.
2. Pick words that are easy to spell.  If your name is easy to misspell, chances are people are going to end up misspelling it in your URL.
3. Pick a name that defines your niche.  When your name matches your niche, people know exactly what they are coming to your blog for.  Here are a few names that match that:
1. Money Saving Mom - I know when I go to Crystal's site, I am going to get tips about saving money. 
2. The Buzz 4 Moms - Even though this site is new, this name tells me that I am going to this site to hear about the latest and greatest things for moms.
3. My Frugal Adventures - I figure that this site is all about frugal tips and she probably even shares the great deals that she got.
4. 3 Kids and Us -  I expect that Cat is going to be talking about her life, her kids, and maybe the things she loves.
4. Do not pick a name that doesn't allow you any wiggle room unless you are committed with that niche for the rest of your blogging career.  I have found that bloggers can tend to change their themes and ideas after about 6 months - they find what they are good at and love.  By that time, their name defines them and they are often concerned that by changing their name they will lose their readers.
5. Pick a name that is easy to say on the phone.   One day you may find yourself describing your blog to someone on the phone.  You don't want a name that you are going to have to spell in order for them to understand what you just said.
6. Pick a name you are proud of and scratch any name that makes you uncomfortable.  My journey to picking EmpoweringMommy.com was terrible.  I hated my previous name and didn't even like to tell people in stores that that was my name.  Now, it's a different a story.  My name has given me a new boldness and I'm proud to represent the blog I write for.  

Picking a good solid name may take a little while.  Keep throwing names out there until you find the one you really like.  It should be a good representation of what you would like to see your blog become in the next 6 months, the next year, and even 5 years from now.  

Next time, I'll share with you how to buy your domain name and walk you through the process of creating your blog.