What is crowdsourcing and should I use it for a name?
Get the facts about crowdsourcing your startup, business, company, or products name.
What are the pros and cons of crowdsourcing my new business name?
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Is crowdsourcing really the best way to get a catchy name for my startup or brand?
There are a variety of ways to find a name for your company or product. One option is crowdsourcing.
What is crowdsourcing?
Crowdsourcing is when you source ideas from a "crowd." If you go to a crowdsourcing site to find a business name, you'll pay a fee, and then provide information about your business and what type of name you're looking for. Part of the money you pay becomes a prize paid to the creator of the winning name.
Soon, you'll have entries pouring in. You will usually have a way to rate entries and make comments. Some sites have a way to communicate with contestants, and some sites don't.
Crowdsourcing Your Business Name
You get a wide variety of name ideas from creative people all over the world. There are so many ideas, you have a great deal of options to choose from.
You have so many names to choose from, it's overwhelming and it takes way too much time to sort through hundreds and hundreds of names.
A member of the crowd can approach the naming process in a way you would have never thought of.
A member of the crowd can approach the naming process in a way you would never have thought of, but may not have a way to communicate with you about that approach and provide the thinking behind the idea.
While sorting through all the ideas, you may find several that are promising.
You want to talk to the people who came up with the names that have so much potential, so they can refine their ideas, but - the site you're on may or may not have a way for you to communicate with them. If you do have a way to communicate, those you reach out to might respond, and then again, they might not.
People from all over the world are giving you ideas. Some sites rate their creatives so you can see a bit of info about how long each person has been entering contests and how many contests he or she has won. At an additional cost, some sites give you the opportunity to work with the top tier of the most successful creatives.
You appreciate those people who are throwing ideas your way for free, but you have no idea what their qualifications are. You discover that many don't seem to have read your brief, some do not follow directions well and others should really look into alternative ways to pass the time. If those few uber-talented creatives who do participate on the site give you some amazing ideas but never hear back from you, they assume you didn't like their ideas and walk away from the contest. Those amazing ideas never have the chance to be refined, and you miss out on the opportunity to work with some creative folks who really do want to help you find a great name.
You can sort through and organize the ideas by rating the entries you receive. Rating systems may include stars, numbers, emojis, likes, rejections or comments.
After giving 175 ideas either 1 or 2 stars, you are exhausted and see that there are 723 more ideas waiting to be rated, with more coming in all the time. Unfortunately, entry number 632 was "the one," but you didn't make it that far. Many of the participants are asking questions and would like specific feedback on their ideas. Hmm, no big deal. That would only take, say, another 6-7 hours out of your day. The site may also be rating you based on the amount of feedback you're giving. A plate full of pressure with a side order of stress, anyone?
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I'm Lynn, the founder of Ink & Key.
Ever heard of mini-crowdsourcing? It's a term I created to
describe the effective, interactive naming experience we offer here at Ink & Key.
In a nutshell, mini-crowdsourcing provides all the benefits of crowdsourcing without the drawbacks. It's working just like I thought it would, too.
If you choose to use a crowdsourced naming platform to name your business, company, or product, one thing I've found is that it's easy to get overwhelmed by the huge number of name ideas you receive.
You don’t have time to sort through, individually rate, and leave specific feedback and comments about hundreds and hundreds of ideas, while the namers feel frustrated that their names aren't being seen or rated. The ideal name may be so hard to find it ends up getting lost in the shuffle.
The creative folks who are actually good at naming and care about the project don't get the opportunity to refine their ideas according to your wishes because they don't receive specific feedback.
You're busy and overwhelmed and give up on providing feedback after seeing so many ideas that aren't even close.
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In order to solve this problem, I have put together a team of the “best of the best” naming experts around. When you come to us for a business name, you won’t be overwhelmed by 1000 ideas.
After you start your project and pay, you'll get a questionnaire. After you get that back to us, you'll get an invitation to a Slack workspace created exclusively for your naming project.
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When you arrive on Slack, you'll be excited to see our first batch of naming ideas! You'll give feedback and collaborate with team members about their ideas. You'll easily interact with the entire team to provide direction and updates, and you won't have to spend hours and hours sorting through ideas in hopes of discovering a few good entries.
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We provide NDAs upon request. If you need additional research, we provide that at no additional charge. We can look into trademarks and alternative/international domains if you like, and we'll also be happy to research the competition for you to ensure our ideas aren't stepping on anyone else's toes.
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The Ink & Key Mini-Crowdsourcing Experience gives you the unique opportunity to access a team of naming experts and work alongside them throughout the duration of the project. Our team is fun and flexible, and will happily stay engaged in the process until you choose “the one.”
The way we do it at Ink & Key is a fun, effective, and efficient win-win situation for everyone involved. You get the advantage of working with a fun, diverse team of naming specialists that just so happen to operate within a full-service marketing agency. Our naming team can't wait to meet you and focus their diverse creative gifts on your naming project.
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Ready? Start your naming project right here.
If you have questions, use our quick form and ask away or schedule a Zoom call with me.
Mini-Crowdsourcing Your Business Name
With Ink & Key's Mini-Crowdsourcing Experience, you won't be overwhelmed by hundreds and hundreds of names. Our team is comprised of focused branding experts with unique styles and personalities who will provide you with the variety of ideas you're looking for, without the unnecessary factor of being overwhelmed.
With Ink & Key's Mini-Crowdsourcing Experience, each member of the team will communicate his or her approach and thinking behind each idea presented.
With Ink & Key's Mini-Crowdsourcing Experience, you have the opportunity to interact and collaborate with us as much as you like.
With Ink & Key's Mini-Crowdsourcing Experience, rest assured you're working with the best of the best. Upon request, I'll share our branding team's portfolio with you, and you'll see what I mean. You won't miss out on any great ideas because you're sorting through a ton of mediocre entries. Our team is dedicated to refining our ideas according to your feedback. Our process is relaxed, efficient and affordable.
With Ink & Key's Mini-Crowdsourcing Experience, you won't be under pressure to rate hundreds of names, and don't worry - we won't be rating you either. What we do ask is that you set aside some time as often as possible to interact with us and provide feedback. Our clients are usually surprised with how quickly we work and respond to feedback. The clients who are the most active participants get the most benefit out of our process. One client dedicated his Saturday morning to actively collaborating with us and providing feedback, and by Saturday afternoon, he had his name. If a client consistently interacts with us, most projects take a week or even less.
1. Get Access
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Enter your info to get access to my 5-part video series.
2. Watch the Videos
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You'll get your first video right away, and I'll send you one tip a day until you've got all 5.
3. Get Rid of the Stress and Get a Great Name
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I hope these tips will help you settle on a great name! If you need additional support, my team and I would love to work with you. Head over here to check out our naming packages and get started right away.