The thought of renaming your blog or business can be exciting and scary at the same time. I know this because I've been there. Before Color Hug came to be, my business name was LrnM Design and was a classic example of a brand that was not well thought out.
To start, the R and N in "Lrn" had a line over it on my logo representative of a long "vowel" even though they aren't vowels. The name was pronounced "LaurenM Design". Unfortunately no one ever pronounced it properly (everyone pronounced it L-R-N-M or "LearnEm"), and I had to explain it every time I spoke with someone. Initially I had no tagline, then a year later I tweaked the brand (kept the same logo, changed the company colors).
This was also a crucial time in business where I decided that I was going to create products to sell rather than designing for clients, so I added a tagline, "Paper Goods for the Modern+Eclectic+Chic". I felt really good about this brand and the tagline and kept it up for two years.
After much thought, I finally decided that I didn't want to keep a confusing name for a company, and the tagline really didn't reflect the products that I created. I was trying to make my company into something that it wasn't (the products were definitely not eclectic). Then doubt started creeping in. I realized that there were so many paper goods companies out there and I wondered why anyone would purchase my products over others? I then had an epiphany. There are billions of people in this world with so many different tastes. I realized that there are people that will enjoy my products enough to buy because everyone's tastes are different and there is more than enough of the market to share with other paper goods designers. Because of this I decided to create a brand that would carry products that I love and that reflected who I was inside: a person who LOVES a multitude of color combinations, LOVES beautiful design and LOVES paper goods. I also wanted to provide colorful, witty products for other people that were color lovers. Color Hug was born and has been around for four years and going strong. Now when I meet someone and tell them my business name, I say it with pride because I love it!
Color Hug has expanded its offerings to include services and tech training courses. The paper goods will still be around but in a different capacity (specifically for bloggers and creative entrepreneurs). I decided on offering tech training because I have used various systems for blogging and in my business that have worked wonders and have saved tons of time! I love to share this information with other bloggers and entrepreneurs to help them to do the same, because let's face it...time is something that we could all use more of!
I encourage you to take a look at your brand and business name and ask yourself if it makes sense and if it reflects you. Also, consider if it is parallel with your ideal customer/reader. Of course you want your brand to appeal to a particular audience, but are all of your products/services geared towards something that doesn't reflect you in some way? You want to love what you're putting your heart and soul into, not just doing something because it's the "next big thing" or because you think you are going to make boat loads of money. If this is the case for you, please consider re-evaluating your brand. You will be much happier and proud of your company if you do.
To get you started I have created a FREE e-mail mini course, The "Heck Yeah!" Guide to Naming Your Blog/Biz. Click the button below to sign up!
