Episode 97: What You Should Know Before Naming Your Dental Practice
What was discussed?
Quote of the day: “Hard work without talent is a shame, but talent without hard work is a tragedy.” – Robert Hall
1. Consider Any Potential Legal Issues
Search in the US Patent & Trademark Office Website before deciding on a name. This is a really important step as you don’t want to be deep in the process of your rebranding efforts only to find out that someone else has already laid claim to your name. Another way to search is just by doing a Google Search! Searching for your perfect name in Google can often reveal that what you initially thought was a perfect name might be associated with some really negative stuff online.
2. Consider Having Your Own Name
A lot of doctors and dentists do this and it’s perfectly fine but is definitely something you should think about. If it’s a smaller community, having the practice named after you can often be a good step. However, if you plan on selling the practice one day it might detract from the value as the buyer will have to put a lot of time and money into rebranding the practice.
3. Try a Catchy Approach
Many dentists incorporate teeth or smiles in their names which is considered a catchy approach. If you’re considering a catchy approach, make sure that it’s different from others in the area. This can be difficult due to how common this approach is these days. Sometimes you might end up realizing that what you had in mind might not be possible when considering your competition and setting yourself apart.
4. Consider a ‘This Is What We Do’ Approach
It could be something to the effect of “Evergreen Smiles & Cosmetic Dentistry” which tells a little bit more about what you do. It’s descriptive and doesn’t force people to think about what you do. You want to make it as easy as possible for people to know what your practice is about.
5. Take the Location Approach
Try something that has the name of your city or area of town to localize your practice. It has some benefit as far as search engines go, but don’t base your decision off of that alone. If you have a landmark or park nearby, you can decide to incorporate that into your name. A few more things to consider: is the name meaningful? Does it emit positive and warm feelings? Is the domain available? What kind of a logo can I do with this? Will I need a tagline? Is it hard to pronounce or remember? What’s the image portrayed in people’s minds when they think of this? Do I want to attract families and children? Most importantly, is the name going to appeal to your patients? Will they remember it and will it be associated with good feelings?
For more information on naming your dental practice, check out this blog post: Dental Office Names: How to Name Your Dental Practice
If you need assistance with rebranding your practice or with finding the perfect name, contact us today so we can see if we’re a good fit for each other.
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