Lately, though, the priorities in this critical early stage decision have changed dramatically, which should lead to easier branding strategies for entrepreneurs.

In the past, picking a name was largely a creative exercise. My background is in intellectual property, and I’ve watched newco entrepreneurs struggle to settle on a name that succinctly and accurately identifies the company and its goals. Envision brainstorming sessions, creative consultants, and graphic designers all working with the entrepreneur to settle on a name, logo and an overall branding strategy.

Painful? Very much so. Especially when this process yields a “good” name that can’t be cleared based on trademark concerns. Ouch.

Importantly, this old strategy put branding before the naming decision, which often lead to incredible angst and pressure on the newco principals.

The scarcity of good domains has changed all of that, though. Here’s an anecdote to illustrate the point:

Last year I was involved with helping an entrepreneur get a new venture off the ground. His approach to branding was incredibly simple:

“get me a list of domains that relate to this industry…I’ll pick one, and we’ll name the company accordingly. Branding can follow that.”

While we did have a brainstorming session on relevant keywords, we didn’t consider the branding side of things until later. The critical lesson is the shift in priorities: branding is placed after the naming decision, and the naming decision is guided by the domain decision.

This has to be the branding strategy for new companies starting out in today’s world of limited domain availability. Not only should you start with the domain issue…but you should consider yourself limited by it as well. The domain race is, simply put, one you can’t afford to lose.

Find a good domain, buy it, and name the company accordingly. All branding efforts should follow, not precede, this critical early step.

Technorati Tags: domain names

Location-based generic terms, what I’ve come to call “localized generic domains,” are one of the hottest areas in the domain industry right now. Think ClevelandPCHelp, ToledoMechanics, and ColumbusMotorcycles. Why the sudden interest in these seemingly narrow generics? First, the search engines (Google in particular) have repeatedly stressed their interest in further development of “localized search,” which aims to tailor results for a user’s search to his/her current location. Search for “motorcycle dealers” from your home in Toledo, and you’re more likely to see ToledoMotorcycles.com near the top of the list than BobsCyclesofScottsdale.com.

But the value of localized generic domains goes beyond search. I like to think of these little gems as ‘instabrands.’ Imagine you’re a an entrepreneur opening a relatively modest local business…say, a tree care company in Toledo, OH. It’s 2007, so you absolutely must have a web presence, right? That’s a given. So you head on over to GoDaddy and start hunting for a great domain name.

Here’s where the savvy and not-so-savvy entrepreneurs part ways. The not-so will immediately think of (and probably be able to register) a unique domain based on his chosen company domain. Think “MadHatterTreeService.com.” He’ll rejoice in the fact that he was able to get the domain for 8 bucks and happily move on to setting up his website. What he won’t realize - probably for several years - is that the use of that brand-oriented domain will greatly increase the work he needs to do to educate his customers - and potential customers - about his services, and indeed about his existence.

The savvy entrepreneur, however, gladly seeks out a localized generic domain that accurately describes his business and the geographic area in which he operates. ToledoTreeCare.com is born and he’ll probably be rewarded with high localized search results (think of all those people in norther Ohio searching for information on the Emerald Ash Borer that has given us fits over the last few years). This doesn’t mean that he has to forego a brand-oriented domain. Nope, this smart guy will launch two or more websites when he opens his business, using the localized generic domain to lead the way and drive traffic to his brand-oriented domain(s).

If you don’t yet see it, here’s the domainer’s angle in this story: the savvy entrepreneur will likely be glad to pay a premium for that localized generic domain. He gets it, and he’ll pay for it.