………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

In an effort to reduce the intimidation factor at the beginning of a new project, we often tell our clients that while they may not realize it, every one of them has naming experience. We’ve all named something in our lives, be it a pet, a child, or a nickname for our car or a friend. What I didn’t know is there is, in fact, a structured way for all of us to be professional namers. Clicking through a recent email that breached my spam filter, I came across a new competitor for Addison Whitney: NameThis.com.

This site offers “three world-validated names for your thingamajig in 48 hours”…all for the bargain price of $99. Eighty percent of this fee is distributed back to participating site members, meaning those who helped create or influence the winning names actually get paid for their ideas. Of course, there is no guarantee that the customer submitting the naming request is going to like the winning candidates or that they’ll be legally viable. If you were starting a new business, would you be willing to spend $99 to give a group of average citizens a shot at naming your company, product, service or website?

Contributed by: Ashley Hollingsworth