SMILE, not SCRATCH (When You Pick a Domain Name)

It would be great if you’d enter our naming competition. We’re currently calling our online language exchange service Lingolink; unfortunately, the lingolink.com domain is already taken and the owner is not willing to sell it to us.

Once the service is up and running the winner of the "competition" will receive a special mention on this blog!!! (Exciting, isn't it?!)  To enter, by Friday, Sept 5, please send me your top five names. Feel free to include your friends, co-workers and family members as well. Make it a fun, brainstorming event :o)

Through the name of the service we want to communicate the following characteristics:

We connect people from around the world through language exchange.

We’re an on-line market for the buying and selling of language services.

We’re the go to place where people have fun and make friends from around the world.

On our site users feel that we are using technology for learning unlike anyone else. This is the best way to practice speaking a language.

Users say “aha” after using the service. “I finally understand what that word means.”

We’ll most likely pick the name that meets the following criteria:

Needs to possess these qualities

Simple –- one easy-to-understand concept

Meaningful –- customer instantly “get it”

Imagery –- visually evocative, creates a mental picture

Legs –- carries the brand, lends itself to wordplay

Emotional –- empowers, entertains, engages, enlightens

Deal-breakers

Spelling-challenged — you have to tell people how to spell it

Copycat – similar to competitor’s names

Random – disconnected from the brand

Annoying – hidden meaning, forced

Tame – flat, uninspired, boring, non-emotional

Curse of knowledge – only insiders get it

Hard-to-pronounce – not obvious, relies on punctuation

I can't wait to receive your suggestions!


PS. This is my avatar...