Hello,

I'm just starting as a VA and am still in the planning stages but hope to get things going in the Spring.

My niche is working with the academic community and I intend to target tenured and non-tenured professors, tutors, researchers, academic societies and academic charities. My background is an academic one, I've worked in various administrative roles in universities and have a Masters degree in Historical Research.

I've been trying to think of a name, one that doesn't sound too corporate/business, and I think I have one. My parents like it but my boyfriend is unsure so I wondered what your opinions would be!

Name: Gown and Town
Tagline: Administrative support for the academic community

Any thoughts would be appreciated!

Gown and Town is cute, but it doesn't really say what you do. When I hear Gown and Town I think of renting gowns to go out on the town, not about the VA industry. Maybe you could use the admin support part of your tagline and your full name could be Gown and Town Administrative Support. Don't know if that is the best name but it might get you thinking in the right direction.

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Pam
www.adminetcetera.com

Just a little bit of constructive criticism, hope you don't mind.

It's catchy but it doesn't say alot about the business or what you do.
Take a look at other peoples' names and see what the business name tells you about what they do.

It might be a good idea to Google "how to choose a good business name" for some tips.

Remember that the general public will also need to know what the business does.

__________________
www.a4-admin.co.uk
Helping you make the most out of your day!

Hi Nicola - Entrepreneur.com has a great article on How to Name Your Business which I feel you may benefit from.

According to the article, when choosing a business name, keep the following tips in mind:

* Choose a name that appeals not only to you but also to the kind of customers you are trying to attract.
* Choose a comforting or familiar name that conjures up pleasant memories so customers respond to your business on an emotional level.
* Don’t pick a name that is long or confusing.
* Stay away from cute puns that only you understand."

While looking at your business name I find it to be a little confusing until I read the tagline. Maybe you can do a little more brainstorming with words as they relate to the academic community. In addition, don't forget to double check and see if the business name is already being used.

When reading what your target audience is, I automatically thought "Your Academic VA" but some other words that popped in my head include: scholastic, educator, academia. You can also play with abbreviations, i.e. edu, va

Good luck!

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Maryann Cruz, Founder & Virtual Assistant
THINK Virtual Solutions, LLC :daisy:

Hi Nicola,

Great advice from Maryann, A-4 and Pam. I agree.

I want to add:

Although you will target academia, consider this...your business may expand to include other markets. For example, I started out working primarily with real estate agents but now I work exclusively with coaches. I say this because if you decide on an academic name, you might not be able to use it to attract other markets.

However, with that said, I do really like the fact that you could actually create a name for the business which has an academic flavor. A good tool is to sit down with a pad and paper and go through an online thesaurus or a book and find academic words which relate to your service and what it is about your company which makes it special. Just brainstorm as many words as you can and create lists upon lists and then create a name. Then by process of elimination cross off what does not appeal to you.

Janine

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My husband and I are in State College, PA, for the holidays. Last night I was reading about their First Night activities in a little magazine called Town and Gown. They even have a Facebook page. So you are right that it is a name that academia will probably recognize, but you might want to do a bit of research to see if it is already taken.

Janine had a great suggestion of writing names down and crossing things off the list as you go. I walked around with a little note pad and just rearranged words as I thought of them. Then see what websites are available. This will take a lot of suggestions off your list. See what you have left and then decide.

Good luck.

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Pam
www.adminetcetera.com

Nicola,

If you do the word-brainstorm exercise, feel free to post back here with some choices and we'll be glad to help you make a final decision.

Janine

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Thanks for all your replies and sorry for my late one! I’m afraid I’ve been busy with New Year and doing my tax self assessment!

I have been doing some brainstorming for the last couple of months and have done an online search for names I liked and have found that some of them are already being used by virtual assistants or have very bad SEO and I would have a lot of competition to get my website on page 1. Thanks so much for suggesting that I put some of my ideas to you. It would be a lot of help to have a number of minds thinking about it.

I thought of Gown and Town for the academic connection, it is a phrase that would be recognised by the academic community. However, as Janine says, I may be starting off in this area but who knows where I may end up! So perhaps something that isn’t so specific would be better. I have been thinking of Greek or Latin phrases or mythological creatures and most of my ideas have been in this area. I had thought about using my name but I think I would prefer to have a business name that I can build on.

My ideas, so far, have been narrowed down to
Adjutrix
Themis
Metis
Epiphron
Techne
Tyche
Chimes

I’m not sure whether to use Virtual Assistant, Administrative support, Secretarial Support as the other part of the business name (ie Adjutrix Virtual Assistant, Adjutrix Administrative Support Adjutrix Secretarial Support etc). I think using Virtual Assistant or Virtual Assistance would be better as that is what I will be! But I’d be interested in what other people think, particularly those who do not use the term Virtual Assistant in their business name.

My boyfriend’s idea was ‘Notepads and Nylons’ as I dress in a vintage style (well we both do) so can look like a 40s secretary some days. I had been trying to think of names that would reflect this as well, or at least sound like an old fashioned secretarial bureau but haven’t managed to come up with anything. I’m finding coming up with a good name quite hard. I think it may be because I want to give a professional image but not sound too stuffy.

I have another business (clothes making) and naming that seemed quite easy because I could be quite creative.

I’m looking forward to any feedback. The feedback I have had already has made me think so thanks for that.

My latest ideas are

Ex Libris Virtual Assistant
or
Jackdaw Secretarial

Any thoughts? I've not got a tagline for either of them yet. Not sure whether to use my original idea or use something less sector specific.

Not being familiar with the terms you listed I thought of some ideas.

Adjunct Assistant
Blackboard
Using Greek Letters.

Hope I keep you thinking.

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Teressa@Reese Virtual Assistant
www.reeseva.com