The Brainstorming Thread

[Lynn Terry]

[sunflowerlady]

Hi Lynn,

Wow, great topic!

Okay...I'm game. I want to create a fundraising website full of articles about fundraising. I'm having a challenging coming up with a good name for the website. I think fundraising should be somewhere in the title, or fundraise should be in the title. The articles are all about different types of fundraising events across the country and offer tips on how people have created these events. The website is targeted at professional and volunteer fundraisers who want to learn about interesting fundraising events.

I was thinking about something like www.letsfundraise.com but that's taken. So I'm still thinking. lol.

I welcome any thoughts or ideas.

Abby

[Lynn Terry]

Hi Abby,

When it comes to something like this, I head to WordTracker's free tool at http://freekeywords.wordtracker.com and first just try variations of the main word or idea. For this one, I tried fundraiser and fundraising.

I open a second window and use GoDaddy.com to find out if names are available as I come up with them.

In my keyword list I found "creative fundraisers" (44 searches a day). CreativeFundraisers.com is taken. I also saw "fundraiser ideas" with 158 searches/day.

A quick look shows CreativeFundraiserIdeas.com is available

The term fundraising ideas (ing instead of er) gets over 900 searches a day, so its safe to say that "ideas" is a good word to use in the domain name. Lots of people looking for ideas in that niche!

With that in mind, I keep looking for available domains with those combinations and come up with:

CreativeFundraiserIdeas.com
FreshFundraisingIdeas.com
ProvenFundraisingIdeas.com
ProfitableFundraisingIdeas.com
WeeklyFundraisingIdeas.com

What do you think?

[sunflowerlady]

Hi Lynn,

Wow you're good. I'm learning so much from you -- I should be paying you tuition here. lol.

I appreciated the link for the word tracker tool, and I like the fundraising ideas part of the website name. So I'm brainstorming about the rest. I like the ideas you've come up with, I'm just letting them roll around inside of my head for a day or so before picking one, and also see what I come up with.

I meditate (and pray) every night and I find that creative ideas of all types come to me at night. So I keep a notebook by the bedside table to capture my ideas. Hopefully some good website names will come my way.

You are a real Angel Lynn, thank you so much for your input -- it is greatly appreciated!

Abby

[Lynn Terry]

You are most welcome, Abby

Its important to come up with a name that is catchy or flows well, but you do also want to include keyword phrases. You'll notice with a 3-word domain name you can incorporate two different keyword phrases - which can be very beneficial!

Let's keep the brainstorming rolling - Anyone else?

[sunflowerlady]

Hi Lynn,

You are really good at this. I'm grateful for the tips at your website, they are totally helping me get motivated and get moving on this website thing I want to start, so thank you so much . If we are only permitted to ask one question, or you'd rather hear from other members of the group -- then please skip my question and answer from someone else.

I have a question -- about brainstorming. I also have a question about naming a business that I'd like your brainstorming thoughts on.

How do you brainstorm? How do you suggest someone brainstorms? I currently meditate every night and I find afterwards that things sort of "pop" into my mind -- they nearly wake me up at night but that seems to work. But I'm curious to know if you have a good brainstorming trick to share.

My other question is about naming my company, a sole propietorship. I want to have a number of websites, on various subjects. They are not focused on a single subject -- fundraising, scrapbooking, frugal living, Christmas -- all over the place. But I need some type of company name. Do you have any thoughts about coming up with a good company name? I'd like a company name that I can grow into, as my goal is to expand into even more websites and I want the company name to fit my websites somehow.

Now if I am being a question "hog" -- by asking more than my share on this thread I totally understand if you want to hear from someone else. lol The good news is that you've got me up and inspired and ready to go, so thanks for the jumpstart -- I totally needed that!

Abby

[Lynn Terry]

Hi Abby,

No questions are too many - that's what I'm here for

As a sole proprietor, you dont necessarily need a company name. Its not a requirement is what I am saying. You can get a DBA for your bank account even, if you work under (or get checks written to) several different names. I currently get checks with 3 different names on them, they all go into the same account. No big deal.

Now if you WANT a company name, that's a different story. Unrelated sites dont need to become related or interlinked, so it may just be for your own personal gratification. In which case you could call your company Sunflower Network or anything you prefer.

RE: Brainstorming - that's a GOOD question. I am not sure that one person's strategy works for another. I often find that having an "inner circle" of friends and/or business peers is a great asset because of the brainstorming that can lead to new ideas. I consider myself decent at it... but I have a few peers I turn to for feedback and their perceptions and ideas always amaze me. So if I had any tip at all, it would be to reach out and make "business friends" and create your own inner circle to network and brainstorm with.

[DesigningLife]

Hi Lynn! You've been my inspiration for years and I always enjoy the resources and knowledge you provide online.

My question is a little different. If a person would like a "stamp of approval" or a little recommendation on something they have created for the web, from some of the top-level marketers, what could they possibly offer to them that would be appealing? Of course they'll want to know, like anyone else, what's in it for them if they mention someone else's new website or product just once to their own followers.

I'm at a roadblock here because I don't have tons of traffic or subscribers to market to in exchange, nor do I have the funds to pay for an "ad" or "endorsement", nor the level of expertise or education many of the top marketers have....but I do have unwavering determination to become successful online, and a new resource that I think is pretty awesome and already is at the top of the search engines (#1 through #15) for keywords and could go very far in being a great place for people to get traffic just for being a free member and posting.

Appealing to the well-known names online is sort of like trying to buy a gift for the person who already has everything...what could someone like me possibly have to offer in exchange for a little boost?

Thank you.

Smiles, DL

[Lynn Terry]

You see the link in my signature, just below my name? If you click that, it answers ALL of those questions -- in great detail

Also, there are two free reports I am reading on that topic today myself (irony, I tell you!) but I cant give you a review yet as I have just printed them - but here are the links:

http://www.ezinemarketingcenter.com/jv- ... ructed.pdf

http://www.talkbiz.com/contact.pdf

[DesigningLife]

Wow Lynn, thank you that was awesome! As I was reading the first link, it almost appeared as though I was reading the very same inquiry I boldly sent to (gulp) Mike Filsaime. Edited to add, I really enjoyed the second link as well, and learned quite a bit from that. Thank you again.

He didn't say yes, but he also didn't say no either (which took the bite out of it a little bit). He was, at the time, off traveling for some of his own marketing ventures/meetings and had his secretary reply that he is not taking on anything more at this time so that he can catch up on his own things. The response was very pleasant - even though no one really looked at the invitation, and I've decided I had better get more ducks in a row before attempting something like this again. I am a little more confident about it though, after targeting one of the highest names I could think of.

It helps to remember there is a "person" behind those names, who started out at some point, probably somewhere near where I'm at.

PS, I'm considering starting my very first ever affiliate program with this one (have LOTS to learn about that so I will mosey down to your discussions on the topic - for starters).

Thanks again.

[scoretenz]

Hi Lynn,
I must say thanks for your willingness to help others.Now I am a newbie,slow but want to move on. I have a website with no returns. My son keep telling me that I can do it,but all my life give information and help for free. I really need help to turn this site into cash. It is Wonderful_Living.com. any suggestions?

[Lynn Terry]

[JimD]

Another great way to search for that "perfect domain name is to use word tracker, as Lynn said, to narrow down possibilities.

However, instead of Go Daddy I use Name Boy .

It not only shows which domains are taken it will also suggest possible domain names. You can set it so it will allow hyphens and rhyme if you want to go that route.

[JimD]

For got to mention in my previous post that, as Lynn knows, the more generic your key words the more difficult it will be to find that just right domain name.

I'm running into that now in searching for a domain name for an e-book / hard-copy book I'm writing. The ideal keywords would be Texas Chili Recipes however, everything I've checked so far is already registered. I should note that this will not be just another recipe compilation. There will be some history, stories, and humor included.

Any ideas or suggestions are very welcome.

[Lynn Terry]

A few ideas off the top of my head, and these are available:

TexasChiliKitchen.com

TexasChiliToGo.com

TXChiliRecipes.com