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I’ve been working on some new websites for awhile now and I have amassed a list of resources that were pretty helpful in coming up with things like domain names and just general brainstorming around company names. We all want a really cool name for our startups and websites… Right? A name that stands out, is easy to spell, easy to remember etc. Coming up with a name/domain name combination can be tricky, since seemingly every good name is taken. For me it is usually just an issue of getting my creative juices going, so here are some really good sites to help find a good name for you website or company.

My Number 1 Tool

Before I get into all the web 2.0 name generators, I have to say that my favorite tool, by far, is:

Thesaurus.com

The easiest thing you can do is start off with a defining word, something that encapsulates everything your startup or website stands for, enter it into thesaurus.com, and you are off. You can easily begin blending and discovering new and interesting names. Their word of the day feature can also be very helpful.

Name Generators

1. The Web 2.0 Web Generator - Click a button, get a name. The lazy man’s solution. There are actually some really good names in there.
2. Bust A Name - Give Bust A Name a handful of words and watch this AJAX machine go to work! From a usability perspective, Bust A Name is fantastic. Easily and quickly add and remove words, save domain names you like. Very Cool!
3. Dotomator - Looking to do a little bit of work? Give dotomator a list of prefix words and a list of suffix words and let it mash them up, all combinations spit out.
4. Kessels Name Generator - Random names are generated based on “languages” such as Elven, Dwaven and Ork.
5. Web 2.0 Name Generator - Pretty cool. Enter a ton of keywords and it will generate a single name for you.
6. High-Tech Company Name Generator - Give them your actual name and profession and names will be generated based on that.
7. NOEMATA Name Generator - Lists random names on each page refresh.
8. Web Two Point Oh! - Random names and product generation. I believe these are based on existing web 2.0 companies.

Domain Name Generators

9. SnapItNow - Pretty flexible tool for finding a good, available domain name. I’ve gotten some good suggestions with this tool.
10. Nameboy - Limited, but still may be useful to you.
11. Webmaster-Toolkit’s Domain Name Generator - Enter a single word or phrase.
12. ICDomains Domain Name Generator - This one actually sucks. Don’t bother.
13. Hack/ DMG - 15 random new names on each click.
14. MakeWords - Ok. Spits back some pretty vanilla suggestions.
15. Name Generator - Takes 3 keywords and hands out variations on those words.

General Name Generators

Here are a few name builders that could really belong to either header, or may be good for developing product names.
16. Wordlab Name Builder - Generates recognizable, 2-4 syllable words.
17. Drug-O-Matic - Geared to generating pharmaceutical names, but some of the names I found were pretty good.
18. Name Your Band - Ok, so it is for naming bands, but still useful when in the brainstorming process.
19. Morpheme Machine

A morpheme is a meaningful linguistic unit consisting of a word or word element that cannot be divided into smaller meaningful parts, and we cram them together in over 151,000 ways in our little machine. - wordlad.com

20. ACME Namemaker - “Here are over 26,000 ways to blend in quite nicely.”
21. Hobbit Name Generator - Just for kicks.

Some thoughts on naming your startup or domain name

While some people think that a name really does matters much, I think there is a good degree of importance, in a name, but not only for the names sake alone, but the process you go through when developing a name. I know I usually over think names for new domains I am launching instead of spending time on actually building my site. But there are implications, ideas and worldviews that can easily be attached to your company name and domain name, all to your benefit.

A good example may be YouTube. I know several people who hate the name and felt it would really hurt them in the long run, back when they first launched. This obviously did not hurt them. In fact, the name probably really helped them.

22. Make it short and sweet - The shorter the domain name, the better for a few reasons. For one it means there is less to type into the address line of a browser. It’s quick to get to. It is that much easier to remember. Low syllable words are easy to verbally express to others. Which overlaps into the next suggestion.

23. Use recognizable words - When you use a made up word, it makes it that much harder to remember, spell and pronounce. Which, of course means that your name recognition will not spread as quickly. Make things easy on your visitors by giving them words they are use to, it does not matter if they are funny combinations.

24. Spell it like it sounds - Google looks right, but it’s not. Squidoo is another good example, I think. It is a made up word, but it is spelled just the way it is pronounced. So using a funny or made up word can be redeemed if it can easily be spelled - As long as the pronunciation is easy as well.

25. Don’t use a temporary name - I have made this mistake and even Seth Godin recommends against it. What ends up happening is you throw up a “filler” name onto your prototype website, something quick and easy. But as you begin to build your website around this temporary name, you begin to identify with it, and even like it. The problem is that it really is not a name that fits with what you are doing, but it has grown on you so much that you can’t leave it behind. So you either stick with it, if it is a name that has not been registered, or you begin looking for names that revolve around your temporary name.

26. Have fun with it, push the envelope - Don’t be afraid to really push your name to the edge, explore “controversial” words or ideas that are fun. When you really push your thought process, you will actually help come to a better understanding of your company or website.

Still need some more help?

If you want to move past the “generators”, here are some articles that give advice and tactics on developing a name on your own.

27. How to name your company (ThinkVitamin.com) - Great article on all aspects of naming your company. From delegating the task itself to the brainstorming process.

28. Yudkin/generate.html - This is a guided step process that will help you get the creative juices flowing.

29. How to create a company name or slogan (The link is to the Yahoo Cache. PDF is here: company name or slogan) - Tips geared more towards picking the RIGHT words for your company or slogan.

30. 7 Secrets to Good Brainstorming (FastCompany.com) - Some great tips on brainstorming in general. This is often the root of the problem.

31. Choosing a Company Name (SideRoad.com) - Discusses the implications of the names you choose and how to work from that perspective to develop a name.

Company List

Sometimes it helps just to browse and read about current companies to get you thinking about different ways others have developed their brand and name.

32. List of Company Name Etymologies (Wikipedia.com) - A massive list of company names and their origins.

33. TechCrunch Company Index (TechCrunch.com) - Lists all the companies they TechCrunch has profiled. The majority are web 2.0.

34. Mashable’s The Social Network Grid (Mashable.com) - Not a comprehensive list, since it serves a different purpose, but useful none the less. Especially since you can filter by company type.

Just do it for me… Companies that will, that is

Don’t want the headache of trying to come up with a name. There are plenty of companies that will help, for a fee of course. (Names + Their Tagline)

Brains on Fire - We help companies create and sustain excitement about who they are and why they are here.

IgorInternational.com - The best product and company names require the least advertising.

A Hundred Monkeys - Naming a company? You need a lot more than a naming company.

Jell Creative - Plain talk. Clear thinking. Relentless energy. A sense of humor and humility. Sound good? Then we’re a match

Moveo Integrated Branding - Movéo drives business results by helping organizations build brands and then delivers cross-media solutions to enhance them.

That is all I have. If you know of other branding companies, please let me know in the comments section below.

Above all, create a kick ass website

When all is said and done, build a killer app that you truly want to use, and things will fall into place much easier.

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Want to boost your inspiration, those “A Ha!” moments? I know I always get stuck at some point of a new project or venture I am perusing and I hate how so many things in our every day lives can adversely affect our work. I have quite a few things I do on a day to day basis to help boost my inspiration, but I want to concentrate on the real shifters, the tasks that take time and reflection to truly see results from, for the long run.

So here they are, my top 8 methods I use to boost my inspiration.

1. Go on Holiday
This is probably the most important thing you can do for your self, personally and for inspiration. As someone who spends endless time online, I get so wrapped up in online communities that I fail to realize that there is an entire world out there to explore one that is being completely neglected. Holidays not only rejuvenate you, but introduce you to new ideas and problems that have yet to be solved. It is really interesting to see how other cities do some really clever things with everyday objects. Or how companies “test” items in cities other than your own. Seeing all the R2D2 Mailboxes scattered around Austin and San Antonio was very inspirational to me. It even helped me come up with a new logo I was working for a friend. I am NOT a designer by the way… I use Photoshop to crop and resize… that’s about it.

2. Rip Your Internet Feed Out of the Wall
Do you seriously think that searching all day for that perfect idea to launch your startup will help you reach your goal? No! The internet can be a curse as much as a blessing so turn it off and remove the distraction. This is something that took me a very long time to ween off of. The internet is my crutch and I really needed to learn to live without it… well, not without, but in more manageable ways.

3. Take Up a New Hobby
This is about what you will learn and how it can be applied to “main” line of work as well as be a great stress re-leaver. When you learn something new, say learning manual camera photography, your mind will open up to ideas you never thought possible and as you solve problems within your new hobby, such as determining when and how to use depth of field techniques, your mind will react that much quicker when attacking new problems.

4. Throw Stuff Out
I will let Merlin Mann take over on this one…

1. identify all the stuff in your life that isn’t in the right place (close all open loops)
2. get rid of the stuff that isn’t yours or you don’t need right now
3. create a right place that you trust and that supports your working style and values
4. put your stuff in the right place, consistently
5. do your stuff in a way that honors your time, your energy, and the context of any given moment
6. iterate and refactor mercilessly

So, basically, you make your stuff into real, actionable items or things you can just get rid of. Everything you keep has a clear reason for being in your life at any given moment—both now and well into the future. This gives you an amazing kind of confidence that a) nothing gets lost and b) you always understand what’s on or off your plate. - 43Folders.com

Sorry for the cop out.

5. Change Your Diet
I could and should do an entire post of the mental benefits of the right kind of diet for maximum mental motivation, but I will keep this short and sweet.

Diet is everything! What we eat helps our bodies rebuild itself on a yearly basis and we need high quality foods to help it function. In this ADD afflicted world we live in concentration is key. Concentration inducing foods include:

• Iron Rich Foods - Foods like blood pudding (yuck), liver, game birds like pheasant and goose, cashew nuts, paprika (very high) and curry powder (very high).
• Omega-3 Oils - Fish (salmon, halibut, herring), flaxseed oil, canola oil, walnuts.
• Bluberries - I am not sure where I read this… Must be the antioxidants.

An easy quick fix is to eat your proteins before your carbs There is a lot of debate on this (carbs or protein before a workout), but most science points to sugars being absorbed slower when you eat proteins first, hence your energy levels do not diminish.

6. Get Out There and Socialize
Go to parties, networking socializers, shows and mingle with people. They will give you so much inspiration if you probe them about their interests or line of work. You will be shocked how explain your ideas to someone who has completely no idea of what you talking about inspire you. Their complete misunderstanding will lead you in directions you would never have thought of. For so long I labeled myself as a “home body”, completely false, to spend my time “working”. All I was really doing was fading away.

7. Read Fiction
Pretty obvious, but put down the professional and technical books and pick up some fiction. Some places to start, or my recommendations:

• Jesus’ Son by Denis Johnson
• Tumble Home: A Novella and Short Stories by Amy Hempel
• Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino
• Syrup by Maxx Barry
• A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories by Flannery O’Connor
• The Giver by Lois Lowry
• The Ice at the Bottom of the World: Stories by Mark Richard

8. Have Lots and Lots of Sex
Ok… Sex just kicks ass! Just have lots of it and watch the stress melt away.

I made a quick comment awhile back on news.ycombinator.com about how I felt that a sense of ownership is vital and will be the next steps internet startups will take.

I think this idea of ownership is growing as “everyday” web users feel a need to own their online identities and data. We already are seeing this with tools like Weebly. Web developers and techies have enjoyed this luxury for quite some time. - http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24089 in reference to Subdomains + Development = Sucks: A quick tip from Kevin Hale of Wufoo

I have been thinking more on this topic so I thought I would get my ideas down on, um digital paper.

What I Mean by Ownership
Since the internet and web hosting has been made possible, really only tech savvy people have been able to setup hosting accounts and services to house their domains. Techies can quickly piece together all the loose ends that go in to setting up a new website. Registering a domain and hosting account. Writing the html/PHP/Perl/whatever. Uploading the data, images etc. Setting up emails for a variety of scenarios, mailing lists, forwards, etc. And so forth.

We are inherently attached to our websites so there is no question of ownership. It’s ours. Then came along sites like Geocities that really changed the game, anyone could start a website, but “ownership” lightly faded. Things like the domain name, which no user owned, were brought in to question.

I have never signed up with an online backup solution for similar ideas. I know is 20+ years I will still have all my data, music and pictures, on some form of local media that I will be able to access. And I can easily migrate it to whatever new media storage comes along. I am in charge of it. The problem of course is that not everyone knows how to do this, even though it is painfully simple. This is a huge reason why I love the idea behind Drobo. I helps people take charge of their data. What you get is massive storage AND redundant backup that is painfully easy to manage. Not an internet technology, but since so much of our data is moving online, I think it applies.

Maybe I am the only one, but I think that the current trend of locking people in to a site is a horrendous use of technologies.

I feel like I really lost my direction and focus so I am just going to stop writing…

Now a days you can easily launch a startup based on some simple idea you may have, a socially networked review site, a file sharing site and all the other vanilla ideas that have been done again and again. I do not think that the problem is that the same problem is continually solved over and over again, but that people discourage others from doing just this. Not only is there plenty of room for a variety of takes of the same types of applications and web apps, but people should, and do, welcome variations with open arms.

Jeff Atwood has a very interesting post he recently wrote: Avoiding Walled Gardens on the Internet. Definitely read it because it will get you into the mind of a developer, the way they see the internet. The article mainly concerns itself with the “closed” nature of social networks such as Linkedin and Facebook (many feel Facebook will be the next AOL). Jeff begins on a point that is very interesting, and is what really gives an intimate look into the mind of a developer.

I feel very strongly that we already have the world’s best public social networking tool right in front of us: it’s called the internet. Public services on the web, such as blogs, twitter, flickr, and so forth, are what we should invest our time in. And because it’s public, we can leverage the immense power of internet search to tie it all– and each other– together.

Fantastic… I am on board! Totally! “It’s called the internet!” Brilliant… it’s what all developers realize, but the problem may be that no one else sees it this way. I have nothing stopping me from assuming most people see the internet like a mall, window shopping. You jump from store to store, website to website, and all are completely segregated, minus their physical relationship. They see each website as a completely independent identity.

This is slowly changing of course as people latch on to services like Jaiku and BumpZee which let you import your Flickr and Blog RSS feeds, respectively.

What this has to do with launching a startup based on one feature
Ok… So I admittedly strayed a bit off topic, but it is all still relevant to launching a startup based on a single feature because of the support group you have behind you, if you are genuine. If you allow me to keep the term “feature” broad, you will see how many people really have offered highly valuable products to the public.

(web apps) are so amazing because they tie together so many loose ends that most people do not know how to deal with.

A very obvious example would be YouTube. Their single feature was easy video uploading. That is what they were at their core. You could easily take nearly any video format you have and upload it to their servers for hosting. From a techies perspective this is nothing new, but from the average web surfers perspective, this was amazing. It was amazing because it tied together so many loose ends that most people do not know how to deal with. Basic things like FTP uploading, distribution, hosting. Hosting is huge, and I feel the real future, seeing as every single Web 2.0 application really acts as a hosting company with tools built on top (I will probably start a new post for this subject).

The new application from Digg founder Kevin Rose, Powce is really just a file sharing. Stikkit is just online notes. But what makes each of these apps amazing is that they clearly identified an issue the founders were having and brought a solution to the table based on a single adjustment of the product, then take their own twist on the subject.

I really wrote this post because I have been so discouraged in the past to not work on and cultivate ideas simply because I felt that they were solely based on a single feature or idea that was only an adjustment of what was already out there. But guess what? Your twist on a subject could open a completely new perspective, a brand new path, on the way web applications should be made.

If you have an idea that is really only a feature addition to an existing product, let me know, add a comment and let others know about it. If you feel discouraged about it you should get others opinions before abandoning it.

UPDATE: I literally just came across this post on tech crunch: Ex Microsoft Team Launches “They’re Beautiful”. Michael Arrington posts about “They’re Beautiful”, a service that lets you send virtual flowers to people via email. What a coincidence!

Virtual goods have been getting a lot of attention from big publishers such as The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. And why not. People are making quite a bit of money selling virtual goods online. I have never bought, sold or even investigated virtual goods beyond what I read in blogs and newspapers, but we all should be paying attention.

Virtual goods are primarily, if only, found in games such as Second Life and World of Warcraft, but they may have a place in social networks.

My Idea
What if, as a website (socially based) owner, I could offer a means for other users to “buy” virtual, or real gifts for my friends. Things like virtual presents like flowers, or a new, kick ass background image (just thinking off the top of my head).

Mashable reported on a new service called SocialFlowers that lets Facebook users send real flowers to their friends. Pretty cool. Markus Frind, of PlentyOfFish.com fame, actually predicted this nearly a year ago: My billion dollar idea that will redefine ecommerce.

I could see this happening for all sorts of goods. If I could add my Amazon wishlist to whatever social network I’m attached to, maybe there could be an easy way for my friends to buy me a gift for my birthday.

So the question is… Should you offer your users Goods or Virtual goods?
I find it hard to imagine that boyfriends around the world would even consider thinking twice about sending their girlfriend a dozen virtual roses, or more, to plaster all over their MySpace pages! I know when I used to send my girlfriend roses at her work she loved showing them off to others there.

I really believe both have a place within social networks. But the approach taken thus far has resembles a retailer like format. Services like AuctionAds take a bit of a different approach in that it is a much more clever way of getting people to interact with goods. I really think that we will see more of this spill over into social networks.

Some Linkage to Wet Your Appetite
The growing value of virtual goods
Sony Plans to Auction Virtual Game Property - Registration required.
Awaiting Real Sales From Virtual Shoppers