On: Ask HN: How do I pick the best brand name?

[mcgeadyd]

I guess what I'm wondering is if I follow those suggestions and I end up with maybe 3 candidates, how do I select between the 3? The obvious answer is to ask friends and family and then ask facebook friends. Beyond that though, was wondering if there might be another way of picking a winner.

Also: 1. Thanks for your comments people - genuinely appreciated 2. Wordoid is awesome! Never seen it before, but its a lot of fun! Will certainly play around with it 3. Yeah, I'm ruling out anything that doesn't have a free .com domain name (twitter handle gets bonus marks!)

[markddotme → mcgeadyd]

One thing you could do is lock down the brands you've chosen (all social media services, Gmail acct, domain + privacy with a deep discount promo code, etc) and put up temp pages (i.e., Launchrock). Then soft promote them (PPC, build links, Facebook, etc) and see which one resonates better with your target market. Don't spend too much money/time on this though unless it's for a project where you can recoup your costs/investment. Keep in mind though that people typically associate more with what's actually behind the brand - quality/consistent blogging, engaging conversation on Twitter, insightful presentations, video, events, etc. - and that's where you'll find the traction/following that will eventually build your chosen brand.