Help me name my store/brand/shop/whatever!

Inspired by R Ranson's thread on naming her Etsy shop, I thought I'd ask you all for your input on a name for my creations.

I'm thinking of selling my fairies


dragons


and fairy pouches.


I'm totally new to this selling thing. In fact, I've only sold something once, and that was just a month ago! So, I'd love any and all input. Here's the names I've thought of so far.



(And, if you don't have apples to vote, you can comment and I'll probably give you one :D)

I'm thinking that the name should have a bit of whimsy to it, but not be so narrow that it keeps me from branching out if I branch out to needle felting things like tropical fish or selling other artistic creations. Our property is full of alder groves, and both alder and grove are meaningful names for our family. I'm leaning toward Fairy Grove Creations or Craftings, but I don't know if Creations is too bland, or if Craftings sounds too magical. Workshop just sounds a bit too toy-specific.

I'd love to hear your opinons!

(And, I totally need to work on my photography skills, or conscript my very busy brother who's an excellent photographer, bwahahahaha!)

Your work is beautiful! I personally like Aldergrove Crafted Creations because it keeps in the names special to you and covers other types of craftwork (like fish) you might branch out into. It also would tone down the crafting magical aspect if that is a concern. Whatever you decide on, I wish you well with it!

Ah, thank you! I've been having a lot of fun making these!

I added your idea to the poll. I hadn't thought of using the word "crafted." I'm not really opposed to magical connotations, as I'm making fairies and dragons, but I don't want people to feel like I'm doing magic crafting while making them...but I don't even know if people would think that. Maybe I'm over-thinking things....

Over thinking is always a risk escpecially after midnight!😜  Seems smart to think about for business marketing purposes though because if it occured to you, it probably will to someone else too.

I'm leaning toward Fairy Grove Creations or Craftings, but I don't know if Creations is too bland, or if Craftings sounds too magical. Workshop just sounds a bit too toy-specific.

I like the sound of 'Fairy Grove Creations' a lot and 'Alder Grove Creations' also.

Both leave room for all sorts of creative expression.  

I would avoid the word 'crafting' in the 'brand' at least, but only because in my mind it leads to 'crafter' and that word has always lowered expectations for me.  My preference is 'craftswoman' 'craftsman' or 'craftspeople' and 'handcrafted'.

I'm so happy you are pursuing this... no limits to your creativity

Wonderful work!

I have not voted yet but I like:

Fairy Prince & Princess Creations

Faerie and faery are two other spellings. Might be cool. Add a mystique to the name.

Judith Browning wrote:
I'm so happy you are pursuing this... no limits to your creativity

Wonderful work!

Thank you so much, Judith! You have been so helpful and a real inspiration to me. ♥♥Thank you!♥♥

Joylynn Hardesty wrote:

Judith Browning wrote:
I would avoid the word 'crafting' in the 'brand' at least, but only because in my mind it leads to 'crafter' and that word has always lowered expectations for me.  My preference is 'craftswoman' 'craftsman' or 'craftspeople' and 'handcrafted'.

I agree! Your work is top notch. When I see CRAFT in a name, I think popsicle stick kid's stuff.

That's a really good point about "craft" that hadn't occurred to me. Thank you both!!!

wayne fajkus wrote:Faerie and faery are two other spellings. Might be cool. Add a mystique to the name.

I'd forgotten that I far prefer the spelling as "Faerie"! Thank you!

I like Alder Grove

To me something like "The Fairy Grove" is plenty, adding more gets in the way of the magic :) I used to keep all sorts of rocks and sea shells when I was a kid, I would have loved one of those pouches!

I vote Fairy Grove Creations, mainly because I am thinking of your business more than just an etsy shop.  FairyGroveCreations is a good website, and the .com is available for around 9 dollars a year.  I would suggest that you purchase it from namesilo, because it has better customer service than godaddy, and you get free WhoIs protection.  That is privacy for you as owner, so that your contact information is not listed with your website info.  This is very important.  For only 9 bucks a year, why wouldn't you also set up a website.  Buy the domain name, and install a free wordpress site.

Then, you need to learn ITTT, which stands for If This Then That.  It's an online scripting service that allows you to replicate information.  Set it so that whenever you post to facebook, that it will post to your instagram and your website.  This is free, and it saves you time.  Let your social media help populate your website without any extra work.  Then, have your website just send people to your etsy page if they want to make purchases.  You would rather have people on your site than anywhere else, because that is you. you own it.  

Do not depend on any other site for your business, because someone else controls it, and can change it at a moment's notice.  I would also post videos of your creations on youtube, and ITTT to your facebook, twitter, and wordpress website also.  Since you're thinking about your branding, you might as well take the second step and explode your exposure.  If you want any tips on marketing or exposure, let me know.  

p.s.  I thought that Fairy Grove Creations was good, because FGC would look good as a little trademark.  The only caveat is if you wanted to expand into things other than fairies.  You still could with that name, but it's something to think about.

Also, with the name, you need to think of what people will be searching.  There will be people searching for fairies, and that will help your store pop up.  I'm not quite sure that people search for aldergrove at all.  If I saw that name, I wouldn't know what it was in reference to.

Nicole Alderman wrote:
I'd forgotten that I far prefer the spelling as "Faerie"! Thank you!

I did a little search for you of Fairy versus Faerie.  
I must admit that the Faerie is more unique, and I like that more .......
but, from a business standpoint, there is almost zero searches for faerie.

I was first gonna suggest you not use fairy, regardless of spelling, cause it defines you. What if you expand to hand carved wooden spoons?

But having grove after it kind of sounds like a place rather than a product.  Unless a fairy grove is a real thing in fairy land. Im not up to speed on the subject matter.

William Wallace wrote:  Also, with the name, you need to think of what people will be searching.  There will be people searching for fairies, and that will help your store pop up.  I'm not quite sure that people search for aldergrove at all.  If I saw that name, I wouldn't know what it was in reference to.

William has given you some great info.

I did a search on Etsy.  Aldergrove evidently is the name of a town somewhere.  Lots of "Fairy" stuff but not many shops with that name.
I started to suggest the different spelling so I used etsy then google;  with "Faire"  I came up with renaissance stuff.


I say go with what you like best.

Having a real store front shop needs a name that gets folks to park their car and come in.  An online store needs to have products that are eye catching so folks will look at the products.


For several years I made good money selling on ebay.  I quit because the USPS went up on postage and sometimes like now I live too far from the post office.  A lot of pressure to get things wrapped and in the mail so folks will get their stuff ASAP.  Also getting packages weighed and estimating postage became a nightmare because of the different zones.  The Priority Flat Rate is the best way to go if you can afford it.

Anne picks up on the huge downfall of Ebay and Etsy sales ..... the necessary customer interaction and time that it takes to mail out the packages is horrible.  For cheap items, it can become a pain ....... but there is a solution if someone wants to go full on with online sales.

This method will allow you to spend much less time selling items, and spend much more time making items.  Sure, it will cost a bit more .... but aren't you working so that you have more time to do the things that you want?  In the end, it all depends on the amount of items that you are going to sell.  For many people, this is not worth it .... but, if you are taking your sales to the next level, then I have the process for you.  

This method utilizes software known as EcomDash.  It is this software that integrates sales over several platforms.  What you do is list your items for sale on a bunch of the biggest sale website.  The big ones are Etsy, Ebay, Amazon, Sears, Rakuten, and Walmart.  The software keeps track of how much inventory that you have across all of the platforms, so you don't need to worry about that.  

The software utilizes Amazon's FBA (fulfillment by amazon aka amazon prime), to house and ship your items.  This is beneficial for several reasons.  First off, your items are in warehouses spread out across the country, so that your customers can get the items quickish.  This is huge, because people are often buying things, and need it soon .... and society has this instant gratification problem (but it's not a problem if it's factored into your business plan).  Using Amazon FBA helps with shipping cost, because you get to use Amazon's bulk shipping rate.  You just send a big box of your goods to each warehouse, and that's the last that you have to deal with the item.

When a sale goes through on Etsy, an invoice is automatically forwarded to Amazon, and the item is automatically labeled and shipped to the customer (with no effort or work from you).  The inventory is synced across all of your marketplaces, so if that was your last purple blue fairy, then those would not be available for sale elsewhere until you restock.  This saves you time running daily to the post office.  It saves you time having to address and print invoices.  Sure, those things cost a little for Amazon to do, but what is your time worth?  

This type of software also integrates with your website, and can send those sales directly to Amazon.  Now, I know that this isn't for many of the sellers who are at a hobby level.  It's also not for every product.  It's for people who want to take their online sales to the next level, and who make more money when they can make more product rather than dealing with customers and sales.  This is significantly cheaper and more efficient than hiring an employee that still will require oversight and management.  The higher value of products, the more likely this is a good solution for you.  

I'm not an affiliate of the company, I just used them quite extensively when I was doing online arbitrage.  Being on several websites helped me with additional exposure.  Previously, I would have to decide which item I would put on which site.  It was kind of a crap shoot.  If I only had one quantity of an item, then I could attempt to sell it at each and every website that had integration with this software.  I profited a ton higher with it.  

Sure, I saved some on shipping costs going to Amazon .... but the huge savings were time.  I wasn't tied to handling my online sales every day.  It was a huge destressor.  I doubt this is a solution for you with fairies, but who knows!

ETA:  Don't forget Handmade by Amazon, which is their Etsy equivalent.

Very awesome and colorful work!

I have a name idea:
Fairy Tale Fancies
or
Fairy Tale Creations

Since fairy tales are broad and inclusive of a number of settings/themes/etc then I think it would leave it open for expanding your offerings later.

I agree with William Wallace that your time is valuable and (though I have no experience with it) think the software and Amazon route is probably a pretty good pro-tip!

Peace

Very Cool! I voted for Aldergrove Creations. It's not too long. Has a ring to it. It incorporates natural things and doesn't get too specific if you wanna branch out or gain interest from outside the fairy-minded people. Much love! Have fun!

I vote for Dragon Pouch Collectible Art.  

Somehow I missed this whole thread. Too bad, because when I first saw the picture of your blue/white dragon when you posted on a different thread, I noticed it right away and thought "She should sell those! Those are the kind of characters that make childhoods magical!"  I do hope you get your creations out there. They are imagination inspirations, perfect for children!
Also, I think William Wallace's posts are a wealth of information and his thoughts are right on regarding websites and marketing. Think ahead, grab a domain name, and also keep the name somehow related to what you are selling. That is quite helpful in getting found on the internet. Also, as William Wallace pointed out as well, you want to own your own store. Point it to wherever you want, but have your own site. I have read a few times now where people had their stores shut down without warning on Etsy, or had their site shut down without warning by Shopify, Weebly, etc. You don't actually own sites on those kind of website building places. I would figure out a good name, get a domain, get a wordpress site (there are thousands of people that can help you set one up if you don't want to deal with a new learning curve at the moment), and get those beautifully made characters out there! Good luck with it all!

Last vote in apple poll was on August 24, 2018