A lot of yoga teachers I work with struggle with naming their business. They want something meaningful, something unique, beautiful, and of course it also should be available as a domain name and social media handles.

Most yoga teachers or wellness entrepreneurs have a personal brand and in this case I recommend using your name as your business name.

For many, this can be tricky if your given name is so different it’s hard for people to spell, to pronounce or to remember, or because it’s so common that the URL is already taken and you’ll never get found in the online sphere even if someone does a direct search for your name.

I still strongly recommend that you use your name for your personal brand.

First, it’s easier to create trust.

Your potential clients feel a deeper connection.

It’s stays with you, even when you change directions in your business.

But still, what should you do when your name is hard to say, spell, search or find? This can be a valid concern!

Are you willing to alter your name slightly? If so, there’s a variety of ways you can accomplish this.

You can use your first name and middle name only.

You can add a word to your name – for example James Smith Yoga. Or Yoga with Kassandra.

You can also change the spelling of your name to be easier to read and spell.

For example, did you know that Jennifer Aniston’s real name is Jennifer Linn Anastassakis? She just rearranged and dropped some letters.

There are a lot of celebrities who changed their real names. The reason celebrities make such a great example is because their name changes are done to achieve the same results we are looking for in a personal brand: to be easy to say, spell, differentiate, and remember.

Another concern that people have is privacy. If you are hyper-aware of your safety or privacy because of personal circumstances or just your own comfort level with sharing yourself online, then go with a business-y name.

If this isn’t a concern for you, use your own name. You are a person, and people love following, reading and buying from real people!

Now, let’s say you want to build a brand that’s bigger than yourself. For example, a yoga studio. Or a brand that you want to sell one day. Or you have a business partner. Here branding and coming up with your brand name can be a much bigger project.

Your brand name should be meaningful and immediately establish a connection with your intended audience. It needs to be emotional.

So, choose a name that appeals to your niche.

You should come up with a list of a few names that you like, and then you have to do your research.

Do a quick Google search. Do any other businesses already use any of those names?

If not, is the domain available?

And, super important, are any of those names copyrighted or trademarked? There are databases that you can search online in most countries, so do your research.

Finally, whatever name you choose for your brand, use it consistently across all your marketing. If you have decided to be James Smith Yoga, then that should be the name of the URL of your website, your Instagram handle and on your LinkedIn. This will make it easier for your followers to recognize you everywhere, and it just looks more professional.

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