3 Ways to Get Paid to Name Businesses

Earn Hundreds of Dollars by Naming Businesses!

Back in the day, businesses had pretty plain and uninteresting names. Take the name of the founder, and “incorporated” after it, and you’re done. The business world had become inundated with companies named after people with names like Smith, Miller, or Wilson. That changed when the dot-com boom of the late 90s happened, and we got businesses with unique names. Names like eBay and Google became the norm. And while their names sounded like jokes, the success they had sure wasn’t anything to joke about.

Today, companies like Twitter, Rockstar Games, and Netflix rule the business landscape, and they do it with some pretty cool names.

It must have been fun coming up with the names of those businesses. And check this out, I actually found a few websites that pay you to come up with names for companies! Not all of those companies will be looking for quirky names like those I mentioned, but you will still have the opportunity to create a name that distinguishes a company from its competitors. That’s pretty cool.

I gave them a try, and below are the ones that I think are noteworthy.

1. NamingForce

NamingForce clients use the site to hold contests for the best name for their business. The client can then pick the name that best suits their business. A monetary reward goes to the person who submitted the name. Basically, NamingForce is a crowdfunding site.

The name that gets chosen will get you on average $100, but it can range $50 up to $500, depending on the size of the business. You will have to sign up for a free membership before you can start pitching names. But once you do, you can submit as many names as you want per contest. So flex those creative muscles!

Link: https://www.namingforce.com/

2. SquadHelp

SquadHelp is pretty similar to the first website on this list. Clients hold contests, members pitch business names. The person who submitted the chosen name gets paid.

But SquadHelp takes it a step further and lets businesses solicit other branding materials, such as taglines and logos. If you have skills in creating actual marketing campaigns, your skills will be put to good use here.

Link: https://www.squadhelp.com/

3. Picky Domains

These days, the name of a business is often the same as its domain, or web address. Picky Domains, as its name implies pays members to pitch domain names to online businesses. This can include everything from e-commerce sites, social media platforms, and blogs.

Pick Domains pays from $25 up to $50 if you’re suggested domain gets picked. Payouts are done via PayPal and may take up to 72 hours to process.

Not the Creative Type?

If you’re not good at creating catchy and interesting names, don’t worry. You can still try your hand at creating and pitching names. There are a bunch of websites that can create thousands of random business names. You’ll still have to pick the good ones among the chaff, but these sites do most of the creative work for you:

NameStation
FaceBlaze
BusinessNameGenerators

FaceBlaze has a customizable interface, but note that you’ll have to pay a small fee to access the full list of name ideas.

Earning Potential

The amount a contest pays depends on the client. I’ve seen a low of $25 to an all-time high of $500. Since your earnings depend on whether your submissions get chosen, I can’t really set a baseline income from these sites.

That said, my record weekly earnings was $400, spread across twelve contests. I lucked out and got chosen. This encouraged me to keep pitching names. While I never hit $400 again, my earnings have been pretty respectable.

The Verdict: Legit or Scam?

All of the sites above are legit! There’s no guarantee that your pitches will get chosen, but the sites are legit, and you get paid well if do get chosen. Also, pitching company names is a great way to strengthen your creative muscles, which is a happy byproduct.

Your Turn

This is my review based on my own experiences creating business names. Now it’s your turn to share. Did you come up with some cool-sounding names? And did they get chosen?

Let’s hear your stories!

Im gona try this out. I like to use my creativity to win some money …its a cool concept

It’s true about old company names! The ones I encountered growing up were mostly this partner’s name + this other partner’s name + let’s throw in another partner’s name! Then add “incorporated” so it’s extra serious-sounding. So boring. But I never thought there would be a way to earn by naming businesses, so thanks for this enlightening post!

My husband and I have made it an entertaining hobby to come up with punny names for businesses and retail shops we pass by on the way to do errands and stuff (real shop names unnamed for protection). Among our favorites are (patent pending and you saw it here first so if any of you grab my business names, I will come at you! Kidding! Well, sort of.):

• “ Donut Panic, It’s Organic! ” for a somewhat dull organic “patisserie” and bake shop that actually sells delicious donuts
• “ Beauty in the Beast ” for a pet grooming shop
• “ Lawyer, Lawyer, Pantson, Fyre ” for a law firm that has four partners in the name
• “ The Vaping Ape ” for this vaping accessories store that is frequented by large, beefy types.

So that was fun! Now to try and pitch them to some of the sites mentioned by the original poster so I can earn some cash. Wish me luck, haha!

HAHAHAHA! I’m sure someone would pay good money for those names.

I used to work in marketing, and one thing we always did was come up with names for stuff. Names for promos, names for products, names for shops. I even had to come up with names for mascots (don’t laugh - trying to come up with a name for a walking bottle of laxatives is hard!).

I haven’t tried selling business names, but I think the skills I learned in marketing will be applicable, if I decide to come up with business names for money. And I don’t even consider myself particularly creative. And I don’t think you need to be creative either.

All you need to have is the ability to highlight what’s unique about a thing. Because at the end of the day, that’s all your doing - highlighting what makes a brand special. You want a name that will help that business stand out.

Like I said, I haven’t tried selling business names online yet. But here’s one piece of (unsolicited) advice based on my experience:

Don’t just string words together

There’s this trend with online businesses where all they do is strong together words without spaces. There’s nothing wrong with that per se… except for the fact that those words being string together are usually unremarkable. For example: EarnSurveyNow, MoneySurveys, SurveyEarn… they’re practically interchangeable. There’s a chance that’s what the business owner wanted, but I think it’s bad branding, and could harm their brand equity and recall in the long-run.

Coming up with business names for money is a great way to practice your creativity and writing chops. Yep, you could still consider this “writing” since your stringing words together to help describe something - in this case, a business. If you don’t have any experience writing or coming up with business names, this is a ideal way to get started. The stakes are low, and you don’t have to commit too much time and effort to the job.

One thing, though - you’ll never be absolutely sure what the client want. Sure, they can tell people through a creative brief, what the business is about and what kind of name they’re looking for. But in my experience, even those directions are subject to interpretation. Most of it uses words like “modern”, “tech-sounding”, “clever” and even “hipster-y.” You can come up with a name that suits all those requirements, but the client might not pick your entry. So the best way to describe what clients want is “they’ll know it when they see it.” I’m telling you this so you can prepare yourself from the sting of rejection.

Don’t let it get you down too much; that’s just how the creative industry works. Sometimes you get the job, sometimes you don’t. All you can control is improving your skills and keep persevering.

I would love to get paid to name businesses! Except that it’s likely my dad jokes would get in the way haha! It’s actually a favorite road trip game for me and my family. We try to rename the products and services we find on billboards and posters and the most hilarious ones go in our hall of fame.

Seriously though, so much brand recall has to do with the kind of business name that’s relatable, not ones that alienate potential customers. I’m sure all of us here have favorites we can name off the top of our head. Here are mine: Google, FedEx, Target, The Body Shop, Starbucks, eBay , Amazon . For some reason, I can instantly picture their logo once I read the brand, and have a clear understanding of what their product or service is all about.

I think the worst mistake when it comes to naming a business would be to try to over-intellectualise or over-pun it. Not saying everyone should dumb down their business name, but I think those delving into toilet humor (especially for food brands) or have racist undertones shouldn’t even see the light of day. Nobody should pay good money for something that insults someone.

That being said, I do like a punny brand name when it’s done in good taste. I’ve come across such gems as Tequila Mockingbird (Mexican-themed bar), Good Buy ‘n Good Rhythms (music instrument store), The Codfather (fish and chips eatery), and Do Drop Inn (well duh, obviously an inn!).

Can anyone tell me how you can be protected when you submit your suggestions for a business name? What’s stopping the potential client from taking your name suggestion without proclaiming anyone a winner?

My eldest daughter had this sort of dilemma with one of her artworks on social media. She created an Instagram account showcasing her new graphic designs and watercolor paintings - not as any professional artist yet, but just to sort of track her progress as a budding one.

Unfortunately, a T-shirt and stationery company tried to use one of her drawings as an element in their new “collection” without permission, so it was a bummer. We’ve tried reaching out to the company but to no avail. They totally ignored us! The worst part is, this wasn’t the first time it happened as we received similar reports from other amateur artists, as well.

To safeguard her from this happening again, she decided to post her “WIPs” (works in progress) complete with a caption about when she started doing it, her concept for the piece, and other important details that will prove it was her idea and composition in the first place. The timestamp on Instagram will help back up rights to the image in case someone tries to rip her off again (hopefully not anymore, as it’s pretty heartbreaking when it happened).

So, short of registering for a business trademark at www.uspto.gov, I think try documenting your listed business names on social media, and add timestamps and other details? That way you will have “witnesses” that it was all your idea, and if the potential client refuses to pay for it, at least you have proof that the names belonged to you initially. Hope this suggestion helps!

I think June’s idea is more fool-proof, but I also like to think that it’s a business’ best interest not to screw people over like how you mentioned. Word goes around fast. If a company steals someone’s business name idea, you can bet the online community will be up in arms over it. If you’re part of the online creative community, I’m sure you’ve seen people have their designs turned into shirts or posters without their consent. The online community is pretty quick to rally against the offending company. I’d like to think the same will happen to a company that steals your business name idea. Although I’ve never seen this happen, which I think is a good thing. Online communities are generally good at self-regulating.

Assuming a business gets away with it, they’re only harming themselves in the long run. They might be getting a “free” (i.e. stolen) business name today, but what happens when they need more copywriting services tomorrow? That company will already be flagged for being shady. And that’s why I think coming up with business names is a pretty safe way to make money online. But if you want extra protection, by all means, document and record your works, as June mentioned. In fact, I just might just do that to be extra-professional!