Startup « Merriam Associates, Inc. Brand Strategies

Merriam Associates specializes in branding that gets results. Everything we do systematically generates leads, closes sales, boosts profits, and builds a solid reputation for your company and your products or services. Our background combines the rigor of global Fortune 500 companies with the tenacity of successful entrepreneurs.

Selected Naming Project Portfolio

Merriam Associates names almost a hundred companies and products a year. We work across categories, from consumer to B2B, from billion dollar companies to start-ups you haven’t heard of (yet). Our innovative approach creates strategically valuable names with impact.

What's the Big Idea?

It’s possible for everything to be buttoned up and look like you can’t fail — strong intellectual property, great ideas marketing ideas and an amazing team — and the idea is truly “too big to NOT fail.” But if it’s really a good long range vision, then there’s probably a way to engage the ideal corporate buyer to assure you hit your exit.

Public Relations meets the Blog

PR is the most effective way to build mind share, marketing pull and general awareness. You must learn to craft the finer more focused little blog blasts and leverage them. Long copy still sells; you just have to build that long copy in discreet chunks and sew them together on the web.

Marketing Assets

Once you get all of these pieces in place you are ready to push on to creating a marketing program.

How do VCs Manage Investments?

If you take your business to a VC you have a 75% chance of handing over majority ownership to someone who will unload it.

Managing Expectations in the VC Process

Capital can always wait for you. A key measure for building up value is whether can you can actually build excitement. Most VC deals go down, in a well orchestrated feeding frenzy with a bunch of VCs all validating each other and trying to pile on their money at once.

When is VC Necessary?

VC’s stick to investments limited to the markets they understand. At the same time, they exist to venture the risk of new markets. They will do their homework, so you better do yours and present them with a real opportunity.

How does VC work?

A venture capitalist’s main problem is that they have few methods to understand the future performance of an investment. Therefore they rely exclusively on the resumes of the management. It’s not realistic think you can join this same club; and more important to understand you won’t get a good deal as an outsider — so go find an insider

Do You Want or Need Venture Capital?

Not only is VC not for everyone, the odds are there are much better ways to get your business funded and profitable.

Your Identity: Part Three, Domain Names

You will FIRST need to consider a domain name for your business before you pick a name. You need to buy domains names and try to secure as many domains as it requires to promote and protect your business.