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Welcome back to another post about naming your acupuncture practice!

Last post, we talked about the Seven Mistakes to Avoid When Choosing Your Acupuncture Practice Name. Although we’ll go over those mistakes briefly today, you’ll definitely want to check that post out as well. It’s an important “prequel” to today’s post.

Since we focused on what not to do in last post, today let’s talk about your options. We’ll look at the three common methods of choosing an acupuncture practice name, and the pros and cons of each option.

Why the pros and cons approach, instead of just telling you what to do? I don’t think that there’s only one correct way to name a practice. I have my preference, which we’ll talk about, but there are situations in which other options might be better. You have to weigh the pros and cons in your specific circumstances, and then go with your gut on what feels best.

And again, the disclaimer: Because your business name is so important, I’d like to remind everyone that I’m not a marketing professional. The following is simply my opinion on what makes a great name for an acupuncture practice. It’s a good idea to get professional help with the process of choosing a name for any business, if you think you need it.

Don’t forget to download the free 6-page workbook to help you name your business.

Naming Your Acupuncture Practice Brainstorming Workbook:

BONUS: At the bottom of this post, we’ll dissect the name of my acupuncture practice, and see how it measures up. (And, since everybody loves a critic, it’s a harsh-but-true assessment.)

From last post:

Five Tips for the Process of Choosing an Acupuncture Business Name:

1. Take your time.
2. Brainstorm with different groups of friends.
3. Use a thesaurus.
4. Ask as many people as possible about your top three names.
5. Find out the names of all the acupuncture businesses in a 300-mile radius, at least, to avoid duplication.

7 Mistakes to Avoid When Choosing an Acupuncture Practice Name:

1. Chinese words or symbols
2. References to needles
3. Your full name as your business name
4. Anything hard to pronounce or spell
5. Anything confusing
6. Names that don’t make it clear what service you provide
7. Names already used by others (or that are very similar to others)

And here’s what we’re covering today:

The Three Types of Acupuncture Practice Names: Pros and Cons

1. Based on location
2. Using your last name
3. Using a descriptive word or phrase

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1. Based on location:

Ultimately my favorite method is including the name of your town or city in your acupuncture business name. For example, Portland Acupuncture, Romulus Acupuncture Clinic, or Seneca Falls Acupuncture. If I could rename my practice, I would use my location. (Scroll down to see a detailed dissection of my practice name.)

PROS:

A) Most people are using search engines to find local businesses. And search engines generate results based on location. That’s why naming a practice based on your location is my favorite approach. Google is king, and you want to be found on Google and ranked at the top of the search results.

B) Gives people information: Tells people (roughly) where your clinic is located.

C) Sounds professional and established.

CONS:

A) What if you someday have more than one location? Many people argue that using geography in your business name ties you to only that one location, or limits your ability to expand. I suppose my reply to this is, if you expand outside of your named geographical area, you could always pick a different name for the second or third location.

I think it’s reasonable to consider how many other practices you think you’ll open and where, before you name your first practice. You can’t necessarily predict this, but at least ask yourself: do I someday want to manage three practices in different cities?

If you get so large that you are setting up clinics in other cities, it may be time to change your name anyway. Although rebranding is a lot of work, it CAN be done. You can rename your business if you need to.

B) What if you were to start a franchise? For a franchise, a geographic name is probably not the best idea. The reason is the same as above, of course. Franchises can be anywhere, and you don’t want to pick a local name, only to have practitioners buying your franchised practice across the country. I think a generic word is a better choice for a franchise, because they are relevant anywhere.

2. Using your last name:

PROS:

A)  If you have clinic locations in multiple cities: Using your last name results in a clinic name that makes sense regardless of location, and you’d get to maintain the same branding across all locations. The concept of consistent branding is important in marketing, so this is a good option to consider.

B) Sounds professional and last names as business names makes sense to most consumers. (Unless you have a ridiculous last name?)

CONS:

A) What if you want to sell your practice in the future? Potential buyers are less likely to purchase your practice (or pay you the full value) if it’s branded with your last name. This is one of the cases in which I think a location name is a better choice. Whoever buys it is likely to stay in your town or city, so the name will remain relevant to them and they won’t have to change it.

B) What if your last name is hard to spell or pronounce? Then I would personally avoid it. Last post we went into detail about why names or words that are hard to spell or pronounce are just not a good choice.

3.  Using a descriptive word or phrase:

PROS:

A)  Useful regardless of location (Like a last name)

B)  Good for resale: Descriptive words can be good for resale, because unlike your last name, they are relevant to other buyers. However, you would want to make sure that the descriptive word you choose is not too specific to you – i.e., does it make sense to others? Does it appeal to a wide variety of people?

C)  Can be professional-sounding and give information about the “feel” or “vibe” of your office. (Depending on the word, of course.)

CONS:

A) It can be hard to come up with a descriptive phrase name that isn’t already being used. Lots of great descriptive names possibilities are out there (Balance Acupuncture, Breathe Acupuncture, etc.), but you have to make sure the word you choose is not used all over the place by other acupuncturists. And of course, you can’t use the exact name someone else is using, for copyright reasons.

B) What if other people don’t get it? As in, they don’t understand why you chose it? This is important. Your descriptive word has to have a straightforward, easily understood meaning. It shouldn’t be an obscure reference that only a Chinese medicine professional would understand. You want to stay away from sounding “woo-woo,” of course. For now, let’s define “woo-woo” as “strange and mystical,” which is generally interpreted as not professional. So again, be cautious with your name choice.

That said, there are plenty of descriptive word names out there that are professional, and not strange or mystical-sounding. As I mentioned in bullet A above, the difficulty is more often in coming up with ones that aren’t overused.

One More Important Thing to Keep in Mind:

Is the domain of your chosen name available on the internet?

Remember, internet search is the number one way people search for local businesses. If someone types “acupuncture” into Google, Google will search for acupuncturists near where that person is located. As an example: Say a patient is in Birmingham and searches for “acupuncture.” If your business name is Birmingham Acupuncture, and your website is http://www.BirminghamAcupuncture.com or http://www.Birmingham-Acupuncture.com, or something similar, Google is more likely to list it near the top than the other search results.

Let’s dissect my previous business name from when I was in private practice:

The Name: Ageless Acupuncture & Wellness

Pros:

A.  “Ageless” implied my specialty: cosmetic acupuncture. Also implied that acupuncture can help you feel “ageless” or young again – at least I thought so. That’s up for interpretation.

B.  Including “acupuncture” in the name made it clear that I offer acupuncture.

C.  Wellness implies that I offer more than just acupuncture (*BUT – see below).

D.  Fairly good name for resale, because it’s not specific to me (i.e., it didn’t have my name in it), so someone else could purchase the practice and use it seamlessly, if they wanted to.

E.  No location affiliation means I could take this name to other cities and keep my branding consistent.

Cons:

A.  The whole thing is probably too long. It’s kind of a mouthful.

B.  Other variations of “Ageless Acupuncture” exist. About a dozen are out there, including one in my own state! (Albeit three hours away, but still, it came up in the search for Ageless Acupuncture & Wellness.)

C.  “Wellness” was probably unnecessary. It didn’t clarify what other services I offered (herbal medicine) and it just cluttered up the name. Now I would prefer just “acupuncture” now as opposed to “acupuncture & wellness.” It’s short, sweet, and gets the most important point across – I’m an acupuncturist.

D) No location affiliation means people always had to ask where I practiced. If I had named my practice after the town I practiced in (“Irondequoit Acupuncture”), then the question would have been answered without asking. See last post to read my opinion on location names that are hard to spell or pronounce, since I’m sure you’re wondering.

What if I went into private practice again and got to pick another name?

If I could name my business again, I would name it based on my location, because of the search engine benefits. I’m not one of those people who can imagine expanding to several clinics outside my current city, and I don’t think a franchise is in the cards for me either, so I would do a geographic name for sure.

I would NOT use my last name to create my business name. Then it would be “Grasek Acupuncture” and honestly, people don’t know how to pronounce it or how to spell it. (Cardinal sins in naming your practice, remember?) It’s pronounced “GRASS-ick.” Would you have guessed that?

Here are some of my favorite acupuncture clinic names that I’ve come across:

• Indiana Reproductive Acupuncture: Love that they include their specialty in there.
• Naples Valley Acupuncture: Includes the location, but the “Valley” adds interest.
• Empire Acupuncture: Named after the street the clinic is on, but “Empire” has other connotations as well, and is generally a strong word.
• Rochester Family Acupuncture: Implies they treat everyone from kids to the elderly, which works well with one of their specialties: pediatrics. A good option if your location name is already taken.
• Stokes Acupuncture: Simple, strong last name, easy to spell, would franchise well.
• Breathe Acupuncture: Great, simple descriptive word that people can spell and makes sense.
• Balance Acupuncture: Same comments as for Breathe, above.
• Branch Acupuncture: Branch is actually this person’s last name. Again – simple, strong, easy to spell because it’s already a word!

Don’t forget to download the free 6-page workbook to help you name your business.

Naming Your Acupuncture Practice Brainstorming Workbook:

What are your thoughts on the best way to name a practice? Do you agree or disagree with these suggestions?

What’s your experience been with the name that you chose? Would you change it, and why or why not?