Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Group name, Project name, Domain name

[Michael Donovan (editor]

Interesting question Brian, that touches on group identity as well as
marketing. As one might imagine, those different needs might require
different solutions. A few thoughts on both.

As a group identity, the long gestation of development might make the group
"feel" identified with Lawrence Cohousing. And it would be understandable to
want to retain this identity. However, as a marketing identity it has a few
drawbacks. It is vague as to what you are offering specifically (in real
estate, and yes, coho is real estate, location is important). It probably
does not have as strong a consciousness in the greater Lawrence community as
you might imagine. A new name would give you a fresh start in marketing the
development (while still focusing on the community) to the area. And the
suggested name alternatives simply sound "warmer" or more "neighborly"
making them easier to market with.

As to the web domain name, I think the solution is simple. Do both. The cost
of getting a domain name has come down in price to about $15 per year (from
$35). Its a small price to pay (about 4cents a day) and can potentially
reach many. Some people may search for your project name and others for your
group name. Searches matched by the domain name rank higher on many search
engines than matches of text within web pages. And you can have both domain
names refer to the same web page. And using statistics from your web host,
you can find out which site is generating the most leads.

One source of domain registration I have used is directnic.com. They offer
the domain names at $15 a year with free "parking" and "referral."

However you decide, I think the focus of your marketing should be in one
name or the other. Using two names is confusing and doesn't help in creating
an identity for your group.

Michael Donovan
Village in the City
St. Louis MO


on 8/31/00 12:57 PM, Brian Baresch at baresch [at] earthlink.net wrote:

> Hi all. Got a question your collective wisdom can probably help with.
> 
> Our small-but-mighty group has contracted for land and is about to start a
> big marketing push for new members. Our group has been called Lawrence
> Cohousing for nearly a year. OTOH we're about to name our project, probably
> East Lawrence Commons or Delaware Street Commons (both relating to the
> land's location, obviously). We're also about to get a domain name for our
> Website.
> 
> At an informal meeting last night we couldn't agree whether the Web domain
> should reflect the established group name or the eventual project name.
> (Most versions of the relevant names are available.) That led to a possibly
> bigger question: Do we market ourselves with just the project name, the
> established name plus the project name ("Lawrence Cohousing Community
> developing Delaware Street Commons"), or something else completely?
> 
> My view was that the project is our most visible face, and publicizing an
> additional name would confuse non- and prospective members. Other members
> sensibly argued that we're selling community, not housing, and we should
> keep the established group name -- the community, as it were -- front and
> center.
> 
> Anyone have thoughts, advice, rambling digressions to share?
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> Best regards,
> 
> Brian Baresch
> Lawrence Cohousing
> http://home.earthlink.net/~baresch/cohousing
> 
>