That was the question someone asked me the other day as I was standing in the order line at the Subway restaurant near my office in downtown Greenville,SC. The reason I was asked that by a complete stranger was I was wearing my black golf shirt that had our company name and logo on it. Actually it was the name of our “portal domain” - SpinningSilk.com and our old logo but regardless of the specific details the name caught the eye of someone as something slightly unusual and out of the ordinary. When I told him we provided web design services the initial reaction was; “I’ve noticed the are a lot of those around.” reminding me that we definitely have a lot of competition in the market. This opened up the door to say we also provide print design, audio and video services. This was definitely an elevator speech moment.

In the world of textiles silk is finer, stronger and more lightweight that a lot of the other materials out there. While silk is used for a lot of delicate things it is probably the least wimpy of fibers. For those of you readers outside the Greenville, South Carolina area it might be worth noting that Greenville was once known as the Textile Capital of the World. I know at least two other competitors who have textile themed names. Neither have nothing to do with web design or other new media services. It’s just a guess but while the current technology is exciting and fun to use I would bet the idea behind out company name is anchored in a concept of visual imagery instead of focusing on one product or service. Just as Apple, Inc. was not called “Cupertino Computers” we decided to brand ourself in a similar manner.

I didn’t excel in the way I would have wanted to but I did learn a few key things from that brief encounter. The other person was expecting something different and remarkable from our company name. Did I let him down? Should I have even mentioned we provide web design services when in his eyes and and in the eyes of many it doesn’t seem so unusual anymore, at least in the Upstate of South Carolina? I place where textile creations were also common place.

In my next encounter I will meet or exceed the expectations of the inquisitive person standing next to me in line. More than likely I will down play specific services and address the “pains” that are out there. Speaking of spinning silk my next post will look back on the year 1801, a famous silk spinner and he help usher in the computer revolution. A computer revolution that made complex designs in textiles using silk a reality.

Are you using your company name to capture the attention of people you meet? How?

This entry was posted on Friday, May 30th, 2008 at 6:37 pm and is filed under Greenville,SC, Innovation, Tips, Upstate,SC, marketing, networking, web design, web development. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.