An Interview with crowdspring Naming Creative, Mike Taylor

crowdspring creative, mt1895

It’s not easy to name a new company or product.

During the brainstorming process, you may think you’ve found the perfect name only to learn that name already belongs to someone else.

Perhaps you’ve considered turning to a naming consultant, only to learn it costs tens of thousands of dollars – a fee most businesses can’t afford.

All businesses should have access to affordable, high-quality company naming services. (For more on naming, read Why and How to Rename Your Business and 10 Tips for Naming Your Startup or Small Business).

We recently spoke with Mike Taylor, (who goes by the username mt1895), a competitive professional product and business namer, about his experiences working with crowdspring.

Mike is one of over 220,000 crowdspring creatives who help entrepreneurs, startups, small businesses, agencies, and non-profits in the U.S. and in 100+ countries with professional custom logo design, web design, print design, product design, packaging design and naming companies and products.

We talked with Mike about his experience, how he became interested in naming companies and products, his advice for naming, and his secret to success (trust us, it’s more than drinking lots of coffee).

The images in this interview are the winning names from some of the projects Mike won on crowdspring.

1. Please tell us about yourself.

I am a retired Data Processing System Analyst (I’m not even sure if the phrase “Data Processing” is still used.)

2. How did you become interested in naming?

My wife admires my skill as a (self-proclaimed) wordsmith. She discovered a website that paid for naming products and such. She suggested that as long as I was naming for family, friends & church, I might as well name for a company that was paying for the service.

3. What led you to start using crowdspring?

After being successful at another naming service website, I started to Google others like it, and I found Crowdspring. There were a total of four naming websites beside Crowdspring that I was working with, and it is worth noting that I have since severed my relationship with them all. I now devote my time to Crowdspring alone.

I quickly realized that the Crowdspring process from beginning to end is an easy one, and the projects that enter the platform are ones that I could easily relate to and are fun to work on.

4. What inspires you?

Underdog success stories are a great inspiration.

Now, I am not saying the projects that land on my workstation are underdogs. However, when I win a project and later pull up the previously non-existent website and see the beautiful transformation, it is a very satisfying feeling and it generates a great sense of accomplishment.

5. How would you describe your style?

I don’t have one particular style. I simply read the brief intently, and create what I feel compliments the project or what fits precisely.

I will use ancient words, words in different languages, alliterations, compound words and more; it depends on what style the client prefers.

6. What is the naming process like for you? How do you start?

That, my friend, is my secret sauce – and why I am profiled here. All I will offer is that as a coffee lover, I will drink a cup of coffee as I am intently reading the brief.

7. What do you do with your free time?

My wife and I are avid recreational golfers and students of the Word of God. So, when I am not creating, I am probably on a golf course somewhere in the United States. We haven’t traveled abroad yet, but plan to soon.

If I am not on the golf course, I am probably working in some capacity at the church I fellowship with.

8. What is your most memorable project on crowdspring?

Asabasa Spice Company was a renaming project where the owner was faced with a directive to change their existing name, which had some copyright issues. That project name centered around a great cup of coffee I enjoyed at the time I was reading the project brief.

Just imagine reading a brief where one of the requirements was to find a name that begins with the letter “A.” There you are, taking your first sip of a deeply roasted cup of coffee, thinking about “Asabasa.”

You can’t say “ASABSA” without first saying “Ahhhh,” a word I say to relax or when I am enjoying coffee. Read the ASABASA case study if you want to learn more.

9. What is your favorite part about working on crowdspring?

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE receiving the email that says “You have been picked for an award!” and I have plenty of those.

That, my friend, is my favorite part of working on Crowdspring.

I also like that the award listed for a project is the award given 100%, with no part of it given back to Crowdspring as a fee. Other sites don’t pay 100% of the award to the creative.

I also love the quick responses and replies from the staff. They really make you feel like you are indeed a part of the crowdspring family.