I’ve decided to re-brand the services I offer by trying to convey a more “corporate” image and downplay the “regional small business” perception.

While I plan to use the "KKJ - Consulting Services" as the primary brand name, I want to use the new logo to sub-brand the specific services I offer. I want to be able to pitch some potential clients using a specific sub-branded logo that represents the services being offered to that specific client. The concept of sub-branding also allows the client to readily identify the services being offered. In many cases, the "KKJ - Consulting Services" is a bit too vague to identify what KKJ offers that client.

Based on past experience, there are some services that I don't want to offer to certain clients and sub-branding seems like an easy way to accomplish this. For companies where I am making a generic pitch or offering an all-in-one solution, I would utilize the "KKJ - Consulting Services" brand. For companies with an in-house I.T. department or ultra-specific I.T. needs that I don't want to or can't offer a viable solution, I have the option to utilize the "KKJ - Digital Marketing" or "KKJ - Web Design Services" brand depending on the project. Additionally, when I utilize sub-contractors on a project, I can have them operate under the specific sub-brand they specialize in.

I welcome your feedback on the logo design (the page will cycle through some of the sub-branded logos) as well as the logic behind my decision to make these changes.

In my opinion, the current brand, “lake-wylie.net” has a variety of problems:

• The domain name isn’t easy to remember
• People can’t spell “Wylie”
• It’s a “.net” domain
• It’s hyphenated
• It’s too “regional”… Lake Wylie being the small town where I live… located near Charlotte, NC
• Compared to available alternatives, it’s too long a domain name
• My target market geographically diverse, hence the current name adds no value to my “brand”
• The logo sucks… (look at my avitar) it isn’t very corporate, lacks any significance to the services offered and is too colorful

The new “kkj.com” (click here for logo) brand has some noticeable advantages:

• Damn easy to remember
• It’s a “.com” which means I can use the company name without having to slap a “.com” after it… I have found that the “.com” is usually implied
• It’s generic enough to use in different markets
• It’s generic enough to use for disparate services
• The “@” in the new logo instantly symbolizes technology
• The blue color seems quite corporate… even though I sampled it from a label on a 50 year old bottle of scotch

in a word, SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEET

And one disadvantage - you're one letter away from kkk.com. While they don't have an active site up at that address at this time, it is owned by the Ku Klux Klan.

I'm sure most folk would type the correct address, but in this case, the occasional typo could lead to something very ugly...

Hi Gary

Living here in the redneck riviera of South Carolina, I am well aware of the Klan.

I did already check to see is if there was an active kkk.com domain and am very happy that there isn't.. for a wide variety of reasons. Maybe they are too busy sleeping with thier sisters to put together a website

As for accidental typos... not much I can do about that.

I have reached the conclusion that the convenience of having a reasonably catchy short domain outweighs the typo factor.

Regards

Julian

I'd certainly say that having a three letter domain is a benefit, especially as it has repeated characters

Craig.