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Clever Names Aren’t Always a Good Thing

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Re: Clever Names Aren’t Always a Good Thing

#61

Post by smhinsey »

patio11 wrote: post #38

I've had they same issue with Ninite, actually. I'm agnostic on whether it needs a different name. For a use-once-in-a-blue-moon product which fixes an immediate need, it probably needs better SEO. The simplest baby step is to write ten or twenty pages about pain points and how Ninite fixes them.

I just recently rebuilt my workstation and wanted to use Ninite but I couldn't remember the name and couldn't find it via search. This is the second time that's happened, although the first time was before the name change, so I don't really count it. (Although now that I think of it, I can't recall the original name either.)

Re: Clever Names Aren’t Always a Good Thing

#62

Post by JoeAltmaier »

swies wrote: post #28
ora600 wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is almost like Oracle support telling me "There is no problem" after I call them about my database corruption. The author, who obviously loves your software, couldn't find you enough times that he wrote a blog post about it. There are several reddit thread about this issue. Several replies to this thread express the same frustration - they can't find your software when they know it exists and want to use it. You…

Oops, I didn't mean to come off as saying that the author's problem isn't real. I understand where he's coming from and we hear similar things from a lot of users. But, there's not a good solution available so I don't really worry about it day to day. We're not going to change the name at this point, and I think people have started to see us enough that its becoming less and less of a problem. Actually, lots of peopl…

No good solution available? You state that you are not going to use the best available good solution - a memorable name. That's very different. Consider branding the product with two names? Coming up with a version name that is memorable? Doing some SOE that works? Throwing away customers because you have enough - nice to be in that boat.

Re: Clever Names Aren’t Always a Good Thing

#63

Post by gopi »

inportb wrote: post #51
ihodes wrote: post #26

At first, I agree. But then I look at my running programs: emacs, Steam, Safari, Python, Clojure, along with the more descriptive Finder, iChat, iTerm2, Mail. Somehow, I think the problem has more to do with how obtrusive or how much interaction you have with a program rather than the name. What would you call Ninite?

Um, I'd call it a package manager.

> What would you call Ninite?

I would prefer Installware as its business friendly (installware.com is available for $7500), not sure if it infringes the existing name InstallAware though! ... If you cannot spend that much then TurboInstall is good too and the domain turboinstall.com is available for $50

Also i would listen to patio's advice and focus on SEO. You can write atleast 30 quality articles in this area

Re: Clever Names Aren’t Always a Good Thing

#64

Post by swies »

todayiamme wrote: post #52
swies wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks, this is a really great compliment. One of my favorite things about Ninite is that we get thank you letters from grandmothers who hear about us on the local news and orders from Fortune 500 companies for the same basic product.

That's the funny thing. It isn't praise for your product. It's just what your product has become. Who knows if it will stay that way, but what it is right now is something simply beautiful. You know I would just love to talk more with you about your product. Is there someway I can email you?

Sure, I'm pat@ninite.com

Re: Clever Names Aren’t Always a Good Thing

#65

Post by swies »

smhinsey wrote: post #61
patio11 wrote: post #38

I've had they same issue with Ninite, actually. I'm agnostic on whether it needs a different name. For a use-once-in-a-blue-moon product which fixes an immediate need, it probably needs better SEO. The simplest baby step is to write ten or twenty pages about pain points and how Ninite fixes them.

I just recently rebuilt my workstation and wanted to use Ninite but I couldn't remember the name and couldn't find it via search. This is the second time that's happened, although the first time was before the name change, so I don't really count it. (Although now that I think of it, I can't recall the original name either.)

We used to be Volery at getvolery.com but pg advised us to change that since Dropbox had such a hard time eventually getting dropbox.com.

Re: Clever Names Aren’t Always a Good Thing

#66

Post by swies »

rubergly wrote: post #56
swies wrote: post #16

I'm a co-founder of Ninite. We hear this a lot, but I don't think it's a big deal. Traffic has been growing well since we launched and we install 1,000,000 apps every week now. The real problem is that there's not really a term for what we do. The key part in all these stories is that even searching for us is hard. We're doing something totally new so we might as well call it something totally new. I'm also just aest…

Hey swies, I have some tangentially related feedback. I've always had ninite.com bookmarked since I found it, and the other day I was going through and sorting my bookmarks; when ninite.com loaded, I was immediately thrown off. From what I recall, the site's design used to be dark and looked very simple and professional to me; as soon as I saw this light-blue design with the "Featured in..." on the right, I thought "…

Thanks for the feedback. The lighter designs we've been using lately are much more readable (they've pretty much eliminated common questions about things we already say on the homepage). That block of logos is just temporary, we just put the current design up a week ago and haven't had much time to iterate on it yet.

Re: Clever Names Aren’t Always a Good Thing

#67

Post by ideaoverload »

demian wrote: post #41

If you can't remember the name, then it's not clever. PS: I believe only "lifestyle" products can get away with that kind of fantasy name. Things that impact and change significantly the way you do something that you do often.

'If you can't remember the name, then it's not clever.' Agreed 100%. Now it's likely too late but wouldn't batchsetup.com be easier and not so generic (edit:available for registration as time of posting)?

Re: Clever Names Aren’t Always a Good Thing

#69

Post by smhinsey »

swies wrote: post #65
smhinsey wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just recently rebuilt my workstation and wanted to use Ninite but I couldn't remember the name and couldn't find it via search. This is the second time that's happened, although the first time was before the name change, so I don't really count it. (Although now that I think of it, I can't recall the original name either.)

We used to be Volery at getvolery.com but pg advised us to change that since Dropbox had such a hard time eventually getting dropbox.com.

That makes sense. I think the reason I can't remember the name is that it has no real connection to what I'm trying to accomplish. I think Ninite is fine for a company name, but maybe you could use a product name or something to more firmly establish the connection between the name of your product and what it does.

Re: Clever Names Aren’t Always a Good Thing

#70

Post by naner »

swies wrote: post #16

I'm a co-founder of Ninite. We hear this a lot, but I don't think it's a big deal. Traffic has been growing well since we launched and we install 1,000,000 apps every week now. The real problem is that there's not really a term for what we do. The key part in all these stories is that even searching for us is hard. We're doing something totally new so we might as well call it something totally new. I'm also just aest…

The real problem is that there's not really a term for what we do.

Package Manager (or Software Manager)? Seems like a Windows analog to Apt. Googling windows package manager leads me to something called Npackd that looks similar to your tool (though it is quite ugly/complex looking) at at glance.

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