Was DomainPantry Too Close to DNKitchen?

The 35 people that have come to the site saw that I started my new domain blog as DomainPantry.com. A name I picked up on a drop and a name that I thought was great. A closet full of domain names, stored away gaining value. Just like my old Star Wars toys (they really never became too valueable). One problem, 20 minutes into my official announcement Patrick, of ChefPatrick.com, thought the name was a little too close to his DNKitchen name. Now I like and respect Patrick. He has a nice blog and we have done business together but I didn’t change it because he asked. I changed it because he got me to thinking. Do you want a brand name that makes you think of someone else? Secondly, I want to brand myself.
In the gardening world in Central IL everyone knows my name (maybe not everyone). I am on radio and television pushing my name and my company. When you hear one you think of the other. I’ve built up enough reputation that when they hear my name they think of my company and gardening. So domain pantry, as catchy a name as it was, did not promote me and may have made others think of Patrick. When I bought the name it didn’t make me think of him for one second and by no means was I trying to feed of his popularity. My goal is to build my own following not coattail of someone else. The only coattailing I do is developing a new brands off your already strong brands.
This little change is by no means a big deal but it IS a good story and lesson. Create a totally unique name that can’t be confused with others and others will have trouble duplicating with an outright infringement. Secondly if you have a personality that can be sold and promoted by all means do it. Last but not least, what do others think about the original name? Would it have been confusing if I had kept it?

One Reply to “Was DomainPantry Too Close to DNKitchen?”

I think the original name is cool and not that near dnkitchen. Websters defines pantry as:

a room or closet used for storage (as of provisions) or from which food is brought to the table

So a pantry is for storage and a kitchen is for preparing not too much similarity. I believe in some old houses the pantry is seperate from the kitchen. 🙂

As to would it have been confusing had you kept it? I vote no

Ray says:

July 6, 2009 at 7:29 pm

I think the original name is cool and not that near dnkitchen. Websters defines pantry as:

a room or closet used for storage (as of provisions) or from which food is brought to the table

So a pantry is for storage and a kitchen is for preparing not too much similarity. I believe in some old houses the pantry is seperate from the kitchen. 🙂

As to would it have been confusing had you kept it? I vote no

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