Blellow | What are you working on?

kimbeasley @mandi I love the name! It's unique, easily identified and it's associated with a famous TV show that you could refer too regarding where the name came from. I say keep it. :) 2009-04-23 15:48:22 UTC

kelander1 @mandi The name is a bit awkward. Twitter is a name that kind of describes the communication that happens there. If we could come up with a name that describes the kind of communication that happens on Blellow that would help complete the branding. Like e-Marketplace or WebMashup or WebWorkers. 2009-04-23 15:48:59 UTC

brant @mandi The name is indeed awkward and should be changed. However, I also suggest moving the navbar to the rightside so our eyes look at content first, navbar second. After all, we read from left to right (at least most of your users do) 2009-04-23 15:55:08 UTC

pakalika @mandi I like the name! It's unique and easily identified. I think most people don´t like the name due to its meaning! If it was a name related to the kind of communication that happens on Blellow, people would like it a lot more! 2009-04-23 16:06:00 UTC

curtismchale bet you'll end up 50/50 on the answers. makes no difference to me really. Like the current one and you have already got some branding and traction (sitepoint just mentioned it). if you want to do it do it quick so the loss isn't as bad. @mandi 2009-04-23 16:08:11 UTC

kimbeasley @curtismchale I agree with you. The branding of "Blellow" is already happening on via blog post, news outlets, social media website, and many more. I think you may loose out in changing the name due to all the effort that has gone into developing your current branding scheme. 2009-04-23 16:15:28 UTC

melinda @mandi Really? I like it. It rolls off the tongue easier now than when I first joined, ;) but it's like @pakalika says, "it's unique and easily identified". So, if you were to change the name, would the color scheme have to change? Probably not, but the meaning behind the color would be lost. 2009-04-23 16:21:52 UTC

mandi @mandi Glad to hear. So, you think once people start using it and have said it a few times they'll get over it? :) I like the name too and don't feel it's any harder than saying Yellow, Mellow, or Hello ;) 2009-04-23 16:39:37 UTC

mandi @mandi My concern is that every time we get a write up on a prominent blog, the comments are filled w/ people saying that the name is horrible and I wonder how many don't bother checking it out because of it... 2009-04-23 16:41:07 UTC

pegazoo @mandi When was tha issue with the new facebook layout, I readed a post about tha manager said: Sometimes need to reject the users opinion.:) BTW i like the name. A little gard to say but it's "soft" and impressive. 2009-04-23 16:42:23 UTC

marksherrick @mandi I love the name. Being a Malcom in the Middle fan doesnt hurt, either..lmao. Keep it, its different, its interesting, non generic. Maybe Blellow needs a tagline, a catchphrase...but the name needs to stay as it is. 2009-04-23 16:42:48 UTC

jane @mandi I like the name & it does mean many things that I think also describes the community 1. more than green, somehow (as per malcolm in the middle) 2 . new way of looking at something 3. green as in eco friendly - virtual coworking 4. green as in get work & gain opportunities. 2009-04-23 16:53:47 UTC

curtismchale Really if you offer a good service people will use it. Do you really want people that hate just cause of a name choice? I realize it needs to be easy and catchy but you can't please all of them. I thought the name was weird but liked the site so here I am and the name is fine now. @mandi 2009-04-23 17:28:58 UTC

mandi @mandi Very good points @curtismchale :) @marksherrickI agree that we should have a kick ass tagline, something that sums up why we use Blellow. We tried to come up w/ one before we launched but couldn't settle on one. I'll dig up what we came up w/ at the time and see what you all think about them. 2009-04-23 17:38:11 UTC

marksherrick @mandi I smell a kudo contest coming on...heh. for serious entries, anyhow. 2009-04-23 18:10:19 UTC

zakmorris @mandi It is a bit awkward to say for sure and admittedly, I'm on the fence. I do think the concepts behind the name are neat, but it's not like a play on words where you have an ' oh, I see what you did there..' moment. It's grown on me over the last few weeks. A tagline would be a great help. 2009-04-23 19:16:04 UTC

azwebdesign @mandi Blellow is not a bad name! In fact, it is a great identifier - distinctive and memorable, and easy to type (except if you're a one-finger typist). Ppl who complain about the name probably know very little about branding - if I were you I'd ignore the ignoramuses and not change it. 2009-04-23 19:22:54 UTC

erisds @mandi It is a weird name, the main problem is like others have said - it doesn't explain what the site does like twitter & facebook do. It needs some strong marketing to get the name known & eventually it'll be as normal to use in convo as "facebook", "google" & "twitter" which are weird names too! 2009-04-23 20:50:50 UTC

curtismchale did twitter explain what it did when people first heard the name? I thought that name was odd when I first heard it but now it seems normal. @erisds 2009-04-23 21:09:19 UTC

zakmorris @curtismchale right - but twitter also has the bird mascot - and after using it for a day the correlation of the message pingpong and arbitrary bird chirping becomes fairly apparent. case in point - the word itself is becomes a visualization of the interaction. It's not the case with Blellow. 2009-04-23 21:26:26 UTC

mandi @curtismchale Yeah, Twitter was originally Twttr. I'm not sure how much they heard about their name, but I know they got a lot of grief for the concept and people not seeing the value of it. I think we should keep it and see how it goes. Would not be fun to rebrand :) 2009-04-23 21:29:52 UTC

azwebdesign @mandi Yay! That is a wise choice. :) 2009-04-24 00:15:03 UTC

zakmorris @mandi the concern is valid in terms of initial marketing when so many people have the o_0 face after hearing it. It has nothing to do with branding knowledge so much as natural response leading to not giving it a chance based on a phonetic. Judge a book by it's cover....and all that. 2009-04-23 21:39:35 UTC

daviddixon @mandi I think my only issue with the name is its too tempting to pronounch the name as "Bee Lellow" rather than "Blellow". Its may be because the name doesnt tend to scan very well, the "ble" is a little unusual to start a word (by itself, its sounds a bit light "bleugh") 2009-04-24 00:01:09 UTC

dreamleaf @mandi personally loving the name, and think due to the uniqueness of the offering that it needs to stand out. My general view is that you don't really need users that judge a service by it's name alone, and usually when people post comments like that on a blog they don't get challenged... meh... 2009-04-24 00:07:49 UTC

monikaleigh @mandi I think it's creative. Really! Blellow. It makes someone stop and say "what's that?" and looks more into it. 2009-04-24 00:16:31 UTC

colin_miller @mandi just discovered this site today. The name? Well (my opinion) it's too obscure and I cant find any link to freelancing/creative industry in it at all. It also sounds like 'Below' which (again for me) brings notions of being below, under par and not appreciated. Site looks good btw 2009-04-24 11:05:12 UTC

oilskin @mandi The current name has two problems. 1) There's no semantic tie to function of the site 2) the two adjacent L sounds just about OK for English speakers, but for speakers of some other languages are near-impossible. 2009-04-24 12:35:55 UTC

mandi @mandi Check out how Twitter looked originally: http://www.flickr.com/photos/crystala/177278734/in/photostream/ 2009-04-24 18:50:03 UTC

zakmorris @mandi Very interesting. Granted - they just added filled a few letters and added a bird for the visual reference to make the name be easily associated with the activity. I'm not sure blellow would have it that easy. I say stick with it and just come up with a tagline........that really rocks. 2009-04-24 19:10:46 UTC

821nkline @mandi I would agree that it's a tad hard to remember and pronounce, but I'm sure it would become easier the more often you heard/saw it. The critique I would have is that it blends in with all these other "random" names that people have come up with for all the social media sites. 2009-04-24 19:00:10 UTC

dodo_g @mandi well i for one would like to change into Yellue. i shall get kudos for coming up such an ingenious yet easy to pronounce name. 2009-04-24 20:40:20 UTC

jane @dodo_g lol yellue - yep, rolls right off the tongue - you are a genius!! :P 2009-04-25 00:11:57 UTC

andreacutler pronounced "B'lellow" the combination of blue and yellow, combines the best of two worlds, design and social consciousness, to form a unique talent resource swatch. my two cents.@mandi 2009-04-24 23:09:11 UTC

inspireme @mandi I like the name. When I first ran across it (ad on Mashable), it reminded me of another Twitter-related site, Twellow. And hey, it's a fun name that will become quite recognizable. I say keep it. :-) 2009-04-25 07:12:58 UTC

ijy @mandi I've got to agree that although web services can have some strange names blellow doesn't really roll off the tongue when trying to spread the word. Why the combination of blue + yellow? Starting off with a .com isn't a necessity as delicious and magnolia etc prooved. 2009-04-25 09:11:00 UTC

azwebdesign @ijy Delicious and Magnolia have been around for a LONG time ... the TLD ".com" is an important consideration, especially for start-ups. 2009-04-25 16:53:56 UTC

ijy @azwebdesign Granted they've been around for a while now but they had to start somewhere and the fact they became so popular with a ccTLD instead of a .com is testiment to my point. There are many recent examples including laconi.ca. Hugely popular & open source twitter like service. 2009-04-27 11:23:12 UTC

kee2ka4 @mandi ye ur right.. da name is hard to remember my luv 2009-04-25 12:34:35 UTC

tojosan @mandi too many l sounds is the problem when saying it. Doesn't roll off the tongue. Also Derivative feel to it. Drop the whole yellow/green thing in favor of something more tied in with the purpose of the site. 2009-04-25 15:30:58 UTC

oilskin @mandi Yeah ... I understand that blellow = blue + yellow, but why is that important? 2009-04-25 17:35:24 UTC

virtualwebvideo @mandi Difficult to pronounce, doesn't match the site. Packaging can be everything in marketing. It doesn't matter how good your product or service is if it doesn't draw people in. Yes, it will start getting noticed eventually, but what amount of users will you NOT capture as a result? Change it. 2009-04-25 20:15:45 UTC

katin @mandi I think the name is the worst part of the site. The worst is when I tell other people. Their faces scrunch up. You can bet I don't enjoy mentioning it. Firing up the creative juices to transform the most controversial (if not the most negative) part of the project will be a big win. 2009-04-25 23:17:17 UTC

nevenjones @mandi I think it's just too late to change the name the buzz has already started about it. I like the name and I think the logo is cute and memorable. 2009-04-26 01:26:36 UTC

marksherrick @mandi Some things should be up to everyone, and some things shouldn't. You named this place, and you know why you named it what it's named. That should be enough. This isn't like you're asking if a certain feature works right..its like having a child and asking its friends if it has a cool name. 2009-04-26 02:15:04 UTC

coldacid @mandi It's your call. Personally, I love the name, even though I too find it a bit difficult to pronounce (it usually comes out as "bellow" with me). 2009-04-26 06:12:01 UTC

eris @mandi What is the right name? This is the first thing that a new startup thinks. In your case its already a hit. At the end of the day what you do is important and not how good your name is. Well blellow is fine and I see no reason to change it. 2009-04-26 09:55:37 UTC

rob @mandi I actually quite like the name "Blellow" but maybe thats just me... 2009-04-26 12:57:32 UTC

srulibroocker @mandi I think the name's fine. You're never going to make everyone happy, and a huge percentage of "talkbackers" on blogs and websites like to gripe about anything they can. I don't think there's anything great about "Twiiter," or "Facebook" as names - it's the user base that makes it happen. 2009-04-26 14:06:30 UTC

coldacid @mandi Yeah, I got to agree with the comments by @eris and @srulibroocker. Don't listen to the haters! 2009-04-26 23:18:41 UTC

oilskin @mandi While it's the case that over time the signifier slides under the signified for any new name, that doesn't get around the difficulty in pronouncing those adjacent Ls, particularly for speakers of some languages. I guess if your target market is only English speakers, there's no problem 2009-04-27 05:31:34 UTC

djnr @mandi i love the name! 2009-04-27 17:12:05 UTC

mandi @mandi Huge thanks to everyone for your opinions. It's great to hear all of your different POV's. I've decided to keep it Blellow for now and work on a kick ass tagline as well as educating people how to say it. It really is not difficult to say if you know how it's pronounced. mellow,yellow,fellow 2009-04-27 17:30:48 UTC

blogtalkradio @mandi Blellow is a good name and its gaining traction everyday, no reason to change it.. IMO 2009-04-27 18:31:28 UTC

srulibroocker @mandi Ive got a good idea to get some membership and collaboration going: a Blellow add contest - with print, web, video/animation categories for submissions. Whoever makes the best Blellow add wins some kind of prize (software, cash, etc.) It could be a nice PR thing, too. 2009-04-28 00:34:52 UTC

mandi @srulibroocker Great idea! I'll pass this idea by our team and see about doing something like this. THanks :D 2009-04-28 14:40:33 UTC

srulibroocker @mandi I misspelled the word "ad" - I'm an animator, not a copywriter! 2009-04-28 16:56:16 UTC

ldjimenez @mandi I agree that the name could use a change. It is hard to pronounce and even harder to describe to someone who has never heard of the site. 2009-04-27 17:42:28 UTC

pearanalytics @mandi I think it depends on why people "hate" it. Are they already existing users? Or are these prospective users? Several folks commented that the name has to represent what the site is about, or what it does. Really? What's a "yahoo" or a "google" or a "twitter"? I say keep it. 2009-04-28 03:31:36 UTC

panah @mandi I don't think you necessarily have to change it. But if you should the time is probably now. Now this is not a serious tool http://www.dotomator.com/web20.html but it's fun to play with if you are looking for a name. I do like the name though. 2009-04-28 18:10:40 UTC

onenterframe @mandi the name is hard to pronounce which makes it cumbersome to tell your friends. But I say don't change it... play with it. Make a short funny video of people trying to say it. Or a funny video on "The correct pronunciation" I'm seeing something sesame street-ish. 2009-04-28 19:21:31 UTC

jane @onenterframe lol, great minds think alike. @blellowsean had a similar idea along the lines of the "Electric Company" - see it on the top left here http://blog.blellow.com/newsroom/videos/ "How Do You Say Blellow?" 2009-04-28 19:27:06 UTC

chshkt @mandi I like the name, but if you wanna change it with something that is blue+yellow you can also name it yelue :D (yellow+blue) yelue.com is free for reg., but still it's weird name, so blellow is fine also. maybe launch some cool contest so everyone can suggest and vote on the name and some prize 2009-04-29 15:44:23 UTC

Hi. Welcome to Blellow!