The name of a business is important. Right? It should tell you a lot, with a little. It should give you an idea of what a company does, where it might be and all that good stuff.
Some business names are great, some aren’t. Check that. Some belong in the “What the hell where you thinkin’?” category.
Which brings us to our name. Opossum Creek Retreat. For many, the only exposure to our name sake is on the highway. More often than not, usually not looking its ‘best’ (Cough..road kill). There has to be quite a few folks wondering what we were thinking.
Spelling and Alphabet
Know who doesn’t like our name? The Alphabet. And regular readers of Webster’s.
When you pick-up an area visitor’s guide, we’re always toward the bottom. The letter ‘O’ is nowhere near the beginning of the Alphabet (you knew that, right?). So, as you might imagine, when listings are done alphabetically we are way down there.
Then, we have to deal with silent letters. We aren’t sure who invented silent letters, but he hates us. Why does it start with an ‘O’? Who knows. Perhaps the spelling was passed down from our Irish ancestors.
Also, turns out, Opossum is kind of hard to spell. Don’t believe us? Check out the July 27th thread on our Facebook Fan Page. It’s very funny. Not really “ha ha” funny but funny as in, “How did any of us pass 4th grade?”. No one can spell Opossum, we even misspell it from time to time!
We’re starting to get a bit of a complex here.
Google’d
As if we weren’t already feeling a bit insecure, Google also hates our name. Like it or not, Google (and Bing) has become the way lots of businesses like us “do” business these days.
It’s the Google-fication of America. Google acts a lot like an old friend at a party full of people we don’t know. It introduces us to great folks we hadn’t the opportunity to meet before. Perhaps someone like you.
Hi. Nice to meet you. Let the ‘Possification begin.
Well, it appears that in order for Google to help introduce us to folks, that might like what we have to offer, Google has to like our name. We wish they liked it more. I could have named the business West Virginia Cabin Rentals. After all, we have cabins for rent and we are in West Virginia. Makes sense right?
- Our name doesn’t include the words ‘Cabin Rentals‘. Google frowns a bit.
- Our website address doesn’t include the words ‘West Virginia cabin rentals’. Google no-likey.
- Our web address and name don’t really say what we have here: rental cabins.
- Our guests know we do more than just “rent cabins”. Does Google care? No.
- One thing Google does like (love) about us? Our content. We like to share lots of local information on the New River Gorge Area of West Virginia. In fact, Google says we are experts. Thanks Google.
Why We Love Our Name (And Hope You Do Too)
When I named the business more than 15 years ago, Google didn’t exist and the Internet was still a baby. All I was thinking was this: “It’s a cute name and people will remember it”. I think it worked. Many repeat guest have remembered it and have returned time and time again.
We love our name. It does tell you about what we do, and where we are. Proof? The Farm House, our first rental, sits on the banks of Opossum Creek.
Our goal, the same as 15 years ago, is to provide a place where you can retreat from it all and relax.
Get it? Opossum Creek… Retreat. Our name is here to stay no matter what Google may think of it.
The best experience of being a guest at a party? Other than celebrating the fuction with the event-givers certainly is, the grub. I can never seem to eat enough. A good cook can make or break the shindig.