By Marcia Yudkin

A few months ago, I turned down a naming assignment from a company seeking a business name that would correlate with a domain and a toll-free number, both currently available. Impossible, I thought. Nope, not impossible if you know how to go about it, says Bill Quimby of TollFreeNumbers.com.

The key is to find the vanity phone number first, Quimby says. Many available toll-free numbers spell out something related to your business; more than you would imagine. For instance, when he ran a search for toll-free numbers related to naming, he came up with 888-DR-NAMING (which I immediately reserved), 866-NOW-NAME, 877-PRO-NAMING, 888-WEB-NAMING, 877-TOP-NAMING and hundreds of other options.

Once you find a toll-free vanity number, the next step is to make sure the corresponding domain name is available for registration. 888DRNAMING.com was available, and I reserved that as well for future use. Then I was set for a radio publicity campaign, a national advertising campaign, or just rebranding.

Some points to keep in mind if this sort of naming strategy excites you:

* Although North American phones show letters on the keypad, telephones elsewhere in the world may not. Likewise, toll-free numbers in North America cannot be dialed from other continents. If you have a global business, branding only through a toll-free number that works only in one part of the world may not be a smart idea. However, it can still be a good way to attract North American customers, since you can forward the toll-free number for just pennies a minute almost anywhere else in the world.

* The cost of getting calls through a toll-free number can be as low as 2.85 cents a minute, with no monthly fee or monthly minimum charge. Aside from the one-time cost of getting a vanity toll-free number, it does not cost any more on an ongoing basis than a toll-free number that does not spell anything.

* Although numeric numbers are easier to dial, vanity numbers spelling out words get more calls than numbers comprised of random numbers. In a study done by Bellcore, print ads that had an 800 toll-free number attracted six times as many calls as regular, non-toll-free numbers. In addition, contrary to what you might expect, this held true regardless of the socio-economic status of the caller.

* Older telephones do not show the "Q" (which correlates with 7) or the "Z" (which correlates with 9), but most recent models do. Note also that you will get more misdials if your vanity words include the letter "O," which can be mistaken for the zero key.

* The more you advertise on billboards, trucks, radio or TV; it is important to have a number that spells something. If you are a small company, a vanity number makes you seem bigger and more established. When Bill Quimby tells people to call him at 1-800-MARKETER, few would guess he works from his home. A toll-free number also emphasizes that the company wants to hear from customers.

* Whereas so many great domain names are already taken, many more of the 800YourName.com types of domain names are still available.

Marcia Yudkin is "Head Stork" of the naming company Named At Last, which brainstorms new company names, new product names, tag lines and more for cost-conscious organizations, at http://www.NamedAtLast.com . Download a free ebook on obtaining vanity toll-free numbers at http://www.namedatlast.com/naming6.htm.