One of The 7 Essential Meta Questions of Every Beta.
Robert Cartaino has made an article, here is a small slice of it:
Instead of stressing out over the vagaries of the brutal, cut-throat .com domain market and debating the “least worst” domain name options ad nauseam, simply focus on telling the world what your community is about. Don’t even think about the domain name!
Give us the one sentence “elevator pitch” for your community. How would you explain your site to a stranger you met on an elevator? It’s about … what, exactly?
For more insight I've wrote a detailed post about Elevator Pitches in the past.
As it helps to define the site we should be starting this early, here is the post he made on other sites:
Let's start with a killer "elevator pitch!"
The Elevator Pitch
This isn't as easy as it sounds. Imagine the user who will never read your FAQ and you have two seconds to grab their attention. It should be catchy but descriptive. It should be thoroughly clear but painfully concise. Make every... word... count.
Here are some creative examples:
- Gawker: Daily Manhattan media news and gossip. Reporting live from the center of the universe.
- Gizmodo: The gadget guide. So much in love with shiny new toys, it’s unnatural.
- Autoblog: We obsessively cover the auto industry.
- DumbLittleMan: So what do we do here? Well, it’s simple. 15 to 20 times per week we provide tips that will save you money, increase your productivity, or simply keep you sane.
- Needcoffee.com: We are the Internet equivalent of a triple espresso with whipped cream. Mmmm…whipped cream.
Use it as a Tagline
A shorter elevator pitch can be used as a tagline — something you can display in the header at the top of the page. If it doesn't fit, consider shortening it or creating a separate tagline. Here are some great examples:
- Slashdot: News for nerds. Stuff that matters.
- Lifehacker: Don’t live to geek, geek to live!
- The Simple Dollar: Financial talk for the rest of us.
The Motto (don't forget your logo)
A logo begs for it own little, short tagline — like a motto. Maybe the tagline inspires the logo; Maybe it's the other way around. Mottos make good t-shirt, bumper stickers, and other marketing material. Either way, you'll recognize a good motto when you see it:
- Just do it.
- Think Different.
- The Uncola.
- Intel inside.
- Like a rock.
- The king of beers.
…and perhaps all this leads to a proper name and domain for your site… eventually. So let's start from the basics. Come up with a killer elevator pitch, tagline, and/or motto!
