Very few businesses or products that have a numeral in the name make it to Number One in sales. Why is this? Simple, because the competiton has better names that can be remembered. Numbers are very hard for most people to remember. Quick, what's your mother's social security number? Tough,huh?

A number in a name will only work if you have little or no competition. Without major competition, it's easy for a consumer to remember the name. There's nothing to confuse the memory. If you are going to be the only one in town selling your product, go ahead and use a number.

Most products that are successful with a numbered name are very old and have been around for forty, sixty and maybe a hundred years. 3M, GE, etc. They started out with little international competition. "VO5" and "WD-40" were launched over FIFTY YEARS ago, again, with little competition from overseas markets. In the fifty's there were only a handful of shampoos on the market. I believe there are over two hundred shampoos on the supermarket shelf today. A numbered name is not going to make it.

I strongly recommend you drop the "500" from your name. I'm not saying you can't be successful. You'll just not be wildly successful. You just will never be at the top of the heap. If you don't mind being #3 or #4, use a number.

In the Fortune 500, "3M" was #100 down from the top. Wal-mart was #2. Good luck.

John C
http://onlyonemark.com