Your business name

KaraM · Jan 30, 2007

Just out of curiosity...

What is your business name?

How did you come up with that name (if it's not your real name)?

Christie Photo · Jan 30, 2007

My business is called Christie Photography. Christie is my last name.

I wondered at the time if I should choose a more generic name like "First Choice Studio" or the like. My concern was I could more easily sell a business that didn't bear my name. Ultimately I decided I wasn't creating a business to sell.

Pete

vandecarr · Jan 30, 2007

I'm incorporated as an s-corp and the business name is Mike V, Inc.

My name is Mike Van De Carr.

My website is www.vandecarr.com

I did everything this way because I don't want people to forget me. Knowing my first and last name makes them feel they know me (I hope).

Also, they won't call me that photographer because they will know my name and it'll be easy for them to remember to send their friends to me.

Cheers,
Mike V

Christie Photo · Jan 30, 2007

vandecarr said:
Knowing my first and last name makes them feel they know me (I hope).

Funny thing.... MANY times I get calls for Christie. Often, people call me Chris. This happened to my dad too.

Jim Gratiot · Jan 30, 2007

Kara:

I would use your full name... Kara M------ Photography.

There is no shortage of cutesy photography names... and in truth, they all begin to sound the same. If you're trying to stand apart from the competition, this is bad.

Ideally, when somebody is introduced to you, you want them to make the connection between you and your business; as opposed to you having to explain what you do.

For example, suppose you met a prospective client at a party .

If your company name is "Bright Lights Photography," when you met somebody, you would have to say "I'm Kara M------. I run Bright Lights Photography." This can sound a bit forced.

A better scenario would be for you to say, "I'm Kara M------," and for the person you meet to say, "Oh, are you Kara M----- the photographer?" Then presumably, they'll be impressed.

This makes the situation less awkward... but your name is still out there, and you can still grab them as a client.

Obviously this wouldn't happen when you were just starting out... but it's always advisable to think several years ahead when trying to build a business.

I wondered at the time if I should choose a more generic name like "First Choice Studio" or the like. My concern was I could more easily sell a business that didn't bear my name. Ultimately I decided I wasn't creating a business to sell.

Pete: If your business is successful (profitable), then you probably wouldn't have any trouble selling it... no matter what the name.

Jim

Renair · Jan 30, 2007

Mines Photograph Dublin. I read here by a number of people using your name for your site is a big mistake. Someone is looking for example a picture from Dublin. If I used my old site name www.renebruunphotography.com They have no idea who I am or where I am based. As a result in two years I only got 18,000 visitors to my site. Then I thought ok, I am based in Dublin, most of my shots are from Dublin so if someone was going to photograph Dublin, what would they put in a search engine? Changed my site name to: www.photographdublin.com and viola! It is only running 2 months and has had over 7,000 hits!

Well worth considering if taking out a domain name in future, lesson 1!

elsaspet · Jan 30, 2007

I agree that the photographers name is the best way to go, unless you last name is "Crabb" as in my case......
Doesn't sound too much like a happy go lucky fun loving photog.

smyth · Jan 30, 2007

elsaspet said:
I agree that the photographers name is the best way to go, unless you last name is "Crabb" as in my case......
Doesn't sound too much like a happy go lucky fun loving photog.

Yeh, that or you have a very generic name like John Smith or the like.

photogoddess · Jan 31, 2007

smyth said:
Yeh, that or you have a very generic name like John Smith or the like.

My name is Tammy Smith - it's urban camouflage and is almost as generic as John Smith so my company is called True Blue Photography. It took me a long time to pick it but I can't really explain why. Probably because blue is my favorite color and "true blue" means trustworthy, always there and loyal. :mrgreen:

Pixel9ine · Jan 31, 2007

Jim Gratiot said:
If your business is successful (profitable), then you probably wouldn't have any trouble selling it... no matter what the name.

I completely agree.. Most of the smart and witty names I'd thought up on my own (and was quite proud of, really!) were found out to be taken by someone else.

So I chose Pixel9ine photography... which works; my logo is a frame of nine monochrome pixels.

DeepSpring · Feb 17, 2007

Well my name is Josh Smith........... pretty common. So I tried to go in the direction of a different name. The problem is I am horrible with names in general be it a band or picture name or anything. I set my itunes library to random and kept hitting next and finally a song named Deep Spring by Common Rider came on and I'm like hhmmmmmm Deep Spring Photography, that could work.

jemmy · Feb 18, 2007

I also agree that your name is a good choice for your 'name'. My surname is Entriken and i am forever asked how it is spelt and figured it was 'too difficult'. My maiden name is 'White' but I thought it was a bit too plain so added Wish to it..... White Wish Photography.... figured it was nice for portraits and also worked for wedding photography? A bit cutesy I suppose, but I like it! x

BWP-by-RK · Feb 18, 2007

Mine is Beautiful Wedding photography by Richard King
we answer the phone "Beautiful wedding photography"

In the pipline:

"Beautiful Gay Wedding Photography by Richard King"
and "Beautiful Food Photography by Richard King"

Sort of corporate, but defines what I do, and the family of names works together

wxnut · Feb 18, 2007

The first 2 years I was in business, I went under Wxnut Images. WX is the abbreviation for weather. Being an avid storm chaser, I was given that nickname. At the time of starting a business, I already had the web site "wxnut.net" And my license plates were wxnut, so I wanted the business to be called that to. Then it hit me that some people may shy away from calling a business they cant pronounce or know what it means so I changed it to simply... Doug Raflik Photography.

Doug

Aquarium Dreams · Feb 20, 2007

Renair said:
Mines Photograph Dublin. I read here by a number of people using your name for your site is a big mistake. Someone is looking for example a picture from Dublin. If I used my old site name www.renebruunphotography.com They have no idea who I am or where I am based. As a result in two years I only got 18,000 visitors to my site. Then I thought ok, I am based in Dublin, most of my shots are from Dublin so if someone was going to photograph Dublin, what would they put in a search engine? Changed my site name to: www.photographdublin.com and viola! It is only running 2 months and has had over 7,000 hits!

Well worth considering if taking out a domain name in future, lesson 1!

My name + "photography" dot com would be really long, and most of my photos are also from a really specific area, so I was considering making my domain/business name relate to the area I live. This story just enforces that. I was wondering though, have more hits equalled more sales? That's the logic, I know, but is that the reality as well?