Business Name

[ron_mccarthy]

<p>Does anyone suggest using your personal name for your business or coming up with a name that isn't so personal to the photographer? (ei- Jeff Jones - Jones Photography or Jeff Jones Photography or <em><strong>Leapfrog Photography</strong> - <strong>Dragonfly Photography</strong></em>)<br>

My wife and I are still throwing around names and getting advice from several people. It's like 50/50 using our personal name.<br>

Thanks in advance for your input.</p>

[umesh_bhayaraju]

<p>:).... it depends on what kind of photography you do :)...... :) :) :)<br>

J&J photographer<br>

J&J wedding photography<br>

call me at any time photographer.com :)</p>

<p> </p>

[Stock-Photos]

<p>Ron, If you will be promoting your business on the net, I suggest making the name be<strong> the most likely term people would search the net for, when looking for your service.</strong></p>

<blockquote>

<p>For exmaple, nobody would search for these terms "ei- Jeff Jones - Jones Photography or Jeff Jones Photography or <em><strong>Leapfrog Photography</strong> - <strong>Dragonfly Photography</strong></em>)"</p>

</blockquote>

<p><strong>But, I'm sure people are searching for terms like "New York City Portraits, or "Salem Wedding photography".</strong></p>

<p><strong> </strong> Choose a local city as part of the name because people want a local business when they search, and often include their locale at part of a search.<br /> Once your business name is established, create a Web site with the domain name of your business and that factor (among many others)will help bring your business to the top of search engine results.</p>

[jim mucklin]

<p>Ron, I'm with you. My feeling on the subject is that if you care enough to put your name to something your behind it. I know all the vendors that I do business with by their name and sometimes I'm ashamed to admit it that I have to look up there business name. I like to know the person I'm doing business with.</p>

[mart_e]

<p>I take the point about names being personal - and therefore providing a strong personalised touch for a business.</p>

<p>Funnily enough I was talking to a 'branding' consultant the other day on this (she's a friend - I didn't pay for the advice). I'm in the the throws of setting up a business and have been going through the same dilema. Her advice was interesting.</p>

<p>Her opinion is that people are visual in the way that they 'see' a company or a business. A strong identity can help someone to bring a particular company to mind when triggered by a particular need. She thought that this could be best achieved with a name / logo combination that works well - normally an abstract name with a strong visual theme / logo.</p>

<p>She felt that this can also work with a personal name - but usually only if it is 'strong' when written down (specifics of typeface and design) and forms something visual that is almost separate from the name itself (ie use of initials etc.).</p>

<p>I took it with a pinch of salt at the time, but the more I think about it, the more right it feels. Memory is certainly triggered more by visuals than by names (most memory techniques use visualisation to store data).</p>

<p>She compared the technique to the old fashioned business naming technique of 'AAA Plumbing' to get your listing up front in the directories. A strong visual theme pushes your business to the front of someone's mind.</p>

<p>Of course - this only works if the business has already got into a prospective clients head.</p>

<p>Martin</p>

<p> </p>

[photomark]

Ron, it would really help if you mentioned the type of photography you plan on pursuing. 'Dragonfly Photography' might work

fine for a service specializing in children portraits, but would be a horrible idea for a commercial photographer. Without

knowing what you are trying to do it's impossible to offer any real advice.

[ron_mccarthy1]

<p>It's a joint venture - My wife will focus on Weddings - Senior Portraits - Children. I would like to focus on Commercial - Landscape - Sports. We want to be in this for the long haul. We also didn't want to use the place we currently live in for the name just in case we decide to live in another city someday. We were told that if you use an abstract name - if you had to sell it, due to unforeseen circumstances - it would be easier. We travel frequently and want to use the images we take for Greetings Cards - Posters. Our initial focus will be people - portraits - weddings but I would like to eventually get into more commercial work down the road. Thanks again for all your advice. I enjoy this forum and have found very experienced people give very good advice. My wife and I have so much passion for photography and we want to be taken serious. Our business name is the first step and I feel one of the most important.</p>

[mikael_karlsson]

<p>Ron:<br /><br />When I decided to specialize in photographing cops, prisons, forensics etc some 10-ish years back I decided on Arresting Images, Inc., First I checked in the arrestingimages.com was available (which it was) and then I registered the business and after that I registered the Trade Mark as well. The name has worked well for me over the years even if I still think it sounds a bit corny. But it works - and I guess that's what matters.<br /><br />The main deciding factors for going with this, rather than a name with personal or geographical hints, for me were three.<br />1. Living in the US I have noticed that my name gets misspelled. A lot. I mean really a lot. Assuming this would be true for buyers/clients too I figured they'd search for all sorts of spellings of my name which wouldn't bring them to my site.<br />2. Mikael Karlsson in Sweden is like John Smith is in the US. Google Mikael Karlsson and you'd get millions of hits where I probably reside very low down on the list.<br />3. Geographical location means nothing to me since I don't market or sell images to the public. <br /><br />I think you would probably be best of with two different names. Since weddings and portraits is rather local and location often is a big deal there's that to consider. I guess you could also go with something neutral like Ron & Wife's name Studios. The more I think about it though the more I'd be for multiple names. It should be easy to set up various DBAs as needed and that would certainly make targeted marketing easier. Then again, check on the Wedding Forum here on P.Net what most of the wedding pro's there do should give some insights about that part of it.</p>

[robert_sholl]

<p>Mikael - I feel your pain on mispelling. Ive even had people "correct" forms I filled out, making it Scholl. And dammit if there are not a bunch of other Robert Sholl's who are WAY more successful than me :)<br /> I agree on the two different names. Beside the obvious difference in emphasis, if some time in the future you decide to go separate ways it one less thing to fight about (applies to all kinds of partnerships).<br>

One las thought - grab domain names "close" to yours. I have 3 I am waiting to get when they expire.</p>