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what do you call yourself?

B

bluap84

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Feb 12, 2011
324
0
UK
Hello...Me again...all this boredom at work makes me think.

Im thinking of getting my slice of the web. So. tumblr / site / etc etc

what would you call yourself, if you were setting up a domain name.

i have come up with pbproductions but both .co.uk and .com are taken.
but then again im only editing unless im putting a bike video together from my gopro - so thats production..

oh my brain hurts
 
Domains

Domain names are tough. I remember when I was thinking one up about 4 years ago. After all my top choices were gone I decided to oersonlize it a bit with something easy to remember. I ended up with dreaming22.com
(before anyone looks it's a mess I never finished since iWeb turned out to be less then what I need, though I did try to make an outline, now I'm getting better site builder.)

Why did I come up with that name? Well 22 was my hockey number all my life/good luck number. Plus I'm all about living your dreams, and running media productions became my dream. Thankfully my work spread through word of mouth not via website. I have other sites too, but the media one was difficult since I would be stuck with the name until I found something better. To me I like my web name, it at least means something, and no one found it hard to remebet when I was actually using it.

So I just add the media productions in the site and my business cards. Now that things have slowed down I can get the site going again.
 
bluap84 said:
Pb are my initials
Problem with having a name such as Paul Bennett it's so bloody common.
So really tough to find anything worth while
Click to expand...
In that case, you don't necessarily need a .co.uk... .net, .info, .biz, or any country calls could work.
Check with a registrar if your name is available.
 
bluap84 said:
.co is the country code top-level domain assigned to the Republic of Colombia.

bit far from me haha.

maybe

pabproducing.com ? paul andrew bennett ? of does that sound gay
Click to expand...


What you are trying to do is called branding. It's not a very easy thing to do and that is why some agencies charge thousands of dollars to do it. To do a correct brand, you have to keep in mind the products and services you are trying to sell and your target audience. In your case, the product is you... but you still have to keep the audience in mind if you want to get your message across.

You should also be asking yourself what kind of business are you trying to do? A studio that may have employees and a chain of command would have different branding requirements than if you were just going it alone as a free-lancer, or one man shop. The type of products and services you are selling also have an influence on the brand. You also should be looking at long term so that your brand name doesn't become obsolete if a market segment changes.

You have to have a functional name that is easy to remember. Something that is clever, but not pretentious. If you want to use your name, how does that connect to your product? Is it more important to market your name, or your product? What about in the future?

A lot of people don't like to use their name because they think it's boring so they come up with another cooler sounding name. But they fail to realize all the hassle that goes with using a fictitious name, which usually requires additional paperwork and licensing issues. I've seen freelancers use silly fictitious names for their business, and I've seen business people who are trying to sell a product, use their name for their business. Doesn't make sense to me, but whatever works I guess.

If you have a boring name (but that might just be boring to you because you've had to live with it for so long), then do a play off the letter forms or come up with another way to say the name. I saw a very clever logo done awhile back by a guy who just used his first 2 initials and his last name as the tag-line.

I'll end my long diatribe by saying, if you are serious about what you are doing... but struggling, then hire someone you trust. It's worth the expense for something that is going to be with you for a long time. Doing your own brand is very difficult for most people but they think for some reason that they can do it anyway.
 
THX1139 said:
What you are trying to do is called branding. It's not a very easy thing to do and that is why some agencies charge thousands of dollars to do it. To do a correct brand, you have to keep in mind the products and services you are trying to sell and your target audience. In your case, the product is you... but you still have to keep the audience in mind if you want to get your message across.

You should also be asking yourself what kind of business are you trying to do? A studio that may have employees and a chain of command would have different branding requirements than if you were just going it alone as a free-lancer, or one man shop. The type of products and services you are selling also have an influence on the brand. You also should be looking at long term so that your brand name doesn't become obsolete if a market segment changes.

You have to have a functional name that is easy to remember. Something that is clever, but not pretentious. If you want to use your name, how does that connect to your product? Is it more important to market your name, or your product? What about in the future?

A lot of people don't like to use their name because they think it's boring so they come up with another cooler sounding name. But they fail to realize all the hassle that goes with using a fictitious name, which usually requires additional paperwork and licensing issues. I've seen freelancers use silly fictitious names for their business, and I've seen business people who are trying to sell a product, use their name for their business. Doesn't make sense to me, but whatever works I guess.

If you have a boring name (but that might just be boring to you because you've had to live with it for so long), then do a play off the letter forms or come up with another way to say the name. I saw a very clever logo done awhile back by a guy who just used his first 2 initials and his last name as the tag-line.

I'll end my long diatribe by saying, if you are serious about what you are doing... but struggling, then hire someone you trust. It's worth the expense for something that is going to be with you for a long time. Doing your own brand is very difficult for most people but they think for some reason that they can do it anyway.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice man.
well im not selling anything or providing anything...it will simply be a place to put up my edits, videos etc...like a online portfolio showcase. Who knows it may get me work it may not...but ill be getting myself out there.

so i would be happy to not use my name, but as its my portfolio i thought it would be easy, well of course its not ha..

backwards paul is luap i was born in 84

erm... maybe use something to do with 84? eightfourmedia? 8.4 media?
your right though its very hard creating a brand
 
Some ideas?

One of the brainstorming ideas that often helps in these situations (and even in creating jokes for sitcom writers) is to put down all the words that might be associated with the situation.

You say you want to “put up” your edits, videos and the like as an online showcase. Start your list with:

video, cut, vid, film, edit, media, shoot, physical, action, camera, dolly shot, sequence…

Then make a list with some of the “business” words like:

company, associates, producer, production, direct, shooting, capture, business, editing, compilation, professional…

Also, make a list of things that are unique to you or that you like:

Paul, bike, off-road, skiing, hiking, pancakes, tea, running, PB, skateboarding, Bennet, espresso, racing, townhome remodel…

Then take your lists and try to arrange two or three of the words in a way that might be appealing, unique, user friendly, easy to remember, or fun. (You know what you like: it could even be the name of your wife, ex-girlfriend, old car, dog, whatever.) Think about adding a number instead of a word if appropriate (like “2” instead of “to”).

Maybe you’ll come up with something that would work for you.

Good luck.
 
mediaeightfour.com
eightfourproductions.com

are two i have come up with so far. I have just finished my F1 edit so brain isnt functioning lol
 
So you are producing eights and fours? (j/k)
That name doesn't say anything about what you are doing. Could be everything and nothing. Sounds a bit like a politician talking...

Musique has given you some hints - ply around with them.

So you only want to put up your videos, with no plans to ever make some money outta them?

pbennetvideo, pbvideo, pbennetf1video,.... for a non-commercial site, it's pretty simple.
When I still had my studio, it was cgbierphotography for me. However, I actually never needed a website for advertisement, only for posting proofs, as I was known as the dude with the camera in our community (i live on a tiny island).
 
bluap84 said:
...well im not selling anything or providing anything...it will simply be a place to put up my edits, videos etc...like a online portfolio showcase.
Click to expand...

Well, since you aren't selling anything... then you are over-thinking it. Just use your name, then if your videos become popular and you decide to find work, your name will be associated with your videos. You can do all kinds of clever and cutesy business names, but then you'll get lost in a sea of other non-sensical names. If you are serious about starting a business... then create a business name. If you are going to freelance, then use your own name. If you are doing it for the fun of it, then just use your name. At the end of the day, no one is going to care what you call yourself as long as your stuff is good.
 
Name

I agree with using your name, or at least buying the domain for latter use, since it's not very expensive just to get a domain name. Among the other domain names I created I also purchased just my name incase someone ever took it. Though my name is uncommon, but I didn't want to possibly loose it.

Of course if you hand out business cards it would help with people getting to your site. Simple business cards are not very expensive and you could even make them yourself, though the paper I tried once sucked, so beware of that. I guess if your not selling anything yet the card doesn't have to be great.
 
bluap84 said:
Thanks for the advice man.
well im not selling anything or providing anything...it will simply be a place to put up my edits, videos etc...like a online portfolio showcase. Who knows it may get me work it may not...but ill be getting myself out there.
Click to expand...
You could skip the domain name bit, and spend $60 a year on a Vimeo Plus account. Saves having to futz around with web sites and players. Then when you're ready to go pro, get cheap hosting with minimal storage somewhere and embed the vimeo vids you already have.
 
martinX said:
You could skip the domain name bit, and spend $60 a year on a Vimeo Plus account. Saves having to futz around with web sites and players. Then when you're ready to go pro, get cheap hosting with minimal storage somewhere and embed the vimeo vids you already have.
Click to expand...

i have bought a pro account as i couldn't upload my F1 cut.
so i just need my custom domain. and ill be sorted

i have went with pbfilms
so vimeo.com/pbfilms - and pbfilms.co.uk is available so may get that later on
 
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