What's in a Name? Is Your Artist Identity LOST or FOUND in a sea of names?

[Harriete E Berman]

Harriete,

Should I have a business name?  I’m stumbling and struggling on how to come up with a name.

Signed,
A reader in search for a name!

While this question is a condensed version of questions from readers, it represents a fairly frequent issue. It also highlights concerns that are relevant to the Niche Marketing theme for the upcoming Professional Development Seminar  at the Seattle SNAG Conference.

PDS speakers include:

Hilary Pfeiffer who uses her own name for her serious work, but calls her wedding toppers business "Bunny with a Tool Belt".

emiko oye refers to her jewelry line as Reware (though I noticed that the web site name is actually "reware style.")

Deb Stoner has always chosen to do her work under her own name as her artist identity.

My primary concern with a business name is the difficulty that most people have developing even one artistic identity, let alone two. In most cases I believe it splits awareness you have built and confuses potential customers or your online network.

 

ASK Harriete offers further insight into marketing strategies and p... that may enhance the effectiveness of an identity....

 

It would seem to be a lot more focused to keep one name for your web site, email, Facebook, LinkedIN, Flickr, all 2.0 social networking and on-line marketing . One name, or a variant of your name, constantly reinforces one singular identity.

[Katie Schutte]

I was reading over the What's in a name? article, when a related question struck me.  I will be getting married in 2012 and instead for taking my future husband's name, I was thinking of hyphenating his last name to my maiden name.  Currently, I have begun my career and have my website with my maiden name. Should I bother at some point after the wedding adding the additional portion of my name to business cards, my website, etc?  I don't mind continuing my career with my maiden name, but I am unsure if there would be any legal issues if I was using my maiden name to do things like entering shows when I will have changed it to the hyphenated version.  I am also concerned there might be some people who will not connect me to the work I have done under my maiden name even thought all I am doing is hyphenating my last name.  Any advice on this matter would be greatly appreciated.

Katie

[Harriete E Berman]

Larry,

Excellent point.

Not only do markets change, or evolve,  but your interests or focus may change as well.

Then a tag line or name may feel in appropriate?

Harriete

 

[Larry Berger]

When I started my art business about 12 years ago I felt that I needed a brand name, it became,

INTO THE WOODS STUDIO, web is intothewoodsstudio.com I was doing a lot of my work in the Tahoe area then mostly cabin - lodge art furniture. That market has evaporated and I find that I need to reinvent myself, change the focus of my work, look for new markets. I would like to change to, art by Larry Berger but I have used INTO THE WOODS STUDIO to long and am stuck with it. So think hard before tagging your self with a business name. 

[Harriete E Berman]

Even after all these years, I am careful about how much I print of anything.

I know that 500 cards can go like light fire or hang on for a long time.

I only put my web site on my cards. The web site I constantly change.

That is the great thing (and the bad thing) about web sites....

I am never done changing it.

My moo cards have a name and address. 100 at a time...for flexibility.

Still think you should combine both businesses into one whole. 

I do not think the identities compete...in fact, ....you can use the other identity for credibility.

Harriete

[Stevie B.]

I like that idea Harriete.   Right now I am looking at just having (Artist Stevie B.) under the Steven Brian Samuels on my cards.  The problem is that some material is all ready done and some I can correct. Hmmmm.

 

As far as cards go, I still have my 80% of my first order of 400 or so for Stevie B. Jewelry printed 2008.

 

My Art Jewelry Photography cards, which I printed only last year and had 600 for my first run, I had to print again about a month ago.  Those go much faster because I hand them out at interviews with artists, when I am photographing events, and I include a few when I send images to clients.  I'm a bit more pushy with those I guess and more laid back with the Stevie B Jewelry ones (work vs artist thing in my head).

 

Thanks for the suggestion!

[Harriete E Berman]

Could you go with Stevie B.rian Samuels Jewelry

                              Stevie B.rian Saumuels Photography

 

A kind of stylized combo.

All too often, people jump in printing up stationary,brochures, 500 business cards a little early in their professional career. 

 

A small quantity goes a long way in the beginning....and it gives people time to figure out some of these issues.

Harriete

[Stevie B.]

Kid? Me? What PC thing? :)

 

2Roses - What are your opinions of just adding the Stevie B. name (small aka artist stevie b.) for now to my printed items (flyers, business cards, etc). Revamping everything over to stevie b will take a bit of time and I already have orders to go for promotional material.  Adding stevie b would be easy, redoing the cards/posters/websites & everything else is not doable within my time restraints for upcoming promotions.

[Harriete E Berman]

HUGE THANKS to Hilary for the contribution to the conversation here on Crafthaus and at the upcoming Professional Development Seminar.  I think we have a lot to learn from how Hilary has developed her Niche Market.

 

Thanks to 2Roses the marketing experts Stevie B has lots of options and  the "voice of  experience." Yes,  I agree, switch to either name for the photography  and jewelry and in 90 days no one will remember that Steven Brian Samuels (or StevieB)  ever existed. If your unsure....or want to accelerate  the transition, write a couple of thought provoking blog posts or article. You could also keep Steven Brian Samuels (or Stevie B depending on your chosen name) in the keywords and description for your web site so that search would still find you. 

 

To 2 Roses: I took no offensive about the three name identity....I have been using this name for a while (saying the number of years will date my youthful enthusiasm.) I thought both Harriete, and Berman were too common and needed a way to make my name more memorable. This was  way before  SEO was even around. Ironically,  Harriete (with an "e") is starting to gain traction.

 

The reality is that all names are good, one work, two word, three word.  One word names can be an equally hackneyed solution, and can see even "Kitchy".  There are many one word examples of fame in popular culture and in the jewelry world.

The important thing is to develop this name recognition by sticking with it and keep on working.

Harriete

 

[Hilary Pfeifer]

Hey there--nice to see this discussion about something very near and dear to my heart. 2Roses pretty much hit the nail on the head about a lot of my decisions about branding and intent. I absolutely think of the work I do as Hilary Pfeifer and the work as Bunny with a Toolbelt as having different intents and that's why I have two business names, websites, etc.

 

The work I do under my own name is about the struggle between humans and nature. It is often large site-specific installations, and much more fantastical.and abstract.  Bunny with a Toolbelt is much more light-hearted, figurative, and I also think of it as an avenue for design rather than conceptual content. I wanted it to have a memorable name and using my own would make it seem pretentious, in my opinion. It’s true that there is crossover in the materials I use for both bodies of work, but I don’t think they belong in the same settings. 

 

I have made my living for over 20 years as an artist, due in large part to having a small art business in the background somewhere that provides steady income amid the peaks and valleys of selling my other work. Above all, this allows me to have complete artistic freedom with my "serious work,” an area where I really don’t want to compromise. I don't necessarily hide the fact that I do both things, but see no reason to link my name to Bunny with a Toolbelt prominently.

 

The only place I ever have conflict with this is when people ask me to show (or talk about) the Bunny with a Toolbelt work but want to publicize it with my regular name because they are more aware of my fine art resume than the brand I've developed. I usually insist on using both my business and personal name in those instances.  I should have done that with the SNAG promotions but, ironically, I was so busy last fall with a project that I missed it. Initially, I was reluctant to participate at all because I thought it might increase confusion about this name issue but later agreed because it might be a good opportunity for me to clarify things as well as imparting some helpful information about making a living as an artist, which I do enjoy.

[2Roses]

Shootyourbaby.com  OMG Stevie! That's hilariously brilliant. But Harriete is probably right about the PC thing. She's also correct in that you can easily switch the use of your name at this point. From a branding perspective, you have almost nothing invested in the Steven Brian Samuels at the moment. We know that it may not seem that way to you, but establishing a public identity takes a tremendous amount of time and effort. Most people grossly overestimate the brand recognition they actually have.  Switch to back to StevieB for the photography and in 90 days no one will remember that Steven Brian Samuels ever existed. They will very quickly recognize StevieB as an artist/photographer.

We checked and the following domains are available

stevieb-photography.com

steviebphotographer.com

steviebimages.com

photographybystevieb.com

steviebforphotos.com

Any of the above would work as would steviebjewelryphotography.com

In fact, that last domain may be a good tack to take for an SEO strategy. You would register multiple domains as "stevieb[category]photography"

 

Harriete, you've made the three name thing work for you very, very well. Yours is one of the most highly recognized names in our field, and you certainly are the authentic real deal.  We did not intend to imply that a three word name could not be used as an effective marketing tool. We were merely pointing out a comparative perception of the two names Stevie was vacillating between.