Whats in a Name?

Jeff_Milo

Hello all,

I need some help. When I first started my photography business 4 years ago on the east coast I was primarily shooting equine events, family or individual portraits, and a wedding or two mixed in from time to time. I guess what I am saying is I was dealing with a primarily consumer market. I named my business "Forever and a Day Photography". Its a name that I had come up with when I was in college and making my own greeting cards for family and significant others. I really liked my catch phrase "... making your memories last forever and a day". I moved to the left coast about a year and a half ago (wow has it really been that long) and still shoot the same things, but I have also expanded a lot into Corporate Head Shots, Real Estate Photography, Final Construction Project photos, Team Sail Boat Racing, and other more corporate clientel type areas.

I have never realy advertised my services to the public, I have not had to everything I do is by word of mouth and reputation which has over the years kept me very busy. As of recently a few large corporate opportunities have come to me and I find myself reaching the point where I am ready to persue things past the word of mouth and start advertising to a much larger audience. What I am struggeling with is, does the name "Forever and a Day Photography" sound to nichie as primarily a portrait/wedding type studio? If you were a corporate type client doing a google search for a photographer would you pass over a company with such a name? Obviously the quality of the photography is what will ultimatly decide if a potential client chooses to use me or not, but as I am now developing a web site and start venture out into advertising my services to the masses could a buisness name like "Forever and a Day Photogtraphy" cause clients looking for more "corporate" or "comercial" type work to pass me by? Is it time to change to something more universal?

Your comments and suggestions are very much appreciated.

USAIR

FlashPhotoBoy wrote:

Hello all,

I need some help. When I first started my photography business 4 years ago on the east coast I was primarily shooting equine events, family or individual portraits, and a wedding or two mixed in from time to time. I guess what I am saying is I was dealing with a primarily consumer market. I named my business "Forever and a Day Photography". Its a name that I had come up with when I was in college and making my own greeting cards for family and significant others. I really liked my catch phrase "... making your memories last forever and a day". I moved to the left coast about a year and a half ago (wow has it really been that long) and still shoot the same things, but I have also expanded a lot into Corporate Head Shots, Real Estate Photography, Final Construction Project photos, Team Sail Boat Racing, and other more corporate clientel type areas.

I have never realy advertised my services to the public, I have not had to everything I do is by word of mouth and reputation which has over the years kept me very busy. As of recently a few large corporate opportunities have come to me and I find myself reaching the point where I am ready to persue things past the word of mouth and start advertising to a much larger audience. What I am struggeling with is, does the name "Forever and a Day Photography" sound to nichie as primarily a portrait/wedding type studio? If you were a corporate type client doing a google search for a photographer would you pass over a company with such a name? Obviously the quality of the photography is what will ultimatly decide if a potential client chooses to use me or not, but as I am now developing a web site and start venture out into advertising my services to the masses could a buisness name like "Forever and a Day Photogtraphy" cause clients looking for more "corporate" or "comercial" type work to pass me by? Is it time to change to something more universal?

Your comments and suggestions are very much appreciated.

Lots of views and no replies.
Well Jeff here's my take I think most good exposure is word of mouth and building up a reputation.
I think your work should speak for it's self.
But on the other hand I do see your point that in the corporate world it might be different.
So my vote is lose the name and go with Jeff Milo photography.
Works better to all the way round...well for me anyway
Also take this advice for what it's worth .02

I'm sure more will chime in on this...my experence is limited

Fred

ShepsMom

I don't think it's a really big deal with the name. How are you known to your clients? Do they know just your name or do they know you as your business name? If your business name is already out there, how would that affect anything? It's probably always a good idea to incorporate your personal "last, first" name for the business world. But i agree, your work should speak for itself, regardless.
Best of luck to you!

sirsloop

Let your work speak for you. You could name your business dog zomit photography and people would still judge you by your work. Well.. maybe not dog vomit but you get my point.

I think the ol photography get overused anyways. Its like what you use when you could not think of anything else. Mix it up a little and differentiate yourself from the rest of the rat race

ChatKat

Name means a lot
If you named your business with your personal name and you got so successful that you needed to hire employees, and the employees were not as good as you, your name could be affected. Name is very important.

By the same token, you want a name that people will associate with what you do. I have a bookkeeping business. I got divorced and remarried and I had to choose to keep my former last name or use my new last name. I changed my business from Kathy's Bookkeeping Services to Kathy R Business Management; Well, guess what, people perceived me as having higher quality services and my business doubled within a year.

Image and perception are everything in the business world. I keep reading on the boards about photographers who have all the gear. They're great photographers with wonderful skills - photographically. But they also need to hone their people skills, their marketing skills, their business skills (have you written a business plan - or are you winging it - where is your budget and income projection?) If you are a hobbyist, then you might not need any of this. But if you are a real business, make it one and you will be much more successful. That includes a good name that will make people really know that you are serious about your skills and will give them what they want. Make them want to sign your contract right away. Do business on the up and up - pay your sales tax, be ethical and honest and fair. It works.

sirsloop wrote:

Let your work speak for you. You could name your business dog zomit photography and people would still judge you by your work. Well.. maybe not dog vomit but you get my point.

I think the ol <persons name> photography get overused anyways. Its like what you use when you could not think of anything else. Mix it up a little and differentiate yourself from the rest of the rat race

photobanks

Name is very important.... I was getting very little work coming in when going by my old name "Images by". I have now changed this to photobanks and I am flooded with enquiries every week. I have not done anything different marketing wise, so it must be in the name!!

Michael

digismile

One would hope that we are judged by our work and not by the name, but a name can make a difference.

For example, if you had only an ad or business card to choose from, which company would you choose? Forever and a Day Courier or, Lightning Courier? Context matters.

Personally, I like the name Forever and a Day Photography, but I definitely have an expectation of the kind of photography I would expect from a name like this, and it's not corporate or realestate.

So, it might not be a very good, "one size fits all" kind of name. So who says you can only have one? I have a videographer friend who does both Wedding and Commercial/Corporate videos. He has a different branding for each.

Know your customer ...

dragon300zx

I was waiting for someone else to come up with this and I'm glad Digi finally did.

You can have more than one name as well as more than one domain name. They are different aspects of your business so it is ok to seperate them.... I have been considering doing the same for myself actually.