Business Name...(input appreciated)

Stella Bella · September 17, 2007

I am looking into starting off small and then hopefully growing my business when my husband is done with his residency. I have been thinking about names for months and just haven't found anything that screams its the right one. I will be doing families, children and pets. I'm looking for something catchy and not too photo cliche.

Some I have thrown around...

Stella Bella (daughters name is Stella)
Purple Posey or Purple Posies (SIL came up with this)
Lavendar Lily
Sadie Mae Photography
Kat Prints
Tangerine Tutu
Tangerine Tulip

I have also been throwing around things having to do with...

ladybugs (again having to do with my daughter)
mango
mulberry
periwinkle
tulips
tutu

Any input or opinion would be greatly appreciated. My husband came up with "Dirty Pirate Photography" and my slogan would be "ARRRRRR....you ready to get your picture taken?"....so you can see I'm getting no help over here :lol

Thanks,
Kat

RustingInPeace · September 17, 2007

I like Simple
Sadie Mae Photography works for me. Just my 2 cents

rosselliot · September 17, 2007

Think of all the great photographers that you know or have heard of - - - notice anything in common between all the names of their studios?

- Ross

Rhuarc · September 17, 2007

I was pondering the same question, and someone made a good point to me. They said if I use my name as my business then people don't have to try to remember who the photographer working for that company is. I was worried that my name was too complicated to use as a business name, but someone told me that since my name is very unique to take advantage of that. People will be more likely to remember it!

I reccommend you do the same! Very simple, elegant, and straight forward!

Stella Bella · September 17, 2007

If I did that I would have to go with Kat Cummings since Katherine Cummings is already a great photographer (and has the site

)

Rhuarc · September 17, 2007

Lol, well, then never mind!

rosselliot · September 17, 2007

ah...I see. Well, I'd recommend somehow putting your name it...personally.

as a photographer - YOU ARE THE BRAND that you are trying to sell. you are selling yourself and the skill that is housed WITHIN YOU! you see what I mean? But I do see what you mean about now having the website name...that's a big thing for sure! what about KC Photography? or photography by KAtherine? or Photography by Katherine Cummings, or Kat _. Cummings Photography...or K._. Cummings photography.

just some ideas...

- Ross

DJ-S1 · September 17, 2007

Kat's Eye Studios - too cutesy?

Stella Bella · September 17, 2007

I do like KCPhotography....um. Its so hard to decide.

saurora · September 17, 2007

rosselliot wrote:

ah...I see. Well, I'd recommend somehow putting your name it...personally.

as a photographer - YOU ARE THE BRAND that you are trying to sell. you are selling yourself and the skill that is housed WITHIN YOU! you see what I mean? But I do see what you mean about now having the website name...that's a big thing for sure! what about KC Photography? or photography by KAtherine? or Photography by Katherine Cummings, or Kat _. Cummings Photography...or K._. Cummings photography.

just some ideas...

- Ross

These are all good suggestions. Katherine has always, always been one of my favorite names. In fact, I have two friends with different spellings of the same name and both get called Kat or Cat (depending which spelling!) by me. Your last name is hard to muff up and goes well with Katherine. I do like using initials, too....like K. Cummings Photography. You have a nice name that flows easily, I would use it as opposed to trying to come up with something "unique".

ShepsMom · September 17, 2007

You can always have your first intials K.C. Photography instead of a full name. Just trowing it in

.:D

rosselliot · September 17, 2007

Kat,

keep in mind that it doesn't have to be .com

one of my good photographer friends here in Louisiana is Mark Eric, and his site is Markeric.net...and he's really well known, he's sometime credited with started the big Trash the Dress phenomenon! he's been on the Today Show and other stuff...and his is .net....so keep that in mind, okay?

Angelo · September 17, 2007

I'm so glad to see everyone giving similar, great advice... Use your name!

Now, since you can't actually do that (unless you follow Ross' advice, which is also good) you can use a nome de plume.

Or how about Katherine Maidenname?

Stella Bella · September 17, 2007

Ok...so even if I'm mainly doing children and infants I should do my name?

I've asked a couple of the moms I know around here what they thought and they have all like something cute. Ugh.

I really do appreciate everyones opinions. Still tossing around ideas.

rosselliot · September 17, 2007

still think you need to do something with your name...just my opinion...

denisegoldberg · September 17, 2007

Stella Bella wrote:

Ok...so even if I'm mainly doing children and infants I should do my name?

I've asked a couple of the moms I know around here what they thought and they have all like something cute. Ugh.

I really do appreciate everyones opinions. Still tossing around ideas.

I agree with everyone else who has been posting here - use some variation of your name. That's much more professional. And I don't think it matters that you're (currently) planning to photograph mainly children & infants. After all, who knows what tomorrow will bring?

Go for professional, not cute.

--- Denise

GJMPhoto · September 17, 2007

Chiming In
Putting your name on your business says you're proud of your work, willing to hang your reputation on it right up front. Very powerful message.

I don't like KC Photography for two reasons: 1) Sounds like you're in Kansas City...and 2) KC is a masculine name...and, especially for child photography, having a 'mother's eye' is an advantage. Don't lose it.

Katherine is a great name. I think I like Photography by Katherine.

One more thought: Today you're thinking about children photography as a specialty...when Stella is 15, and the star outside hitter on her volleyball team, don't be surprised if you find yourself specializing in teams and tournaments...you may not want to revamp your whole business as your interests branch out.

-- Gary.

fiatsurf · September 18, 2007

Another option would be to line up a few different names... it doesn't cost that much per year to register a .com, .net, etc. I chose fiatsurf.com as my main site as surf photography is pretty much what I do (the latin usage of 'fiat', i.e. 'let there be surf'). A backup name, which I currently use as my blog address, is NaH2O.com (loosely, 'saltwater') but I also have my name (tobinsharp.com) reserved and a couple of other photo-related names (arslux.net, one or two others that escape me) should I feel the need to change down the road or should a certain Italian car company feel I'm infringing...

I went the route I did as the surf industry is all about branding... it could get to the point where some of the locals might wear a 'fiatsurf.com' t-shirt but might not wear a 'tobinsharp.com' t-shirt. I'm also a part-timer with the day job to pay for equipment so take with a grain of sail.

denisegoldberg wrote:

I agree with everyone else who has been posting here - use some variation of your name. That's much more professional. And I don't think it matters that you're (currently) planning to photograph mainly children & infants. After all, who knows what tomorrow will bring?

Go for professional, not cute.

--- Denise

Andrea H. · September 18, 2007

Well you already know my opinion, but I'm going to put it in here anyway!

I really admire people who come up with creative names for their businesses. For me, I remember them more than I remember a name. Again, personal preference. A funky, fun, expressive descriptive name would lead me to believe that the photographer was that way in their shooting style as well.

And in case anything were to ever happen to your business in a bad way, it's not your name out there to bash. A business name is just that. The name of your business, not YOUR name.

Not sure if that makes sense to anyone else but me.

Angelo · September 18, 2007

I wonder if Ansel Adams, Richard Avedon, Annie Leibovitz, Robert Trachtenberg, all felt the same way???

rofl

urbanaries · September 18, 2007

saurora wrote:

These are all good suggestions. Katherine has always, always been one of my favorite names. In fact, I have two friends with different spellings of the same name and both get called Kat or Cat (depending which spelling!) by me. Your last name is hard to muff up and goes well with Katherine. I do like using initials, too....like K. Cummings Photography. You have a nice name that flows easily, I would use it as opposed to trying to come up with something "unique".

the great thing about brainstorming....piggybacking!!!

What about KatCat Photography?

Stella Bella · September 18, 2007

Well after hours and hours and hours of thinking I have finally decided. My husband agreed that he like the name idea. Since there is already a Katherine Cummings, I will use Katherine Lynn Photography. Its classy and serves my purpose...getting my name out there....

Thanks to everyone for all your help. I really appreciate it. Look for the website coming soon

Katherine

Scott_Quier · September 19, 2007

I'm a day late and a dollar short as usual but I just had to add my $.02

My name is up and to the left. Can you imagine using that? That's just one reason I went with Love N Laughter Photography. The other reason is the name is a motto I've lived with for years.

chrisjlee · September 25, 2007

I've read a couple marketing books about branding and naming your company.

The best way to do it is to pick or make a story that you want to tell clients.

From that try to incorporate into your marketing or your name and keep in mind your ideal client.

Plus points if you can do it well and its not something anyone else is doing.

davemj98 · September 27, 2007

Name
Katherine the Great Photography

jdryan3 · October 1, 2007

GJMPhoto wrote:

I don't like KC Photography for two reasons: 1) Sounds like you're in Kansas City...and 2) KC is a masculine name...and, especially for child photography, having a 'mother's eye' is an advantage. Don't lose it.

Katherine is a great name. I think I like Photography by Katherine.

Or maybe you're part of a Sunshine Band

I agree with the personal name thing. But I also have a few names like fiatsurf/saltwater's idea. The main reason I went for the personal name was a lot of the other 'cool' ones were taken or other people thought they were hokey (too much double entendre).

And I have both jdryan3.com and jdryan3.net

Stella Bella · October 1, 2007

davemj98 wrote:

Katherine the Great Photography

:ivar

Julia · October 1, 2007

Just wanted to officially say I think you made a great choice!!!!

ChatKat · October 1, 2007

Late to the party
Gee, I hadn't read this earlier.

I am a Kathy too. The first thing I did was check out domain names. I wanted KatsEye or KatsEyes but they were taken. There were several variations. Dot Net and Dot Com were taken. I loved that name.

One of my clients is a branding whiz and he HATES the name I chose. But, wanted to be creative. People can't spell my last name either.

But the other people always remember the name. That's what's important. That they associate you with your business name. And that's all in how you market it.

Oh, my name is Flash Frozen Photography. I trademarked it too so no one else can use it. I've played on Flash Frozen Moments in my literature. My logo is a multicolor apeture with a flash star in the middle.

fiatsurf · October 5, 2007

I added another name to the domains I own, after seeing the "Fiat Skate Team" featured in a surf/skate/snowboard magazine where a surf clothing company featured one of my photos in a full-page ad (with my website prominently listed)... just in case Fiat (cars) decides I'm infringing (which was not my intent but I'm guessing their war chest is bigger than mine).

So, with a last name of Sharp (that hopefully is also reflected in my photos) you may see SharpSurf.com replace FiatSurf.com if it ever comes to that. The idea suggested by others in this thread to use your name in your business also resonated with me... so we'll see! I still like fiatsurf even if most of my clientele has no idea what in the heck 'fiat' means, if not the car.

Toby

canonguy · October 10, 2007

I have lots of experience with creating names for businesses (mostly failed businesses). My opinion would be to keep it simple. If you are the principle photog, then use your name or initials and add one relavant word..

If have a theme, then use keyword(s) for the theme that will work well for internet marketing, but keep it short.

Personally, I like your name + Images or Photography or something like that.

Good luck in your business venture. It will be great fun I am sure.

Business Name...(input appreciated)

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