Choosing a Name for Your Freelance Writing Business

by Steve Slaunwhite

The Write Touch…. Write for Business… The Write Words… The Right Writer… Writing That's Right…

No doubt you've seen names like these before, especially among freelance writers, copywriters, and business writers. There's nothing wrong with creating a business name that plays on the curious fact that "right" and "write" are homophones. It has just been overdone.

Coming up with a creative, unique business name is difficult. In fact, some corporations and start-ups pay consultants truckloads of money to do just that. I recently read an article about a firm that charges $100,000 to develop a company name. A bit outside the budgets of most freelancers.

I've had a long adventure with business names over the years. One of my earlier creations was WORD/VISION. The perfect name; I'm a genius, I thought. Until one day I was networking at a trade show and everyone thought I worked for WorldVision, a well-known charity.

Then I got it into my head that simply calling myself a "copywriter" wasn't inspired enough. So I adopted the title "Promotional Writer" and included it on all my letterhead and business cards. Brilliant, I thought. I'll stand out from the crowd.

I certainly did. Within weeks I had received inquiries ranging from someone wanting me to run an employee incentive program, to an auto dealer asking if I could rent him a large floating guerrilla for a weekend sales blitz. (I had no idea how he connected Promotional Writer to promotional balloons. And I didn't care. I dropped the name.)

For a couple of years, I was known by the business name "The Writing Project". Not bad as names go. But I was never comfortable with it. It didn't sound like me and it created confusion. Some people thought I offered writing seminars. Others commented that the name sounded like academia, not business. So eventually, I began to market my services simply as "Steve Slaunwhite, Copywriting".

Then an amazing thing happened. Once I began to promote my services under my own name, my business improved. Clients and editors, it seemed, wanted to hire me - not bricks and mortar. In fact, when I tried to puff up my SOHO identity behind a fancy business name, I would lose opportunities whenever clients were looking for a good, independent writer.

A lesson learned, the hard way.

Yes, there are plenty of successful freelancers that use business names rather than their own moniker. But you can be just as successful operating under your own name. Perhaps even more so.

:: Steve is the author of "Secrets of Writing for the Business to Business Market" - a 350+ page course on how to make money writing for the B2B market.

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