Comments on: The name game

By: Vani

Vani — Sat, 08 Dec 2018 11:05:05 +0000

Hello James, I have been in copy writing for a year now,but mostly as a side gig. Now I wanted to step things up a notch, and the name game was eating up on me. Reading your article and the comments just gave me an idea for my name. And the domain is available. Won’t tell until I register it. But thanks for the inspiration, James and the many commenting partners. I know I have a long way to go, yet I’m glad to start down this road.

By: Emma Cook

Emma Cook — Thu, 12 Jan 2017 14:19:30 +0000

Thanks for this James. I am just about to leap out of teaching and into copywriting. I wanted to use my own name as a brand but sadly Emma Cook the Fashion Designer got there first. My boyfriend also didn’t think that my need of a surname change was reason enough to marry me. Shame. So after playing around with a million things over the last few weeks (including seriously considering Tom’s suggestion of Blurb) I decided to keep it simple. I have just purchased (at pretty much no cost) Black and White Copy. It suits me. I like to keep things simple and straight to the point plus I love the connotation of ‘black and white’ being a clear choice. Done.

By: Graeme Piper

Graeme Piper — Mon, 27 Jul 2015 10:09:11 +0000

I bloody LOVE ‘Catflap Copywriting’ Nigel!!

At least you didn’t pick ‘303’ as your number Andy – the connotations with the A303 could’ve been disastrous – slow, unpredictable and something no one wants to use unless they really have to!

By: Barry Hutchison

Barry Hutchison — Sat, 25 Jul 2015 22:13:22 +0000

Great post. I opted for Squiggly Lines as the name of my company. Not perfect, but I like it.

By: Andy Nattan

Andy Nattan — Fri, 24 Jul 2015 10:56:46 +0000

I just picked a number. It’s got no significance whatsoever (other than also being my Twitter handle for seven years too).

It’s a good conversation starter – “Why 603 Copywriting?”

It’s also great for practicing your bullshit stats and figures when the wrong people ask. “Oh, because 603 words is scientifically proven to be the perfect length of a blog post.” “The average client will ask for 604 individual amendments over a campaign, and I’m all about being better than the competition.”

By: Gillian

Gillian — Thu, 23 Jul 2015 19:34:39 +0000

I went with Taith – it’s Welsh for journey. I’m on a copywriting journey. However I’m not entirely sure anyone can pronounce it, or cares what it means, but at least I didn’t have to struggle with the name domain. 🙂

By: Nigel Graber

Nigel Graber — Thu, 23 Jul 2015 15:14:14 +0000

So many ad and design agencies call themselves [COLOUR] [ANIMAL], as in Blue Frog, Purple Goat. No doubt they think they’re being wacky, but it’s about as uncreative as it gets.

I once thought about calling myself Catflap Copywriting. It benefits from alliteration and the implication is that clients can come and go as they please. Feel free to take it and send me a large cheque.

By: Rachael Wheatley

Rachael Wheatley — Thu, 23 Jul 2015 14:50:56 +0000

I found inspiration in a lifeboat station of all places. Gunsmoke was the name of a rescued boat. There was an uncomfortable moment when I realised I should probably check it hadn’t been linked to a terrible catastrophe. It hadn’t. So off we sailed.

By: Jackie

Jackie — Thu, 23 Jul 2015 14:09:19 +0000

Be aware that owning the domain name does not mean you own the business name. You also need to ensure no-one else owns the Limited company name or matching trade mark.

I find a useful place for searching is http://www.start.biz/business_names/search as it searches everywhere at once (you don’t have to pay them to protect the name you choose).

By: James Morgan

James Morgan — Thu, 23 Jul 2015 13:41:53 +0000

In reply to Micky Stuivenberg. Thanks Micky. Yes it's important to keep everything consistent from a branding perspective but who cares if the money keeps rolling in. I was a bit of an idiot for choosing the Twitter name @DoctorCopy because it doesn't fit with my website / company name. Then again, I tweet about all kinds of random stuff so maybe it's best I don't ruin my business reputation with late night social media rants :-)