Been thinking alot about this recently. Mainly since my watermark got ripped at TGR. I'm kicking around a few ideas, but I'm pretty sure that I don't want to be lonnieutahphotography.com. I have googled a (couple of related) name(s). Nothing. Searched in Godaddy, it's available.

All I think I'd really want to do is to set up a LLC and background printing service to make enough $$ to pay for a few photography trips a year and maybe some gear (a happy income from this would be approx $1000/year). This would also allow me to write off gear and travel for photography. Not interested in being a "real pro" or shooting weddings, portraits, etc. I wouldn't mind submitting photos for advertising or to the off magazine, but this is a part time endeavor, not a money making endeavor.

What are your thoughts as it relates to establishing a "brand name"?

Not to thread jack, but I think you'd need a business license of some sort to write off photo gear and travel expenses. Even if you don't, I'm pretty sure you can't write off more than what you make - i.e., you can't make $1k from photography and then try to write off $3k in travel and lenses.

From http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/...169490,00.html :

Generally, an activity qualifies as a business if it is carried on with the reasonable expectation of earning a profit.
...
If an activity is not for profit, losses from that activity may not be used to offset other income. An activity produces a loss when related expenses exceed income. The limit on not-for-profit losses applies to individuals, partnerships, estates, trusts, and S corporations.

As for branding... the name is only the beginning. It's about having a consistent image and presence across multiple outlets. The look and feel of your website should be the same as your literature, business cards, and other marketing materials.

what's the water mark the TGR guys didn't like?
and what were you thinking? I'd just get a website with yourname.com with maybe a photo added in there. Having the state doesn't make much sense unless all the options you've thought of were taken. Why pigeon hole yourself to UT?

Originally Posted by Kilonad

Not to thread jack, but I think you'd need a business license of some sort to write off photo gear and travel expenses. Even if you don't, I'm pretty sure you can't write off more than what you make - i.e., you can't make $1k from photography and then try to write off $3k in travel and lenses.

there are rules about how many years you can have losses, not sure if they're all in the front, or if it's the # in a row or what, but you CAN post big losses the first 1~2 years I think...

Originally Posted by Kilonad

Not to thread jack, but I think you'd need a business license of some sort to write off photo gear and travel expenses. Even if you don't, I'm pretty sure you can't write off more than what you make - i.e., you can't make $1k from photography and then try to write off $3k in travel and lenses.

I'd most likely make it a LLC...

As for branding... the name is only the beginning. It's about having a consistent image and presence across multiple outlets. The look and feel of your website should be the same as your literature, business cards, and other marketing materials.

Yeah, that's what I'm trying to sort out right now. I think my photos have a "unique" look and feel to them, I want to cary that across multiple media platforms, mainly web and printed media....

Originally Posted by jacobsen1

I'd just get a website with yourname.com with maybe a photo added in there.

Ben,

That the LAST thing I want to do. Seems like everyone and their brother with a camera goes with YOUNAMEHEREphotography.com. That's isn't really branding, and doesn't seperate one from the other 10,000 sheep out there. I went with lonnieutah.com with utah as an example as my last name. (just trying to stay just a little anonymous here (for the time being))...

I have what I think is a good company name cooked up, but I'm not telling you guys til I get it registered! :P

Originally Posted by jacobsen1

there are rules about how many years you can have losses, not sure if they're all in the front, or if it's the # in a row or what, but you CAN post big losses the first 1~2 years I think...

Yeah, but it has to be obvious that you're trying to turn a profit. The helpful auditors at the IRS will be quick to inform you that buying $5k in gear and spending $3k on travel to earn $1k does not a for-profit enterprise make. I would be wary of trying to deduct travel expenses for any trip where the primary purpose wasn't shooting for profit.

Originally Posted by Lonnie Utah

I'd most likely make it a LLC...

Probably wise, but I'd talk to an accountant and/or a tax adviser first, before you find yourself in deep doodoo.

Yeah, that's what I'm trying to sort out right now. I think my photos have a "unique" look and feel to them, I want to cary that across multiple media platforms, mainly web and printed media....

While your photos may or may not have a "unique" look and feel to them now, you will almost certainly continue to grow as an artist, and that look and feel may well change over time. You should focus on maintaining a consistent appearance of your brand (logo, typeface/font, styling, etc.), and let the images evolve over time. Start here and do a lot of googling on it.

Originally Posted by Lonnie Utah

Ben,

That the LAST thing I want to do. Seems like everyone and their brother with a camera goes with YOUNAMEHEREphotography.com. That's isn't really branding, and doesn't seperate one from the other 10,000 sheep out there. I went with lonnieutah.com with utah as an example as my last name. (just trying to stay just a little anonymous here (for the time being))...

I have what I think is a good company name cooked up, but I'm not telling you guys til I get it registered! :P

wait, so did you grab yourname.com or not? You say that's what everyone else uses but then you say you grabbed it? with or w/o the photo in there doesn't really make or break the concept to me (I own both for my name). The cool business name part does work if you can come up with something that's not already taken, not super cliche, and doesn't railroad you down a single subject matter...

IE I like shooting sailing, skiing, surfing, landscapes and architecture, what's a good business name that works for ALL of those subjects that's not already taken?

and not to be rude, but IMHO, the name is just the name, you need to reel them in with the photos anyway. You just need to get them to your site which means you need to set the hook with your initial first impression, whether it's a photo or meeting you in person. They need to WANT to find out more. Ikickassatphoto.com -vs- benjacobsenphoto.com doesn't really make a difference, the initial impression is what seals it IMHO.

Originally Posted by Kilonad

Yeah, but it has to be obvious that you're trying to turn a profit. The helpful auditors at the IRS will be quick to inform you that buying $5k in gear and spending $3k on travel to earn $1k does not a for-profit enterprise make. I would be wary of trying to deduct travel expenses for any trip where the primary purpose wasn't shooting for profit.

agreed. Being 100% honest I haven't done anything with my expenses yet photographically. I COULD do the costs for the forum and my sites, some gear (but I think the fact I sell to buy used negates that?), some travel and some of my household "office" expenses, but it's a LOT of paperwork and it opens you up to being audited... I declare the income but skip the rest.... I'm thinking this or maybe next year will be when I bite the bullet to try to get the expenses in there.

Originally Posted by jacobsen1

and not to be rude, but IMHO, the name is just the name, you need to reel them in with the photos anyway. You just need to get them to your site which means you need to set the hook with your initial first impression, whether it's a photo or meeting you in person. They need to WANT to find out more. Ikickassatphoto.com -vs- benjacobsenphoto.com doesn't really make a difference, the initial impression is what seals it IMHO.

I agree about the photos, but disagree about a company name. With joeblowphotography.com, that's forgetable. I can already hear folks say, "What was the name of that guy that xxxxxx???" I have an idea for a unique name, I think it's easy to remember and it's not being used (that I could find). But I realize that it's only step one. I am in the process of trying to figure out what I want to get out of this, what type of expectations I should set, is it worth my time, etc etc.

I couldn't agree more, Lonnie. No professional photographers ever turn their name into a brand, or use their name as their website. I mean, who the hell has ever heard of, let alone visited, www.joemcnally.com or www.chasejarvis.com or www.zackarias.com or www.moosepeterson.com or www.vincentlaforet.com?

But I guess in your case "Lonnie Utah" is a really common name. I mean, I must have gone to high school with at least three people with that name.

You want to brand yourself and not your photographs if you want to avoid being seen as a commodity.

Edit: I realize this isn't the first time I've been a little snide in a reply to one of your threads. It's nothing personal, so don't take it the wrong way.

Originally Posted by Kilonad

I couldn't agree more, Lonnie. No professional photographers ever turn their name into a brand, or use their name as their website. I mean, who the hell has ever heard of, let alone visited, www.joemcnally.com or www.chasejarvis.com or www.zackarias.com or www.moosepeterson.com or www.vincentlaforet.com?

But I guess in your case "Lonnie Utah" is a really common name. I mean, I must have gone to high school with at least three people with that name.

You want to brand yourself and not your photographs if you want to avoid being seen as a commodity.

Edit: I realize this isn't the first time I've been a little snide in a reply to one of your threads. It's nothing personal, so don't take it the wrong way.

No offense taken, it's like C&C. If you can't take the heat, post in sharing. If I ever get as big as one of those folks, then my name can stand on it's own. Until then, I want something that is easy to remember that helps folks remember what I do. When I did the business name look up on the state dept of commerce and typed in "photography by" I got over 90 results. Not really the way to seperate yourself from the crowd. The "trick" in this approach is to get folks to associate "part A" with "part B". If you don't think that I would also capture "lonnieutah.com" as a name that redirects to another site, I would.

Yeah, but dude, you could have a logo that's the outline of the state of Utah, with a big L in the center of it. (on second thought, it already almost looks like an L and people might not get it )

If nothing else, at least brand your stuff as "blah blah blah by Lonnie Utah"

Originally Posted by Kilonad

I couldn't agree more, Lonnie. No professional photographers ever turn their name into a brand, or use their name as their website. I mean, who the hell has ever heard of, let alone visited, www.joemcnally.com or www.chasejarvis.com or www.zackarias.com or www.moosepeterson.com or www.vincentlaforet.com?

yep, I'm a huge fan of chase and then amory ross (.com) for both WHAT they shoot, HOW they shoot, and HOW their sites look.

I'm also torn personally because I know and go to each and every one of those sites you listed regularly and have wondered if I should have used benjacobsen.com as my PHOTO site then done something else goofy (or /personal) to it for my day to day blog? Or just mixed it all into ONE site (but that seems unprofessional?)...

Originally Posted by Lonnie Utah

No offense taken, it's like C&C. If you can't take the heat, post in sharing. If I ever get as big as one of those folks, then my name can stand on it's own. Until then, I want something that is easy to remember that helps folks remember what I do.

that's the thing though, if they only remember you because it's "ikickassatphotography.com" then are you going to survive commercially anyway? You need to get google working for you and google doesn't give a **** what your URL is, just that your site is SEOed... You need people searching for the things you shoot to find your site. The name isn't important unless you meet someone and either don't have a card, or they toss it (in which case it's highly unlikely they'll be looking you up anyway) or lose it. If searches are letting them find you it doesn't matter at all. If they get a card it doesn't matter at all. The catchy name thing only helps if they lost the card IMHO.

oh, and ikickassatphotography.com is available....

Originally Posted by Kilonad

Yeah, but dude, you could have a logo that's the outline of the state of Utah, with a big L in the center of it. (on second thought, it already almost looks like an L and people might not get it )

If nothing else, at least brand your stuff as "blah blah blah by Lonnie Utah"

quick, change it to lonnie Wyoming!

Originally Posted by jacobsen1

yep, I'm a huge fan of chase and then amory ross (.com) for both WHAT they shoot, HOW they shoot, and HOW their sites look.

basil marceaux dot com

I don't get it?

Originally Posted by jacobsen1

I don't get it?

When giving a public appearance, always refer to yourself in the third person, and adopt the surname of "dot com".

sure, but did you go to that link?

and I added the amory one so you guys could check the site since it's no one you guys would know.

Branding is nice, but maybe focus instead on how you can create a following/community -- it's much more valuable.


-A

Originally Posted by Angelo

Branding is nice, but maybe focus instead on how you can create a following/community -- it's much more valuable.


-A

This. Get people excited about what you do. I wouldn't worry near as much about the name/brand as the photographs you take and how you get them into people's homes (via prints, ads, etc.).

123

You can most certainly brand whatever you want...But I'm a full supporter of branding your name. That's you, who you are. If you had a name like "John Smith" that might be a little more difficult because it's so generic. I went with Caitlyn Bom, my site is CaitlynBom.com. I followed in the footsteps of many many successful people, and I'm aiming for my name to be remembered by a lot of people. Caitlyn is hard because of how many different variations there are. It's not like Jasmine Star, but I can say it's working at least

Yeah, but ask 10 random people on the street who Jasmine Star is, and probably 9 will think she's a porn star.

Dunno why she didn't just stick with her real name. *shrug*


-A

Originally Posted by Angelo

Yeah, but ask 10 random people on the street who Jasmine Star is, and probably 9 will think she's a porn star.

Dunno why she didn't just stick with her real name. *shrug*


-A

+1

that's what I figured when I heard it the first time...

Originally Posted by google.com

Search: Catlyn Balm
Did you mean Jasmine Star?

Jasmine Star Juerez (okay, the last name is spelled more Mexican then that, ) is actually her name. Her sister's name is Bianca Flower Juerez. Her parents were hippies I guess

Yes, it's a porn star name, but hey...it's still memorable!

And yeah, my name is so friggin hard to spell apparently, it's unbelieveable. But I couldn't figure out a name that worked for a studio so I went with it. If you find a friggin awesome studio name then do it, by all means! (Photobolic, Still Motion, Red Leaf Studio....). It what works for you

Catlin Boom?


-A

Originally Posted by Stoopid_Girl

And yeah, my name is so friggin hard to spell apparently, it's unbelieveable. But I couldn't figure out a name that worked for a studio so I went with it. If you find a friggin awesome studio name then do it, by all means! (Photobolic, Still Motion, Red Leaf Studio....). It what works for you

I know it sucks when people change your name on you, but did you think about going with "Kate" as your first for your business? Then either keep BOM since it's easy to read over the phone or change it to something similar (bomb would probably NOT be the best idea )?

I think Caity should use "Bomb" as her studio name. Not "Bomb studios", just "Bomb". And she should plaster it all over her travel cases, so the people at the airport know who that stuff belongs to. Lots of large heavy black bags with tons of wires inside them, which have been simply labeled "bomb". No problem there.

egg-z

seriously though, the bomb...

"yeah, I'm the bomb!"

no too self centered or anything...

I had been looking at doing something besides my name as well, but as has been pointed out, the most common trend is to just use your own name if possible. There are only 3 people with my name in the country that I can find, and the .com name is taken but not the .net name. Of using your name vs. something different, here's what I think:

yourname(photography).com/net pros and cons
+ doesn't pigeon hole you to anything
+ let work speak for itself
+ easy to remember for friends
+ avoids cheesy business name faux pas

- harder to remember for non-friends without looking back at the business card
- long to type in if you have to add "photography"
- name spelling issues: do you also get commonly misspelled versions of your name.com?
- doesn't inherently come up with a related logo
- doesn't make sense to hire other photographers under your name, but then at that point you could easily go with the "catchy" name

Caitlin, why not keep your signature and just change the site to c0ckandballs? Ever since you mentioned it in another thread I see it every time.

Originally Posted by ppower

- harder to remember for non-friends without looking back at the business card

any different than yourname.com would be though?

- long to type in if you have to add "photography"

photo FTW, trust me, I own domains with both...

- name spelling issues: do you also get commonly misspelled versions of your name.com?

same as yourname.com though

- doesn't make sense to hire other photographers under your name.

right, but if this is a website, your SEO gets google to find you anyway, regardless of the URL. And if we're placing ads somewhere, they're placed under whatever we want? IE the yellow pages you'd be listed under "photography" anyway?

Originally Posted by jacobsen1

any different than yourname.com would be though?

Possibly, but a better business name would be a bit more memorable. I know I'm horrible at remembering people's names any more, so unless your name is inherently catchy, a different business name is easier to remember

photo FTW, trust me, I own domains with both...

true, it's an option

same as yourname.com though

that's what I meant. negative of using yourname is misspellings of your name, but a business name using properly spelled words would have fewer misspellings

right, but if this is a website, your SEO gets google to find you anyway, regardless of the URL. And if we're placing ads somewhere, they're placed under whatever we want? IE the yellow pages you'd be listed under "photography" anyway?

I think you misunderstood me. I personally would rather not have other shooters under "Preston Power Photography" if I don't work all of the jobs (essentially second shooters at weddings is understood). In that case, kickassphoto.com is better to represent multiple people.

more for yourname.com
+ easier for taxes, yes?
+ don't have to spend time thinking of a good business name.
- don't want to mix your personal stuff in there