People cannot spell my name

[bhavik_k]

Hi All,

At the start of the year I went out looking for photography jobs and landed myself in event photography, mainly nightclubs and associated events. At these events, I run into a lot of the "facebook" generation, they ask me for my name so they can add/look me up on facebook.

I have a facebook page which goes by Bhavik Kumar Photography, I find that a lot of people struggle to spell it (reminds me of back when I was in primary school), they usually try barvic or barvik etc.

The facebook page has less than 100 likes and also my website hasn't been finished yet, so I don't have a brand/goodwill associated with my name.

At the moment searching my first name in google, my under construction page comes in at 4th, search both my first and last night, it ranks 1st.

I got suggested by a friend I should go under a different name, one that is just a made up word (like Meebo), for the following reasons:
1. Allow people to find me easily on facebook/google etc
2. Allow me to rank at the top when it comes to SEO.
3. Remove any ethnic relation between my brand and me.

I was just wondering if I should do my photography under a different name which has no association with me? For other photographers that have already created their brand, do you think that this would make good business sense in the long run?

[lonni]

Could you just spell it how it sounds to make it easier fro people to find you? Perhaps you could also have multiple facebook pages, with the different spelling people use that direct them to the correct page, and leave your name as is. Handing out business cards with your details will also help.

I am not sure that changing your name will help with seo stuff. If you search for my business name i come out on top every time, but search for more general terms like photographer in my area, i come out a few pages in, and i dont think a name change will help with that.

Make sure in your meta data you have good key words, make sure to include all the different spelling people use for your name, it will help people find you when they are doing a specific search for you and cant spell your name.

In a world filled with Jane smith or Joe bloggs photography i think Bhavik Kumar stands out, even if spelling it is a problem, at least people will remember you.

I have a similar problem, people cant say my last name, and i am always correcting them, but i found it stands out, makes people remember me.

I am not sure of your reason fro wanting t remove any ethnicity from your self as a brand, but i am thinking that i shouldnt be an issue, your images will speak for them selves, i get passed over on jobs beceause i look too young or i am a woman.

HTH

[nickbedford]

It sounds like you need business cards to hand out.

[dakwegmo]

I have the opposite problem. My name is so common, there are six pages of people with the same first and last name in my county library. If I tell people my name, they're going to find a bunch of results and no way to know which one is really me. I used a made up word (my user name here) which is great for SEO, but it means nobody will be able to find me unless they have it written down for them.

Now I just hand out a business card. It ensures they know exactly how to spell it and have all the various ways to contact me, and it's a physical reminder to go look me up.

[bhavik_k]

Originally Posted by lonni

I have a similar problem, people cant say my last name, and i am always correcting them, but i found it stands out, makes people remember me.

I am not sure of your reason fro wanting t remove any ethnicity from your self as a brand, but i am thinking that i shouldnt be an issue, your images will speak for them selves, i get passed over on jobs beceause i look too young or i am a woman.

HTH

I hadn't really thought of it that way before. If people find it hard to spell the name, they would remember me.

Removing the ethnicity was a suggestion from a friend, I'm neutral on that point. I just wanted to get more opinions from people already in the industry before doing anything rash.

While walking to my car I actually found a very good reason not to change it. I have my name as a personalised number plate, if I disconnect my brand from my name, I would loose the advertising that driving around would bring me.

I don't know why I didn't think of getting business cards printed. That would solve the problem without having to go change anything.

This has been useful info thanks

[nickbedford]

Originally Posted by bhavik_k

I don't know why I didn't think of getting business cards printed. That would solve the problem without having to go change anything.

This has been useful info thanks

Also, they don't need to be too complicated. This is what I got and it's been great. The good thing is that it's relatively neutral and gets straight to the point. Whether you want to put your mobile number on there is up to you.

[Biomech]

I'm with Nick on this one Simple business cards will be epic win!
That and register all the domains that are spelling variants on your name.

I have a similar problem, my url is far to long and most people can't spell my last name if asking. ("You know Mickey Rourke? Yeah, start with an O" :P) That's not so much of an issue for me as the crux of my business will be coming from a branded product.

[lonni]

I love business cards, i have several differnt styles, the one im using at the monent is a folded one, liek a mini greeting card, i get so many comments on it.
If had a dollar for every time i looked over the obvious solution id be very rich. Like you said it just takes perspective.

[bhavik_k]

Those look great Nick. Very simple but they also stand out.

Now to design and get them printed. Also I'll look at buying up the domains which are mis-spellings of my name.

In fairness, you do have a hard name to pronounce and spell.

I have a hard name to spell.... it's annoying for sure, but it's not worth getting all huffy about.