Need ideas

[IndyJeff]

Ok, I am going to create a new website for my photography business. Currently it is just all sports but, I am wanting to expand that.
What I will do is keep my current Indy Sport Photos website name masked thru printroom.com where all youth sports will be hosted and processed. That I don't want to change.
What I do want to do is have one webpage that I can add links to for the racing side of my business, the youth sports side and an in home portrait service. A description of services would be on this page.
My thinking is I can have one business card which will point them to my website. Once there they will have 3 options, youth sports, racing or portraits. Now I need a name. I have thought about using my name Jeff B**** Photography but, I want something that will be easy to remember.

I know that there are a bunch of creative minds on here so I am asking for you to come up with a name. Something catchy, flashy and yet easy to remember.

I have thought of a few, such as Moment in Time Photography, Special Moments Photography, In a Flash Photography, The Camera Man Photography, FotoGuy, but none of them jump out at me.


So show me whatcha got genius!!!!

[JAZZ D.P.G.]

Picture Perfect.

No reason you cannot use different names for different types of photography. Hard to come up with a name that covers sports and portraits. Sports and kids, easier, SportKiddies.

Portraits are sort of out of line with the other two, and you may want to look at treating it separately. Picture Perfect would work there.

More work, but two different types of clients.

More thought required, I guess..............

[aam1234]

Agree with Jim, It's tough to encompass both genres in one name. I think the name(s) would be more meaningful if you can separate them. Another suggestion is if you tell us what meaning/idea/image you want to convey to the reader of the name, this might help us to come up with a name you might like.

Just some thoughts.

[mikesd]

Hi Jeff, I like J.B. Photography, or maybe something with image or imaging in it, Hoosier Imaging or Images by Jeff.

[IndyJeff]

Well I have had thoughts about the in home portrait service for some time. In my youth sports business I have had people ask if I can do family portraits. I usually decline because of a lack of needed equipment. I have done some protraits for race drivers in the past which were used for sponsor advertising, brochures etc. Now I am looking at getting some lighting and backdrops.

I know the sports and portraits are not exactly hand in hand type stuff but, one can lead to the other. And if you think about it, T&I stuff is portrait work.

Each one will be different in name but all fall under the umbrella of XXXXX. When they go to my website they will be able to read about different services I can provide and click on a link which will take them to the youth sports website or the racing website. The main page will be where I park the portrait service part of it.
Perfect Picture is a good idea. I will have to check to see if that name is being used. Thanks for good idea.

[IndyJeff]

Mike the J.B Photography is probably the way I will have to go. Perfect Picture is already a registered name, under several different domains, i.e..com, .net, .biz, .us,. etc, etc.

[mikesd]

One thing about J.B.,its short and easy to remember. As soon as you make it over this way I can show you what I have done for a home studio if you have the time.

[IndyJeff]

That is one reason why I am trying to come up with a name. Something that is short, and easy to remember. I can't tell you how many parents came up to me at games this year and asked for a card because they lost the one from yesterday and couldn't remember the name of the website. They knew it was something about Indy and sports and photos but couldn't find it on the web.
See when I started the youth sports business I named it Indy Sport Photos, not sports and it that was a mistake as most people pronounce an S that isn't there. This time I will be more careful and think this thru.

Mike I am interested in seeing you studio too. I will call when I am coming down there next time. LOL I thought about PersimmonRidgePhotography but, that is a long name but one I think people would remember but may not spell right. And a nice shot of a persimmon as a logo would be good.

[mikesd]

Agree with the spelling problem and thats to bad as the name really stands out and very uniqe.

[aam1234]

For this type of creative activity, companies hold "brain storming" sessions. Brain storming means that the participants just throw ideas around, no matter how stupid or silly or outrageous they are, just let ideas flow. But it's important that nobody judges the person or the ideas being suggested.

So I'll start by throwing some words that relate to what Jeff is looking for: sports, youth, action, lively, fast, moving, photos, pictures, professional, high quality, art, beauty, special, individual.

They don't have to be words, you can throw names, sentences, or poems, heck anything (but hey, don't throw bottles at me for this idea :mad: )

This is fun :p

[IndyJeff]

The least likely place is often the best to so to. I asked my wife of what she thought of the Persimmom Ridge Photography and her initial reaction was it was a nice sounding name. Then she pointed out that most people may not know what a persimmon is. So? I asked. Then she pointed out the spelling problems some people may have. Yeah I thought of that plus it is rather a long name.
Then she came up with a great idea...."Well if you want to tell your customer that you can do all their photo needs, why not Can Do Photos?

Brilliant


Ok so I got the domain name registered and created a main page for this venture. I need to do my own photo on the logo tho because the one they provided is crap, you'll see. Candophotos (candophotos.com)

I will over the next few days/weeks be working on it loading sample images and adding links to direct you to the other sites. In the mean time, take a look and give me some feedback.

[mikesd]

Good start Jeff, dont envy you. If you have checked mine I still have a ton of work to do on it[pricing-packages-etc.] but have not found the time through the holidays. The only thing I wandered is the comparison between digital and film. All of us continue to fight the digital stigma because the average person considers digital to be the $200 digital camera from Wal Mart. I have lost wedding jobs for the simple reason of only shooting digital. Good luck and keep us posted on your progress.

[IndyJeff]

That was pointed out to me in a PM about the film vs digital thing. I will remove that. In reality there will be a lot of changes done over the next 2-3 months. I have a lot of work to do but, it can be done easily enough. It is just learning the creator and all that is so time consuming.

My up and running date I am shooting for is April 1. By then the baseball jobs will be ready to kick in and I will have a new card designed to point people to the new site. They should be able to easily find the sports button which will take them to my current online store site.

[Steven M. Anthony]

I disagree with the move to "Candophotos." From my experience for a major, national, portrait retailer, the can-do aspect of portraits is a basic expectation. "Of course you can do portraits, you're a PORTRAIT photog" is the customer's line of thinking. This would likely be coupled with "and if you have to tell me you can do it, I'm not trusting that you can..."

If I were in your shoes, I would go for a much more personal name for my photog business (like YOUR NAME Photography, or YOUR NAME Portraits). Don't worry about ease of remembering. People want to relate to their portrait photog--especially someone who photographs their kids--on a personal basis. Besides, as your clientel grows and expands, you will be building your name in the community--people will proudly say "oh, these are Jeff B's photos," which builds your equity (which means you can charge more!). There are other ways of getting people to remember your business/your name...

I would also have 2 seperate companies--one for portraits (including your baseball stuff) and one for motorsports and other pro-level sports (if you do any). Link them if you feel you must. But if I don't see how their related (as a customer), and I don't care how they are related--cuz I'm a portrait customer so who cares if you shoot race cars--you are just wasting my time telling me something I don't really care about...true as it might be, i'm just a customer looking for portraits--tell me/show me how great a portrait photog you are-now THAT would interest me. Same logic for the motorsports business: I'm a gear-head. I don't care if you shoot portraits or not (at best). If anything, the fact you shoot portraits might detract from what I think of your motorsports work--again, speaking as a non-photog, gear-head customer.

So maybe Jeff B Personal Portriats for the one, and Jeff B Motorsports Photography for the other. The names might not be "creative" but if your work is creative, the names don't have to be.

PM me if you want any additional advice. I feel a bit awkward going into details on this topic on an open forum when my client spent nearly $200,000 for these insights into the portrait customer.

[IndyJeff]

I disagree with the move to "Candophotos." From my experience for a major, national, portrait retailer, the can-do aspect of portraits is a basic expectation. "Of course you can do portraits, you're a PORTRAIT photog" is the customer's line of thinking. This would likely be coupled with "and if you have to tell me you can do it, I'm not trusting that you can..."

Where to begin. Steven I have no designs on going national or being a major portrait photograhy company. It will merely be a sideline, since some people have asked if I did that kind of work. Something to fill in the slow time of winter.

If I were in your shoes, I would go for a much more personal name for my photog business (like YOUR NAME Photography, or YOUR NAME Portraits). Don't worry about ease of remembering. People want to relate to their portrait photog--especially someone who photographs their kids--on a personal basis. Besides, as your clientel grows and expands, you will be building your name in the community--people will proudly say "oh, these are Jeff B's photos," which builds your equity (which means you can charge more!). There are other ways of getting people to remember your business/your name...

Well thanks for that advice but this will be my 4th business and I haven't found a need to use my name yet. I don't need to see my name in the business. Besides if I want to sell it, how many guys named Steven would want a business called Jeff's? I get along fine with people calling me the camera guy or Mr. Photograher

I would also have 2 seperate companies--one for portraits (including your baseball stuff) and one for motorsports and other pro-level sports (if you do any).

I already have 2 seperate companies, one which deals in kids sports, and one for racing. The racing is geared towards media and participants mainly, not the general public. I found that people like to know what else I do besides shoot kids sports.

Link them if you feel you must. But if I don't see how their related (as a customer), and I don't care how they are related--cuz I'm a portrait customer so who cares if you shoot race cars--you are just wasting my time telling me something I don't really care about...true as it might be, i'm just a customer looking for portraits--tell me/show me how great a portrait photog you are-now THAT would interest me. Same logic for the motorsports business: I'm a gear-head. I don't care if you shoot portraits or not (at best). If anything, the fact you shoot portraits might detract from what I think of your motorsports work--again, speaking as a non-photog, gear-head customer.

The entire idea is to inform people of the different services I provide. For example, one father saw my IRL jacket and asked if I ever did any racing. Seems his brother races and he was looking for someone to shoot handout/promotional shots for next year. Had he not asked, he never would have known. Now with the new website anyone who goes to any of my websites will go thru that one first. The kids sports customers will see I also do portraits and the protrait customers will see I also do kids sports. Who knows maybe some drivers wife will be at a game I cover and hire me to do a family protrait and he will want me to do promos for his racing.

So maybe Jeff B Personal Portriats for the one, and Jeff B Motorsports Photography for the other. The names might not be "creative" but if your work is creative, the names don't have to be.

Thanks but I think I will stay with what I have for now.

PM me if you want any additional advice. I feel a bit awkward going into details on this topic on an open forum when my client spent nearly $200,000 for these insights into the portrait customer.

Thanks but I think I will pass on that. I don't need $200,000 worth of insight into the protrait customer. Like I said earlier, it will be a sideline maybe 20% of the total business.




Thanks just the same for your indepth insights.

[Steven M. Anthony]

I guess you know it all, Jeff. My mistake. Just remember that whether you are a national outfit or a local side business, the customers you have are human beings--just like those who use a national chain. The insights I drew from extensive research on those customers DO apply to your business-whether you want to believe it or not.

I guess you are just another example of someone asking for input that really just wants their original ideas stroked. No problem--I've seen that stance here before. If you want to limit the success of your business that's your choice to make.

Good luck to you.

[Steven M. Anthony]

Oh--and if there are any other pros out there interested in the implications of this research and how it applies to their business, PM me and we can discuss it.

[Scottes]

Congrats steven, your the first member of this message board that i've decided to put on my ignore list.

[IndyJeff]

Ok Steven you asked, no I am not interested in any of your research or your opinions...on anything.

[Steven M. Anthony]

Jeff: I never asked you anything...

Scottes: LOL. You are too much...

[IndyJeff]

Ok you never asked so I am telling you. I am not interested in any of your opinions, ideas, research, website, business names....or anything else you have to offer, unless it was a goodbye forever.

[kong]

Ok you never asked so I am telling you. I am not interested in any of your opinions, ideas, research, website, business names....or anything else you have to offer, unless it was a goodbye forever.


I'll second that comment from indyjeff and scottes!!! wow!

[Scottes]

ROFLMAO!!

Welcome to the club, kong. How many members are we up to now?

[dewmuw]

Seeing as you are focusing (no pun intended) on Racing, Youth Sports and Portraiture how about an acrostic? R You Po Photography? :D

Seriously what about PYR or RYP or YPR Photography. Its short and easy to remember?

[Steven M. Anthony]

Ok you never asked so I am telling you.

That makes about as much sense as your business plan, JB.

What does interest me is why, as a response to my first comment, you felt compelled to write so much--answering paragraph by paragraph--rather than just saying something like 'thanks for the comments?' If you examine the answer to this question--which only you hold--you will learn something very valuable about yourself.

As ever--good luck to you!

[IndyJeff]

Steven I would like to take this time to quote W.C.Fields.......

"Go away son, you bother me."

[Steven M. Anthony]

So much for your ignore list...

[Danny Boy]

You are now on my ignore list.

[Steven M. Anthony]

That's one way to avoid hearing opinions that differ from your own...

[dewmuw]

Enough already!

[IndyJeff]

So much for your ignore list...


I didn't put you on my ignore list. In 8 years of message boards I have never used that feature but, you are tempting me.

I do however believe that one day you may post something and wonder why no one replies. I am sure it will be because no one will see it as you will be on so many ignore lists. On the other hand being the leader in "on others ignore list" is an accomplishment, not one I would be proud of but I am sure you can find some satisfaction in it.

[Steven M. Anthony]

I didn't put you on my ignore list. In 8 years of message boards I have never used that feature but, you are tempting me.

I do however believe that one day you may post something and wonder why no one replies. I am sure it will be because no one will see it as you will be on so many ignore lists. On the other hand being the leader in "on others ignore list" is an accomplishment, not one I would be proud of but I am sure you can find some satisfaction in it.

Sorry, my mistake. I do not take any satisfaction in people putting me on an ignore list. It doesn't bother me, but I take no satisfaction in it. It really says more about them than it does about me.

[bachscuttler]

As they say in Wigan, Lancs...

'It was 6 of one and half a dozen of t'other'.

And another Lancashire saying...'There's nowt as queer as folk'

I've just re-read this thread trying to spot where it started going pearshaped and guess it's all down to respect and tact.

Respect for another persons opinions.

Respect for other peoples' shortcomings.

I find it hard to point the finger, but at the end of the day it ended up in a mud-slinging contest.

Here are a handful of links that may help before posting replies to something that you don't agree with:

1 (http://www.apa.org/pubinfo/anger.html)

2 (http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/respect/)

3 (http://web.ask.com/searchcp?q=tact&t=tact&cache=00*3lyzk7aj0mvig&url=http://www.wkonline.com/d/tactfulness.html&page=&ws=1)

Chill out guys!

And if all else fails...

4 (http://www.medinacenteronline.org/Boxing.htm)

[CyberDyneSystems]

Nice links, ;)

And don't forget;
Mandatory Viewing (http://uploads.ungrounded.net/188000/188612_Posting.swf)

Not 56K friendly!

[dewmuw]

As they say in Wigan, Lancs...

'It was 6 of one and half a dozen of t'other'.


One of my Dad's favourite expressions - although he is from Birkenhead not Wigan. Also should include:

"Steady the buffs"