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Author Topic: why do you NOT use your legal name?  (Read 7007 times)

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tan510jomast

« on: February 28, 2009, 12:08 »
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do you think your alias made a diff in having buyers check out your images?
not so much in the initial sense, as they probably found your image by keyword , as we don't search under username. but is having a memorable monicker something important?  do you think twice before calling yourself "cara de burro" or "assface"  ;D
do you think that far ahead , in case you should ever become as famous as Yuri.
you would not want the world to know you are "assface"   ;D

the reason i ask is because almost a year ago,
i started out using an extrapolation of my legal name, not wanting to give my real name. but later decided it was silly not to, since i am already known in my cities in related fields .  i met some oldtimers of mid and macro who felt the need to be anonymous , but say if that was not your case, would you still refrain from using your legal name?

just wondering...


« Reply #1 on: February 28, 2009, 12:29 »
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My legal name is much too long and difficult...

m@m

« Reply #2 on: February 28, 2009, 13:56 »
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My real name is Sloopy Pottydoodle and I find it a bit long to use :-\
BTW tan510, where do you find all of those oldtimers in mid/micro that give you all of those advises, men your town must be full with them, can you ask one of them how I can sell more pictures and post the advise :P
« Last Edit: February 28, 2009, 14:25 by m@m »

tan510jomast

« Reply #3 on: February 28, 2009, 14:45 »
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My real name is Sloopy Pottydoodle and I find it a bit long to use :-\
BTW tan510, where do you find all of those oldtimers in mid/micro that give you all of those advises, men your town must be full with them, can you ask one of them how I can sell more pictures and post the advise :P

lol,  funny m@m. as for oldtimers in mid and macro (not micro), i didn't say my town. you misread.
i meant established in my field of photography in my own cities. but as for getting indispensible contacts with oldtimers of stock, they write me when i was a newbie participating in forums like these.
i like to mention names but i don't think it would be a good thing to do. if they wanted to be known, they would have made themselves known at the forum. so , like all businesses, you cherish and respect their choice to not tell on them  ;)

« Reply #4 on: February 28, 2009, 17:13 »
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We chose to use our name. 

Now, when you search out Robert Gebbie, Lori Gebbie, or RGebbiePhoto, it all links back to us.  I think it's kinda like product branding, I'm pretty happy to have such a large web presence with our name.

Gebbie

JerryL5

  • Blessed by God's wonderful love.
« Reply #5 on: February 28, 2009, 17:41 »
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I wish I had, but came from the old days, when it wasn't considered safe
to use your real name around. So when I started in microstock I used a
couple of made up ones I had used on other sites. Can't be helped now.

RacePhoto

« Reply #6 on: February 28, 2009, 17:47 »
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I do on the photo sales sites, but some days I wish I didn't. Seems odd to have professional photos published with my attribution, and then find my name on subscription photos selling for a dollar. I haven't found a Microstock photo of mine in use, with my name credited, so it's not currently a real issue. Just a potential detraction.

You can look it up: John Honsenboomer-hypendorfer-defendorfer-schwaglemeister

I wanted to use Sloopy Pottydoodle but it was taken.  ;D

You might ask LisaGagne, Yuri_Arcurs, SJLocke, and jhorrocks, four of the top six on IS about assumed names?

What are kids of the future going to do with hyphenated names who marry to hyphenated names? I guess they will start creating texting abbreviations, and names will go down to three or four letters and a number?  ;D #3 on IS is "DNY59" which is pretty non-descript.

tan510jomast

« Reply #7 on: February 28, 2009, 19:02 »
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gebbie, , .. thx for the response. would make more sense to be attached to your own given name doesn't it? or at least your corporation's. however, like jerryL5
mentioned, we sometimes started out wary of that, so an alias was more attractive.
racephoto, i am assuming you meant that LIseGagne, YuriArcurs are real names and not a pseudonym. but even then, sometimes we have cases when a pseudonym become the person's real name after fame takes over. case in point being famous stars and writers.
as for IS's DNY59, racephoto...  that too may not be as non-descript as you may think. eg. tan510jomast is actually the first 2 letters of my legal full name and a specific legal date. so perharps DNY also saw fit to use it. ie 59 could be his DOB, and DNY his initials.
still , like JohnL, all in all, i now wish i could have had used my legal name like Gebbie.
« Last Edit: February 28, 2009, 19:06 by tan510jomast »

« Reply #8 on: February 28, 2009, 19:18 »
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My real name is Ivan, and it's never available, and my full name is Ivan Paunovic and it's pretty long. But I have to admit that I wanted my username to sound more familiar to buyers who understand English. So, I have chosen "Whitechild" because when I was little, everyone called me "belo dete" which means "white child" in English. I had blond hair and my older brother had dark hair. My friend from London lately told me that Whitechild is common family name in England. I didn't know it before.... It's strange there is no other Whitechild on 13 microstock sites I'm in.


« Reply #10 on: February 28, 2009, 19:48 »
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Well.... LCJ is my initials and Tripod was my nick name for years as I was almost never seen without one. But now with image stabilised lenses I almost never have a tripod with me anymore. A monopod sometimes.

End of story. Even tho assface is quite easy to remember! ;D

-Larry

tan510jomast

« Reply #11 on: February 28, 2009, 20:44 »
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Larry, i guess you 'll have to change that to Lcjmonpod  :D
Ivan , whitechild's cool.
Mat (lol , i am matt too... ) , actually in all my travels, i have never been to a place where no one is called"assface"  ;D   in fact, some towns actually have more than one... due to facial resemblance eg. ears, chin, whiskers,etc.. difference reasons.
but none for the derogatory reasons we are more used to calling;
mostly, as the say "endearing". imagine my disbelief first time i met an "assface" to be told by his folks,  "he's very popular, everyone likes "assface"    :o
« Last Edit: February 28, 2009, 20:50 by tan510jomast »

RacePhoto

« Reply #12 on: March 01, 2009, 00:16 »
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gebbie, , .. thx for the response. would make more sense to be attached to your own given name doesn't it? or at least your corporation's. however, like jerryL5
mentioned, we sometimes started out wary of that, so an alias was more attractive.
racephoto, i am assuming you meant that LIseGagne, YuriArcurs are real names and not a pseudonym. but even then, sometimes we have cases when a pseudonym become the person's real name after fame takes over. case in point being famous stars and writers.
as for IS's DNY59, racephoto...  that too may not be as non-descript as you may think. eg. tan510jomast is actually the first 2 letters of my legal full name and a specific legal date. so perharps DNY also saw fit to use it. ie 59 could be his DOB, and DNY his initials.
still , like JohnL, all in all, i now wish i could have had used my legal name like Gebbie.

I didn't say that DNY59 had no meaning, I said it was non-descript. "lacking distinctive or interesting qualities" I didn't say it was a bad ID either.

Can you translate this into something that makes sense?  sometimes we have cases when a pseudonym become the person's real name after fame takes over. case in point being famous stars and writers. You mean like Marion Morrison, Arnold Dorsey, John McCartney, or Archibald Leach? Heck I even have a stage name and Internet identity that's different from what I use here or on Microstock.

In which case, didn't you start in the first place saying, i started out using an extrapolation of my legal name, not wanting to give my real name. but later decided it was silly not to, since i am already known in my cities in related fields .  i met some oldtimers of mid and macro who felt the need to be anonymous , but say if that was not your case, would you still refrain from using your legal name?

I feel like we are going in circles.  ;D

Here's my answer. No it doesn't matter if someone uses their real name, a contraction, a totally fabricated name, or random letters and numbers. Most of the time, even in the real world, a name doesn't change the impression of the finished product. People with horrible names are famous, success in their case is based on skills and creativity. There are people who come up with slick pseudonyms, that never make it. One exception is people who bank on famous names that are established, for example relatives of famous artists, who use it to get through the door. Suckers buy that marketing ploy.

Then there are absurd cases like Paris Hilton.  :o

ps When I started online, before there was an internet, and BBs were dial-up. I was told more than once, "you have to use a real name on our system." before we can open your account. Funny part was, I was using my real name. So I made up a name, which was then OK'ed.  ;) I ended up working for Prodigy,  SBC, AT&T and others, with that name... Only in the recent years did I decide to reclaim my real name on the Internet.

Neither name made me rich or famous, so I make no claims that a name matters more than skills and talent.

I'd be offended at being called "assface' but DumbFart I could handle.  ;D

« Reply #13 on: March 01, 2009, 09:13 »
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There are a number of variants, firstly what types of products do you produce and where are the markets, are you producing for a selective or generic market.

So it all comes down to products and markets, if you sell your product at different price points to different markets then you brand it differently.

There are loads of product that are made by the same company, same process, same materials, but these are often branded at different price points, some of these are based on volume sales.

So you could have images to sell on your own site for good dollars, and on a stocksite for a few dollars, but here you would use a different product and brand name for the stock sites, and hope the volume stock sales contribute towards paying the bills, allowing you to produce some more limited high end high earning products.

But on the other hand you might just want to use your own brand and website to send prospects to the stocksites to purchase your products from there, then use your own name.

It is already happening everyday take a company making chocolate bars, which will sell at a premium as it's own brand, but it will also use the same product with a few small changes to sell in bulk as a supermarkets "own brand", but notice the suppier will never take ownership and say we supply our products as "Blogs Own Brand", as this will damge the premium brand. 

Just thinking about quoting a few hundred dollars for a nice little project and the client says, I googled your name and I can buy your images for 4 credits, what does that say to a prospective client.

I have know two cases recently where an existing or prospective employee is no longer considered by a company because of a google search catching then out.

David
« Last Edit: March 01, 2009, 09:20 by Adeptris »

RacePhoto

« Reply #14 on: March 01, 2009, 10:25 »
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Right Adeptris, you said it better than I did. Exactly why people use a MicroStock moniker.  ;D

I don't put any of the same material on MS that I do elsewhere, so there's less conflict of apparent value. However if I run into someone who shoots editorial and they see my full name on iStock, I may be catching some flack. One of the pseudonyms is on my license plate, which isn't too subtle, that's what I used on SS, less chance of someone making the connection. Only my last name is on Fotolia, which is vague enough for my taste. First initial and last name on Stockxpert. If there's any brand identity, I'm dead meat.  :D

tan510jomast

« Reply #15 on: March 01, 2009, 10:50 »
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David , good analogy. you mentioned price brands vs no name. very proper analogy here, as i see micro as no name and well, macro and mid as sort of your organic brand .i see your point here but perharps this conflict could occur say if your images are available at all prices. but what if your portfolio is diff.
 what if only the smaller sizes are on micro and the larger and full size
be on mid and macro. why would it make you dead meat as race puts it?

what i am curious about is whether it is worthwhile having to try keep tab of which name i need to use with which sites. perharps in a few years when a new generation who is less paranoid and trivial takes over , it may all be moot.

i wonder what Gebbie has to say about that  ?
« Last Edit: March 01, 2009, 11:06 by tan510jomast »

« Reply #16 on: March 01, 2009, 12:43 »
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It's pretty simple, really :)

I separate our images.  Micros get our good stuff.  Midstock get the better stuff.  The artsy stuff goes in our private gallery.

i have zero problem with people googling our name.  You want one of my $2 images? Got TONS of them, you can buy them RF at many sites.  I'm sure you can find something that might fit your need.  However the risk is, someone else is using that image as well. 
You want an image taken for you, specifically to your specs/requirements, and licensed exclusively for your use? Then you are going to pay my rate :)

I have images up on micros that i wish had gone midstock instead, sure do. But, it's all part of the growing and learning process, and it just makes our portfolios look that much better in the end :)

We do photography because we love to create.  We're still "new" in the business, though, we've only been in micros for a year.  But I named the company after Robert, because he is the creative force, and because it's nice to be recognized for your hard work.

Anyone can "claim" to be a generic moniker, but they'd be hard pressed to prove they were Robert Gebbie :)


tan510jomast

« Reply #17 on: March 01, 2009, 12:52 »
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awesome, and a great big thanks Gebbie for answering it so well.
your final statement more or less answered my lingering motive to opening this thread...
"Anyone can "claim" to be a generic moniker, but they'd be hard pressed to prove they were Robert Gebbie"

yes, like music, many years down the road, someone might be claiming, "this is me, i was an awesome photographer, musician,etc... whatnot. i was using the pseudonym xxx xxx".   i could see many rolling their eyes, like .."ya! tell me all about it". unlike, "robert gebbie, ay? (heh!heh, ya i'm canadian ! lol),.. you are THE robbie gebbie? " .
cheers RG ! cheers all for your insight !  8)

« Reply #18 on: March 01, 2009, 12:55 »
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well my name is my dogs name chas and the first 3 letters of my surname mcn becoming chasmcn just a easy to remember name .

« Reply #19 on: March 01, 2009, 16:26 »
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I see your point here but perharps this conflict could occur say if your images are available at all prices. but what if your portfolio is diff.
 what if only the smaller sizes are on micro and the larger and full size
be on mid and macro. why would it make you dead meat as race puts it?

Ok this is simple, you put your car into the garage and have the brakes done and they charge you $100 an hour, then you are in the bar with Fred a friend and you mention the garage, your friend has used them before just had some work done at $70 an hour.

Now you feel like a jerk and have a few choices next time you need work done, first change your garage, second pay the $100 and say nothing, third is to say "I know you have done some work for Fred at $70 an hour, if you want my work you will have to match this", the garage may argue that the guy working on Freds car is not as skilled as the guy that worked on yours, and this is the different products and price points, but you could then argue that both vehicles are roadworthy.

I think in most cases it would be choices one or three and you would have to reduce your fee for option three,  but both of these will damage your brand, I have a couple of websites with different business models, and try to make sure if you are searching for one site online, the other will not come up in a search as one will damage the other.

David
« Last Edit: March 01, 2009, 16:30 by Adeptris »


 

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