Use your real name in IM?

I completely agree with Nick - using my own name gives me a sense of accountability. I use my own name in IM and in my main niche sites. I do have a couple of pen names for use in smaller projects where I'd prefer people in my main niche to not know I dabble in other stuff too lol

I always use a pseudonym on some things, but if it is for any kind services that I offer or any products that require support, then I will use my real name, or at least some form of it.

I do suppose I could use my real name throughout, but I started out not doing so and that mindset just kind of stuck...

I think you should be fine either way. And remember, there is nothing wrong with using a pseudonym: some of the biggest novelists in the world either have used them or continue to do so.

--Josh

That's a good point. Sometimes you don't want your customers to see your Facebook profile and stuff like that. I do agree that separating your business and your personal life is important.

I'd do the same thing for exactly the same reasons.

Kim

Sorry but i dont agree, just because someone is using "A Name" how do you know it is theirs?

My personal take is using different pen names allows you to position yourself in various niches as an authority because it would seem a little weird to have your real name as an authority over a spread of 30 or 50 niches. However, if you would like to build a single brand as an authority in 1 or 2 niches, I think it would be good to use your real name in the long run.

Hope that helps.

Terence

It's simpler to use your own name, if nothing else. I think this is a big vote in favor of real name (v. pseudonym).

Well, like Nick mentioned, how would you know a name is their given name or not?

Betty Crocker and Mavis Beacon built huge brands -- and they weren't even real people. David Copperfield is a real person -- but that's not his "real" name. And in IM, I didn't know Michael Green wasn't Michael Green for a long time -- there are probably a lot of people who still don't know that's a pseudonym.

If you're not using it to defraud someone, there's nothing wrong with using a pen name.

Alexander Xavius Maximillian Jennings

Hi, I have been stalk and it nearly finished me. What was really annoying was the fact I was not doing particularly well at the time, in fact I was struggling. There are some saddo's out there wanting to throw mud. Given the choice I would prefer using my own name.

There is a "tiny" problem regarding this issue, let me explain:

it is nice that you present your customers with your pen name on your landing page, articles, and even in signatures inside your ebook, book etc, but the customers need, have to, and will know who or to what business he or she is making the payment to.

You can only do business under your own name as a sole proprietor, as a DBA name (where you do not have to use your own name or the name of your company), or as a business name, (partnership corporation, LLC etc)

Doing business as - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Quote:
Notably in California and also in other areas, filing a DBA statement also requires that a notice of the fictitious name be published in local newspapers for some set period of time to inform the public of the owner's intent to operate under an assumed name. The intention of the law is to protect the public from fraud, by compelling the business owner to record his/her name with the County Recorder, and making a further public record of it by publishing it in a newspaper. End Quote

Either way the buyer will find out who you really are, writers do not have this problems because they are not the business selling their books, they are just writers receiving money from a company which sells books.

Some people think that a sole proprietor does not have to provide his real name to the buyer if he is doing business under a DBA, They are right, but the DBA they are using has to be registered under their real name.

So, it is clear that the ones who can legally hide their identity from their readers are only the writers or product creators who do not sell their own material themselves.


note: by the way, I am making a thread about this pretty soon, because there is many people out there who are confused about how they should be doing business and how not to, and many of them end up losing every thing they have because of it.

I say it depends on your niche. For example, if you're creating/promoting content or products around an adult niche or some other sort of controversial topic, then I can see why it might be smart to use a pen name.

Eben Pagan used a pen name for his dating products and was pretty successful at it, and while he talked about the marketing reasons behind the specific pen name he chose, I suspect the fact that he chose to use a pen name at all may have been because he didn't want to risk potentially hurting his credibility by being "that guy who teaches guys how to get chicks". In his business oriented programs, he uses his real name.

Likewise, if you're selling sex toys, or you blog about certain controversial political topics, you might have a good reason to use a pen name.

My actual name is very common, its Stephen Allen. I also go by another name in the entertainment business.

If you need my real name for some sort of credibility, then don't buy my product.

I'm a professional outside of Internet Marketing and Sales, I have a full time career. I make sure my online stuff doesn't mix with my personal career, and especially with my personal life.

In fact, EVERYTHING I DO ONLINE is through a gimmick, or a persona. It isn't necessary for me to project my actual self online when I can project a persona that can be used and twisted for sales.

If that diminishes my credibility, then oh well, it's not like I really cared in the first place. At least not as much as I care about releasing quality content to consumers.