13 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}
13 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}

"What's in a (user) name?"

by cyrus111
11 replies
I'm new to online marketing, and could use some help regarding selecting a username to be used for my marketing efforts on different article sites, social media or forums. Some of the places I need to use a username will not allow me to change it later, so I need to do it right the first time.

If I want to start branding my name, should I use my real name as my username, or something that allows me to stay anonymous. I understand using an anonymous username on a dating site, but isn't marketing different ...isn't the whole idea of branding oneself about getting one's real name out there?

I'd appreciate any advice here!:confused:
cyrus111
#branding #branding yourself #user name #what in a user name
  • Profile picture of the author Don Schenk
    I've been using my real name online since the beginning, even long before I became interested in Internet marketing - maybe 15 years now. This has never created any problems, and using my own name has given me branding.

    :-Don
    Signature

    Studies prove happier people have massively more success. It has worked for me. Use this one trick too... Click Here

    Total Competition Stomper - Simply the most powerful tactic your IM or Offline business will ever use... See it here!
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5262189].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author cyrus111
      Originally Posted by Don Schenk View Post

      I've been using my real name online since the beginning, even long before I became interested in Internet marketing - maybe 15 years now. This has never created any problems, and using my own name has given me branding.

      :-Don
      Don,

      Thanks for your input - it's good to know it's not a fundamental faux pas.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5274037].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author SoCalMarketing
    Your question has a lot of angles to it. If you are looking to brand your name, you obviously want to use your real name. There are multiple other uses of "user name". For instance, when writing articles. Many successful marketers use "pen names", sometimes you can have multiple "pen names" within one account (ezinearticles for instance).. other times you need to have different user names in different profile purposes (twitter for instance). Social bookmarking is most effective if you use your targeted keyword as part of your user name.. (advise from some high roller marketers).
    As much as I dislike the phrase "it depends".. I believe it is appropriate here..
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5262502].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author cyrus111
      Originally Posted by IMnewbie63 View Post

      Your question has a lot of angles to it. If you are looking to brand your name, you obviously want to use your real name. There are multiple other uses of "user name". For instance, when writing articles. Many successful marketers use "pen names", sometimes you can have multiple "pen names" within one account (ezinearticles for instance).. other times you need to have different user names in different profile purposes (twitter for instance). Social bookmarking is most effective if you use your targeted keyword as part of your user name.. (advise from some high roller marketers).
      As much as I dislike the phrase "it depends".. I believe it is appropriate here..
      thanks for your input - it's starting to help my thinking process about it...
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5274049].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author abugah
    I think you can use your real name. It is the best way to brand yourself in the long haul. However, as you suggest it may be prudent to use anonymous names on some sites.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5264597].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author DGFletcher
      Everyone in the 'real world' calls me DG. It's been my name since high school. I don't even answer to my 'real' name on a day-to-day basis, let alone online.

      My tossup is using my pen name, DG Vaganova, or my real last name, DG Fletcher.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5270244].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author cyrus111
      Originally Posted by abugah View Post

      I think you can use your real name. It is the best way to brand yourself in the long haul. However, as you suggest it may be prudent to use anonymous names on some sites.
      thanks - your advice seems to be the accepted perspective on usernames.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5274070].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Tessa Holmes
    I can see benefits in using both - 'pen name' and real name. I do not think that using only real name or always 'pen name' would be a right choice
    Signature
    Can I Haz A CheezBurgr?
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5558110].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
    Banned
    Originally Posted by cyrus111 View Post

    I understand using an anonymous username on a dating site, but isn't marketing different …isn't the whole idea of branding oneself about getting one's real name out there?
    No.

    You can "brand" a pen-name just as easily as your real name, can't you?

    This and a couple of other forums are the only online places where I use my real name. (And I used it for my writing business, years ago, which made getting paid through PayPal much easier!). In every niche in which I'm an affiliate, I use a different pen-name. I just have to be careful not to get them mixed up. Most affiliates do this, I think. It means customers/subscribers don't know that you have so many different niches, which is very important to some of us.

    It depends what you're going to do, I suppose, but if you're going to be an affiliate it's just as easy to use a pen-name as your real name. And even if you're going to be a vendor, you could incorporate and use a business name, or just use a TA/DBA name, or whatever.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5558563].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author Jon Patrick
      Alexa has it right. A pen name, to your readers, is your real name. The ability to build a name into a brand applies equally to pen names and real names (perhaps even more to pen names, if your real name is particularly unwieldy).
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5558580].message }}

Trending Topics