Name/Branding

[MattSepeta]

Morning all-

So I was recently told by my work that they need to cut my hours in half, from full time to 20-25 a week.

I did some mental acrobatics freaking out a little, then I realized that this is the perfect opportunity for me to hit the ground running in the photo biz.

Now that I am going to actively pursue this, I feel that I should think about my branding/name/site.

Questions:

-How many of you shoot "pro" or "semi-pro?"
-Does your studio have a unique name, or is it "[YourNameHere] Photography" etc. I have been going by MattSepeta Photography for a year or so now, and I feel that I would benefit immensely from having a name that is easy to remember and leaves more of an impact than my strange real name.
-Has anyone advertised their services on Facebook, if so, did you yield good results?
-As far as web presence goes, what do you pros do? I assume you have a Portfolio site, a blog site, a facebook fanpage, etc...

Thanks a ton! I look forward to hearing your feedback!

 

[nesuser2]

i'm not either...but it seems that a name like mattsepeta photography would make people feel comfortable but I can concur that when you try to brand a site people are going to say..."matt what?" I had to look again when i typed it and that to be would be a huge drawback. If they can't find you, they will find somebody else unless you really draw them in...in that case, you still want to be easily found!

That's all i've got. You want to go simple so people have less to really remember other than you're good work!

 

[Edge100]

Semi-pro here; branding is simple.

I do have a FB page, which did draw some initial interest, but hasn't resulted in any real business.

My site is hosted on GoDaddy with a Wordpress theme from Photocrati. This gives nice unity between the main site and galleries, and the blog. If I were doing this full time, I might invest in something a bit more full-featured with more frills, but for the extent of what I'm shooting these days, the current site is just fine.

 

[nesuser2]

like the site...is it slow for everybody or just on my end? not trying to pick on it either, just curious. I have a pet peeve for slow sites. I do some maintenance on sites/servers and have seen wordpress issues where the theme will call the site it is and the firewall protecting it can't redirect to it's own site..

my two cents...irrelevant to the topic as it may be, i like the site design!

 

[HBOC]

That's a nice site, but as mentioned, it is slow. Most people give it 5 seconds and bounce out.

As far as a name, I went with something original; but of course I am no pro....yet, lol.