If I had been sane when I set up my business, I'd have given www.sarah-maurer.com a pass and picked something that's super easy for people to spell.
Why?
Because when I'm leaving a voice mail for a prospect, I like to spell out my web address so they can check out my online portfolio and resume.
Because of my stunning lack of foresight, it usually goes something like this. (Combine this messy spiel with my goofy accent and it's easy to imagine marketing director's head exploding.)
"To see my online portfolio and resume, visit duble-u duble-u duble-u dot Sarah dash Maurer dot com. Haha, let me spell that for you. It's Sarah with an 'h' dash mike alfa uniform romeo echo romeo dot com."
I knew it was way too much for people when a very nice lady called back and said, "I didn't get that last part. Was that in code?"
Gah. If I had been smart, I'd have made my business name the domain. Then I could just say, "Visit my online portfolio at zipline media dot com."
Food for thought if you're going to be setting up a commercial writing business. Especially if you plan to do much cold calling.
How do others with crazy names get around this?
Hi Sarah. I stumbled on your blog and I must say that you've inspired me. I'm going to take some time to go through it all today. I'm seriously rethinking my entire business after hearing about your success. I haven't read "The Well-Fed Writer" yet, but I'm going to. I'm not afraid of cold-calling (I know, strange huh?) and I'm pretty excited to see a real person detailing her experiences for me to learn from.
ReplyDeleteI wish I had thought through this issue before I started. Now, I'm wondering what to call my business so that I can get off the ground in the right way when I "relaunch." http://www.jessewrites.com is easy enough, I guess, but probably not easy enough on the phone. "That's J as in, um, uh, Jasper, then e as in, um, elephant?" :)
Thanks for the encouragement. Apparently, I've got a lot of reading to do.