Reinventing your personal brand, is it detrimental to create a personal brand around an alias or pen name? A question I have had to seriously consider as I look to the next step in my career as an entrepreneur. I would love to hear what others think.
While employed full time I saw reason and benefit to begin focusing on the creation of a personal brand. I knew that my time with the company was limited and I was to soon find myself back in the arms of entrepreneurship. Developing a brand in preparation seemed to make sense. Now I do not envision myself as a rock star or film actor trying to salvage some bit of privacy from my adoring fans but for one reason or another I decided to go with a “pen name”. It was also not in any way necessary to hide my moonlighting from my employer as he encouraged it. It was simply because I felt this a more brandable and memorable name. The name itself is a slight variation on a family name so it is not completely fictitious. My first name is in fact Jeremy. (I did consider going with Tyler Durden for a short period.) I make no effort to hide my given name, as you can just as easily find it on the about page of any website I lay claim to, however the alias is that which I use on several of my social profiles. The problem I am having is in deciding if it makes sense to move forward with this “pen name” as I push try to advance my career and business. Any thoughts?
A few disclaimers:
I am not looking to sign of on anything contractual with my alias.
My business name is separate and no part of my name appears in the title, however the is a very blurred line between how my clients recognize it, often we are one and the same. I would like it to remain that way.
The Questions
Do you see an alias as harmful in a business setting?
Would a personal brand formed around an Alias lead to awkward explanations more often then it is worth? (I have had to explain once or twice.)
Is it to late to turn back now and how would reinventing hurt my forward progress this far in?
Any examples of someone who has made this work for them in this particular environment?
Basically I am looking for some guidance, a discussion on the pros and cons. If you have any thoughts please feel free to voice theme below.
For reference – The alias is Jeremy Delane, my given name is Vossman.
Mark Twain – Samuel Clemens
Dear Abby (Abigail Van Buren) – Pauline Phillips
Eldrick Tont Woods – Tiger Woods
Ocho Cinco – Ocho Cinco
Prince – Symbol – Prince
But you are right, once they went with their pen name they stuck with it. I think if you’re going to advertise as Jeremy Delane you may need to just refer to yourself as such in business meetings. And maybe it would get confusing. Maybe, though, it would be nice to have some separation from your personal and work life.
I think it adds a little bit of mystery. Plus aren’t you artistic types supposed to have like 8 different names?
Guess I didn’t help at all.
Jeremy, these are great questions. I think people build brands around aliases all the time. I’m pretty sure that many of the “people” I interact with or follow on Twitter or MyBlogLog and other places are really just one or a few sneaky marketers.
How successful can you be doing it that way over the long term? I participated in a personal branding forum with several top staffing industry professionals at recruitingblogs.com a few weeks ago. The consensus was that one of the key elements to successful branding is transparency. Take that for what it’s worth.
I think you can keep your alias and your transparency intact. Hollywood does it all the time.
Sincerely, Archibald Leach (aka Cary Grant)
Reinventing your brand is standard practice. We all need to adjust our brands throughout time to reflect the current market conditions and new skills. You really should take time to figure out what you want to do with your life and success will come straight out of that!
@Erik – Nice examples, I never would have guessed on Tiger Woods. Using the name in business, that really is one of the major hangups I am having, it seems like in explaining my use of an alias I would end up having to get more personal then if I had not used an alias in the first place.
@Craig – Very true I could definitely maintain the same transparency that I have been but it seems to me that doing so raises the question – why use the alias in the first place if you have nothing to hide?
I would love to hear more about the personal branding forum, hmm time to check out your blog.
@Dan – I like your attitude and approach, I think ultimately what matters is “the product” behind “the brand”, in this case it would be skill, knowledge, expertise etc.
After reading your comments I think that maybe I am trying to dissect this quite a bit more than need be, but either way it brings up some interesting conversation. Thanks again.
Oh and here’s another good one:
Twitter (garyvee) – Real Name (Gary Vaynerchuck)
Slight variation on the name but he has been mega successful.
My first name is very common for my age group, and for years I’ve worked side-by-side with other Chrises, which has caused confusion on a number of occasions. I couldn’t really bring myself to give myself a new name, because I feel like people do judge you for doing so. It seems “fake”, and people question my motivations. If you’re going to do it, really commit to it, and get some friends involved early on who will introduce you with that name.
I dont think that alias is the right word. When i hear that word it makes me think of James Bond, or someones online chat name, which is used to cover up their true identity. What you are doing is just changing your name to something that is more satisfying, that will give you more confidence when you introduce yourself. As long as you can build an authentic brand around “Jeremy Delane” and people know you as Mr. Delane then there is nothing wrong with it what so ever.