what about including your middle name?
Business names are strange.
this post was submitted on 31 Oct 2023
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Photography
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Personally. Find the whole "first name last name photography" cliche as f***. Plus will make it harder for you to do 2 events at same time and outsource an associate shooter, as people be like "I hired Harry Smith photography and I got a josh shooting my wedding".
Yeah, but I'm super shitty at coming up with names, so FirstLastPhotography is better than anything I could possibly come up with.
Especially since all the good puns are taken. :p
It’s a business name. You can use whatever you like as long as it’s available.
Go for it. You will need an Assumed Business Name, (also called a DBA—Doing Business As). Or form an LLC using the new name, which might be a good idea for liability.
What about something like “StudioHersberg”? Or “HersbergPhoto”? Mine is StudioHolladay.com Clients remember last nights. Adding a descriptor to your last name makes it stand out even more.
I don’t see why not, so long as davehersberg.com doesn’t do business in your area (which would open you to complaints for common law service mark infringement and unfair competition).
I go by Sean Ambrose.
Ambrose is definitely not my last name. Lol.
If the problem is usernames no matter what you do, good luck. But consider using alternative website domains extensions to get the website you need. As an American, I can and do use www.lastname.us because I find it much cleaner than anything else.
I registered my two daughters first and last names dot com, the day we picked their names, for this exact reason. Probably a bit overkill, lol.
I recommend a fictitious name.
So I would add, your business name is part of your brand identity. Your brand is your all-encompassing reputation. Think of a name that markets what you do with some wiggle room to grow.
Something to think about, lets say you do the first + last + photography and you become successfull. When you’re ready to retire or move on, the business dies when you quit. However, if successful and have regular clients, you could sell the business and all the brand image you built if it was something tied to your name.