# Help me name my freelance business. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 16, 2007, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-name-my-freelance-business/415853 "2007-08-16T20:53:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2007, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-name-my-freelance-business/415853/1 "2007-08-16T20:53:19Z")
I am an experienced technical writer and editor who – thanks in part to **[CairoCarol](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=423797)** – is thinking about starting to do freelance editing work (while keeping my day job; yes, it’s ok with my employer). I’m still in research-and-heavy-thought mode, but I figure it can’t hurt to skip to the fun part for a while: coming up with a name for my business. 😃 I have been trying to think of possible names for a few weeks now, and I’m at a complete loss! The only thing I’ve come up with so far is a potential tag line: “Say what you mean.” (The idea being that written communication can be tricky, and a big part of my job will be using my editing, proofreading, and formatting skills to help ensure that the client isn’t easily misunderstood – that they are saying what they mean.) A few notes:[ul][li]Clever is good; clever and somewhat esoteric is better. _grin_[/li][li]I don’t want the name to be boring or cookie-cutter, like “Lastname Communications,” but I also don’t want it to be too cute. I’m going for unique yet professional, erring on the side of professional.[/li][li]If possible I’d like to avoid using the word “communications” in the name at all, because around here it’s often used in the name of telecom companies.[/li][li]Services will include editing, proofreading, and formatting, as well as PDF conversions – all kinds of document stuff.[/ul][/li]Got suggestions? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Raza](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raza/32/213_2.png) [@Raza](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raza)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2007, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-name-my-freelance-business/415853/2 "2007-08-16T21:55:30Z")
Word to the Wise Doc Doc Text U All Letteracy EditProse ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2007, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-name-my-freelance-business/415853/3 "2007-08-16T21:58:28Z")
What about Tiepoe? ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2007, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-name-my-freelance-business/415853/4 "2007-08-16T22:01:56Z")
Heh, you should sign up for the Freelance mailing list – we’re discussing this topic just now! \ [http://COMMUNITY.LSOFT.COM/archives/FREELANCE.html](http://COMMUNITY.LSOFT.COM/archives/FREELANCE.html) \ (If you do happen to sign up, just mention pie or Duran Duran or something in your intro blurb and I’ll give you a shout-out.) Anyway . . . I would encourage you to leave out the cutesy plays on words involving words like “write,” “words,” “edit,” “pen,” etc. It’s been done to death, you probably won’t be able to come up with an original one that’s not taken, and . . . ugh, just don’t. (Full disclosure: I started out 13 years ago with a name exactly along those lines. Eventually I found out that somebody else had had it for a long time before me. They even owned the domain name. Little chance of confusion, because they were a big company and I’m just little ol’ me, but I changed it for a name that’s definitely unique (in the purist’s sense of the word) and, I’ve been told, lightly amusing and memorable. Also, I’m with you on “Communications.” Yuck. What the heck does that mean? Are you a TV station, a PR flack, or what? It’s too generic. My vote is to just use a name related to an interest or philosophy of yours. Could be anything. For example, I could conceivably use “Three Dogs Publishing Services,” because I have three dogs. One of my clients has an office located on a street with a picturesque name, so they’re “[Name of street]’ Publishing Services” with a logo that’s an iconic representation of that name. (What happens if they ever move? Good question.) OK, these aren’t the best examples, but you get the general idea. We have lots of creative names on the Freelance members list, but I’m loath to “out” anyone here. Look in the Editorial Services section (or whatever it’s called these days) of Literary Market Place online for inspiration. ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2007, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-name-my-freelance-business/415853/5 "2007-08-16T22:02:06Z")
Write Right[sup]TM[/sup] ---
**Author:** ![Typo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5fc32e/32.png) [@Typo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2007, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-name-my-freelance-business/415853/6 "2007-08-16T22:04:35Z")
I’m having a hard time coming up with one, but a word to the wise - try and pick something that you can say easily and sounds professional on the phone. My husband and I started a business some years ago and came up with a name that was great on paper, but otherwise…sheesh. ---
**Author:** ![Sofaspud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8491ac/32.png) [@Sofaspud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofaspud)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2007, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-name-my-freelance-business/415853/7 "2007-08-16T22:06:23Z")
Hmm. Off the top of my head, a couple ideas: _The Written Word_ - if you’re in an overly-religious area, this might be misunderstood, though. _No Misunderstandings_ - goes well with the tagline, but fails the main test of any business name, in that it doesn’t say what you do. Not that big a deal nowadays, though. 🙂 _All Your Text_ - heh. _The Document Doctor_ - straight to the point. (On preview: **Raza** beat me to it, and more cleverly, too!) ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2007, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-name-my-freelance-business/415853/8 "2007-08-16T22:43:24Z")
Language Wrangler ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2007, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-name-my-freelance-business/415853/9 "2007-08-16T23:25:02Z")
**Scribe, Ink.** 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2007, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-name-my-freelance-business/415853/10 "2007-08-17T04:24:57Z")
I’ve decided that when I become a freelance translator and creative copywriter, the name for my company will be **Millionth Monkey** , in reference to the “if a million monkeys typed for a million years, etc…” story. I realize the actual numbers are much higher, but **10[sup]34[/sup]th Monkey** just lacks something, alliteration-wise. Since I don’t see too much competition between your business in D.C. and mine in Tokyo, feel free to use it if you want. ---
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2007, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-name-my-freelance-business/415853/11 "2007-08-17T04:40:57Z")
Clarity Unlimited ---
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2007, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-name-my-freelance-business/415853/12 "2007-08-17T04:48:59Z")
Contracted Clarity, Idea Filter, Same Page Interpretations, Intended Impressions, Master Messenger. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2007, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-name-my-freelance-business/415853/13 "2007-08-17T08:41:33Z")
TextSub (with a graphic of 20th century Russians and the slogan “we take dictation”) Scryptonite The Write Stuff ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2007, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-name-my-freelance-business/415853/14 "2007-08-17T10:17:10Z")
**Misnomer** –how about a pass/fail list on the suggestions? ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2007, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-name-my-freelance-business/415853/15 "2007-08-17T15:08:46Z")
Thanks so much to everyone who has made suggestions! Nothing has jumped out at me yet, but it is so helpful to see these ideas: hopefully they will help me keep thinking of my own, and I won’t be surprised if I wind up going with something that is similar to a Doper suggestion. 🙂 Please keep them coming! [QUOTE=Scarlett67] Heh, you should sign up for the Freelance mailing list – we’re discussing this topic just now! [/QUOTE] I will definitely look into that, thanks! Freelancing discussions are happening all around me lately … seems to be a new trend for people in my industry (defense contracting). > [@](#): > > Anyway . . . I would encourage you to leave out the cutesy plays on words involving words like “write,” “words,” “edit,” “pen,” etc. It’s been done to death, you probably won’t be able to come up with an original one that’s not taken, and . . . ugh, just don’t. I completely agree, and is why I said “not too cute.” Clever is good, puns are bad (with apologies to the punny among us!). > [@](#): > > My vote is to just use a name related to an interest or philosophy of yours. Could be anything. For example, I could conceivably use “Three Dogs Publishing Services,” because I have three dogs. Interesting idea! I’ll definitely have to do some thinking along those lines. [QUOTE=Endiqua] I’m having a hard time coming up with one, but a word to the wise - try and pick something that you can say easily and sounds professional on the phone. [/QUOTE] Important advice, thanks. 🙂 [QUOTE=Sofaspud] goes well with the tagline, but fails the main test of any business name, in that it doesn’t say what you do [/QUOTE] Yeah, one of the hard parts is that I definitely want the name to at least _imply_ what I do. Something I keep considering, then rejecting, then considering again is “Lorem Ipsum Services,” but I keep rejecting it because I feel that it only makes sense to people who work with documents … and they’re not likely to need to hire me. _grin_ [QUOTE=Sublight] I’ve decided that when I become a freelance translator and creative copywriter, the name for my company will be Millionth Monkey [/QUOTE] Oooh, I like that! And thanks for the offer to let me use the name here in the States. But I think it implies more writing than editing, and I won’t be offering any writing services. I think it’s _great_ for a freelance copywriter, though! So at least for now, you can be the lone Millionth Monkey. 😉 [QUOTE=Sampiro] Scryptonite [/QUOTE] Not _quite_ what I’m looking for, but that made me laugh out loud. 🙂 I might have to try to introduce that term elsewhere … “scryptonite,” heh! [QUOTE=Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor] Misnomer–how about a pass/fail list on the suggestions? [/QUOTE] I’m here! I’m here! 🙂 I posted right before I left work yesterday: I had plans last night, I’ve been working all morning, and this is the first chance I’ve had to check in on the thread. I probably should have mentioned in the OP that I wouldn’t be able to post again until today, but (clearly) it didn’t occur to me. Sorry if I had anyone thinking that I’d abandoned the thread! ---
**Author:** ![buttonjockey308](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@buttonjockey308](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buttonjockey308)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2007, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-name-my-freelance-business/415853/16 "2007-08-17T18:35:49Z")
The Joy of Text Silver Street Publishing Since you’re in DC: How about… Capitol Letters US Print Department of Corrections (that’d be fun to answer the phone) The Company ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2007, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-name-my-freelance-business/415853/17 "2007-08-17T19:13:38Z")
[QUOTE=buttonjockey308] Silver Street Publishing [/QUOTE] I don’ geddit…? > [@](#): > > Capitol Letters Ok, _that_ I like. 🙂 I’ll have to think about that one for a while. Thanks! > [@](#): > > The Company What, and risk being confused with all of the 3-letter agencies around here? 😉 EDIT: Oh, and I can post today until 5, but will be away most of the weekend and probably won’t be able to post again until Sunday night. But I promise that I’ll be back! ---
**Author:** ![buttonjockey308](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@buttonjockey308](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buttonjockey308)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2007, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-name-my-freelance-business/415853/18 "2007-08-17T21:29:57Z")
[QUOTE=Misnomer] I don’ geddit…? Ok, _that_ I like. 🙂 I’ll have to think about that one for a while. Thanks! What, and risk being confused with all of the 3-letter agencies around here? 😉 EDIT: Oh, and I can post today until 5, but will be away most of the weekend and probably won’t be able to post again until Sunday night. But I promise that I’ll be back! [/QUOTE] Silver Street just has a nice flow, and connects in that certian way minus the dreaded epiglottal stop, but it has no real meaning (to me). You’re welcome. And sure, why not. Might even get you some press locally, which is always good. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2007, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-name-my-freelance-business/415853/19 "2007-08-20T05:01:49Z")
Ok, I’ve decided/realized that a DC-related name isn’t a good idea, because I don’t plan to always live in this area and I’d like to be able to take my freelance work with me wherever I go … without having to change business names. 🙂 I got a little happy this weekend when I thought of “In So Many Words” (despite concerns about cutesy names with “words” in them), but a Google search quickly revealed that there is a freelancer in the Los Angeles area using that name. However, there doesn’t seem to be anyone else out there using the name – at least, no one with a discernable web presence – so I might still keep it in the back of my mind. It shouldn’t be a problem as long as I don’t ever move to southern California, I guess. _grin_ Any other ideas out there? ---
**Author:** ![Lunar\_Saltlick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/977dab/32.png) [@Lunar\_Saltlick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lunar_Saltlick)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2007, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-name-my-freelance-business/415853/20 "2007-08-20T12:43:34Z")
A great name can help, but it’s not everything. Check out _intercom_ from April 2007, in which Rachel Davis describes how she built Red Dog Writing Services into a going concern. There was also an article by Geoff Hart in _intercom_ December 2006 in which he describes how he launched his freelance career (toward the end of the article). Don’t think he even mentioned the name. Identifying and exploiting his niche was far more important than the name. My only advice would be to make sure the first word in the name starts with A, B or C, so you’ll be close to the top of lists. 😉 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-name-my-freelance-business/415853.md?page=2)