I'm a virtual assistant. What's my name?
April 10, 2018 7:16 AM Subscribe
I've been trying for a while now to come up with a name for my freelance VA service and not getting anywhere. Halp! Snowflakes (of course) inside.
I'm creating a small, freelance VA service and having trouble naming it. I would just use my own name but I'm hoping to get some work locally and my last name is often considered confusingly "ethnic" around here.
Other useful information: I want a name that's pretty general, because I'm not going into this with a niche but I'm open to that happening. So, for instance, I'll be offering some bookkeeping/finance services, but I don't want to do bookkeeping exclusively (mostly due to my health sometimes being erratic).
I'm also not keen on using the terms virtual assistant/virtual assisting because, again, I'm hoping to get some jobs locally and it just doesn't sound right to me. Not to mention all of the better variations on "virtual" already seem to be taken as domain names.
The names I come up with on my own tend to be in-jokes that I'm not sure other people will get, like "Other Duties as Assigned". I've been stalling on this for too long out of perfectionism/imposter syndrome, and I need to make a decision. Please help!
I'm creating a small, freelance VA service and having trouble naming it. I would just use my own name but I'm hoping to get some work locally and my last name is often considered confusingly "ethnic" around here.
Other useful information: I want a name that's pretty general, because I'm not going into this with a niche but I'm open to that happening. So, for instance, I'll be offering some bookkeeping/finance services, but I don't want to do bookkeeping exclusively (mostly due to my health sometimes being erratic).
I'm also not keen on using the terms virtual assistant/virtual assisting because, again, I'm hoping to get some jobs locally and it just doesn't sound right to me. Not to mention all of the better variations on "virtual" already seem to be taken as domain names.
The names I come up with on my own tend to be in-jokes that I'm not sure other people will get, like "Other Duties as Assigned". I've been stalling on this for too long out of perfectionism/imposter syndrome, and I need to make a decision. Please help!
If you want to get mostly local jobs, maybe include your location's name or a signifier in your name, like (just an example) NYC Office Helper or Big Apple Office Helper or whatever.
With this kind of thing I think it's sometimes easier to get work if you restrict yourself somewhat to create a clearer "this is what I do" image -- it helps people think of you when they need a specific thing.
Are you mainly looking to do higher-skill financial/tax/legal tasks, or are you also aiming for unskilled stuff like e.g. appointment scheduling, data entry, envelope stuffing? or even household stuff like picking up dry cleaning or ...? I worry that "other duties as assigned" (by itself) would make me think you were offering more of a task-rabbit kind of general assistantship, but it sounds like you intend to be offering a more high-skill specific financial/legal/business consulting type of thing? Do you have past expertise or experience that would be relevant to put in the name... like call yourself Accountant For A Day or whatever?
posted by LobsterMitten at 8:03 AM on April 10, 2018
With this kind of thing I think it's sometimes easier to get work if you restrict yourself somewhat to create a clearer "this is what I do" image -- it helps people think of you when they need a specific thing.
Are you mainly looking to do higher-skill financial/tax/legal tasks, or are you also aiming for unskilled stuff like e.g. appointment scheduling, data entry, envelope stuffing? or even household stuff like picking up dry cleaning or ...? I worry that "other duties as assigned" (by itself) would make me think you were offering more of a task-rabbit kind of general assistantship, but it sounds like you intend to be offering a more high-skill specific financial/legal/business consulting type of thing? Do you have past expertise or experience that would be relevant to put in the name... like call yourself Accountant For A Day or whatever?
posted by LobsterMitten at 8:03 AM on April 10, 2018
Best answer: I recently offered advice to a colleague in a similar situation. My suggestion to her, as it is to you, is to find something that's unique about you, and call your business that. For example, on her Facebook feed there was a picture of coffee being poured into a Disney princess mug. So I suggested Coffee Drinking Princesses.
What's your favorite color? Favorite animal? Color Animal Assisting. (I'd be either Purple Flamingo or Pink Rhino.)
What about a couple of your favorite adjectives/adverbs? Amiably Competent Assisting. Seriously Cordial Assistance.
Flip open the dictionary and point a couple times. Greenstick Mirror Assisting. Mango Requisition Assisting.
posted by The Almighty Mommy Goddess at 4:31 PM on April 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
What's your favorite color? Favorite animal? Color Animal Assisting. (I'd be either Purple Flamingo or Pink Rhino.)
What about a couple of your favorite adjectives/adverbs? Amiably Competent Assisting. Seriously Cordial Assistance.
Flip open the dictionary and point a couple times. Greenstick Mirror Assisting. Mango Requisition Assisting.
posted by The Almighty Mommy Goddess at 4:31 PM on April 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
Best answer: I don't think the name has to, nor even should, describe what you do/will do in the future but instead should be memorable and - most importantly - that the domain is available.
Try adjective+color+noun .com combos like littlegreenrabbit or spottybluedove then picture the potential logo - if you like it, see if the .com (or TLD of your choice) is free (safely!); do a search engine blitz to check that the phrase is not associated with anything unsavory and there you go, a great business name to suit all of your future successful endeavors.
posted by humph at 3:35 AM on April 11, 2018
Try adjective+color+noun .com combos like littlegreenrabbit or spottybluedove then picture the potential logo - if you like it, see if the .com (or TLD of your choice) is free (safely!); do a search engine blitz to check that the phrase is not associated with anything unsavory and there you go, a great business name to suit all of your future successful endeavors.
posted by humph at 3:35 AM on April 11, 2018
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Among the consultants I interact with, it’s pretty standard to just use your initials, so if you want to avoid your full name, just ABC Virtual Assistant, or ABC Consulting, ABC Assistant, etc.
posted by OrangeVelour at 7:26 AM on April 10, 2018 [2 favorites]