But if you can choose the perfect nickname – a pseudonym – before you start a life-changing blog you just might become the next hit.
Pseudonyms are everywhere in blogging and you’ve got a nickname too.
They make you interesting, mysterious, draw a personal connection and could even make a blog more profitable if you do it right.
In this post I’ll cover how to blog under a nickname (like viperchill, shoemoney, blogtyrant, collegeinfogeek, wordingwell, or yes dearblogger but so so many others).
Need Your Help: I can’t find this topic covered anywhere else on the web but it’s a question I’ve gotten 4 times this past week alone and it’s something that is awful if you do it wrong. If you use a nickname to blog successfully, please let us know how you do it in the comments! Thanks!
Choose it before you start
I use to have an economics coach who would say “the easiest answer is the wrong answer”.
What he meant by this was that you could write down a bunch of beautiful stuff on his tests but if you weren’t going about the problem the right way, you would most likely just get a wrong answer. Even if it felt good writing down that answer it would still be the wrong answer.
You have to go about choosing your nickname the right way.
The first step is choosing it before you start a blog. The second is understanding what sort of vibes your niche needs at the moment and having good timing.
Let me give you an example of timing. Listen up because I think about this stuff a lot.
Example of Nicknaming a Blog with Good Timing:
We all know and respect ProBlogger.net because he’s the godfather of blogging, a staple in our industry. But can you imagine how ridiculous it would be if a blog called “Pro Blogger” popped up in 2015 with countless other expert blogs about blogging.
We would laugh. But “Pro Blogger” was a hit name because it was original, started 8 years ago and did one thing really well.
Put as simply as I can, many bloggers don’t realize how important the timing of when they start their blogging empire is and assume they can just start up and out-content-create the competition.
You can’t. You can do ok, but you won’t do really well.
The problem here is that competition is a very real thing. If you don’t respect it, you can’t beat it. However if you do your niche research and truly find that your concept – your nickname – will stand out, then it’s a greenlight.
Further, if you can understand that you are starting a blog in a certain climate and use that climate to your advantage, you will have a much better chance at becoming a hit blog.
Don’t change it once you launch
Simply put, you cannot change your nickname or pseudonym after you launch your blog because you will lose credibility. And that is next to death for a blog.
Let me explain this further.
You might think you have an even better idea for your nickname or see some other blogger with another genius idea, but believe me when I say the people who matter will have like your first idea.
Don’t change it.
“Measure twice, cut once” – Home Improvement
That’s actually a line from Home Improvement’s Al Borlan, a godfather in his own right 🙂
Think of how many business’ out there making fortunes now seemed ridiculous to mention when they got started. Chipotle always sounded ridiculous to me. YouTube? What the.
You get the picture.
Include it in your domain name
Along the lines of not changing your nickname ever is including it in your domain name.
This part is a must – because you want to show commitment to your brand.
Not only that, but this results in pretty darn significant inbound SEO. As your name grows and people start Googling it, you will come up #1, which is how ultimately it should be.
If your nickname is something totally ridiculous then it is okay to partially include it, or surround it with some other keywords in your domain name.
I’m happy to help you brainstorm.
Just keep in mind that creating a good nickname that is also a good domain name is incredibly valuable these days.
Need a bit of creative help? You can ask a comment here, or you can go out and get some fresh air, run around, and let things simmer.
Nothing makes for a good idea like some time away from that idea to do something else you love doing.
“Nothing fires up the brain like play” – Stuart Brown
Compliment it with themes and motifs all the time
Finally, I’d like to add that motifs can strengthen your nickname.
I know that sentence sounds really weak though, so let me explain what I mean.
Example of Using Motifs to Strengthen a Blog Nickname
Let’s say your blog name is, hmm…bowlingman (wow, that really stinks, but going off the top of my head as I type here). But let’s say your blog pseudonym really is bowlingman and your domain name is thus bowlingmansblog.com – and it’s a blog about everything bowling.
It’s weird but could actually work.
In your writing, you’ll want to use motifs.
What’s a motif? It’s an item that compliments a theme.
So if your blog were about bowling you would want to mention things like popcorn machines, flashy lights, awkward shoes, good times with friends, arcades and those sort of mental images in your writing.
Using motifs and mental images like this can strengthen your messages. It shows you know what you’re talking about.
It can also lighten up the subject enough that you can get your messages through!
You want that.
You want that.
Conclusion
Choosing the perfect blog nickname is something that should take at least 3 tries with and perhaps several post it notes or pieces of scratch paper.
Don’t go with the first idea unless you try out 3 more, and the first one still wins.
Lastly, remember to do as I always tell new bloggers and be niche-narrow. Don’t brainstorm for weeks then pick some all-inclusive nickname that’s too vague or confuses everyone.
Whether you call it your pen name or your nickname or your pseudonym (which by the way is really hard to spell guys) this name should say something about you – specifically you.
“You can do anything, but not everything” – David Allen
Being niche narrow sets you up as the expert, even when nobody knows you, or your nickname.
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Learn more about starting a blog and finding your voice in the blogosphere HERE