June 7, 2016
Brand. Sizzle. Pop.
Today I am going to touch on the topic of self branding, starting with branding based on your name.
I’ve been told that I have one of the best names for branding , or for having this as an artist name, I’ve often been asked if my name Sonya Paz is my real name. I used to chuckle at this question because I never thought that my name, my birth name would be something that would end up being so cool.
I’ve been creative from as long as far back as I could remember, always had it entrepreneurial spirit and savvy inside of me and I had come up with business names for different businesses that I have pursued based on my name but really hadn’t used my name in its given sense as a brand for anything until I really got my art career started.
What I want to talk to you today about and inspire you to do is consider your brand that is truly true to you. When I started my painting career back in the mid 90s again, after not having painted for several years, I went with a funky name something that I thought would represent The wacky side of my artwork, something catchy, now mind you my name Sonya Paz when you take the first letter and my entire last name what do you have… Well you have SPAZ. … Ha ha ha, yes, I had heard jokes about my name throughout my entire life ever before…. thinking of course that it thought it would be something catchy and fun.
However. After marketing my art and products as SPAZART for a few years and hearing all the crazy jokes and some of these being unflattering meanings to “spaz art” I decided that I needed to take it up a notch and really start honing in to be true to myself, me newly collected customer base and what better way than to use my own name as my own brand and I want to share with you incredible difference is that it made for my artwork, establishing my brand, acquiring more collectors, being taken seriously by NOT ONLY to the art world, but establishing the benefits to using my name in my brand moving forward.
As mentioned before you might just now be starting your art business and this is the great time a perfect time for you to determine how your name will be used in your art brand.
Here is a good example: If you’ve been marketing through a different art Business name presently or in the past, for instance let’s say you’re Derek Bauer and you are a photographer and your focus is “nature photography”, and you are known as the “nature photographer” or something similar, maybe you are “wildflower Photographer” or “Sodona Sceneery” etc., to that and you want to start getting your name out there and building “your name” as your brand then you will gradually migrate to that brand from “nature photography by Derek Bauer” to Derek Bauer, Nature Photograpty.
Perhaps you might be doing this nature photography for 20+ years and you feel as though you have a brand as the nature photographer, and you may not need a rebrand and that’s great and if you want to remain in that area, in that comfort zone that you are in right now as photographer that’s great….. BUT have you Googled nature photography lately? Have you seen how flooded that category might be? Have you researched how many other people are doing nature photography and that your SEO and searching criteria may not be benefiting you, or this category is so flooded and populated that you are a blip on the Nature Photography circuit???. I cannot tell you how critical it is to bring your own name, your unique artist name into the meld. I mean seriously, how often are you going to change your name? Get this established now.
When I rebranded in the early 2000’s, it was an GAME CHANGER, the amount of other art and business professionals in the art industry gravitated toward me, I no longer sounded ordinary, I no longer sounded like a gimmick, I no longer sounded like I was trying to do something kitschy and was suddenly and wholeheartedly was taken seriously.
Because, I WILL tell you, when you have a name like mine…. spaz art what would you think it was all about, I’m laughing out loud because I couldn’t possibly make this stuff up. It finally hit me around the year 2000 when I was at an art and wine festival, in my booth, all my artwork up on the walls and this goofy guy came up to the booth and said “oh wow your name is spaz that’s pretty funny, where do you come up with that name”, I told him it was my first initial and last name, oh boy oh boy…,…. Did he get a kick out of that… he walked away laughing his head off.
Now mind you, I’m a pretty tough cookie and I don’t take a lot of things too seriously or get offended easily, BUT but that really resonated with me and I thought why aren’t I using my name in it’s entirety, no acronyms, no shortcuts, and trust me I have tried everything with my name. (In fact, here is a fun factoid about my name if you take PAZ and flip it backwards you have ZAP. if you take the “A” off of Sonya you have Sony, if you flip the “a”in “o” in my name you have Sanyo. I got to wondering there for a while if my parents had some sort of fun coming up for my name. Now this goes without saying that Sony and Sanyo were already taken so that wasn’t an option). Ha ha ha…
Seriously though, upping my game and using my name was huge. I am a pop artist I could have called my art anything, part of my brand is my personality as well, I am a high-energy, petite funny and sarcastic lady who loves to smile, love to create and managed to make some great contacts, make people smile and laugh in the process and bring a sense of fun energy, whimsy and color into many peoples lives and homes and decor. I always say my name is short sweet and to the point. I am pretty fearless and I’m a risk taker. If I hadn’t taken the risks and tried certain things I would never learned everything I have.
Another example: If you’re just starting out and let’s say you do silversmithing and jewelry design. Use your name as the brand first, if you need to let people know what type of art it is a craft that you’re doing, then name first, and your craft secondary. I want you to grow and I want you to make a name for yourself in this industry with your art career and business.
The point is that you need to start getting your name out there as the primary brand is the focus. Become that brand, standby your brand, when you introduce yourself to others, introduce yourself as your “name” and that you’re an artist. The more you SAY your name, you write YOUR name and brand YOUR name will start becoming the reality.
I want you to flourish and be amazing with your art, become the rockstar that you are in your brand and in your work, shine and let everyone know what you do.
I am so glad that you have tuned in again or read this blog to listen to me, Sonya Paz your host with Rockstar Mentor podcast. Our podcast airs weekly with Fan Mail Friday every Friday, our mini segment to get your weekend started.
I would love for you to subscribe and give us a five star review on iTunes, these reviews will not only help us build a great audience but will get more visibility, more questions asked and will be able to help more artists like yourself by spreading the word about us!!! If you’d like to learn more about me and what I do visit sonyapaz.com, for more info on Rockstar Mentor and how I can help you market your artwork and help you build your brand, visit me on RockStar Mentor.com.
You can sign up online to be part of our newsletter you will be on the front lines to receive VIP emails and specials, be privy to some freebie tools, tips and techniques that I have prepared just for you only available to RockStar Mentor subscribers. AND….Be part of our fan mail Friday with questions that you might have, would love to read your questions on the air …..and trust me… everyone loves to hear their name on the air, so be sure to write in and ask questions so we can address them for you.
Last but not least we have an amazing Artists Mastermind Group that you can also sign up to be a part of, learn from other artists in the business, ask questions, participate in your expertise as well. Click the link under “cool tools” on our website.
As usual I like to conclude each program and blog with an inspiring rock ‘n’ roll song that you should listen to, that resonates well with this topic. I’m going to pick Fleetwood Mac “Don’t Stop” because not only is this a great melody but the messages “Don’t Stop”, a true reflection when you get discouraged or you feel that things are too overwhelming.
Brand. Sizzle. Pop. Ponder on this, I hope you can make some great strides and thinking of a rebrand for yourself at this time. If you were already doing this I applaud you and I want to say bravo and that you are certainly going into the right direction.
Have a great rest of the week everyone, be an amazing art rockstar and thanks again for tuning in and being part of this amazing RockStar Mentor journey!
Peace out!
~ Sonya
