Have you noticed your business evolving over time? I’m in at least my third incarnation of what I offer and on my second website/business name since starting in January of 2009. Because a solopreneur business is so deeply connected to the person behind it, I think evolution is common over time. What you are interested in, what you know and even what people want and need changes over time so you business will too.
As you change what you offer, other things about your business change too. You might change things like your logo or colors, and your 30-second elevator pitch will most certainly change. Some of your social media usernames and vanity URL’s might change. If you can avoid it, try not to change your business name or website. I had to do that at one point, and it was a big hassle and I lost any SEO value I might have had on the old site. I had to change all my contact information with all of the hundreds of people who had that email address, a task which often requires multiple requests to some people.
I encourage solopreneurs to choose their website and business name wisely, and to pick something that will grow as the business grows. That way, you won’t have to go through the hassle of a change. (BTW – this is one of the topics covered in my comprehensive system for setting up your business “The ABC’s of a Successful Solopreneur Business. Click here to check it out. )
Aside from a business name and website, many solopreneurs use a tagline – a short sentence that describes what they do. A tagline is a great place to express your new business or current business focus. If you’ve chosen a business and website name that can grow with you, you can change your tagline more often and more easily than you can change your business and website name. A tagline shows up almost as often as your actual business name, so it works well to communicate and reinforce what you can do for people. It’s also easy to test – just try it out when you are out in public introducing yourself, ask for feedback on your social networks, try it in your newsletter, and get feedback from family and friends. Just don’t print 3,000 business cards with a new tagline until you are pretty sure you’ll be happy with it long enough to use those cards 😉
That brings me to my own new tagline. I’ve used something like “Use your unique brilliance to better the world and earn a living” for a while and it’s starting to feel too small. It’s like the mental equivalent of shoes that are now too tight. Just like tight shoes, a too-small tagline feels more constricting as time passes. I’ve become so much more, and I’m so much more committed to helping solopreneurs than I was when I first picked this 3 or so years ago. So, I’m trying a new tagline out – here goes:
Speaker, Strategist and Champion for Solopreneurs
What do you think? I’d love to get your feedback before I order those 3,000 business cards!