Business Name

I need to come up with a business name, and I am seriously drawing a blank. I need suggestions from the Interwebs like nobody's business. This is all I've been able to come up with:

Writing Company
Company That Writes Stuff
Stuff-Writing Company
Business That Creates Words for Stuff

I just can't come up with a thing. And I've been drinking rum for the past two hours, so that might be a factor? Anyone who has suggestions, please chime in. The business will write stuff for people who need stuff written, take care of corporate communications, write press releases and create media kits. So I should be called...?

-UPDATE-

After making lists and staring at names and even having a dream about them, it came down to Content Summoner (thanks, spouse), Content Creations (thanks, Russell), It Came From the Sky (thanks, Schrode) and the name of the used book store I used to own, Waxing Moon. I finally decided that having the word "content" in the name might limit to too much, since copyediting and PR will be a big part of the restructure. And as much as I like It Came From the Sky, it's kind of long and doesn't describe any of the actual services. I have finally decided on Waxing Moon Marketing. It's not too descriptive, but it's short and easy to remember and the word "marketing" encompasses all of the tasks that I offer.

While I REALLY want the tagline "When you don't want your website to suck," it has been pointed out to me (a few times) that if I'm going after larger businesses, that isn't the best avenue to go down. I still think that a company without a sense of humor isn't necessarily one that I want, but I am trying to change things, so I'll go with a more descriptive tagline. It's just a simple "Content, Copywriting and PR."

So, now I need a logo. I'm really going to try not to get carried away.

Motto Ideas

Ok, so I need to organize a new way of doing things, complete with an actual business name and some type of slogan. I've noticed that all of the content sites have a short slogan that is memorable and descriptive. I'm starting with slogan ideas first before I start thinking about a business name. Here's what a have so far:

Business X- When You Don't Want Your Website to Suck

Incompetent? Insufferable? I'll Write For You Anyway

Need Content? I Need Cash. Win-Win!

Content That Won't Get You Arrested

If You Need Content, I'll Put Up With You

Turning Your Site's Crap Into Gold

I just can't choose from among them. And don't even get me started on the logos...

Coming Back and Letting Go

I got back from out annual trek to Disney World a few days ago. It's an easy vacation that's appropriate for everyone, so we go. I hate it, but we go. So, I guess I mean it's appropriate to everyone but me, so we go. Personally, I hate crowds, I want to go up to people in tube tops and ask them why, and occasionally I get into a fight with people flashing cameras in my face, but I go. Where do you even get tube tops? I didn't even know they still sold them, but apparently there is a big supply of tube tops out there that are highly sought after by people who start getting dressed and then think, eh, screw it, I'll just do this.

So anyway, I actually went away for over a week and DID NOT TAKE A COMPUTER. That's the first time in at least seven years that I've done that. I went to a lot of trouble to notify every possible person who needed to know that I would be gone, got someone to take care of some of the things that couldn't wait and took care of everything else in advance. Over a week with no computer, no writing and no business. It gave me perspective, just as I'd hoped.

It's time to let go of some things in order to regroup and re-engage. I've been holding onto anonymity and staying in the shadows of the projects I do out of fear that I suck. I've been taking on work from people who have nice, solid content businesses and have been happy doing it. Meanwhile, my writing site doesn't even have my name on it. It's time to suck it up and create a real website that has an actual business name on it. It's time to let go of invisibility and stop relying on work that other people have the guts to go out and get. I need to go out there and get it myself.

It's time to let go of some of the anger that I have toward a certain party who needs an ass kicking. Oh, I still intend to kick his ass, but I can plan for that and work toward that without holding onto the anger. I'm coming for you, sweetie. Don't forget it.

It's time to let go of some of the crap that I do to stay out of the limelight and away from notice. I think I've stayed overweight for a long time just to have an excuse not to participate in things and to be invisible. I'm letting go of it, letting go of carbs and comfort foods. I've lost 22 pounds and there are still more to let go of.

I think letting go of old things is just as important a step as embracing new things, or maybe it's the same thing. Letting go of invisibility and complacence is embracing a new perspective. Maybe by letting go of that comfortable complacency I'll actually reach out for something better and start feeling like I don't suck as badly as I've always suspected. Maybe? Maybe.

I'd like to challenge anyone reading this (if anyone actually does) to find something they're complacent about and let go of that comfort zone. Stomp it down and try to grab something better. Even if it's just a tube top- let go of it and put on an actual shirt today.

Web Writing and Business Ethics

Apparently, a lot of people consider it fine to have no ethics and to consider anything that makes them money to be ok simply because it makes them money. I'm hearing this sentiment a lot more lately, and it's kind of disturbing. I'm actually doing pretty well now in PR, Web writing and my niche sites. But, I don't consider bending my ethics as a way to get there. I don't care how fashionable it is to leave ethics behind, I never will.

I'm doing a major business revamp at the end of this month (which I'll get into soon), but I'm not leaving my standards behind. Here's a few things that stick in my mind:

If you ghostwrite, don't, as Wil Wheaton says, be a dick. Don't broadcast that you've ghostwritten someone's work if they haven't given you permission to do so. I see that sometimes and I just find it disturbing. If you sell the rights, then you sell the rights. No one needs to be outed as having outsourced the work that they put their names on.

Don't write people's schoolwork. I don't care how much it pays- don't do it. Seriously. I keep hearing Web writers go on about how convenient it is to write papers for college students through one of those "academic papers" websites. It's unethical, it's sleazy, don't do it.

I won't write about scams. I don't care what you want to pay, I don't care how super special you think your scam is (believe me, some of these people are hyperdelusional), I'm not going to help anyone scam anyone else. Your "diet supplements" and "male enhancements" are crap, and no one wants to sell your timeshares or seminars. Sorry to burst your bubble.

Pay people that you outsource to. For God's sake, don't ever make a writer beg for their pay. I've outsourced twice and likely won't ever do it again, but I paid on time and paid extra to offset the PayPal fees. Every week I hear about Web writers who have outsourced and then can't or won't pay the writer. If you do that, you suck. There's no way around it.

Oh, and if your business is run in an unethical manner and may have happened to fold today, you might regret having told me that "anyone off the street could do your job" when my job was highly skilled, hyper-tense technical writing. You might wonder why your business folded. It folded because you are idiots. You didn't recognize the few talented people that you had and instead rewarded very unintelligent people with over-paid positions that did nothing for the company. I'm glad that I bailed, and I'm glad that you're gone.

And lastly, check out this drumming:



Seriously. The hotness of Sting often obscures the talent of the other two, but that drumming is phenomenal.