Time for a name change?

When I signed up to this forum, as well a quite a few others, I just came up with a forum name on the spur of the moment without putting much (any) thought into it. I was here to look at knives and maybe do some buying and selling.

Here I am quite a few years later and I am now making knives. I was honored enough to be nominated as Best New Builder by Self Made Knives (thank you Anthony). Seeing that I realized that nobody knows me by my name. That's not generally a problem for me as I am a bit of a privacy nut and I LOVE being anonymous online. I'm not a fugitive from justice or anything. I just like my privacy and I know once it's gone, it's gone.

I have no intention of becoming a full time knife maker. I'm a hobbyist maker. But some day I would like be able to sell some knives to recoup, or at least, offset the cost of making them.

So here's the problem. This is where my love of privacy and my desire to sell some handmade knives collide. I don't think I can have both. I know lots of people, including myself, buy the maker as much as the knife itself. Nobody is going to shell out hard earned cash for something from an anonymous black hole. At least I wouldn't.

I followed the "Marketing" help thread here and it seem like social media is the way to go these days. However, the thought of social media turns my stomach. I've never been on facebook, instagram, twitter or snapwhatever

So I've been thinking of going by Mike D. Which is my real first name and last initial. That seems like a decent compromise to me. Besides, my last name is long and almost nobody can pronounce it correctly when reading it.

What say you? Knives by Mike D? Or is it better to just bite the bullet and jump out there with my full name. Would it make a difference to you if you were a buyer?



Oh and is it even possible to change my name on this forum? Or am I stuck with what I've got? I know some places can be funny about changing forum handles.

Well, it's like this. If you plan to sell knives, people have to know who they are sending money to. Unless your bank account says "Mike D knives" you may have an issue. As a hobby maker, it makes no sense at all to set up a business with a fictitious name and all the hassle and cost associated with doing so- not to mention the tax ramifications of incorporating just to hide your last name.

Just a thought.

I'm lucky- I can use my full name and still be a needle in a haystack. There are probably twenty thousand John Wilsons within slingshot range of wherever I happen to be.

John Wilson said:

Well, it's like this. If you plan to sell knives, people have to know who they are sending money to. Unless your bank account says "Mike D knives" you may have an issue. As a hobby maker, it makes no sense at all to set up a business with a fictitious name and all the hassle and cost associated with doing so- not to mention the tax ramifications of incorporating just to hide your last name.

Just a thought.

I'm lucky- I can use my full name and still be a needle in a haystack. There are probably twenty thousand John Wilsons within slingshot range of wherever I happen to be.

Click to expand...

I guess what I was trying to say is that Mike D Knives would be the public face. What I'd use it on social media, forums, etc. Customers, potential customers or whoever is really interested could easily find my name probably through a web site. My site would have a little bit of my history and on that site would be my actual info. Customers knowing who I am I have no problem with. In fact, I wouldn't expect them to send money without knowing who they're sending it to.

I'm not trying to hide my name from customers but rather trying to have something to put out there other than my last name. Which, again, is a bit complicated anyway.

Or maybe it's not worth the hassle. After all my wife thinks I'm nuts and doesn't see what the big deal is.

BTW I think I've known at least 3 John Wilsons in my life lol.

Just use your real name. Personally I think there are far more Pros to doing so then Cons. Over the years I've spoken with more then a few knife buyers who are somewhat suspicious of, or some who will even out right, avoid buying from a maker who they feel "hides" behind an alias or a business name.... at least until the point in time where the business name becomes synonymous with the individual's name. That usually takes a lot of time.

Of course there always COULD be some issues with using a real name, but in my opinion that's a good thing. For me, it holds my feet to the fire, and keeps me from ever doing/saying anything on the internet, that I wouldn't do in a face to face situation, and in turn I believe that builds a certain amount of respect. We've all seen MANY instances of individuals "hiding" behind a screen name, and many of those use it as a shield to do/say whatever they like.....not a good thing in my book. Unfortunately because of that fact, over time those who use an obscure screen name tend to be viewed with some suspicion, even if they've not done anything to earn that suspicion. Something to think about.

I've never been good at being anyone or anything I'm not, and I take it as a compliment when anyone tells me that I'm "the same" no matter where I am, or what I'm doing. In other words..... just be real.

Ed and John both have valid points. I had the same issues sleestack. I'm fairly new to the knife making arena. I finally just opened a Facebook page as Ozark Edges and I'm as available on there as I need to be. I don't make many knives but hope to as I learn to be a better bladesmith. This is how I handle it. I allow any that wants to, to like my knife page, but do not add every request to my personal page unless I know something about them and am pretty sure they are not going to drive me nuts. I'm James S Dorsey btw on Facebook.

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I'm new at this too, only been into it for a couple years. But, as you've noticed in the other thread you mentioned, I'm a big proponent of social media if you want to sell. I'm 48 years old and up til a couple years ago, I thought social media was for kids and bored housewives. I just tried social media due to knife making, but now I actually like it. This whole name thing falls right in line with that discussion. People want to know you, not literally necessarily, but they want to feel connected. A name alone will do for some people probably, especially if you have a unique name, but I think you need a logo/brand/name combo. For example, Ed Caffrey the "Montana Bladesmith". That has his name and trademark or nickname that people will remember. Or, for example, if you walked by me at a show with a shirt that said "James Dorsey Knives" on it, I'm not sure it would register. But, if I saw a shirt that said "Ozark Edge", well that would probably jog my memory. I think the average person just has a harder time remembering names, more so than brand names. Take a band you like, you know the name of the band, but not necessarily the name of the lead singer. If you want to sell to customer's that you don't know personally, I really think you'll have better luck with a brand name followed by your real name. When you're famous, just drop the brand name part.:biggrin:

this is a good thread. My issue is that there is a custom knife maker in Kentucky with my last name. "Hauser Custom Knives". He etches his name on the blade.

So I came up with "Zayin Knives" a couple years ago.(Hebrew for sword/knife/sharp edge....also a slang for penis) I've since decided not to use that for obvious reasons. Did not discover the slang till a year after doing a logo for it. Tried a couple of other ideas...didn't care for them. Then I read this post....

I agree with Ed that having your name on a business associated with craftsmanship is probably best. I'm thinking I will go with "Hauser Knife Co." I'm a one man shop but I do use cnc equipment so even though I can do one off stuff. I don't feel I should use "custom" as it is understood in this community to be handmade (though anyone using a vari-speed belt grinder is definitely using new technology...lol). By not using "custom" I also distance myself from the other Hauser.

Ed's point: " Over the years I've spoken with more then a few knife buyers who are somewhat suspicious of, or some who will even out right, avoid buying from a maker who they feel "hides" behind an alias or a business name.... at least until the point in time where the business name becomes synonymous with the individual's name. That usually takes a lot of time. "

makes a lot of sense to me. So I will try to do a simple logo to, once again, not confuse myself with another maker in another state. I plan on marking my handles not my blades. Hopefully that also will be a helpful difference....

All this being said...If I had a name that had a nice ring to it like "Ozark Edge" I'd keep using it but make sure my name was "nearby"....

If you would like to change your name on here shoot me a message and I can get it changed for you
Beth