What’s In a Name?

For the record - I didn't really follow the lashing from last week. However I wanted to let you know I do not care what others say about you; I do not see a problem with that post at all. paid or unpaid.

For this post, I agree 100%. As a jack of all trades myself I struggle to label myself as one specific thing. If I say I'm a blog designer - people don't know that I'm also a writer and move on (if they're looking for a writer). If I say I'm a writer - people don't know that I'm also a blog designer and move on (if they're looking for a designer). Its hard to define yourself and as you said, I am just going to do. Being productive doesn't mean you read and write productivity articles all day - its about doing.

Labels bug the crap out of me. The closest I will get is saying that I am a guide: a guide to social media, to business development, to marketing, to being seen and heard, and that I also write. But that leaves out the piano, the reading, the love of people, of animals, the fun, every other thing that makes up a part of me. Labels limit. Live beyond the label and you'll get so much more done, I agree.

Let other people spend time figuring out labels, job titles, etc. - that's a kind of validation, I guess. I'm just working, making and doing stuff. So are you (you just talk about it more ;) - Merlin Mann had one of the best posts of the year laying this out in Better.

We're so much more than boxes or titles.

Years ago, I gave myself the title "Supreme Word Goddess of the Universe" for fun but it has turned out to be a terrific screening device. Gets rid of the humorless and uptight!

In our space maybe it's less important (especially when you're at the top of that space), but names matter it some spaces to some people; that's just the nature of this world we live in. Vice President of Strategic Insight sounds more important than Account Manager, but what if that VP is part of a 5 person company and that account manager handles HUGE accounts for Coca Cola?

As for me, I've been dubbed a social media consultant by some, but I usually correct them and call myself a social media experimenter. I'm always learning, reading, trying, and executing. The more I learn and experience the better equipped I am at helping other people, but I don't claim to know enough for you to call me a 'consultant.' Save that for the big wigs making the big money. Give me enough to warrant my time (I love what I do, but I also love spending time with friends and family) and that doesn't necessarily have to very much, and I'll take good care of you and help your business. Call it what you want.

Thanks for the insight Chris. We're definitely on the same page here.

R

Chris,

I don't let somebody else put me in a box. I ignore the titles some try to label me with. I wear so many titles that no single one describes me anyway. And even with the titles I am sometimes assigned, I do my work in such a way (I guess you'd say creatively, using my own ideas to accomplish something) as to make labeling me impossible. I like it that way. It allows me to be creative.

If I had to label myself I would say: I'm a blogger, a writer, a blogger again, a social media participant, a community organizer, and a fundraiser for a non profit organization. Every year I help raise funds to cure blood, bone, and bone marrow cancers so nobody else need die. I organize folks and raise funds for the Light the Night Walk in my area to provide services for those with blood cancer and to help to eventually find a cure.

I have never had training in fundraising. Nor have I had training in blogging. Perhaps this is good, however, as I haven't been pidgeon holed into a certain way of thinking. I can see things in a fresh way, and see new ideas for things -- not the same old ideas recirculating. This way I can come up with ideas that I never would've thought of.

I have often read blogs and thought the blogging world needed fresh ideas after seeing the same ideas circulating around and around. Or looked over fundraising ideas only to find nothing new, when something could be added if people weren't just imitating one another... How sad. So much creativity and talent going to waste, so many people not getting help b/c of it, so much money that won't ever be made...

Having said all that, it's now time for me to begin learning more about blogging and fundraising. But no matter what I learn, I will always refuse to get in the box others have tried to put me in at times. I will learn those things that I need to to have better skills, and at the same time, I will remain in some ways very much creative and out of the box -- not letting the rest of the world define me. I'll let my morals, integrity and other things that should be defining do it!

Chris, nobody should expect you to get in the "journalist" box. If you choose to be a journalist, that's different -- you could fulfill the title of journalist to the extent that you so chose. But you don't have to, as you know! Perhaps you want to editorialize instead. Than so be it! As long as you have your facts straight in your writing (whether it be a blog, book or whatever) and in your speaking (or reporting) you have the right to say anything you want. I commend you for doing it, too.

Just keep doing what you're good at! Defined or undefined that would be -- keep being you!

Krissy :)
my main blog: Sometimes I Think
my twitter: www.twitter.com/iamkrissy

I like this post, reminds me of one I did not so long ago, What Box are You In? http://blog.bwagy.com/what-box-are-you-in/

I think your a bit past the average person who is in a different box, ie the joomla hosting guy, whereas being more exposed the boxes become different and more varied. It is about being YOU!

I love names, labels, boxes - not because they make my life easier, but because of the fact that they force me to think. Whenever I'm made to fit into a smaller space, I'm forced to make decisions about what's most important to to me.

In photography, I am forced to take a multidimensional world and put it into a static two dimensional space. The photograph is a record of the decisions I have to make to accomplish this compression of space. Without this restriction, I could not add my creative take on the things I see - they would just be as they are un-photographed.

Restriction forces me to find the essence of who I am and what I want to say at that moment.

Yeah I'm not big on labels or titles either. What are you producing, what value are you bringing, what drives you...those are the important things.

Matt

Well put. Just like we shouldn't label people negatively, maybe we shouldn't label ourselves into pigeonholed job titles either.

HI Chris,

My twitter Bio says: "Mobile Video Broadcaster / Teacher / Speaker / Listener / Founder of Boston Media Makers"

I define myself by my actions.

In a recent interview, when asked the question, "what do you do?", I responded that the answer depends on WHEN you ask.

At that moment I had just finished teaching, the day before I was producing video, right now I'm letting you know I was here.

See you tomorrow!

Online.

--Steve

Welcome in the new world!

Labels are from the old world.

Just do what you're good in

Titles and classifications are a funny thing. You need them in order for people to understand why they should hire you. If you already have a job or clients, it's less important for people to know what you do to get money and more important for them to know what you like to do so if there's an overlap, the contact you.

I started out advertising what I do for business. I ended up being known for hanging out with chicks. At some point, my text blog became popular. People who have known me for months have NO IDEA what I do business-wise, because it never comes up because it's not important.

Remaining ambiguous is fine as long as you're bringing value to people's lives and your own. For people that can't make it happen on the fly, titles are necessary for them to receive enough attention to make money.

Morgan Coudray. What ever that means to you. My perception doesn't matter it just get's me as close as possible to what I am (or think I am).
a brother,
a son,
a traveler,
a forward thinker,
a dreamer,
a marketer.

Titles are loosing value...fast.

The question I get asked most often by people is "what do you do?". It's such a hard question to answer, because, like you, and most everyone, I think, I fill many roles. It's hard to sum up all the stuff I do in one or two words.

So I usually say "I'm a storyteller".

What I've done my whole career, whether I've been a TV producer, a technical writer, a web designer, or a teacher...is tell stories. I also help other people to tell their stories. Telling people I make my living as a storyteller sometimes gets some weird looks - but after a bit they tend to get it.

Now that I think about it...aren't we all just here telling stories?

Chris: just the other day I asked a question via twitter to solicit feedback about how to explain my title VP of social networking to my doctor, lawyer, and relatives. It was determined by my peers that I am in PR, marketing, and organizational change management.

I would add sales, leadership, support, education, and coffee delivery too.

I think a better question is who are you in one paragraph or less

I don't know why we tend to label everything, why we feel the need to limit who we are and what we do.

Chris,

Funny, the only thing I care about is my name, not my title. I could spend an entire week writing up all the things I have done and then trying to organize them, but what a waste of time.

I found that I can do anything, especially with the plethora of information on the internet.

So only my name, and once day the Singer / Songwriter (www.jimgaudet.com) will have to give me my domain. How he is older than me, so it is really his name, but I want it....

Having tired of the endless assault of 'techno labels' I once described myself as "to technology, what Jackson Pollock was to finger painting". It was a memorable meeting!

Two little letters, ME!!!!!

I agree.

You sound entrepreneurial to me. Seems your pretty damn good at many things related to starting, operating and growing a business; I know I've learned many things from the information you share. Your value is being an out of the box thinker and recognizing business trends and strategies long before the crowd. I hope you never put your gifts in a box, that would suck.

Chris, I hated to hear about what happened last week. You put yourself out there - not everyone has something positive to say about what you come up with...

I think it is human nature to put labels on people and things. It makes us feel comfortable and in control that we "know" how something fits into its "little box". What we as people have to do is resist the temptation to allow our tendencies to turn into judgment.

I agree with you, Chris. Just keep doing what you are doing - and if it is right, the rest will take care of itself. Don't stress on the small stuff, my friend ;-) Life is too short.

Honestly Chris, you're not a journalist. You never claimed to be a journalist. You're a business owner, a social media guru, a twitterer, a facebook junky, and many other names but not a journalist. People have to realize that with blogs there is no fine line between being a journalist and being something else. Honestly, you gave full disclosure. People need to take a step back and calm down. I used to be a journalist and held to those high standards. I still try to stick to them, BUT I am not a journalist any more. I am a blogger. I do have opinions and I will share them.

There is a difference from a paid review where you're allowed to be objective and one that you need to be a drone. I don't see you as a drone and I value your opinion whether getting paid to blog about it or not.

All those whiners can go home to mommy and cry if they need to but they need to lay off.

Listen up my friends. I agree.

Titles and descriptions are for others to understand what you do in simple terms, but it's all about context. And anyone can assign themselves a title or a masthead or plug a bunch of fluffy words into their bio. It's what we do, what we achieve, that defines us. When I'm asked "what do you do?", my answer is always "that thoroughly depends on what you need me to accomplish." And those who really and truly achieve rarely stay stagnant long enough to fit in any one box, anyway.

It's seems to me, that all of these roles and names fall under the universal definition of entrepreneur. We're going to see a ton more of these roles shifting as the new year roles in. Everyone will be doing more, adding more value to their juggling act, and as a result - these names are going to be less important for people to cling to.

Right there with you, Chris. Iconoclast and labeloclast (I love making up words!) ... here's hoping you represent a movement that is gaining steam.

Trish

Excellent point. We are always labeling people and things. While the act itself isn't bad, it's when we put people or entire groups of people into boxes and store them on a shelf that it does potential harm or at the very least limits our experience.

I personally don't like filling out those online profiles like on twitter and social networks and even the about me pages on blogs. It's difficult to sum up who a person is on one page nevermind 160 characters.

Søren Kierkegaard said it best: "Once you label me you negate me."

I am a marketer and a professor and that will never change. It's disheartening
Maybe I should just say I am a communicator and leave it at that. If someone doesn't like that I was a manager and a director, but never a VP or CMO, that's their problem...not mine. Please don't judge people based on their titles. Judge them on their work, competency and passion (yes, passion counts).

Thanks Chris. I appreciate all you do for the community! Happy holidays to you and your family.

Crap! Made some changes and botched the comment. What I meant to be disheartening is that people are judged on titles and education alone. Sorry, the ice cold weather is gettiing to me...

Short. Sweet. To the point. Really sharp posting here, Chris.

I missed on the whole bru-ha-ha surrounding your integrity...and as it is water under a snow-covered bridge where Jimmy Stewart is probably asking Clarence to "Take me back...I want to live..." I'm just going to say that labels are apparently what the business world needs in order to market something. At least, that is what I'm being told.

Just from a writer's perspective, you either write Science Fiction, Fantasy, or Horror. Agents will tell writers "Can you make this story either all Science Fiction, or all Fantasy? And if you're going ot write in History, can you make it an Alternative History instead. We have to let the bookstores know where to shelve it."

I am defined not by labels but by the company I keep, the talent I possess, and the works I produce. To quote Wil Wheaton, "I'm just this guy, you know?" Well that me: I'm just this guy. A guy with a creative streak. (Better than a guy who streaks creatively...)

Thanks, Chris, for all you do. Again, great post. Merry Christmas, man.

Chris,

It takes wisdom or hard experience before people realize that the only thing anyone saw last week was Chris Brogan. There's always that misconception that titles, labels, and what not, mean anything. They don't.

All my best,
Rich

I'm going to go with the title of 'WOMAN' because within it's very definition, I get to be: creator, mom, sister, friend, daughter, wife, writer, lover, teacher, leader, member, revolutionary, pain in the ass, mouth peice, loudspeaker, bad ass, defender, protector, visionary, fighter, collaborator, communicator, survivor, thriver, tender heart, warrior...ad infinitum. Women are undefinable - by definition. We are everything and we are constant evolvers. LOVE this post.

I’ve struggled with the name question for as long as I’ve been in business. My sister is simply a nurse, which invariably causes smiles and nods of admiration aplenty at family gatherings and social functions.

Me? I’m a fuzzy, “mess cleaner-upper,” “company helper,” “problem fixer,” “idea pitcher” and all around “communicator.”

But the thing is, now my sister hates being a nurse. And to reinvent herself, she needs to go back to the beginning and learn a new trade and skill set. I, on the other hand, with my ambiguous title pile-up, have had the freedom to reinvent myself every day, with every client I work with.

Ultimately, with social networking, you’re selling yourself as a brand. And I know from past exposure that the Chris Brogan brand rocks. Doesn’t really matter to me what you’re doing today or what you choose to do tomorrow.

Hopefully, the rules of the game are changing (and the posts here seems to reflect that). This is a sweet consolation for the rest of us hyphenates out here in the world.

In Genesis, God gives Adam the task of naming all things so that the things will be useful to him. So if we name ourselves so that we may be useful to self as an expression of self in a role, an activity, a deed, a relationship...okay. We all have many expressions of self and consequently, we have lots of names.

If I list my names, I become useful to myself and to others.

The expanding, evolving, exquisite, chaotic and creative totality of who I am can never be named beyond the most mysterious name of all names, I, the name of everyone and no one.

I worked long and hard to get my chosen name, Daz, ranked high on Google. I've sold nothing, won no awards, am considered too unimportant to be listed in wikipedia, don't accept link trades from corporate sites and have not paid to improve my ranking yet if you search for daz you'll find me and my content.

Considering there is a semi-famous rapper, a popular software product and a major (european) brand with the same name (as well as a million people with the same nick-name) it seems unlikely that a regular person can 'claim' a slice of the pie but you can (and with people like Chris Brogan giving advice you can get there quicker!).

Chris,

You hit the nail on the head. If you get too caught up in the definition it keeps the party in question and the observer in that place of categorizing. The beauty of the right brain. If what you do and who you are is just a bit intangible people want to know more, you want to know more and be more.

I am a coach. When I started out I would call myself a "personal coach" because the feedback was the title "life coach" is hokey or "new age". Now when people ask what I do I say "I help people get "un-stuck".

Jennifer

The first letter in label is "L"-which stands for "Limits"- labels are for those who want to limit and paint themselves in a corner- nothing wrong with that if you operate that way. I do not - and sounds like you do not either. Just as we cut the labels off clothes, so should we with our perceived identitiy. We all are simply people helping people-with the profession we are in. I DO sales, marketing, speaking, writing, blogging, etc- but that is not what I label myself. great insight as usual.

You put your finger on one of the struggles of this, my fourth or fifth life, the one I am living on my own terms. But, the question comes up when questioned by others, and when I question myself....
What do you do? On Twitter, I am outlaw_coach, but is what I do coaching, or is it blogging, or is it consulting, is it training? Is it all of these, none, or more? I think what I do is help people succeed in spite of themselves, and as Alan Watts once said, (paraphrasing here) ..
"I know exactly what I do, but when you ask me I don't"
The struggle with labels is ongoing. Labels both define, confine, and refine. Geez, I think I need to blog on that.

What worries me is that you're dilluting your personal brand. If you have twelve labels, then you run the risk of being accountable to no one. If your words aren't being held to account there's a chance that you'll be losing the ear of the top shelf elite. If you prefer the mainstream approach to influencing others then this is less of a concern.

I am a CEO. But I am also a marketer, entrepreneur, writer, casual blogger, integrator, web guy, amateur politico, etc. I'm sure each of us can add 100 items to our respective lists. But at the end of the day I'm a CEO. What I do is clear to the world. I'm not saying that's the right way to go because I much prefer your freestyle attitude and your ability to connect with people. I'm just saying that in the real world I won't be able to become who I want to be if I have too many labels.

I'll trust a political scientist first. Then maybe a journalist. Then maybe a politician. But would you trust someone that claims to be all three? There are a lot of ethical lines that need observation here.

Chris Brogan
Just Doing It

theres your title and yes the Nike reference is there just to f with the haters a bit more

Let them say what they want Chris I see nothing wrong with it. As a fairly new blogger I read all I can from everyone. Your Kmart post gave me a wonderful idea. Share one business a week with my local audience. Now I do not have a big enough voice to get paid but maybe someday I will. It's not about the money it's about helping businesses understand this new form of media and in my opinion you did that.

YES! This is exactly what I've been telling our small 4 person company for YEARS! We've launched a new site and keep feeling like I need to come up with some sort of label for myself for the about us page and keep resisting it. Everytime I start, I come up with a long list and not just one describes it all.

I love this post...thank you Chris! So wise and real, as usual. xo Ellen

Chris. Just add "Destroyer of Worlds" to your list of titles, and you'll find much of the criticism just falls away ...

I believe that another Shakespeare quote helps with this one. "All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players." Words matter less than deeds, and roles we play are most important (sez me).

Great post, Chris, and super comments here by some amazing people, too many to list!

I'll add this thought: One person's blogger is another person's journalist is a third person's content creator. And so forth.

I agree with the aforementioned thoughts on labels and classifications, but something I always keep in mind is my audience. Most of the people commenting on this post understand the variety of bloggers out there; but the stereotypical Luddite does not. In this sense, I don't describe myself as a blogger but as an online journalist.

Though, in the end, it's but a name and my name is Ari Herzog.

Gotta leave another comment.

Chris, you are amazing and your messages are a gift.

And your readers are amazing and their comments fabulous.

genius begets genius!!! Thank you, everyone!!

The great Kmart debate played out in companies across the country (world?) last week . . . and it was brilliant. It was NOT brilliant that you were caught in the middle, but at the end of the day it really wasn't about you. The people who support and believe in what you're doing must outnumber the skeptics 100 to 1 at least (and I'm in the 100).
What was brilliant that it sparked conversation on who - and what - we are all about. I consider myself a true newbie in the social media space, but I think that it won't be long before that space starts to look more like me (a non-marketing-focused business person) than it does the uber-marketers who first realized the power of the space (Godin, Shirky, Jaffe, Brogan, Li, Owyang, Falls et al).
Thanks for staying the course - and for helping all of us to define ourselves a little bit.

I see people do this everyday. They limit others to what their title entails. I try to avoid titles and labels because I find they limit me and I wont reach the true potential of what ever I am trying to accomplish.

Great post and so true. Answering the question often asked "What do you do" is something I often dread answering because it is so difficult to wrap it all up neatly with a bow. Over the years I've held titles of both project manager and producer for various companies. Each time these positions were quite different and in talking to many colleagues I can say that this is a global phenomenon.

Titles are exactly just that. They are often just a way that a company can find a label for a position. Ultimately it's the very hard to answer "what do you do" question that truly defines who and what we are. One thing that I am very happy about is how social media and LIfestreaming are adding a personal dimension to the equation and providing a window bot about and beyond our work that adds a much greater dimension to better help us answer the "what do you do" question.

Don't let anyone place names on you. Set your own course. Distinguish your own brand... and stick to it. Repetition works!

My two centimes if I may.

As far as I see it you are a journalist and your blog is a one-man journal. One of the meaning given by the Oxford English Dictionary for a journal does fit very nicely: "A daily newspaper or other publication; hence, by extension, Any periodical publication containing news or dealing with matters of current interest in any particular sphere."
The practice of what is called in French "publicité-editoriale", or in English "Sponsored Articles or advertorials" is a fairly common one in the traditional press. I am not wild about the practice, of sponsored blog posts, but it is quite common. My understanding is that unlike newspapers or magazines accept commissions publish "sponsored articles or advertorials", blogs/bloggers insist on retaining the freedom to be as critical as they see fit. You were open and honest about it and made quite clear that you were writing sponsored post, therefore what was all the fuss about?
On the whole, if I was to use a label which would fit your many hats, I would probably choose the term of story-teller, in the most noble sense of the term, for I trust and respect your integrity, and one thing I can be sure of is that your are never "telling stories", this time using the pejorative sense of the term.

@Pascal - how did I ever get lucky enough to have you around? You're a treasure.

Oh my, this couldn't have come at a better time for me Chris. As I mentioned in my tweet, I've really been struggling with this issue, and it always helps to remember that I'm not alone in my struggle.

I guess I'm further behind the game than most the rest of you as the question "what do you do" still causes much too much stress. I spend much of my day answering it (usually simply in my imagination).

I think that Bill (above) was onto something when he pointed out that the desire for simple answers (titles, elevator pitches, etc.) tend to come when you only have a short time to help someone explain why they should hire you. And when you're self-employed, espcially in the early stages, this increases the 'need' to have a simple answer.

I feel the unresolved tension between the above poles of "just be yourself"/"titles are losing value fast"/etc. and the other side of "limitations can help you to make hard choices to focus on what is most truly import to you".

Yet I'm also trying to relax into the paradox. Hoping that I'll soon learn how to enjoy the game, let the story unfold, and not worry so much about figuring out 'who I really am' (vocationally).

Warmly,
Leif
http://www.SparkGuy.com (my year old lame attempt to express myself)
http://www.twitter.com/leifhansen

I used to be known as Dave the Cardboard Box but the people said it wasn't reflective of who I was, or professional enough. Now I see that cardboard boxes are great starting points for standing up on to have conversations - man I wished I kept that name... ;-)

So yes, the name is fairly immaterial - it's what you do with it that counts.

PS- Chris, if you're going to respond to comments then for God's sake get a profile picture sorted out, man!! :)

Chris. I too agree that we should no longer limit ourselves with a title. Rather we should do all that we dream of doing, and be all that our clients need us to be. Thanks for the post!

The title I have at work only restricts me or puts me in a box if i let it. I bring my skills to the table in everything i do and outside of my 'title (area of real job responsibilities)' insert my self where i see fit (or some times where i am interested).

What i've found working in a large company is that if you bring value, a positive attitude and your perspective ... you can be useful - even make impact - outside of your little box (designated by your title).

It's not about the title ... it you are a person who wants to do things, make impact, have interest in things other than your specialty, etc ... then you can. Your title is a box for you only if you let it be.

Everyone has shared some really good thoughts - I agree with Todd Smith though - when asked what I do, it forces me to sort out the most important skill set. I found out a long time ago that you can't be all things to all people - but you can come pretty darned close. For me, it is "what is it I do best" - OK then, that's what I do. For me, I see you as a mentor, a leader and someone who goes where no man has gone before - a trailblazer. So keep blazing - I'm following!

I am kitykity. I have been for about thirteen years. In fact, I had to have my username be eight characters because the dial-up internet at the time wouldn't allow it to be longer. Now it's my brand. It's so much my brand as when I go to conferences, people actually call me "Kitty" or "Kitty Kitty" now. I'm in it for good. :)

Hi Chris,

Most of the time, strong personal branding requires a solid idea inside the prospects' mind. Furthermore, a single defined word can solve a lot of problems and save a lot of money over time, especially for professionals who want to grow large. Changing names require much more communication—advertising, design, and so on. However, these efforts are usually not sufficient.

On the branding perspective (the only one i touch on this comment), i don't agree with you. People need shortcuts to fool their lack of time. A good (personal) brand stands for one word in the mind.

Cheers. Great article.

Gabriel Rossi- Brazil

struggled with back when I was doing traditional PR. The reason is we do too many things - and people can't quite get to grips with that. You say to a propective customer I can do it all and their eyes glaze over.

I figured out that I am a communication strategist. That made sense to clients. It gave me an area of "specialty" - I only deal with things that pertain to communication. And of course it gave me the scope to tackle many areas of the company - internal and external.

And that is still what I am. Now I do it online more than offline. That's all.

this article comes at a good time for me. I need a new company name by the end of the year. I have ben struggling with the identifiers like cfmarketing, or socialmediamaven inc and realize I may be better off with a non descriptive name like xoplace inc. or just The Clayton Company.

thanks for the good read,
Clay

My take...
With a few exceptions, you can give yourself any title you want if you're an entrepreneur or free agent. We define ourselves.. at least we should be able to - as whatever we want to. The exceptions of course are the professions - you can't call yourself a medical doctor, accountant, dentist, engineer, architect etc unless you have the credentials to prove it. I think even journalist used to come under the "prove the credentials" mantle, which may have been why you got the questions.

Unfortunately, we live in a world where the first thing people do is seek to neatly label and box you up so that they can understand according to their own terms of reference.

Even the question "what do you do?" becomes a "sift. classify and box" process... easy to answer to when you work in a traditional setting, difficult when you're outside it or transitioning from it. I think the New World (primarily entreprenuerial and New Media) is charting a new path. At least I hope so. The corporate world revolves around titles and often to approach them (assuming you want to do business with them) you have to relate to their titles first, unless you know them personally. Also, just try dealing with recruiters - they will insist on squeezing you into a reconizable box.

A VP, President, Director, Chief Marketing Officer, Chief Technology Officer, CEO, CFO etc in a large corp. is generally appointed by a board of directors. People defer to and respect certain titles more than others. The higher up the chain the more weight they carry. They make the decisions. The saying "birds of a feather flock together"is still true. I have seen instances where people will select who they talk or do business with solely based on their title. In the business world, you're more likely to get an audience with a CEO if you are a C-level executive,- not a blogger or an author (unless you're world famous) or something else they've never heard of.

I believe people are more than their titles.Titles shouldn't matter, but they do to some - very much. At the same time, when you say you're a long list of things the tendency is still for people to think "jack of all trades, master/mistress of none."

In today's fluid world tapping into our many skills and abilities and having several careers/jobs will be necessary so hopefully that limited thinking is also on the way out and we can quite happily say what we "are" (Copywriter, Consultant or Advisor) rather than what we "do".

By the way I rarely ask people what they do... I prefer to ask the question "Who are you?" I think it gives people more latitude. Oddly enough, some people start by telling me "what they do - or what they did!

Linked over from Darren Rowse's tweet. So glad.
I, too, am unaware of any incident to which this post may be a response, but - like Darren - your line about just doing vs putting boxes around things really resonates with me. I am a project manager and writer by trade - both things typically require much forethought and many "boxes," but this year I'm anxious to disentangle from hyper-organization and do a little more jumping into the fray - learning from actual experience instead of analyzing on the sidelines.
It's an exciting prospect! Glad to have your blog to help inspire my journey.

A name can really restrict what you are doing and who you are. Some people will call themselves an expert in twitter. But these people can also be an expert in blogging. And when they are outside, they might be also an expert in driving or whatever. Well, it's true but we still need a name. It's like a brand to a person.

I define myself as an Internet reviewer. But this word can mean so many things. I can be reviewing websites. I can be reviewing mobile internet. I can even be reviewing servers and networks. Though I have some background in computer networking, I would like to define more towards a website reviewer. But who will really understand what that can mean in another way?

@charles Lau - that's why, when someone asks "what do you do?" rather than saying "I'm a Copywriter" or "I'm a " fill in the blank" I prefer to say something like "I help businesses to sell their services, increase sales and boost their profits..."
Then, when they "Really? How?" I expand by telling an illustrative story ;) I sometimes don't even need to mention my title at all. Also, you would be amazed how many mistake "Copywriting" for "Copyrighting".

I agree about doing. But for those of us who consult as part of our "doing," the rest of the world sadly needs names or labels - not to box us in necessarily, but to understand what the hell we do.

This used to be one thing I hated about the music industry when I was working with bands. A new band would come out (Nirvana, for instance) and people would insist on knowing what kind of music they played. Then every new band after would be defined by Nirvana standards, using Nirvana's name when describing other bands' music. "Like a cross between the B52s and Nirvana."

Ultimately, the bands felt boxed in and resented the labeling, but without it, the band couldn't sell it to the manager & the manager couldn't sell it to the A&R guy who couldn't sell it to the label and the label couldn't sell it to the public.

When the public is not "in the know," they need to know what to call something. Or someone.

I change my label for my audience. I may be a writer one moment, a social media consultant the next, a podcaster, an aspiring documentary filmmaker, a Second Lifer, a mom. A wife. (Whoa, that last one still feels odd to this late bloomer).

I'd rather come up with my own labels, however, than have others thrust them on me and have still others view me or judge me by those inaccurate names rather than the ones I give myself.

@aliza sherman it's true. It's about the consistency of a brand. A band is just like a brand which represents certain communication to millions of people out there. I won't want to hear a band singing another type of song when i'm expecting them to sing certain type of song. Likewise, i don't want to buy a bmw with a toyota kind of communication. Well, i don't mind the other way round. :)
I guess it's about maintaining your brand or to exceed your brand's expectation.
But here i believe we're talking about a name tied to a person. A person can have many names. That's where i feel @nicky jameson is right about using description instead.

xsellerator

Where I come from, only select few can follow the I-don't-care-about-labels attitude successfully. The rest requires a label to differentiate themselves and their services from the "gray mass," and to affiliate with a group of professionals (e.g. to share information & knowledge). "Doctors," "lawyers," "project managers"... that's meaningful stuff. Such labels support any first impression we want to make and help us connect with others. Our profession or title is often our stake. A public person's name plays a similar role, albeit in different conditions. Let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater, please :-)

Cheers!

Your post has reminded me of a story. Many years ago, I was made redundant from a global telecoms company. I ran the creative studio. This company had decided to cut the payroll and outsource specialist departments. Ironically, they still wanted to use me. So I was offered the contract to produce all marketing materials for Europe Middle East and Africa.

Obviously blown away by this offer I bit their arm off. My next problem was how on earth could one man service and keep this contract without falling over big time.

I knew a local agency that already had all the resources available so in the short term I could tap into them for back up. I was not prepared to divulge my client name to this agency until we had an agreement in writing. All I wanted to support from them to cover the potential massive influx of business.

During a meeting with this agency they were more concerned with the role and tile I was going to use, account director, or creative director. When I said I would be doing both roles and they would offer support as and when needed. They said I would need to decide either I was either one or the other.

Dismayed by their attention to tiles and not just getting on with the job. I told the “business development director” I was no longer interested in working with them and cut the meeting short.

One year later, this agency went bust. During that year I had decided to hire in the help I needed and we turned over just under half a million pounds in just one year.

Who cares what we are called as long as we get the job done.

Thank you for your post and reminding me of my story.

Prospects do care about what we are called because they have too many choices to consider. Isn't time a precious thing nowadays? We need shortcuts!

The ideal name starts the positioning process, sets up a communications premise and links directly to a selling proposition. A good name is different, easy to spell, easy to pronounce, a springboard to good graphics and advertising, brief (no more than four syllables), appropriate (but not merely descriptive), and legally defensible

Furthermore, we (humans) tend to do business to whom we trust and admire. In this case, trust is directely related to specialization. You can only communicate your focus by transmitting consistent branding signals. The name of your brand is one of them.

Surely, there's a lot of importance in a name.

I wear many hats in my office as well. I don't think I would have it any other way. Knowing you have a job to do is great, however having many jobs to do - along side the ability to develop ideas and create new projects - is my preferred way to work.

Great post.

I've been reading all the posts & comments & have been trying to come up with something like that myself without much success. How about this for answering the question; I'm a
blogging income entrepreneur.

Meaning I write & find affiliate/business ways to
make money online while blogging.

If you run a small business then you need to be a 'jack of all trades' and there is no single title that will represent this. Titles conjure up a variety of images and if you are unable to communicate well and form relationships with potential clients then no matter what the title, you'll not gain their respect and will not win their business!