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I want to get a pen name for myself that I can also use for my startup. I will use the pen name as my personal brand and build a blog based on it.

So basically my target is to get a strong pen name that is also good for business.

I've found out that Andrew Warner is actually a pen name and took it and transformed it in his online/business identity. I'd like to know how did Andrew Warner manage to find a link between his real name and his pen name. Did he use a tool to generate it? Did he brainstorm with his family/friends about it? And does his real name still appear on his ID card or he changed his legal name as well? Maybe someone here knows the story and can help me out - that would be fantastic :)

If no one knows about how he did it, at least please include some ways/tips that would help me to discover a professional good looking pen name for myself.

I don't want to use my real name while blogging because of hard to spell last name. However, I really want to get blogging started without loosing so much time on this. I realize this is an important step to make but I can't figure a pen name or a way to find it so that it sounds nice and can successfully represent me in business.

Thank you!

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If Gary Vaynerchuk can make it work... – JeffO Jun 30 '10 at 13:25

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If the reason for using a pseudo name is your hard to spell last name, one option is to just use your first name. Or maybe you can try a variation of your last name.

There was a similar question previously asked on this site that I think addresses your concerns:

changing my name for bussiness

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Thank you for the reference. However, my case is not similar to the one of that person. My last name is short and I don't have a middle name. Are there any other tricks I might use? – Dan Jun 30 '10 at 9:26
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Try brainstorming to find powerful and easy-to-say names. Also, I would make sure you can also get the URL (.com) as well. Maybe start with narrowing down the options via URL and go from there...

http://nxdom.com is a great way to search for available domain names

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thank you for nxdom - impressive! – Dan Jun 30 '10 at 18:37
yeah I use the site a ton, it's such a great resource. – Jeff Epstein Jun 30 '10 at 19:50
up vote 1 down vote

I guess a good pen name is a name that it is both unique, easy to spell and remember.

For example, I read a blog of a person who has a pen name very unique and easy to spell and remember. Her pen name is Penelope Trunk and if you want more details about how she came up with that name... click on the link below, it is one of her blogs where she states her real name is not Penelope Trunk:

http://blog.penelopetrunk.com/2007/03/05/my-name-is-not-really-penelope/

Enjoy and good luck!

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