I’m a sucker for free trials. I’ll sign up for anything and then go in to start playing with it. Even when I have a perfectly good option already in use for my business, I’ll try something new — and it’s going to drive me up the wall.

Too Much Information Can Be a Bad Thing

If I’m planning to write a review of a particular tool, I can make it worth my time to spend hours and hours on trying it out, barely. But, over all, it’s rarely a good use of my time. Even worse is when I find something I like. In terms of most of the tools I use on a daily basis, like Basecamp for project management, there’s no way that I can currently afford the time it would take to switch to something new. It’s like going and looking at office space once a week, even though I’m in the middle of a big project that can’t possibly be packed up and moved.

I try out new tools because I want to be aware of what’s going on. I’ll admit that I love playing with new approaches and techniques and toys. It’s why I have dozens of notebooks that I’ve written in the first third, but never completely used because I got an even better notebook to write in. New apps and software are the same way: they give me too many ways to get distracted.

Free Trials as a Marketing Tool

Since I’m being honest, let me put this out there: I don’t believe that a free trial is going to change most buyers’ minds about a product either way. That’s because most people who open up a trial account go in, poke around for about five minutes and leave. It’s incredibly hard to get a good feel for a new tool without investing hours of your time.

On a project where I wrote reviews in the past, I proved that I could gather enough information, as well as screen shots for a 500 word review in under ten minutes of use — which, unfortunately, isn’t nearly enough for me to actually tell you if a given tool is going to help you. But it’s what people have to do if they want to put up a review the day a product launches.

All that means that free trials have turned into something that people offer because it’s expected, not because it will actually make a difference to sales. And while I’ll shamelessly take advantage of free trials, I won’t offer them on my own projects. It’s not a good deal for me and it ties up resources I can better use elsewhere.

Consider this blog your free trial offer when it comes to anything I do. You get to see a lot more of my interests and abilities here than you would in five minutes on a site I’ve just built. You get to ask me questions, give me advice and actually interact through that nice comment box down below. It’s a better deal all around.

I’m Trying to Break My Addiction to Other People’s Free Trials

In the meanwhile, I’m trying to avoid the opportunity to sink time into web apps and other tools that I’m not actually going to switch to or review. I’m saving tools that I might consider in a list to try out and maybe I’ll spend a couple days going through all of them in one go. But I’ve got better ways to spend my time and I don’t need to take up the resources of some new start up, no matter how cool it looks and how much I just want to play with it.

Image by Flickr user Selena Deckelmann

I just want to give you all a head’s up: I’ve been working on those resources that we discussed a couple of weeks ago.

• How to find new ideas on old topics
• Time management for writers
• Gig finding strategies for writers
• Making money off your writing online

I’m getting ready to release them and I wanted to suggest that you either sign up for the newsletter or the RSS feed of this blog (both of which are available in the side bar) to make sure that you don’t miss the release. Of course, you can always unsubscribe after you get the resources — I won’t feel bad about it, I promise.

I’m very excited about this project and I have a feeling that these resources will really come in handy for you. I’m already thinking about what I might do next.

I spend plenty of time looking at other writers’ websites — call it competitive intelligence. I want to know what everyone else is doing, what’s working for them and where there might be room for improvement. I’ve noticed one thing that is missing from most writers’ websites: newsletters. I think that the absence of a newsletter is a shame, considering how useful they can be to writers.

7 Ways a Newsletter Helps Writers

1. You can bring readers back to your blog regularly. Whether or not you’re comfortable with RSS and other methods of keeping up with blogs you read, the greatest portion of blog readers are most comfortable with email subscriptions. Offering a newsletter that includes links to your blog lets you keep your readers coming back.
2. You can earn money through advertisers. If you build up the number of newsletter subscribers you have, you can include ads, just as you might include ads on your blog.
3. You can create awareness with potential clients. If you work with a specific type of client, you can create a newsletter that targets those types of individuals and companies. If they read your newsletter, they’ll be aware of you before they start looking for a writer to hire.
4. You can land clients who need newsletters. If a client needs a newsletter written on a regular basis, your own newsletter can be the easiest way to showcase your talents in the newsletter arena. 
5. You can make it easy for readers to buy your next book. If you’re relying on books (as well as other written products) to earn you money, it’s a lot easier to sell your brand new book to the reader who bought your last one and enjoyed it. A newsletter makes it easy to stay in touch with your fans.
6. You can establish yourself as an expert on those topics that you write about regularly. 
7. You can polish your writing in a new format, if you’re not used to writing newsletters. Picking up new styles and formats can help you experiment with your writing and grow as a writer. 

The Cost of a Newsletter

Considering the benefits of a good newsletter, the cost is relatively low. I use AWeber (D) for both my own newsletters and those I run for my clients. It starts at $19 for up to 500 subscribers. Assume that you can make one sale or land one new client from your newsletter every month — is that worth $19 to you?

You’ll note that I’m not including the cost of having a newsletter written. If you’re a writer, no matter what kind, I firmly encourage you to write your own newsletter. The best newsletters sound like their writers. A newsletter can sound exactly like a note you’re writing to one of your buddies — and perhaps should. That’s because part of the purpose of a newsletter is building up a lasting relationship between you and your newsletter readers. Check out the newsletters from IttyBiz and Johnny B. Truant for great examples.

Resources

• Do Your Words Scare People Away? (from AWeber’s blog)
• How to Get More Subscribers for Your Email List (from Copyblogger)
• Email Marketing: How Not to Be a Dirty Rotten Spammer (by Sonia Simone)

Image by Flickr user Steve Johnson

The amount of work out there for a writer is only going up. That’s because more and more businesses have found content marketing to be an effective strategy for selling their products. Content marketing includes blogging, offering ebooks and generally making a huge amount of content available online. Someone has to write all of that content, making it relatively easy for a writer with the right skill set to land work.

There are some concerns with offering content marketing services to clients, of course. While there are plenty of high paying clients out there, the spectrum starts much lower. My first paid blogging gig gave me $5 per post. I pulled up very quickly from there, but it’s very difficult to find a pay rate comparable to writing articles for magazines or similar projects when you’re just starting out.

Luckily, the higher end of the spectrum is very different. It’s not unheard of to get $100 or more for a post — and most of the time, these posts can take significantly less time than an article of a similar length. There are style differences and less research is generally necessary for blogging. Because blog posts are part of a continuing sequence of content, they don’t need to be as in-depth — you may not need to do a single interview to put together a good post, especially if you know the topic very well.

Making the Most of Content Marketing

All this means that, for writers, content marketing can be a lucrative arena. It takes some specialized skills beyond writing — although, what kind of writing doesn’t? The ability to use blogging software is first and foremost, and the ability to put content in other formats (such as creating an ebook) can help increase your rates. But if you’re able to do at least some of the promotion work online (the marketing part of ‘content marketing’), you’ll be in line for the real money. If you can consistently put together posts that draw attention to a site, you can land the higher paying clients easily.

There’s a certain sense in writers used to more traditional freelancing paths that promoting something you’ve written (like a magazine article) is a job for the publisher. But the fact of the matter is that, more and more, every type of writer is expected to be able to promote her work on some level — take a look at what the typical publishing house will do for their authors these days. But it’s especially important if you’re marketing a company with content. Even if you have to go out and bring in some help for the promotion side of things, you can push up the pay rate you ask for when you can say that you’ve written posts that have gotten hundreds of comments, wound up on the front page of Digg or have otherwise attracted plenty of online attention.

Image by Flickr user Zabriensky What?

Is there a client you’re trying to land, or even a day job that lets you use your writing skills? It may seem like an obvious rule, but you shouldn’t blog about those places, especially if you’re considering saying something less than pleasant.

There’s the obvious chance that you’ll lose out on the deal to begin with, but many prospective clients will walk away from a writer who has posted unfortunate things about clients in the past — they think ‘that could be my company up there next’ and start looking for another writer.

Yes, Even Anonymously

I’m sure you’re thinking that if you don’t name names, the problem is solved. There’s two approaches to keep names out of it: either you blog under your own name but you don’t use the name of the client you’re hoping to work with, or you write on a blog where your name never appears but you mention the name of the client. It is possible you could be blogging anonymously, as well as not naming names, but for the purpose of this post, I’m assuming that you’re trying to accomplish something specific with your blogging.

But the fact of the matter is that anonymous isn’t nearly as anonymous as you’d like. If someone from the company in question reads a post, he or she will probably be able to figure out what’s going on just from the general details. If you’re writing under your own name, many potential clients will read your blog as a matter of due diligence. If you use the client’s name, it’s relatively easy for the post to be found through a routine Google Search.

I’ve posted a very vague statement about something a client had done to upset me to Twitter (with no names or even much in the way of details). An hour later, I had an email from the client in question in my inbox, asking if I was talking about him. It was a sticky situation, to say the least.

Even If I’m Going to Say Something Nice?

I’m a little wary of even posting nice things about a prospective client — I don’t want to be known as that writer who will suck up just to land a client. If I have something genuinely important that I think is worthwhile to say, I might bring it out here, but if it’s just something run of the mill, I’m far less inclined to bring it up.

There is something worth noting here: one of the easiest ways to get someone’s attention online is to blog about that person. Many technologically-savvy types have Google Alerts set up for their names, so a couple of mentions of them on your blog can create an opportunity for an introduction. But I’d generally restrict that approach to the absolute preliminaries and I’d avoid making a habit of it — after all, if you’ve got a blog, you’ve hopefully got at least a few readers you want to keep entertained. Keep Google Alerts in mind, though: that’s one of the fastest ways for someone to learn you’re writing about them, good or bad.

Image by Flickr user Yohann Aberkane

J.K. Rowling is a brand. So is Stephen King. So are you. In writing, along with most creative pursuits, the brand has to be a personal matter — no matter how many marketers you can afford to hire. Editors hire writers because one individual writer is very different from another. The same holds true when someone is browsing at a bookstore: they look first and foremost for names they recognize.

There are some other brands that are very recognizable when it comes to writing. Tor’s website has gone far towards creating a brand that is recognizable within the science fiction and fantasy community, while there’s no disputing that the New York Times is a well-known brand. But the fact of the matter is that the individual writer still takes precedence.

Personal Branding and Writing

Personal branding has become a popular topic lately. Job hunters use blogs to get themselves hired, bloggers build up presences on social media to make money and so forth. Individuals market themselves without a company or a broader brand. Of course, this isn’t a new concept to many writers. Book authors have had to market themselves and their work all along and the same goes for freelance writers. But the techniques available are evolving, making it useful to get a handle on personal branding. If you’ve got to compete with thousands of job hunters for eyeballs, you need to at least know what techniques they’re using and which will work for you. If you need an entry point to the many books and blogs on personal branding, I would suggest Dan Schawbel’s book, Me 2.0(D) (which has just been updated and re-released), or his personal branding blog.

No matter how trendy personal branding may seem, don’t discount it. When you’re in a line of work, like writing, where what you create will be entirely different from what another person might come up with, you’re just as much a selling point as your work.

A Writer’s Brand

Since personality comes through in writing, it’s important to make your brand at least a little personal. You don’t have to disclose anything you don’t want to, but in your marketing efforts, let your personality come across. If, for instance, you write a blog, the voice you write in is just as important as if you’re working on an assignment for a magazine or a piece of poetry.

It’s worth remembering that, as a writer, you already have a leg up on all the different folks out there trying to create a personal brand. You already know how to communicate in writing, something some paper pusher looking for a new job will likely have to learn. Make use of your talents and use them to actually get across the message that you’re a great writer without having to pound it into anyone’s head.

Image by Flickr user Randy Lemoine

Over the weekend, I went to Fan Expo in Toronto, which required a nine-hour drive up from Maryland. The drive wasn’t bad and, over the course of the weekend, I made some observations about writing that are going to be worthwhile.

They Did It First, We Do It Better

We drove through Buffalo, New York, which meant that we simply had to stop for wings. On the way to Toronto, we stopped at Duff’s Famous Wings and noticed the wait staff wearing shirts that read “They did it first. We do it better.” It didn’t make sense until our drive home, when we stopped at the Anchor Bar on our way home.

The Anchor Bar proudly proclaims itself the home of the original Buffalo chicken wing. The two restaurants are considered the best in Buffalo for wings and have something of a rivalry going. And, as far as my opinion goes, Duff’s has it right. The Anchor Bar may have invented the Buffalo chicken wing, but Duff’s does it better.

It’s a good lesson to keep in mind in the hustle and bustle of writing online. There always seems to be some new strategy coming out for SEO or social media, which some enterprising individual is pioneering in order to make a name for herself. But just because someone else got to a strategy first, you shouldn’t write it off. Looking for the next newest thing can be a tough way to build a writing business. Rather, picking up the strategies that you can be the best at — whether or not you were first — makes sense.

Creativity is Easy, Money is Hard

At the FanExpo, I met some incredibly creative and passionate people, but several people told me that while they’re willing to shell out $500 bucks just for a booth at FanExpo, it’s not something that they expect to ever make money at. Being the consummate networker I am, I started asking about the promotion strategies they use (especially whether they use content to promote themselves).

For a surprising number, their promotional efforts amounted to building a website and showing up at FanExpo. They would love to take their projects full-time, but they’re focusing entirely on the creative aspects. That’s okay if it’s going to remain a hobby, but if you’re serious about something like that, you’ve got to give a fair amount of time to marketing. It’s hard (especially if you’re also working full-time), but if you want to make a living writing fantasy novels, putting together an online television show or pursuing some other creative venture, your only option is to push hard.

It’s been done before and it will be done again, but it will never be easy.

Warm Audiences Are Always Easier

There were big name draws at FanExpo — William Shatner and Stan Lee were both there. But there were also attendees who came specifically because their favorite vendor or their favorite web comic had announced they’d be attending. An email newsletter was enough to bring out fifty committed buyers for one vendor I talked with. He sees the same truly excited fans at every convention he goes to and those fans always buy something.

In comparison, he has to work hard to get cold audiences to come to him. He spends three days straight yelling, cajoling and tempting people who have never heard of him to come to his booth and look at what he’s selling, while taking the money of the fans already on his mailing list.

It’s a good comparison of what happens when a writer wants to sell a product or land a new client. The more we can do to warm up an audience ahead of time, the more likely we are to walk away with money at the end of the day. Maybe we run blogs that cater to our target clients so that they’re already warm to our names and ideas before we ever start talking about money. Maybe we warm up a cold audience at a convention by using social media to see who is going to be there ahead of time — then we can reach out and make sure that an introduction in person is simply a matter of continuing an online conversation.

FanExpo is one of the first events in a while that I didn’t have an idea (beyond the speakers) of who would be there and who I wanted to talk to. It wasn’t a conference I wanted to work, but honestly, since I knew so few people ahead of time, it was harder to get into the swing of things. I do wish I’d at least looked a little bit online before heading up there.

Image by Flickr user Benson Kua

I used to absolutely refuse to ever write articles on spec. If I didn’t have a contract in my hands, I wasn’t going to write the article. This is not uncommon: many freelance writers have gotten this advice from on high (freelance writing blogs, forums and so on).

I’m not really at a point where I’m hurting for work, either. In theory, I should still be staying away from the spec article system. So why am I putting together 1,000 words that could easily be rejected?

Writing with Multiple Purposes

Putting together evergreen content is an easy way to increase your freelance writing income: anything that you can sell reprint rights to (either to magazines or through content mills) after you’ve seen it run somewhere else first is a great investment of your time.

But it’s possible to extend that principle. When you’re writing anything these days, considering multiple purposes is just good sense. You can turn blog posts into an ebook, turn old articles into marketing pieces. It is, more than anything else, a question of thinking of the multiple purposes with which you can use any given piece of writing.

I’m primarily talking about writing articles here — this works with other types of writing, but is extremely difficult with something like copy writing. Reusing copy from a client’s site is a big non-no. The only exception I can think of is if you were to collect a couple of different pieces of copy writing you’ve done previously to use as examples in an article or an ebook.

Multiple Purposes for Spec

First of all, I’ve picked the spec markets I’m interested in submitting to very carefully. They do pay well as a general rule, but my goal isn’t necessarily to make money off these articles — the money is more of an added bonus. Instead, I’m interested in raising my profile in some very specific publications. I only write about a couple of topics these days, but I want to make sure that I’m the go-to-gal for those topics. So the spec publications I’m interested in have some sort of prestige associated with them.

Second, I always work on an article with other homes in mind in case it is rejected. Each of the spec articles I’ve put together could easily be sold to another publication, used as a guest post to raise interest in something else I’m doing or otherwise be published right here (saving me some writing the next time I need a post).

I only write on spec under my own terms. I certainly won’t write on spec for a client who has brought me a project — in that direction lies frustration and financial disaster — or for silly contests meant to get someone a cheap first round of creative work. Instead, I make sure any spec work thoroughly benefits me and moves me directly towards my goals.

Image by Flickr user Marcin Wichary

Over the past couple of months, I’ve made a point of friending the editors of publications I’d like to write for on Twitter. I’ve landed several assignments through Twitter, including a few where the editor sought me out, rather than the other way around. That’s because Twitter is an ideal tool for building connections: when an editor sees your updates day in and day out, she’ll start to feel like she knows you to some extent. You can help that feeling grow by replying to tweets and generally holding conversations.

Then, when you’ve got a good idea to pitch to a magazine, you’ve got a way to run it by the editor first. More often than not, an editor who you contact on Twitter will still ask you to put in a formal query letter, but she’ll keep an eye out for whatever you submit. You still have to win over the editor’s approval for your story, but at least you aren’t querying out of the blue.

To that end, I suggest following the editors you want to work with on Twitter. Furthermore, make a list of the editors you follow through Twitter’s functionality. That way, you can pick them out of the other folks you follow without too much trouble. I’m not suggesting that you should make a special effort to ingratiate yourself with these editors, but just as you might spend a few extra minutes with an editor at a networking event, it’s not unethical to work on learning more about an editor so that you can more appropriately pitch topics.

To get you started, here are the Twitter handles of more than 80 editors on Twitter.

1. Valerie Latona — SHAPE Magazine — @VlatonaSHAPE
2. Kate M. White — Cosmopolitan — @katemwhite
3. Cindi Leive — Glamour — @cindi_leive
4. Lucy Danziger — Self — @LucyDanziger
5. Carin Barnes — Delicious Mag — @CarinBarnes
6. Peggy Northrop — Readers Digest — @pnorth
7. Lance Ulanoff — PC Magazine — @lanceulanoff
8. Chris Anderson — Wired Magazine — @chr1sa
9. Ted Johnson — Variety — @tedstew
10. Vitaly Friedman — Smashing Magazine — @smashingmag
11. Jennifer Preston — New York Times Magazine — @NYT_JenPreston
12. Phil Torrone — Make Magazine — @torrone
13. Dan Costa — PC Magazine — @Dancosta
14. Max Chafkin — Inc Magazine — @chafkin
15. Jemima Kiss — The Guardian — @jemimakiss
16. Bobbie Johnson — The Guardian — @bobbiejohnson Bobbie wrote in to inform us that he’s no longer with the Guardian.
17. Dan Oliver — .Net Magazine — @danoliver
18. Nat Ives — AdAge — @natives
19. Michael Learnmonth — AdAge — @learmonth
20. Abbey Klaassen — AdAge — @amklaassen
21. Charles Arthur — The Guardian — @charlesarthur
22. Scot Finney — Computer World — @scotfinnie
23. Seth Porges — PC World — @sethporges
24. JR Rafael — PC World — @jr_raphael
25. Adam Aston — Business Week — @adamnyc
26. Amy Feldman — Business Week — @amyfeldman
27. Ana Marie Cox — Time — @anamariecox
28. Ari Berman — The Nation — @ariberman
29. Arik Hasseldahl — Business Week — @ahess247
30. Ben Levisohn — Business Week — @ben_levisohn
31. Burt Helm — Business Week — @burthelm
32. Josh Jackson — Paste — @joshjackson
33. Steve LaBate — Paste — @stevelabate
34. Kate Keifer — Paste — @katekiefer
35. Rachel Maddux — Paste — @rachaelmaddux
36. Jay Sweet — Paste — @ajsfour
37. Sascha Segan — PC Magazine — @saschasegan
38. Richard Strohmeyer — PC World — @rstrohmeyer
39. Alex Wolfe — Information Week — @awolfe58
40. Mark Frauenfelder — Make Magazine — @frauenfelder
41. Ayren J. Cannady — Fitness Magazine — @FITNESSayren
42. Bethany Gumper — Fitness Magazine — @FITNESSbethany
43. Caroline Hwang — Fitness Magazine — @FITNESScaroline
44. Kristen Dierich — Fitness Magazine — @FITNESSkristen
45. Lindsey Emery — Fitness Magazine — @FITNESSlindsey
46. Marianne Magno — Fitness Magazine — @FITNESSmarianne
47. Wendy Rodewalk — Fitness Magazine — @FITNESSwendy
48. Jen Sinkler — Experience Life Magazine — @jensinkler
49. Jen Ator — Women’s Health Magazine — @jen_ator
50. Howard Chua-Eoan — Time — @hchuaeoan
51. Gilbert Cruz — Time — @GilbertCruz
52. Steve Wildstrom — Business Week — @swildstrom
53. Steve Hamm — Business Week — @stevehamm31
54. Steve Baker — Business Week — @stevebaker
55. Spencer Ante — Business Week — @spencerante
56. Shirley Brady — Business Week — @shirleybrady
57. Sarah Lacey — Business Week — @sarahcuda
58. Roben Farzad — Business Week — @robenfarzad
59. Reena Jana — Business Week — @rjmac
60. Rachel King — Business Week — @sfwriter
61. Phil Mintz — Business Week — @pmintz
62. Peter Coy — Business Week — @petercoy
63. Peter Carbonara — Business Week — @petercarbonara
64. Nancy Shute — US News and World Reports — @nancyshute
65. Matt Vella — Business Week — @mattvella
66. Marty M. Fawnche — Electronic Retailer Magazine — @fawnkey
67. Marc Ambinder — The Atlantic — @marcambinder
68. Louis LaVelle — Business Week — @louislavelle
69. Lauren Young — Business Week — @laurenyoung
70. Kevin Allen — Financial Times — @kevinallisonft
71. Keith O’Brien — PR News — @keithobrien
72. Karen Tumulty — Time Magazine — @ktumulty
73. Jon Fine — Business Week — @jonfine
74. Johna Byrne — Business Week — @johnabyrne
75. Charles DuBow — Business Week — @charlesdubow
76. Douglas MacMillian — Business Week — @dmac1
77. Garrett M. Graff — Washington Magazine — @vermontgmg
78. Heather Green — Business Week — @Heatherlgreen
79. Ivan Oransky — Scientific American — @ivanoransky
80. Jason Chupick — PR Newser — @jasonchupick
81. Jason Pontin — Technology Review — @jason_pontin

Thanks to Leslie Joy for her help compiling this list.

When I married my husband, I didn’t even think about changing my last name. He asked once or twice, just to make sure we were on the same page, but it was a non-issue for both of us. Of course, both my family and his address all my mail to Mrs. Swenson, but no one else seems particularly concerned with my decision either way.

But this week, I’ve been thinking about what names really tell the people we talk to, especially online — most of our interactions are text, so we all make judgment calls based on names and tiny profile pictures. I even wrote about whether a male name has an affect on business over on Grow Smart Business earlier this week. But there are far more factors than just whether or not you have a feminine name. Your surname can play a part (and in ways you might never expect).

Less Professional Respect with a New Name

Among other things, studies imply that a woman who keeps her name after marriage has a better chance of landing work and earning more:

Women who took their partner’s name appear to be different from women who kept their own name on a variety of demographics and beliefs, which are more or less associated with the female stereotype (Study 1). Subsequent studies show that women’s surnames are used as a cue for judgment (Studies 2-4). A woman who took her partner’s name or a hyphenated name was judged as more caring, more dependent, less intelligent, more emotional, less competent, and less ambitious in comparison with a woman who kept her own name. A woman with her own name, on the other hand, was judged as less caring, more independent, more ambitious, more intelligent, and more competent, which was similar to an unmarried woman living together or a man. Finally, a job applicant who took her partner’s name, in comparison with one with her own name, was less likely to be hired for a job and her monthly salary was estimated €861,21 lower (calculated to a working life, €361.708,20).

Source: “What’s in a Name? 361.708 Euros: The Effects of Marital Name Change” from Basic and Applied Social Psychology, Volume 32, Issue 1 March 2010 , pages 17 – 25 via Bakadesuyo

I’d love to see a similar study on women who freelance: I’m not sure how the numbers would actually play out. After all, most freelancers have already proved that we’re more ambitious just by striking out on our own. There are definitely other factors at play.

The Marketing Cost of a New Name

One of the issues that I’ve been hearing more and more when I talk to freelance writers who work primarily online, interestingly enough, is that not every woman feels like changing her name is even an option now. When you’ve invested years in building profiles on social networking sites, making sure your name can be found in any search engine and telling editors just how to spell your byline, the idea of changing names is downright scary. And what if you fall in love with someone whose last name happens to be Smith? Good luck landing a domain name then!

Women in academia have been dealing with this question for decades: when you’ve published under your maiden name, trying to get recognition under an entirely different name can’t be easy. But I think personal branding and search engines have brought the question to a whole new level. I don’t think I could afford to change my name if push came to shove.

The solution, for some women, has been to change their legal names while continuing to use their maiden names professionally. It’s an option, but not the only one.

A Side Note

I don’t think this is simply a question for women planning to get married. I’ve got plenty of friends of both genders who have changed names — two of my friends both changed their last names when they got married, a (male) cousin of mine changed his last name so that a family name would not die out, and so on.