Last week I received an email from a concerned blog reader. He writes:
Hey Ryan,
How do you reconcile Ryan Healy’s core value of honest copy with the _________ persona? Don’t get me wrong, I understand the concept of pen and stage names, but am not aware of a marketing equivalent.
Thanks for taking the time to read this.
P.W.
So, are pen names ethical? And can they be used in a marketing context?
I think so.
In fact, every freelance copywriter is a ghost writer. The sales letters I write for clients are never published under my name. They are always published under the client’s name or a persona that the client has created.
So, in a sense, every successful freelance copywriter already has dozens of pen names.
But what if you want to start a new business and use a pen name? I think this is fine, too. There is no overt deception going on. The name you use doesn’t change the content or truthfulness of your copy.
Personally, I’ve chosen to use a nom de plume for a new info-publishing business. The pen name will help avoid confusion with my primary business: copywriting.
But while I’m using a different name, I’m not going to great lengths to hide my identity either. I registered the domain in my own name. I’ve even got pictures of me on the site.
The only difference is the focus of the business and the name I’ve chosen to use.
Of course, there are dozens of examples of pen names in the literary world. The average person doesn’t know that Mark Twain was a pseudonym used by Samuel Langhorne Clemens. Even well-educated people don’t know that George Orwell was a pseudonym used by Eric Blair.
But is there any kind of precedent in the marketing world today? Absolutely!
Take for instance David DeAngelo, the persona created by Eben Pagan to market his Double Your Dating products.
And then there’s James Chartrand of the popular blog Men with Pens. James recently revealed that he is not a man. He is a woman.
Just as Mary Ann Evans published her writing as George Eliot to overcome the bias against women, so James Chartrand is the pseudonym that an unnamed woman uses in the copywriting world. (When James revealed the truth on Copyblogger, it set off a firestorm of discussion: 531 comments, 2396 tweets, and 1689 Facebook “likes.”)
As James reveals in her story, she chose a male pen name as an experiment and found that she suddenly began to collect better fees. The rest, as they say, is history.
Personally, I decided to use a pen name to avoid confusion between my different web sites and businesses. And to create a brand that could be sold later if the opportunity ever came up. (It’s hard to sell a business that bears your own name.)
Anyway, I realize that the subject of pen names in business can sometimes be controversial and not everybody will agree as to how, when, and why they should be used. What do you think?
-Ryan M. Healy
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About Ryan M. Healy
Ryan Healy is a direct response copywriter. Since 2002, he has worked with scores of clients, including BoostCTR, Alex Mandossian, Terry Dean, and Pulte Homes. He writes a popular blog about copywriting, advertising, and business growth, has been featured in publications like Feed Front magazine, and is a regular contributor to WordStream.com, BoostCTR.com, and MarketingForSuccess.com.
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{ 19 comments }
Ryan,
I totally agree but the decision to maintain does bring some odd complications.
As I began my marketing and ghost writing career many years ago, I originally started under my own name. not long after that i actually attracted a stalker who moved to my hometown, learned where my business was, and actually kidnapped and killed my cat. I withdrew from my public persona, changed niches, moved, changed my number and adopted a pen name. A pen name was as much about good responsible security for myself and my family as it was for the creative license that virtual anonymity can provide.
“Bryan Bliss” has earned me seats at some pretty powerful tables and most never knew it was a pen name, or why. now as my name and reputation grows, and I am working much more closely with local clients, in my hometown, its just plain kinda weird to be known by more than one name.
social functions that are not expected to be “networking events” usually mix people from both worlds and its kinda funny having my wife silently, subtly, look for signs from me while she is introducing me to new people as to which name she should call me by.
I think there are lots of cool, acceptable and downright responsible reasons to maintain a pen name, but it just gets funny sometimes.
Interesting topic Ryan.
I would venture to say that some copywriters (myself included) rarely if ever write under their own names. I can't even imagine how different marketing and copywriting would be if we always wrote under our actual names.
But, I bet some businesses would go under pretty quick. :-(
Most people don't realize that the whole Frank Kern thing is a total pen name marketing persona.
It is remarkable, though, when you consider that all that money was generated by a monkey with an etch-a-sketch hopped up on Red Bull, transcribed by a Buddist monk, and read by a blue eyed scruffy beard actor playing “Frank Kern.”
Amazing!
PS _ Ryan I LOVE the graphic in the sidebar about your 39 point copywriting checklist. It's a great checklist but that graphic is just awesome!
Where have you been hiding Rick? I miss your humor.
John Deck
There was a time in the early 90s where I had two resumes. One was hard core software engineer, and the other marketing and sales.
I was doing some marketing consulting at a company. During a product meeting the engineering manager talked about a project that a consulting firm had done for them. He was thinking about having them do some of this project. He did not know that I had done half of that work. I did not say anything. It would have created issues all around. I just called the president of the consulting firm, and asked him to give the engineering manager a call. Being able to use a pen name would have been handy.
Pen names are common in the publishing world where authors may write in more than one genre. In internet marketing that is pretty much the same.
John Deck
Pen names are totally ethical unless they are deliberately used with intention to defraud or deceive. Famed mystery writer Agatha Christie wrote romance novels under the pen name of “Mary Westmacott”. When you pick up an Agatha Christie novel, you expect a mystery. You'd be pretty irritated if it turned out to be a syrupy romance. Similarly there was a famous children's author who wrote steamy adult novels. Naturally, she used a pen name for those!
I know scores of internet marketers who use pen names to avoid niche confusion, the way mainstream book authors use them to avoid genre confusion. Anybody who gets their knickers in a knot because you used a pen name has way, way too much free time and needs to get a life.
Bang on!
If you are juggling a couple of different careers, you will need a pen name or two. To help your audience see you as different entities and to help keep your own sanity.
Cheers!
HH
Yes, they're great, and more than once I have wished I'd stuck with my original idea of using a pen name for The Romance Rescue. I do feel weird when my athletes or corporate clients google me and I'm all over the radio talking about sex. Should have stuck with Tina Michelle! (is it too late? I've barely put it out there.)
Wow, guess my question pushed a hot button! I am not an online marketer, just happened to click on an ad while browsing a popular social networking site. The product sold caught my interest, so before considering whether to “buy” or not, I did a search for potential bad reviews and so on. That's when I discovered Ryan was the copywriter behind the name in the ad.
Ryan, I really appreciate your willingness to answer my question and even to explore the issue further. And just so you know, I didn't see any overt deception going on in the ad I originally looked at, at least as far as I can tell. Looks to me like you are using a pen name in what most would call an ethical way.
You're welcome! I thought it was a great question, and I figured other people probably have the same question, too. So thank you for raising the issue. :-)
Marya – Thanks for your comment and that bit of information about Agatha Christie. Interesting!
And with regard to the concerned blog reader: I don't think he was upset at all; he was asking a sincere question, which is why I took the time to respond. :-)
[quote] In fact, every freelance copywriter is a ghost writer. The sales letters I write for clients are never published under my name. They are always published under the client’s name or a persona that the client has created.
So, in a sense, every successful freelance copywriter already has dozens of pen names.
[end quote]
Well articulated and argued for the defense, Ryan – as we could expect no less, from you !
And here I thought I was nearly the only one, pulling off the “nom de plume” act , and doing so not only because I just wanted to, but because it just seemed so natural in writing, even web writing & marketing.
In fact even more so with my part time free lance photography business, I also use a pseudonym – I think it adds that finishing touch of creative aura to the whole package – that poetic / artists / license – line of reasoning. (Can artists ever purely reason – or is it purely emotional ?)
Of course checks, and other such legal mumbo jumbo, do get the real name deal – but at least one client did have a difficulty with this fact.
Garrett
This is really interesting. I have not thought about doing this but I have several niches that I am in online. It never really occurred to me to use different names in each one. This has me thinking about what create names I can come up with that will fit well with the different niches.
Actually, Frank Kern's real name is Irwin Frank Kern. Irwin just doesn't sound as cool as Frank. :p
I've got a blog under a pen name. I decided to use it for that site because I post about a variety of topics including politics and didn't want that to get in the way of my copywriting business. Now I'm not so sure it's necessary but it's there now so I'll keep it.
Pen names work for me.
Anyone who thinks pen names are deceptive or unethical just isn't thinking things through. What's the difference between a pen name and a brand? “Brian Bliss” sounds like a go-to guy for positive results. “Agatha Christie” sounds like a classy mystery writer. These are more than just names, they are brands.
And take it in the other direction: what happens when your real name becomes a brand? Martha, Oprah, Ellen, Gaga, etc. In that situation, you have the opposite of “hiding” behind a pen name: your real name is no longer your own and you have no escape from scrutiny.
Thanks for raising such an interesting topic!
Early in my career, I was freelancing for a certain newspaper whose editor thought he owned my work for the local market (for $25 a story!). My attitude was that his was an unethical stance but I had no power in the situation–if my byline showed up elsewhere, I could cross that newspaper off the list. If he wanted a monopoly on my writing, he would need to pay a living wage and benefits. Failing that, I had the ethical obligation to bypass his unethical position. Thus, I used a pseudonym to write for various other local papers, all of which wrote checks to my real name.
My stance on ethics has evolved since then, and I wouldn't make that same choice. Today, I'd more likely organize the couple of dozens freelancers who worked for the paper and use our collective power to change his unfair labor policy.
Still, I do believe it's ethical to use pen names in many situations. What isn't ethical, and I've certainly seen people do this, is when someone uses a pseudonym in order to directly build up their real persona or tear down a competitor. I still have never understood why the company didn't crash when the CEO of Whole Foods was caught anonymously undermining a competitor he was in the process of trying to buy! To me, that was a serious ethics violation.
Thank you, Rick! :-)
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