Ask HN: Job Titles for Sole Operators?
I am rebranding my business at the moment, and trying to decide what job title (if any) I should put on a business card.
I am a sole operator, I do web design,coding, hosting, but am trying to focus more on the music industry, working with bands to promote them through the web via websites, facebook, twitter etc. Ideas are welcome :)
Also, as sole operators, what titles do you use? I call myself "Founder" in the context of my current solo project, even if that project is not really a "startup" or "company". As the legal term I use "Sole Proprietor": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sole_proprietorship I don't put a title on any of the cards for my consulting or startup business(es). They tend to be over- or pre-loaded with meaning, frivolous, meaningless, and/or limiting, esp for a solo/small operation. Try this:
On the face: Name, pho no & email addr.
On the back (opt): Company name & catchy, descriptive tagline.
Use an interesting, legible font.
Keep the color scheme simple. A well crafted tag-line is much better than a title, and gives you a lot more freedom to market yourself, your services/products and your business. I get a lot of complements on the simplicity of my cards, I save # on printing costs, and there is plenty of room for potential clients & customers to make their own notes about what they want to follow up with me on. I've used "Consultant". It's not really what I am (my main business is advertising/subscriptions), but if I'm handing you my business card, then I'm probably a consultant to you. Consider "Web Dev Consultant" if you want to be ever-so-slightly quirky while still being informative. It depends who you're targeting - suits, techs, artists? If you choose quirky, make sure it's smart quirky, and not glib quirky.
"Your web guy" sounds a bit... bland. It sounds too average, like "Mr Site".
Come back and let us know what you choose! And let's see your business cards too :) How about 'Without Title' ? Good conversation starter and unique. Interesting idea, I did consider "Your Web Guy" Or 'CxO'. I've pondered the same thing and ended up going with Founder. Sometimes I'll use Developer or "Developer Founder". Tried out Creator for a bit but I thought that sounded uppity. The Dude.