Anonymity

My name is Jason Cheshire. I'm an art director at an advertising and marketing agency. My wife calles me Bubba. In college there were so many "Jason's" in our fraternity that we all went by our last names: Dex, Locke, Fraser, Cheshire. From that point on I was known as Cheshire. My closest friends have shortened it to Chesh. Now I go by Chesh. I've met people that were friends of friends and I've always introduced myself as Jason. Inevitably, after talking with them for a while, it comes up, "Wait, you're Cheshire? Oh, I've heard about you."

Recently, I came across a quote that simply says, "Design should never be anonymous." Well, in my opinion, nothing should anonymous. Not your writing, not my designing, not your selling, and especially not yourself.

Even when you meet someone for the first time you begin to market yourself. You want to be remembered. No one wants to be forgotten the moment they leave a prospective client for the first time. Who wants to be just another "Jason" in the crowd? For me, introducing myself as Cheshire seems to work.

For my clients, I need to help them with their "identity", so-to-speak. Not who they are everyday, but what they're perceived to be through their business card or their website or their billboard. I help them market themselves.

In our business, we come across people who aren't quite sure of their business identity. One thing that gets them thinking on the right track is their "elevator pitch". If you're in an elevator with someone who could be a potential client, what could you tell them in that amount of time to sell yourself or your business? Or simpler yet, what can you tell them that they will remember? Give it about 30 seconds. This narrows it down pretty quickly. It really gets them thinking what they do best. Pretty soon they're confident in that mini-speech and they don't hesitate to give it.

Sometimes it's not a speech. If I'm in an elevator with someone who hands me a unique business card, I'm holding on to that thing. As a designer that's the kind of thing that sticks out in my mind. It tells me they thought about that moment and they obviously pay attention to the details. That they want to be remembered and stick out in a sea of "Jason's". And it works.

Other times, it's a bit of random conversation. Once in the elevator in our own building a guy asked my if my shoes were Clark's. They were and that started up a conversation pretty easily. I remember thinking what a nice guy he was and that he'd probably be easy to do business with.

So think about how to market yourself. Think of your best assets. Find something that people will remember about you. Hand them your cool, new business card. Tell them in a simple way how you're going to make a big splash in the business world. Tell them you're having a bad hair day. Tell them anything.

But, for pete's sake, don't be anonymous.