17 Nov New Name, Same You: A Guide to Rebranding
Posted
in Marketing Yourself
Normies like to joke that we’ve made a series of poor life choices to find ourselves naked on the internet. That’s nonsense, of course, but sometimes we make bad decisions when we start out as newbie sex workers when we’re figuring out our branding. It could be a less than stellar stage name or picking a niche that isn’t an amazing fit, but nothing is permanent, and it’s never too late to rebrand yourself! Depending on how long you’ve been doing this, it probably seems daunting, but with a little bit of time and effort, you’ll be good to go as a brand-new version of you.
WHEN IT'S TIME FOR A CHANGE
Nobody knows exactly where their trajectory will lead them when they get started in the industry, and few of us step into it with a foolproof action plan. If you didn’t plan to make this a long-term gig, or you just panicked when creating your first account (I’m looking in the mirror, directly at littlerosexo), you might not have put much thought into your username or stage name. Wanting to change that after a while can be a pain and cause some anxiety, but you might as well rip the bandage off and go at it.
START WITH THE SIMPLE STUFF
The simplest part of changing your stage name is updating all your sites and socials. Most platforms make it fairly easy for you to do so without any interruption for you or your fans. Be sure to update your links you have pinned or on linktree, Allmylinks, etc., as well, not every platform will automatically redirect people navigating to your former username’s profiles. Try to remember all the places where you may have your old socials listed, like automatic welcome messages or email signatures. It might be tedious, but you’ll be glad when it’s all done. Be on the safe side and send out mass DMs and notices to your fans a few weeks in advance, and keep reminding them until it’s time to pull the trigger.
SECURE YOUR NEW DOMAINS
If you can, buy the domains that match your new name. You can get your hands on the .com, .org, and .net to set up forwarding to your platforms or to make your own site and study up on SEO. If you’re able to dedicate a little more money to your rebrand, buy the domains for your former name and set up forwarding for those as well. This will help keep your old name near the top of search engine results instead of old leaks being first.
UPDATE YOUR WATERMARK
The most time-consuming and frustrating step will be creating your new watermark and applying it to all your past content. You might have to delete and re-upload a lot of it, and it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to replace everything you’ve ever posted or sent. If you did splurge on the domains with your former stage name, however, people who see your old watermark will still be able to reach you if they search for it! Depending on how much content you’ve already put out, you could always roll the dice and skip this part, but being thorough is always the best practice.
EMBRACE THE NEW YOU
Hopefully, this blog made you feel a little more at ease rebranding yourself with a shiny new stage name, and if not, just try to remember that people do it all the time! Whether you’re a month, a year, or a decade into your spicy journey, it’s never too late to reinvent yourself. Change can be uncomfortable sometimes, but the same goes for growth. Trust your instincts and do what feels right, you won’t regret it!
Riley Cyriis is a New England-based indie content creator and mortician. She owns Cyriis Studios with her partner, Ryan Cyriis. She’s a cult survivor, a heavily-armed liberal, and the enemy of corruption and greed.
Normies like to joke that we’ve made a series of poor life choices to find ourselves naked on the internet. That’s nonsense, of course, but sometimes we make bad decisions when we start out as newbie sex workers when we’re figuring out our branding. It could be a less than stellar stage name or picking a niche that isn’t an amazing fit, but nothing is permanent, and it’s never too late to rebrand yourself! Depending on how long you’ve been doing this, it probably seems daunting, but with a little bit of time and effort, you’ll be good to go as a brand-new version of you.
WHEN IT'S TIME FOR A CHANGE
Nobody knows exactly where their trajectory will lead them when they get started in the industry, and few of us step into it with a foolproof action plan. If you didn’t plan to make this a long-term gig, or you just panicked when creating your first account (I’m looking in the mirror, directly at littlerosexo), you might not have put much thought into your username or stage name. Wanting to change that after a while can be a pain and cause some anxiety, but you might as well rip the bandage off and go at it.
START WITH THE SIMPLE STUFF
The simplest part of changing your stage name is updating all your sites and socials. Most platforms make it fairly easy for you to do so without any interruption for you or your fans. Be sure to update your links you have pinned or on linktree, Allmylinks, etc., as well, not every platform will automatically redirect people navigating to your former username’s profiles. Try to remember all the places where you may have your old socials listed, like automatic welcome messages or email signatures. It might be tedious, but you’ll be glad when it’s all done. Be on the safe side and send out mass DMs and notices to your fans a few weeks in advance, and keep reminding them until it’s time to pull the trigger.
SECURE YOUR NEW DOMAINS
If you can, buy the domains that match your new name. You can get your hands on the .com, .org, and .net to set up forwarding to your platforms or to make your own site and study up on SEO. If you’re able to dedicate a little more money to your rebrand, buy the domains for your former name and set up forwarding for those as well. This will help keep your old name near the top of search engine results instead of old leaks being first.
UPDATE YOUR WATERMARK
The most time-consuming and frustrating step will be creating your new watermark and applying it to all your past content. You might have to delete and re-upload a lot of it, and it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to replace everything you’ve ever posted or sent. If you did splurge on the domains with your former stage name, however, people who see your old watermark will still be able to reach you if they search for it! Depending on how much content you’ve already put out, you could always roll the dice and skip this part, but being thorough is always the best practice.
EMBRACE THE NEW YOU
Hopefully, this blog made you feel a little more at ease rebranding yourself with a shiny new stage name, and if not, just try to remember that people do it all the time! Whether you’re a month, a year, or a decade into your spicy journey, it’s never too late to reinvent yourself. Change can be uncomfortable sometimes, but the same goes for growth. Trust your instincts and do what feels right, you won’t regret it!
Riley Cyriis is a New England-based indie content creator and mortician. She owns Cyriis Studios with her partner, Ryan Cyriis. She’s a cult survivor, a heavily-armed liberal, and the enemy of corruption and greed.
