What Is In a Name?

Last year, I decided to branch out in photography and reach out to a different demographic and do glamour photography. I wanted something that wasn’t the typical ‘walk in a place in the mall’ for your photos.  I wanted to do vintage styled glamour. My goal was to do beautiful photos that were elegant and classy. There were some wonderful photographers in the 50s and 60s. John French and Lillian Bassmann are two you should check out. Because I have quite a few wonderful vintage pieces of clothing, lingerie and a fur, I wanted to use them to create the illusion of a different time.

 

I also thought pinups would be fun to do. I like setting the scene with props and thought this would be a good extension. It would also appeal to different women. Living in a military town, I hoped it would sort of go back to the pinups of the 40’s. It was all still going along the same theme of the vintage photos.

Because no one there seemed to understand the concept, but they did understand boudoir, it ended up going more that way. Boudoir was supposed to be more secondary and was never intended to be anything blatantly sexy.  I was thinking more along the lines of pretty lingerie, her man’s sport jersey, his dress shirt combined with her lingerie, that sort of thing.

 However, the word boudoir and that genre of photography have been twisted way out of softly romantic.  In the last year, a lot has come ‘out of the bedroom’ and not in such a good way. With the onslaught of books about sex making the best selling list and everyone talking about sex from soccer moms to grandmothers, it has twisted even more the thoughts related to the bedroom or the boudoir.

When I picked the name Pillow Talk Pics, I thought more along the lines of Doris Day and the 50’s. Even the log with the pillows and the stars had a more 50’s slumber party feel. Now people see the words Pillow talk and Doris Day is not what they are thinking.

I have gotten some really strange looks from people here when I say the name. I’ve even had a couple who seem to question the fact that I am a Christian and I take ‘those’ kinds of photos. Even though they haven’t seen my photos, they judge them by the name.

Because of that, I think I have to redesign and rebrand.

I have to make several decisions that will culminate in a new name.

Now, I need some input.

Should I do it as a separate business like it is now? My main thought on that is my pricing structure differs for the glamour section. I also advertise differently for that.  To me, adding it to the main site, looks like what I do is way too varied. Thoughts?

If I keep it separate, which is how I am leaning, I need a new name! One that speaks of vintage and glamour, but not focusing on bedrooms!

Then, I am open to suggestions on marketing – marketing for all of the business. I really need to business to pick up and soon.  I need to be contributing more than just cooking and cleaning.

And so, I am asking for help and input from my friends.

Thoughts?   Suggestions? You can make them in the comments or shot me a message on facebook.
Thanks!