Naming
You and your brand(s) will need a name. There are a few options here.
- Your own name for everything. So "Bob Smith" is you and all your brands. This might work out OK if you have an unusual name and a single brand for the foreseeable future. If you're lucky, you'll start to get known for your "thing" but if you then add another different "thing" your fans may get confused. I thought Bob did toy soldier repairs, but now he's doing guitar tutorials? WTF? Also see the section on "Weirdos" below.
- A single meaningful name for everything. So "Bob Smith's Toy Soldier Repairs" for example. This is a lot clearer and if that's all Bob ever does then fine. But if he starts doing guitar tutorials, then what? "Bob Smith's Guitar Tutorials"? In Sam Battle's case "Look mum no computer" is a great name but inevitably when he uses a computer some fans will be like "But..?!"
- A single meaningless name for everything. So "WibbleWobble" for example. First make sure it's available as a domain and not something rude in Latvian. It makes discovery harder so your web presence needs to be very optimised but frankly it should be anyway. The nice thing is that it is meaningless so can mean anything you want. But as per point 2, if you're lucky it will become associated with your thing and if you add something new there may be confusion and even hostility.
- Your own name for you, and a meaningless name (and identity) per brand. This is the most flexible in that you can present yourself in all your glory as an individual, then point to your different brands which can be followed by quite different sets of fans.
Weirdos
A point about fans here. By definition a fan is someone who is interested (or even obsessed) by you and what you do. This comes with a few unpleasant side-effects like:
- Stalking - if you put out your real name it's fairly easy for a dedicated fan to find our all about you, over and beyond maybe what you want them to know, like your mobile number and home address. So no real need to use your real name or all of your real name maybe.
- Entitlement - be prepared for resentment if you do something slightly different or don't respond to comments.
- Trolls - you will get these. Just remember "Those who can, do. Those who can't, troll." Ignore completely, never respond, pity them. You may find your real fans take these dicks down which is beautiful to behold.