Rebranding my newsletter for fun & profit (part 1)

Happy Wednesday! Welcome back to The Copywriting Gig. 

I'm Jim Hamilton. Over the past 7 years, my copy has contributed to $30m in sales for clients across health, biz opp, and B2B. 

Each week, I share 1 actionable tip to help you sell more stuff online.

I’m rebranding my newsletter and business in 2024.

But the exercise of coming up with a new brand name has proven much more difficult than I anticipated.

So today, I’m revealing why I’m doing it and how I came up with the new name, step-by-step.

Let’s dive in.

Read time: 3 minutes and 48 seconds

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2 Reasons Why I’m Rebranding My Newsletter

First things first:

Why even bother with a rebrand?

Let’s set the stage with this excellent quote from Kevin Kelly:

Now let’s get into the specifics…

1) Doesn’t create a “Category of One”

As Kevin explains in the clip above, the goal is be “the only.”

Not the best.

A great brand name sets you apart from everyone else by creating a “category of one.”

And the fact is, my current brand name doesn’t do that.

There are loads of other people out there talking about copywriting.

This is partly because I started out with a freelancing newsletter (The Freelance Gig), and the original idea was to launch a network of sister newsletters around specific skills, like The Copywriting Gig, The Marketing Gig, The Paid Ads Gig, etc.

I’m still writing the freelancing newsletter…

But I’ve abandoned the broader strategy.

So there’s no compounding value in sticking with this name.

2) Doesn’t encapsulate my entire approach

Copywriting is my specialty.

But it’s not the only tool I’m using to build my audience and business.

I’ve leaned heavily into content writing this year.

So it feels out of alignment to be banging the copywriting drum all the time without making any mention of content writing… 

And where it fits into my evolving approach to growing a wildly profitable expert business.

3 Potential Directions For My New Brand Name

1) Zooming out from “copywriting” to “writing”

One of my theories is that choosing “copywriting” as my lane has been a limiting factor.

Some people are confused or don’t know what it is…

And others associate it with the icky aspects of sales and marketing.

Especially given I wanted to fold content writing into this rebrand somehow, zooming out to just “writing” seemed logical.

2) Drawing a line between old vs new

This is a highly effective marketing and differentiation strategy.

You’re drawing a line in the sand by saying:

THAT is the old way, and this is the new way.

It plays on the built-in assumption that if it’s new, it must be better.

You’ll see a few ways I tried to do this below.

3) Emphasizing my unique approach

The last potential direction is to shine a spotlight on my new approach or unique mechanism…

Which also evokes the sentiment of old vs new.

(although in a slightly different way)

Now let’s review the names that made the short list:

4 Brand Name Ideas That Made the Short List

1) Full Stack Writer

What I liked about it:

This was my #1 choice.

Just like full stack developers can do both front-end and back-end development, full stack writers can do content & copy.

Perfectly aligned.

Plus it’s strong, punchy, and only has 4 syllables.

Why I chose not to use it:

Alas, less than a week after coming up with this name…

Dickie & Cole from Ship30 launched a new program called Full Stack Writer 🙃

RIP. 

2) New Era Writer

What I liked about it:

This one evokes old vs new with ‘New Era’.

It’s short and punchy…

And having ‘Writer’ in title turns into an identity shift, where becoming a New Era Writer is something to aspire to.

Why I chose not to use it:

It’s a bit grandiose.

But more importantly, it’s not very specific. 

It doesn’t speak to any of my audience’s desired outcomes (sales, influence, persuasion, etc).

3) Influential Writer

What I liked about it:

This one speaks to a desired outcome of writing for influence, which is a broader way to describe what my audience wants.

I’ve toyed with it in the past.

Having ‘Writer’ in the name also maintains the identity shift.

Why I chose not to use it:

It’s not clear or specific enough.

The word “influential” is clunky and doesn’t roll off the tongue very well either.

4) Write For Fun & Profit

What I liked about it:

It’s light and playful…

Which reflects my online persona.

I used to have this in my social media bio, and people would often comment on it, saying they wanted to learn how to write for fun and profit.

So I know it does resonate.

It also minimizes the sense of work or effort required, which is always a plus.

And as you can tell by the subject line of this email, I’m generally big a fan of the phrase 😂

Why I chose not to use it:

I really like this one, but it’s still not specific enough.

Everyone knows what thoes 4 words mean on their own, but it’s unclear exactly what they mean when you put them all together.

Putting It All Together

Coming up with a killer brand name is hard work.

I’ve been fixated on it for the past month or so, and it’s been a struggle at times.

But fortunately, I’ve found the one.

And I’m almost ready to reveal it to you.

I’ll pull back the curtain and explain why I chose it in next week’s newsletter, before I take off for the holidays.

In the meantime, it’s been fun to bring you along this rebranding journey with me.

Sharing my thought process with you has given me a ton of clarity.

Writing is thinking.

That’s it.

Thanks for reading!

See you next week.

Jim Hamilton