As many of you know my business has gone through somewhat of a change and is now trading as Cloud Nine Writing.
However, it’s hard to imagine the current name without also remembering/explaining the journey that led me to this point. (I’ll try to keep it as short and sweet as possible.) Hopefully, it may help/inspire some people along the way.
Rebranding is a hard process, but I must admit it’s not even something I even considered until I found myself on the NatWest Business Entrepreneur Accelerator programme where I gained the necessary confidence and knowledge to go for it
Now, if you think setting up on your own is tough, thinking of a new business name can be just as difficult. My advice would be to check that the business name you want has the .com and .co.uk domains available (if that’s important to you.) Then check the social media handles that are available too or work out ones that you’re happy with.
I had a few occasions where I did everything in the wrong order. For example, I thought of a great name at first ‘Word Association.’ I looked at potential logos and completely fell in love with the name before finding that not only were the domains I wanted not available, but the social media handles weren’t either.
I struggled with finding a name I liked. I remember talking with a friend about it and she said the best thing to do was to stop thinking about it and that the idea would just come.
I wanted a name that summed up how I felt working for myself, and a name that would sum up how people would feel after working with me. I felt content – but YOU try and find a name featuring the word content when you’re a writer of content.
So I switched from that to phrases that mean being happy – seventh heaven, being on cloud nine…. wait a minute, cloud nine sounds nice, cloud nine writing maybe – and that was my thought process.
From there, I checked the domains were available, I checked the social media handles and I went ahead right there and bought them/signed up for them.
Long story short, the name Cloud Nine Writing was born. However, that’s not the end of the journey but is just the beginning.
For me, rebranding as a name wasn’t enough. I wanted a new business identity. So, I had a beautiful new website made complete with a new logo, brand colours, a company ethos, and new business cards too. For me, it wasn’t just about the look and the name, it was about what a rebrand meant. To me, it was a shift in mindset and it was proof that this wasn’t something that I was doing for fun or in my spare time – I’m NFA (Not Fucking About.)
I spent a lot of time working on the rebrand, making sure I got the words on the website right, as well as the look and feel – which was carried out by the creative gurus at Spinks Creative in Milton Keynes.
I wanted to make sure that it was perfect before I was ready to launch, and this meant keeping a lot of what I was doing a secret, so that when it was finally revealed it would have a bigger impact. Of course, I needed a small circle of trust so I could at least talk a little about it, otherwise, I would have burst!
After starting the process around October/November of last year, I was finally ready to launch Cloud Nine Writing in January. Six weeks in and to look at the logo, the website or the business cards still feels like a dream – but it’s one I can’t imagine not having.
So, if you’re in the process of rebranding, or even thinking about it, then please get in touch, and I will give you any help you may need.
But trust me on at least one thing, for all of the thought that goes into it, the secrecy, the hard work and the doubts, it’s 100 per cent worth it.