Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

So I`m about to order my first set of business cards so I can start handing them out and I realized that I don`t really know what title I should give myself.
I`m a one woman company at the moment, working as an Event planner. In time i will be hiring a couple people to help but for now it`s just me. However, I will be working with mostly businesses and larger corporations so I want my company to appear a bit larger than it is at the moment. So I always say "we" or "ours" rather than "me" or "my" when i refer to the company both in conversation and on the website.  That being said, I don`t want to come off as if i`m a huge conglomerate either.
I feel that titles like President and CEO are for bigger companies and may sound pretentious if i introduce myself to people as that, and then they find out i`m the only member of the staff. So much of my business is networking and I don`t want to give off that impression of deception or pretentiousness when I  hand them my card. But Owner sound very "mom & pop" to me and I want to appear professional. Something like "Creative Director" sounds better, but it makes it seem like someone else runs the business. Any suggestions on an appropriate title for the head of an event planning company that isn`t misleading or overly pretentious? Or would you as a company prefer to deal with someone who held a title like President or CEO, regardless of the size of the company?




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Kim Simonds, Chief Eventor
EdgEvents You put it on. We pull it off.
www.edgevents.net
kim@edgevents.net

Do you need a title on the card?

Why not just
NAME
~We make events happen~

Or whatever your tag line is - your site didn`t come up in Firefox.

Eric has nailed it ... you do not need a title.

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Ric Willmot
Executive Wisdom Consulting Group
www.ExecutiveWisdom.com
info@executivewisdom.com
Blog: www.ricwillmot.com

Founder of the Society for Executive Wisdom
www.ExecutiveWisdomSociety.com

Strategy for Professionals: www.strategyforprofessionals.com

Yep, no title required.

But after being part of the discussion about your company name and tagline, I might recommend you make up a fun, "edgy" title.  Don`t make it a strong part of the card but it could be something to help you stand out.  Something funny or unique could be a subtle hook that might make someone remember you from your card.  I don`t necessarily recommend this one but an example might be a `Professional Event Put-er On-er`.  Titles don`t have to be professional sounding like CEO.  It`s completely up to you.

Otherwise, I will agree with others that it`s not even needed.

Campsteve, I thought of trying to come up with a witty title but have struck out so far.  I think it would be cool to have a title equally witty as the tagline "You put it on. We pull it off"
If anyone has suggestions on that front, i`d love to hear them. If not, then having not title on the card wouldn`t be the end of the world either.

Thanks for all your help



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Kim Simonds, Chief Eventor
EdgEvents You put it on. We pull it off.
www.edgevents.net
kim@edgevents.net

EdgEvent,

Even though you don`t need a title, I think it provides another opportunity to show your creativity. I also think that using "Founder and" as a prefix to the title you choose labels you as an entrepreneur. Following Rich Sloan`s lead (his title is Chief Startupologist), how about Founder and Eventologist? Or Founder and Chief Eventologist.


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Brian O`Keefe
Web Designer & Writer @ YiNZCO
Athlete & T-Shirt Guy @ STR!VE NATiON

If you must have a title, you could simply say "Owner." On the other hand, you could also put your name, then below that, "Head Honcho." :-)

I agree with most of the others. You don`t need a title.
Peter

I think you do need a title when your competitors use titles; you also want your business card to travel outside of your direct contact and the next person seeing it might not know you are the significant person at your company. I don`t think this is true for every company, but in most cases you should keep the basic "just the facts" and let your creativity shine in their presentation.

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Chris Miller, a simple taco maker:
The Tiger Taco home in the U.S.A.
Tiger Tacos in Australia
Tiger Tacos in the United Kingdom

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Ric Willmot
Executive Wisdom Consulting Group
www.ExecutiveWisdom.com
info@executivewisdom.com
Blog: www.ricwillmot.com

Founder of the Society for Executive Wisdom
www.ExecutiveWisdomSociety.com

Strategy for Professionals: www.strategyforprofessionals.com