I want to change my forum handle. What should it be?

[nixnerd]

I need some anonymity. I don’t need clients Googling me and finding every post I’ve ever written on a forum. However… Joe_Temp is old and played. It’s a tired handle and it needs to be put out to pasture. I’ve been using it for oh say… 12 years.

Please help me think of an awesome handle that incorporates my first name.

I saw a handle on Reddit today that made me very jealous:

Jethro_Tell

[chrisburton]

Really? I like the use of real names. Even spent over a year trying to obtain my name on Twitter (successfully). What are you afraid of clients finding?

[nixnerd]

Well, first of all, the main reason is that I’m tired of my handle. This will be for forums only. I own my full name as a domain and my full name is my twitter and Instagram handle. Only crappy part is i had to use my middle initial. I agree… for the purposes of doing business and building a brand.

See, before I was a dev, I was in sales for years and years. I’ve sold everything. You name it. My primary skill is closing. Now, one thing I’ve learned over the years is to not devalue ANYTHING that you do. Ever. If clients are able to see every seemingly stupid question I’ve ever asked, then suddenly, they don’t value my skill anymore and my rate goes down. Or worse, they think their 12 year old can do what I do.

I treat this as just another service that I sell. The primary goal is to get dollars. Therefore, I want the freedom to ask stupid questions and learn. Not to be judged by clients who think they know it all.

Plus, I want to get snarky on Reddit like everybody else without clients getting all sensitive.

[__]

If clients are able to see every seemingly stupid question I’ve ever asked, then suddenly, they don’t value my skill anymore and my rate goes down. Or worse, they think their 12 year old can do what I do.

…Therefore, I want the freedom to ask stupid questions and learn. Not to be judged by clients who think they know it all.

Maybe I should skip the bit about there being “no stupid questions” —but it really is true, as far as subject goes. Obviously, there are stupidly posed questions, but you know how to ask questions, and from our (admittedly limited) interactions here, I can’t imagine that you were ever that bad at it.

I’ll offer a different perspective: it makes you more approachable. What is “seemingly stupid” to you might be something that a client just thinks they have a handle on. What if you asked a question a few years ago that (doesn’t really, but they think) relates to something they had been trying to do on their own, but it flopped? (What if that’s how they discovered you?) Worst case, you say, “well, gee, I’ve learned a lot since then.”

Someone who is ready to drop you based on such a snap judgment is likely looking for reasons to drop you (“you” meaning “whoever they hire”) anyway. They’re going to be a pain to work with, and they’re not going to need a 4-year-old forum post to do it. Wouldn’t you rather allow those clients with good judgement to get the chance?

Just a thought.

I learned how to code fairly quickly: now, obviously, I’m still learning, and every year is no comparison to the last. But you still don’t have to too far back on my earlier discussion boards to find “seemingly stupid” questions.

Plus, I want to get snarky on Reddit like everybody else without clients getting all sensitive.

Hell, that’s what alt accounts are for.

[chrisburton]

This will be for forums only

Then I would say it doesn’t really matter what you choose if that’s what you’re going to be using it for.

If clients are able to see every seemingly stupid question I’ve ever asked, then suddenly, they don’t value my skill anymore and my rate goes down.

How would they know that it is a stupid question or if they indeed knew the answer, why are they hiring you in the first place?

[chrisburton]

Plus, I want to get snarky on Reddit like everybody else without clients getting all sensitive.

Sounds a little adolescent to me but I respect your reasons!

[nixnerd]

This might sound weird but I’m also reasonably afraid of ex-girlfriends. I don’t need that drama.

But… I guess I should’ve thought about that before I used my real name for everything else.

[nixnerd]

Sounds a little adolescent to me but I respect your reasons!

Well, that and I want to post cat memes without shame.

[nixnerd]

I’m not saying I want to go this far with a fake Facebook name:

https://www.facebook.com/coco.bangatang

If you can believe it, I went to high school with “Coco Bangatang.”

[chrisburton]

Haha. Priceless.

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