Launching a business is a major life event. Naming it is a big decision – I’d say it’s almost as big as choosing a name for a child. If all goes well, you will be living with your business name and building a brand behind it for years to come.
One of my concerns when I decided to specialise as a writer was that people might think it was all a bit too arty and creative. Coming from a commercial background, I felt very conscious that clients need copy that will help them achieve specific goals and targets. I wanted my business name to convey that my work is about rational thinking and good honest effort as much as creative inspiration.
My childhood passion was horse-riding, so I was well acquainted with the work of a blacksmith (or farrier, as they’re also known.) Their job is to take iron bars and turn them into shoes for working horses. It’s a practical profession, requiring strength, stamina and talent to work with heavy metal, heat and hammering on the anvil in their smithy. It also demands accuracy and a calm, courageous temperament, to reassure and control powerful horses while nailing shoes onto the (nerveless) horn of their hooves.
But blacksmithery is also a craft. When not engaged in the back-breaking work of shoeing horses, the blacksmith can create wonderful wrought ironwork and turn a rough, raw material into an end product with both function and form.
That’s pretty much the idea behind the Wordsmithy’s brand and positioning. Instead of black metal, in my smithy I forge words to make them effective and functional in a commercial environment. I’m not an artist or performer. I’m skilled at writing, but I treat it as a trade that’s about meeting clients’ needs and supporting their business objectives. That can mean building sales, raising awareness, creating desire, communicating credibility, making complex information simple or making boring information compelling.
I do enjoy creativity and am a lover of words and language, but in my work, it’s always about channelling these to achieve the outcomes that I’ve agreed. When I feel the creative pull for its own sake, I write letters, a diary and even a bit of poetry for my own purpose and pleasure. And one day, I’ll definitely complete those unfinished fiction novel drafts that I started!
It’s two decades since I nailed The Wordsmithy sign over the door and came up with its strapline, ‘Making words work.’ From time to time, I think about refreshing or revising these… but I haven’t yet come up with anything that I think better communicates my ethos and approach to clients.
Forging words that work is hard graft at times. It takes effort, revision and concentration. But it’s also rewarding after intense focus to achieve a perfect fit that underpins strong performance for a business or brand. Is it stretching the metaphor to relate that to a blacksmith seeing a well shod steed go out to race or compete? The wrought ironwork of my trade is handcrafted language that’s as pleasurable to read as it’s clear, persuasive and informative.
If you’ve ever wondered about the origins of the word ‘blacksmith,’ it derives from ‘smiting’ metal that forms ‘black’ oxide when it’s heated. It also relates to an old English/German word for a skilled worker. The blacksmith’s premises are the smithy.
Photo credit: Clark Young via Unsplash