If you choose something using your first and last name, it could potentially decrease the “sales-worthiness” of your business in the future. This is sort of a “we” and that’s the business name you decide on.Larger or more corporate-type clients may want to work with a “we,” not an “I.” They may see an individual as not as dependable as a team.If you’re a “we,” then, in the client’s mind, you likely have set working hours, you actually get dressed before working and are on some kind of schedule-as opposed to their perception of you being a fly-by-night freelancer who works in pajamas and gets back to them whenever you feel like it. “We” can make you appear more professional.Maybe a client is willing to pay more to a business with a team rather than just an individual. Maybe you’ll get larger jobs as a result. “We” can make your freelance business sound bigger and more serious.Here are some reasons that you might want to use “we.” Let’s go over some pros and cons for both of them. I even consulted with industry veteran Cameron Foote about it. So that was when I started thinking about using “I” vs “we.” It really bothered me because, for years, I couldn’t decide which direction to go in. I mean, I was handling the editing and layout of a 150-page monthly medical journal in addition to many other jobs, all while working a full-time job. What? Why would I need staff to do a media kit design? It was ludicrous. He said it was because I “didn’t have staff.” So I asked why I hadn’t been selected for the work, and his response really outraged me. He said they had chosen someone else for the media kit design. I went to check my email and saw the long-awaited e-mail from the man at a company that I had just met with a few days prior. This was back before Wifi and I had to go hook up my laptop to an ethernet cable in the resort’s office. I was on my honeymoon out of the country and had been waiting to hear back about a media kit job. You’d always be talking about yourself and your business in the third person.įor the first several years after officially starting my business, I struggled with this question. And I remember vividly the circumstance that provoked me to even realize it was an issue. But then when talking to clients and writing copy for your website and social media posts, it will just sound awkward and totally impersonal. You could use your business name instead of a pronoun. That single pronoun can affect so much: how you are perceived by prospects and clients, how you talk to prospects and clients, what you say on your website, what you write for social media. The question of should you, as a freelancer or sole proprietor, use “I” or “we” when talking about yourself and your business is one I see brought up time and time again, even as recent as this past week, by freelance designers. Generally speaking, there are so many more solopreneurs now, I think it’s become less of an issue.