Hello again;
For the last few weeks I have been concentrating on promoting my site and the blog by visiting other people’s blogs and leaving comments. I concentrate on blogs like mine with comment love enabled so I get the back links to my website, twitter profile, and most recent blog post. And in doing this I’ve noticed something. Everyone else uses their name on their blogs while my signature is Mr. Midway. I thought maybe I should explain how I came to be called Mr. Midway.
A few years ago I was contacted about listing the big dipper roller coaster from Geauga Lake Amusement Park in Ohio. The owners had bought it at the auction following the closure of the park and were in need of finding someone who would buy the coaster and relocate it so they wouldn’t lose their investment. I took down the information, requested photos and did my usual work towards posting a ride on my site. In the description I wrote that the big dipper was a fine old coaster that in the right location could still thrill riders and make money. My respect for the coaster was what did it.
The owners of the big dipper posted a link to my ad on a message board for people who are fans of the defunct Geauga Lake Park. People from that forum started visiting my site to check out the listing. I received a big spike in traffic from it. I noticed this in my stats program, so I visited the forum. I was surprised to find that its members were impressed by my respect for the history of the coaster and the possibility of it being put in use again.
For some reason I decided to sign up for their forum. When I entered my information, I had to include the name of my company and website. Once I was accepted, I posted a subject saying that I was in deed working to sell the coaster and hoped they would continue to spread the word.
I received many kind replies to my post. I also followed along as the members shared stories and commented on the likely hood of finding a buyer for the coaster or finding someone to bring an amusement park back to the area. One of them referred to me as that Mr. Midway guy. Other people on the board started referring to me that way. The nick name stuck. And in all honesty I like the moniker.
I have adopted it as my face book profile, twitter profile, and skype user name. Although sometimes I use mister midway instead. I just wish I could have gotten either of these as a domain name. So, now you know why my blog posts and website pages say Mr. Midway instead of Max or Maxwell Ivey. What do you think? Should I stick with it or go back to using my proper name?
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Thanks and take care, Max
I think it’s a great name, Max, and as people already know you for it, I wouldn’t be inclined to change it now. Max is a great name, too, of course – but lots of people (and dogs!) are called Max – not so many Mister Midways, I imagine. And it has a nice ring to it.
Thanks for letting us know how it came about 🙂
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Hi Sue; First, let me thank you for being a loyal reader and commenter. You don’t know what it means to know you will have at least one comment. Or as a blogger yourself you probably do know just how it feels. I’m glad you liked the post. I wasn’t sure anyone would care to know. The only downside to the nick name is that most of the world refers to carnivals as fun fairs as I’m sure you know being from England. The term midway is not used much outside of the United States and north america. In mexico and latin america they call them la faria or las farias. This is the case even though the term midway was coined at one of the World’s fairs. Which coincidentally is the name of the number one trade publication for the fun fair industry in the United Kingdom and Europe. However, I agree the name is still a solid one that I need to look into trade marking. Would you know anything about the poor man’s trademark? thanks again. You are a wonderful friend Sue. Talk to you soon, Max
Hi Max,
Thanks for explaining why Mr. Midway. It’s a great name and you should keep it and brand it 🙂
Commenting on other blogs really helps to promote one’s own blog, but it really goes above and beyond that. I’ve built the best online relationships while visiting other blogs and starting friendships that went beyond the blog.
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Hi Sylviane; Thanks so much for your comment. Its great to have good friends whoo follow my blog and comment on its posts. I had kind of gotten used to not having any comments or only getting the occasional great post that you know came from a spammer. smile I have made so many good friends since taking Adrienne’s advice and getting involved in the blogging community by following more blogs and leaving comments on them. Several improvements to the site have come from bloggers who offered their help. And its only because of my new friends in the bloggosphere that my site has finally started to move up the alexa rankings. And I know that when I finally crack the top one million sites it wil be because of help from friends like you. I am glad you like the name, and I would appreciate suggestions on how to brand it. I am not ashamed to admit I don’t knowhow. Please let me know if I can ever do anything to help you. Thanks again and take care, Max
Hey Max,
I appreciate you sharing the history behind how you got the name. I’ve always assumed it just came because you are in the carnival industry. What do I know right!
I actually love it and like Sue and Sylviane, I say stick with what works best for you. The only reason most of us stuck with our names is because we may at some point down the road find ourselves changing direction in our business. For instance I started online in network marketing and then switched to affiliate marketing and then went back and dabbled in network marketing again.
I couldn’t find where I belonged. Had I gotten a domain that fit my network marketing venture at that time I would have had to start all over again with a new blog. This way, I can change directions as much as I want because my name is my brand.
I know you love what you do so I can’t see you changing directions so I think you’re doing good. You should be very proud of your accomplishments so far Max and keep up the wonderful work.
Enjoy your week.
~Adrienne
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Hi Adrienne; I just realized something instead of clicking reply I have been writing a new comment. Hope that hasn’t caused any problems for those of you sweet enough to leave comments. Because comments are like presents without having to put up a tree or go to the mailbox. smile I appreciate you telling me some of your own history as far as a name goes. I would like to do more to establish mr. midway as my brand and would appreciate any suggestions or links to past posts that could help with this. I only wish i had gotten the name sooner so i could have claimed the domain name. My brother says mistermidway is available but that isn’t the one i really want. And he tells me that if you try to get mr.midway.com it is considered a sub domain that is already claimed. I do need to trade mark both names and would appreciate a tutorial on how to do a poor man’s copy write. Thanks again for the beautiful comment. Take care my friend, max
Hi Max!
I’m a fan of using our own name, but Mr. Midway is a catchy one and I think it works just fine! It’s not like you are using “Ajax corp.com” lol.
If you brand yourself this way and have a page on your blog of this fascinating story, I think it will work well for you. It’s sharing part of who you are and what you have done. It is candid and personal.
Everyone loves a story! And I found this one fascinating. We all have our feelings about roller coasters. I couldn’t get my husband on one if I tried, but I’m a great fan of wooden roller coasters. Hey, I rode the Cyclone in Coney Island a million times!
-Donna
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Hi Donna; Thanks for the helpful comment. It sound like I may want to link this post to my about page? what do you think? And I’m hoping for suggestions on how to better brand myself. and i would have said acme instead of ajax but then i grew up on looney tunes cartoons. And when i was trying to sell that coaster I actually offered to go to its new home and be its first rider even though I am ascaired of roller coasters myself. This is the most comments I’ve ever gotten. Not sure if its the personal post, the commenting on other blogs, or both. And extra thanks for sharing on twitter. Take care, max
Hello Mr. Midway (i.e Mr Max)
The story of how you get this name is inspiring as well as touching. The respect you showed for the history of the coaster and the possibility of it being put in use again, must have been an emotional moment for many people. We all love and cherish the memories of those carnivals/amusement park which we visited in our childhood. A respectful mention of them is bound to touch a cord in all of us.
It also showed the depth of your knowledge and experience in this business. I don’t think anybody who is just starting out can show such respect for a coaster.
Thanks for telling me the importance of respect for others.
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Hi William; Thanks for reading the post and leaving such a heart felt comment. I try to show respect for people and there equipment whenever possible. I was disappointed that I couldn’t sell the big dipper coaster, but the estimate of a million dollars to relocate it and restore it to its former glory kept all buyers away. I wish you success with your site. Thanks again and take care, max
Hi Max
I found your story very interesting. Hey we all have stories don’t we! Since you are in the carnival business and that seems to be a recognizable name for your industry. Like they say if ain’t broke don’t fix it! It is sort of like the commercial “Mr. Clean”, I know that is not a real person, but we all have in our minds exactly what that represents. With being known as Mr. Midway, well it describes exactly what you do. There would be no doubt as to what someone would get. In the business of TV and entertainment we all know who Cher is or who Oprah is, there is no explanation or introduction to be made.
Hey if they forget your real name who cares as long as they remember Mr. Midway the carnival equipment guy. Sounds like you got a real winner there.
Mary
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Hi Mary; Thanks for stopping by and leaving such a great comment. You are right everyone knows who oprah and Sherr are. And I would be lucky if you are right and eventually people know me by mr. midway even if they don’t remember my name. Just wish i had had the sense to think of it sooner so i could get it as my website url. My brother Michael, who is the tech savey one of us, says i can get mistermidway.com but not mr.midway.com as this would be a sub domain of a site that is already claimed. Any suggestions on how I could further brand myself as mr.midway? And thanks to you and all my other good friends in the blogging community my site is now in the top 1 million sites according to alexa and I have passed the longest established company for selling amusement equipment when comparing based on the u s rankings. Let me know if I can do anything to help you. Take care, Max
Hi Max
You wanted suggestions, well I don’t know if there is any, but may be you could see if there are sites that promote carnival concessions. Might not be the correct words, but equipment for food booths, popcorn machines, cotton candy machines, etc. You could try making your name known around those sites (assuming there probably are). Hopefully they have a comment section and then you could leave helpful comments. I think that connections could help you in the circles you need to be in to promote your business.
Mary
Mary Stephenson recently posted…Brain Fog and How to Grab it by The Tail
Hi Mary; I have tried to find such sites to comment on. I have even used the comment love search engine without much success. The few sites that i have found only seam to blog about their latest equipment purchase or their latest event. I don’t want to be seen as spamming, so the question is finding a way to join the conversation. It may mean that instead of commenting i should start by emailing them. wonder why i didn’t think of that before now. It may be that someone wrote that in a post I was reading earlier this morning. smile Thanks for taking the time to give my problem some thought and leave me a good suggestion. When all else fails build relationships. Take care, max
Hi Max
Try this in Google.
carnival concessions blogs
Mary
Mary Stephenson recently posted…Brain Fog and How to Grab it by The Tail
Hi Mary; you are a star. smile Just never hit on the right combination in google I guess. I did your search and was impressed to find that the first result was to a post on the better business bureau’s blog. Now, I have more blogs to read and comment on. Thanks so much. Hopefully the same search string will work with fun fair food stall blogs or something similar. thanks again and take care, max
Max I think this is cool. MM is a great branding name, and it makes you stand out from the crowd. Standing out from the crowd can help promote your success in a big way.
Thanks for sharing!
Ryan
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Hi Ryan; Thanks for stopping by and leaving me feedback on the name. Now, that everyone agrees I need to take advantage of a good brand name, do you have any suggestions for how I could exploit the name? And like most small business owners free or low cost ideas are very welcome. smile extra points for having tweeted this post. Thanks again and take care, max
Stick with Mr. Midway. That’s how your market knows you and the name is memorable as a brand. As others have stated, you can get your name out there by commenting on blogs and being active on social media. Good luck!
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Hello; Thanks for checking out the blog and leaving me a comment. Sheryl said I would find a lot of great new friends on the bloggers helping bloggers group. I do intend to stick with mr. midway just wish i could have gotten it for a url. closest that is available is mistermidway.com Besides commenting and social media any other suggestions as to how I can make the brand more mine? thanks again and take care, max
Max — I would be sure that all your printed and online materials are consistently identified as Midway in design and color. Seems obvious but it’s important.
Jeannette Paladino recently posted…How Do You Reward Your Employees Who Serve as Brand Ambassadors?
Thanks for the suggestion and reminder. Is there an easy way to show a copy write on my pages? take care, max