Selecting a title.

[sunrise_rachel]

How does one go about it?

I am the owner but I don't want to use that term on business cards, emails or signatures. President just seems to... large.

I have seen others doing the same thing I am use the term "Operations Manager" but I am not even sure what that is. sounds like a glorified position for something. I thouhgt of HR Mananger but then that sounded a little to "small" since I am the owner.

Perhaps I have looking into it to much? How do I chose a title to call myself without wanting to change it over and over?

[billbenson]

I just use manager.

[Harold Mansfield]

It's your company and you can call yourself anything you want because you really are all of those things.
Just pick what you think will be best received with your target audience.

Personally, I think titles like "CEO" and "President" are over blown if you are a one man show. It implies that there are people working under you.

I use different combinations of "Owner/Webmaster", "Owner/Project Manager", "Webmaster/Consultant".
To me it's important that whatever title I use says clearly that I do the work too. Not just a "boss". The combination of the titles lets larger agencies know that they can speak to me to make all decisions.

When I was a kid and we'd go on road trips, I used to truck watch. Loved Kenworth's. But I used to pay special attention to the guys that had "Owner/Operator" on their truck. They just always seemed more like "real truckers". That they really knew what they were doing and ran their own business doing it. They usually had the most tricked out rigs too.

[Steve B]

Think of something funny. You might as well get some mileage out of it since a title in a small company is just silly anyway.

[robinmark]

In this case my opinion is use manager and senior manager would be nice for you.

[sunrise_rachel]

Thanks all! Appreciate it!

[Jim Briggs]

Here's a thought: why not drop the title/role slot from your business card completely and use more space to state exactly what you do? What you are offering? Your value proposition to your prospective customers or to the general segment of people to which you'll give your business card.

Dropping the title short circuits the whole "who am I" discussion. Also, titles are like grades in school; they're constantly being inflated. Programmers become architects, managers become directors, directors become managing directors, owners become CEOS, and so on. And if you're just a lowly somthing-or-other, you're probably wearing many hats and doing the work of your boss anyway.

I assume that a lot of people are like me. Their bulls**t detectors are alway on, sniffing out inflated egos. People ultimately want to know not who you are but what you can do for them.

[huggytree]

i use Owner

The' President' is Obama.....ive always felt weird about using it as my title

Owner is what i am....thats why i use it...

[Freelancier]

I use my corporation as the brand, and I am President of the corporation, so that's the title I use on my business cards and correspondence. When I was a DBA, I think I used "owner".

Basically, this is for consumption by your customers. What will give them the most comfort with you and your business? Something funny probably isn't the best course on first meeting.

[Harold Mansfield]

I met a Graphic Designer a couple of years ago at a casino and her card's said "Creator in Chief". I thought that was just fine for her business and as you can see, 2 years later I still remember it.

I think it depends on your target audience. It's your business. Nothing wrong with showing a little personality, although something like that would probably go over better for a creative type service, rather than a Lawyer or an Accountant.