Is it better to use your real name or a brand name for a blog?

This post was originally published in [2021] and has been fully updated for 2026 with new data and tools.

When I first started blogging, I thought a clever brand name was the key to success.

But as we move deeper into 2026, I’ve realized that people don’t follow logos; they follow faces.

Deciding is it better to use your real name or a brand name for a blog is the most important foundation you’ll ever build.

Whether you want to be a faceless authority or a personal brand powerhouse, your naming strategy dictates how much trust you earn from both your readers and the search engines.

It’s better to use your real name with blogging and be real, but you can use a fake name and not show your face.

Keep reading, and I’ll share 2 ways to get noticed in our crazy times, the one thing that is preventing you from making BIG money, the one thing you can do to make a lasting impression, and 1 way to land right hooks!

Mining for Gold: How to Turn Your Archive into a 2026 Passive Income Stream

Marketing is somewhat similar to mining for gold, right? Instead of sifting through rocks, you are sifting through people.

There is a great story about someone going west in the U.S. with a pick and shovel to look for gold. One day, after lots of work, he found GOLD.

Getting all excited, he goes and finances “all kinds” of equipment.

With this equipment, he was able to get a WHOLE car of gold, then his hopes got really high. A few more cars and it will pay for all this equipment, but the next drill came up with nothing.

He kept drilling and looking, but found no more gold. Finally, he quits and sells the equipment for next to nothing. The guy who purchased the equipment called in an expert to look at the mine.

The expert explains the vein would be found 3 feet from where the drill stopped. The second guy took millions of dollars because he got expert help, and he went deep.

Not just with marketing, but in developing Daaps for crypto, real estate, or ANY skill, there is more money in going deep rather than shallow.

Branding really is JUST going deep.

If you look at VERY successful marketers, such as Kim Kardashian, she goes deep because MANY people can connect with her.

She shows you her life, and she opens up, right?

This is one reason she is worth SO much money! By going deep, she is able to make a bigger impact on other people’s lives, and this impact justifies her salary.

You could say a Brand is just the impact something has had on your life. Big brand is big impact, little brand is little impact!

How to Write High-Value Pillar Content: My Step-by-Step Framework for Going Deep

Another fantastic marketer is Gary Vee, and he wrote a great book called Jab, Jab, Jab Right Hook. The jab means to give, and the right hook is to ask.

All the jabs do is build up his brand, so it’s easier for him to get a yes when he asks. He basically guilt-trips people into doing business with him.

He thinks more long-term rather than shallow, and this is one reason he is worth SO much money. Also, he comes across as very real and genuine, and this helps his brand.

If you’re shallow on your name, (not using your real one), then it’s sort of hard to go deep, right? By its very nature, it’s a little shallow.

Do you know ANY successful marketers who don’t use their real name? I really can’t think of any!

You could also look at going deep with another “great” book by Russel Brunson called Dot Com Secrets!

I think that one of the BEST ways to go deep is to be genuine yourself, and this helps other people open up, and this helps to go deep in their heart (sounds cheesy, I know).

People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care!

In a world where MORE and more people are being fake, being MORE real is only going to help your brand and earn you more money in the long run. I’m not saying I’m Mr. perfect on this, but it’s something I’m thinking about.

Now, you can choose what you want to share with people. I know Gary Vee doesn’t even show pictures of his family.

The Depth Era: Why ‘Deep Blogging’ is the Only Way to Outrank AI in 2026

I got started (a very LONG time ago) marketing products door-to-door, then over the phone, and then on the internet.

With the Internet, I started with article marketing and promoting affiliate offers. Then I moved into a horrible blog (I didn’t know what I was doing) then I went to Youtube and now I’m back to “mostly” blogging.

There are a lot of GREAT things about a blog

For starters, it’s a jumping-off-platform. You can take your blog and post it on other places, such as Substack, Medium, LinkedIn, Quora, or even take portions of your blog and “easily” make a YouTube video.

You can also take the sound from your YouTube video to make a podcast.

You OWN the blog, and there is a lot of cool stuff you can do with it (like ads). Blogging is almost like fishing in a different pond than Youtubers or social media.

The coolest part is that blogging can be less crowded depending on what you blog about!

I do think that there is something about video especially (live video) that is going to allow you to connect with someone deeper.

Why not start with a blog and then, when the time is right, do both?

I share 20 benefits of a blog and how to start one step by step, and even how AI can be used in this post HERE.

Getting Noticed: A Zero-Click Strategy for Landing Your First 1,000 Readers

Before you build a brand (image) it does help to get your foot in the door. This can be challenging because there are a thousand things fighting for your attention.

When it comes to a brand, it does help to have an enemy. Dave Ramsey’s enemy is debt, and Robert Kiyosaki is the school system.

Having some controversy does help get noticed. You could also look into the book Differentiate or Die, and that is great for getting attention.

If everyone zigs, you zag, oh, and that is the title of another book, right?

Beyond the Click: How to Build Lasting Author Authority in the 2026 SEO Landscape

Getting your foot in the door is a good thing, but we want MORE, right? We want to make a lasting impression. One way to create a lasting impression is to be yourself.

When Sam Walton (founder of Walmart) lost a bet, he went to the New York Stock Exchange, with a Hula Hoop and full Hawaiin Gear.

Of course, there was a FULL T.V. crew and other dancers to squeeze in the embarrassment.

Another example would be the YouTuber Is it worth a buy, who sometimes puts in a picture of Tommy Lee Jones in his videos. This is just him, and it works for his brand.

Maybe you have a YouTube channel that is black and white, such as Jocko Willink, or maybe you’re the enemy of using custom thumbnails for your videos.

Another example is maybe your blog has random words that are ALL capitals, which I enjoy doing. You could use your own photos to be yourself (I need to work on this part).

Conclusion: Is it better to use your real name or a brand name for a blog?

For myself, I didn’t have a problem with jabs and giving away free stuff (I was too nice).

My problem was the right hook and asking for something. Kids have NO problem asking for stuff, but sometimes adults don’t want to because we are too proud, right?

What is crazy is that there is a way to land the right hook, which is VERY fun for you and the reader. What is very interesting is you can be VERY creative with the right hook (yea have FUN asking someone for money).

It’s one of the MOST valuable skills I think a marketer can learn how to do. It’s almost like a guy asking a girl out. Sure, you can be nice, but eventually, the guy has to make a move, right?

That move is the right hook, asking for someone’s business, promoting an affiliate offer, or asking someone on a date.

If you’re struggling with this, I created a whole FREE guide on copywriting. It also goes over building a landing page, building a list, and how to earn money from the list.

You can view this FREE guide HERE.

If anything, it will give you MORE options on how to ask for business, and you can use these unique ideas or not (This taps into the power you already have).

I hope this blog post on should I Blog with my real name was helpful. Bye for now.