If you are serious send me a personal message.
It seems like your website is focused on YOU as the brand and so I’m kind of confused why you are backing away from that. Each partner needs to bring something to the table and I don’t know you but I assume you are bringing your race experience and reputation.
My suggestion MarkSET - It has some connections to racing, and training “sets” and also ties into your name.
MVR / MVA
It would seem that from the more offline notes i’ve gotten on this that the consensus is to keep the initials. You are the coach, you are the brand, you are the thing that people are seeking out.
yeah, but it’s a collaboration so more like dowhatirecommendandyouwillgetfasterbutletstalkabouthowitfitsintoyourlifeunlessyouareprothenjustdotheworkandshutup!
“current” website is. And i’m trying to take it down. We disabled the server and the link but for whatever reason it’s still there! Working on building a new site. At the landing page you can select between “the athlete” and “the coach” the current site is for my racing… or was for my racing :-p and eventually will be again… albeit new site
i’ve got two way different personalities. athlete and coach. former is happy go lucky and out there, latter is reserved and quiet and understated. The girl friend gets to watch this unfold often and finds it funny how i switch back and forth. 
yeah, but it’s a collaboration so more like dowhatirecommendandyouwillgetfasterbutletstalkabouthowitfitsintoyourlifeunlessyouareprothenjustdotheworkandshutup!
That’s too long for a bumper sticker.
it might cause some accidents
haha
.
All the combinations that involve the words “performance”, “system” and “triathlon” are taken, so you’re screwed there.
If you’re a serious professional, your name is your brand. You’re lucky that you have a non-forgetful name, so use it. And I mean “Mark van Akkeren”, not the douchy MarkyV.
I think Paulo had the best suggestion in this thread…you could go like a law firm and go with Mark van Akkeren and Associates (assuming you are the primary partner in all of this, your brand is the big differentiator, and you’re pulling the others to scale the business somewhat, without having the need to resort to automation of some functions like a few others have done which you have stated on ST that you would not do ex: EN model).
Dev
He’s from Traverse City, Michigan…maybe a dutch name but a Traverse City Trojan & may have been known to say “eh” at the end of sentences (because TC is close to da U.P.) sort of. Not sure but I think Gordie Howe has a place there or maybe was from the area? How about Tri2hurtme.com?
I would consider paying a professional to help you as all of these suggestions are pretty terrible.
You get what you pay for.
And surprisingly, it doesn’t cost that much anymore.
You should check out some crowdsourcing sites, where ad/branding freelancers all fight for your “job”. You write a brief giving the background information on your company… what you’re all about, what you stand for, your values, etc… and you then get a bunch of submissions. You choose which one you like best. The person that submitted it gets paid. You own the rights to everything (which, by the way, is very important… asking people on a public forum for names is really a pretty dicey business. Say someone gives you a name here, you use it, your company blows up, person who gave you name sues you… it happens all the time)
here’s one: www.crowdspring.com
Can also do it for logos, web design. Etc.
The ad agency world hates these sites because it really shows how inefficient and over-priced the agency world can be.
Will you get a name and logo worth $50,000 worth of work? No. But I really question how many names and logo projects are really worth $50,000+. Not many.
But for a few hundred bucks… you will certainly do most better than what you’ll get here…
Look outside of triathlon at other “big name” sport coaches. Can you name the business entity behind any of them? Most are known by their name and people seek them out.
Drop the “racing” and the “MarkyV” from the business. Keep the MarkyV on the forum but stick with your name, and buy domains that could have easy misspellings on your last name.
The girl friend gets to watch this unfold often and finds it funny how i switch back and forth.
I think the exact word she used was Bipolar!
Some good slogans could be, never let a good cup of coffee get in the way of writing a schedule
Look, you’ve got something going with coaching and your name. You’ve already started building the brand. Keep building it.
I on the other hand couldn’t use my initials for my business. I can see it now BS Triathlon Coaching or BS Fitness
Logo, Website, Camps, RESULTS, Catchy Business Name, High Performance
.
All the combinations that involve the words “performance”, “system” and “triathlon” are taken, so you’re screwed there.
If you’re a serious professional, your name is your brand. You’re lucky that you have a non-forgetful name, so use it. And I mean “Mark van Akkeren”, not the douchy MarkyV.
I think your confused. The V is for Victory!
Crowd sourcing was what i was after with posting here. Knowing full well that I’d get a lot of “meh” but perhaps something would come of it.
This isnt a business, it’s a coaching service. Agree that at a results based level the brand is you. You are what the athletes want, you are what provides the guidance they need.
Writing a schedule months in advance and then giving short shift to it (and the athlete) after it’s released is not coaching.
MarkyV is the athlete
Just me, is the coach… see earlier post about the two “me’s”
That’s some funny shit
Agree on the brand building. Just me is the coaching brand.
Very interesting thread. As a Career Coach, I can see where you would meld your personal and professional Brands. Chris Carmichael uses the brand name Lance to promote his own personal brand. Matt Dixon, however, uses a term that neither denotes Triathlon nor his personal brand. It seems to work for him. Siri Lindley seems to be purely by personal brand, though endorsements by Brett Sutton don’t hurt. Dave Scott certainly benefits from his formidable personal brand, but it’s backed by many years of Coaching.
You have to wonder who is your target audience? Veterans who know you or of you from your race days, or the newer crop who don’t know the ChuckieV. It would seem to me that there would in todays market have to be a strong program offered backed by your reputation.
I have finally learned that my selection of a Coach would not be based purely on their athletic achievements. The program has to work for me.
Being a veteran (older person, not experienced triathlete) I would certainly consider you as a Coach given your race reputation, but would only choose you if the program was the right one.
So figuring that out first will lead you to better understand the label and brand name you choose.
My point is your crowd-sourcing in the wrong place.
All you’ve received is either very obvious, very boring, or very, um… dumb… ideas. All of which anyone can think up on their own.
No offense to people the good people of slowtwitch… but they don’t do this for a living.
Also, how many names have your really generated? Not very many.
My opinion: just like you want someone to pay you to help them with triathlon, you should use professionals to concept your business.
My example with crowdspring (which I have nothing to do with) - it really doesn’t cost that much.