I don’t want to overly defend Laura (she can handle her own) but I am miserable at marketing myself… it’s the most paranoid feeling. Knowing what I do know about marketing and marketers, I never feel satisfied with anything that I do for my own image. I like to think that my work speaks for itself but even you have a post about not just relying on word-of-mouth.

The ends of any opinion that I have on marketing is “how will the customer behave with respect to what we do?” If Laura’s readers like the change then she succeeded. And, if WE think the change is a little odd ball, the the heck with us.

But it is blogs like this that keep us thinking and hopefully improving…. and getting more attention!

Dennis Miller is a comedian not an expert brander like you, so for him it’s okay.

Laura, if you’re open to a better name there are a lot of folks who would love to help. You write a fantastic blog and I for one am a fan, even if this blog post was critical.

Say the word an I’ll open it up to my readers and Facebook group and see what they come up with.

My name is Laura Ries. My company is Ries & Ries. My video reports at RiesReport.com and now my blog is RiesPieces.com.

I would never change the name of my company which is a serious business enterprise consulting with top companies. I don’t make any money off the blog, it is just my “pieces of advice” on the business of branding. The previous title was horrible, i just used the title of a book (a book that never became the bestseller we hoped it would mind you!)

Piece is a word used frequently by the media. David is right, I spend a lot of time these days doing television from Scoreboard on Fox Business to O’Reilly on Fox News to Mike & Juliet on Fox. So the title is a reflection of appearances, pieces and my personality which really comes across on television. I think I deliver information in an interesting and animated way.

The blog title is not meant to look like the candy brand. It is a play on words to help make it memorable. Have you ever seen Dennis Miller on the O’Reilly Factor, guess what they call his segments? Miller Time.

One of the biggest problems I face on a DAILY basis is: How do you pronouce your name?? Even life long fans have no idea how to pronouce it. This solves that problem with a rhyme. And a little controversy is never a bad thing. So keep talking! And if you have a better name suggestion I’d love to hear it.

- Laura

Laura does a lot of TV spots that are focused on the unsophisticated-in-marketing crowd. So, I’m thinking that the new name is a friendly access point for those people.