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Renaming RetireJapan

Posted: Tue Jan 03, 2023 6:40 am
by RetireJapan
It has come to my attention that the name RetireJapan may be hampering our efforts to reach as many people as possible so we can help them get their financial house in order.

What do you think? Do we need a new name?

If we decide to rebrand, what name should we switch to? This is just initial brainstorming, so please feel free to throw out any ideas in this thread.

Re: Renaming RetireJapan

Posted: Tue Jan 03, 2023 7:44 am
by adamu
Semi hijack.
RetireJapan wrote: Tue Jan 03, 2023 6:32 am Actually, just yesterday on Mastodon someone recommended RetireJapan to someone else, and the person replied with 'but I'm not planning to stay here until retirement, is it still going to be useful' so you are probably right.

We have really struggled to grow organically (our word of mouth is okay but still not very 'discoverable' it seems). That was my main motivation for starting the YouTube channel.

A rebrand, eh?

My immediate 'buts':
-I like the name
-we have all the domains, social media, etc.
-a lot of people are aware of the site

None of these are unsurmountable of course. I'll start a new thread to think about alternative names for the site/ecosystem.
Same for retirewiki.jp. Except I'm not planning to make the wiki a lifestyle business, rather a volunteer-maintained resource. Even harder.

For the wiki I considered "financewiki" and others, but I liked the emphasis on long-term that retire brings. At least for the wiki, by far the most traffic has come from people Googling, and most of that to Kuma's comparison article - so for organic traffic accurate good article names seems best. Although at 1.2k visitors/month, it's still a baby so maybe not so useful as a reference point.

Looking at Alphabet and Meta, even the big beasts get their rebrands wrong when they take themselves too seriously.

Re: Renaming RetireJapan

Posted: Tue Jan 03, 2023 9:44 am
by TokyoBoglehead
Well Money Mustache wasn't exactly a descriptive title.

I think you just need a tagline.

Retire Japan - Financial Independence for All

Retire Japan - What's your Plan for Retirement?

Retire Japan - An Anti-Establishment Pro China Political Party.

Re: Renaming RetireJapan

Posted: Tue Jan 03, 2023 10:00 am
by RetireJapan
TokyoBoglehead wrote: Tue Jan 03, 2023 9:44 am I think you just need a tagline.
It's currently 'Personal finance for residents of Japan'

Recently I've been using 'personal finance, investing, and retirement for residents of Japan'

Re: Renaming RetireJapan

Posted: Wed Jan 04, 2023 9:24 am
by northSaver
Some mediocre ideas which might inspire better ones:

Money Japan
Cash Japan
Stash Japan
Save in Japan
Personal Finance Japan

I'm not against "Retire Japan" but as others have noted it might put some people off at first.

Re: Renaming RetireJapan

Posted: Wed Jan 04, 2023 10:21 am
by Gareth
Yen Jozu

Re: Renaming RetireJapan

Posted: Wed Jan 04, 2023 1:19 pm
by Moneymatters
As RJ is a top hit when searching “personal finance Japan” I don’t think a name change will have much effect.
It wouldn’t generate more word of mouth.
I think the better conversation is one of identity.

This page is just excellent.
https://www.retirejapan.com/welcome-to-retirejapan/

There is a link to it and teaser under the first post of the home page.

“ Let me show you around If you are new to RetireJapan this post is for you. Perhaps you saw our article in the Japan Times? Or maybe a friend told you about the site. However you found us, welcome This site is for you. Specifically, it is for people living in Japan who would […]

Maybe the key points of that welcome page could to be promoted to the home page. A four bullet mission statement offerings kind of thing.
And take some of that content to form part of the tag line.

“A Community led initiative to assist Japan Residents navigating personal finance, investing and retirement planning.”

“Community led initiative supporting Japan residents on their financial empowerment journey with guides, forum coaching and other content”

“A Community to support Japan residents managing their money and controlling their financial future.”

I’m sensing I’ve gone all Don Draper and massively overstepped my remit here..

Maybe call it Samurai Finance. Oh. Sakura Wealth.

Re: Renaming RetireJapan

Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2023 1:22 am
by RetireJapan
Moneymatters wrote: Wed Jan 04, 2023 1:19 pm Maybe call it Samurai Finance. Oh. Sakura Wealth.
"The Ancient Japanese Art of..." :lol:

Thank you for the suggestions. Very helpful.

Re: Renaming RetireJapan

Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2023 8:12 am
by adamu
Image

Re: Renaming RetireJapan

Posted: Sat Jan 07, 2023 9:44 am
by OwenM
Though it’s been rather beaten to death, the word FIRE could perhaps help to crossover and attract Japanese readers, too. It might be interesting to have you interview some of the authors you recommend or Japanese bloggers related to this area. Could retire Japan become a hub for bilingual Japanese who are interested in Nisa, iDeco etc.?

Personally I like the name just fine. It has a low key feel that accurately describes why people should come here. I’m not really into being sold any particular lifestyle other than understanding how to manage finances in Japan.