People often remember my name but forget Automation Sprints. I’ve been running this brand for a few years, and I’ve observed it happen repeatedly. The brand name would slip but my name wouldn’t.
I’ve decided to rebrand to go back to a personal brand. And it’s not just because it’s easier to remember my name than Automation Sprints. The name had become a constraint in other ways too.
What “Automation Sprints” couldn’t hold
I am a system builder as well as an automation builder. I design and build the systems that run modern marketing and events: connecting tools, data, and workflows so everything actually works together.
The word “Automation”
Automation is part of what I do, but not everything, and I struggled to express that under the Automation Sprints name.
A recent project is a good example. A client built a new mobile app and hired a company to develop it, but they needed it integrated with their website and Salesforce. When someone logs into the app, they’re authenticated against their details in Salesforce via the website. I built an OAuth service that connects to Salesforce to verify those details and sends them back to the app. I also integrated events booking, so users can book events directly through the app. That’s not what people typically think of when they hear “automation.” What I’m doing is custom development and system building.
Another example is a direct debit form on a website that integrates with a modulus checker and Salesforce. When someone fills in their direct debit details, it pushes into Salesforce. You could argue that’s automation, but it also falls under custom development, or building a small system. The term automation is too restrictive for that kind of work.
The word also carries its own baggage. Some clients have a negative perception of it. They’ve heard “automation” everywhere: impersonal outreach, AI tools they don’t fully trust, low-level ops work.
Automation and AI have become conflated in a way that creates unnecessary friction before a conversation has even started.
It has started to undervalue my API and architecture experience and capability.
The word “Sprint”
I’ve realised the word “sprint” sounds tactical and temporary, even though that was not the intention.
I’ve used the sprint model for a long time, on development projects, and it’s a useful method to break down bigger projects into smaller, time-boxed iterations with a feedback cycle between each sprint.
However, the clients who were coming to me for automation services didn’t always see it that way. They generally want to buy one sprint, and get as much done within that sprint.
So the word emphasised speed and ended up limiting the perceived scope.
Focusing on speed isn’t the way to build reliable systems. And people don’t expect deeper system design or strategy.
The combination
The net effect of combining both of these words is that it was positioning me as an executor of tasks, rather than a designer of systems.
I am designing systems. So I need to break free from the name.
The SEO question
Moving to a personal brand has a real SEO trade-off, and I want to be honest about it.
I’m redirecting articles from Automation Sprints to my personal site using 301 redirects. That should theoretically transfer link equity, but it doesn’t always work out in practice, and I may lose some benefit in the process.
The personal site is also broader, so if people search for automation-related topics, it may become less likely that I appear because the site isn’t solely focused on automation. Having the word “automation” in the domain name probably helped with searches like “automation consultant” or “marketing automation agency.” My personal name doesn’t convey what I do to search engines.
Over time, as I build authority for niche topics (Make.com, Salesforce integrations, business operating systems), my name will hopefully become associated with those topics. But that’s a longer build.
The bigger point though: SEO is no longer my primary strategy. My main strategy for acquiring new clients is community engagement, networking, and building a referral engine. It will be relationship-driven, not search-driven. When people meet me at an event or in a community, they’re more likely to search for my name than “automation consultant.” If they remember Automation Sprints, they have to recall both the company name and my name, which is a lot to ask.
The two-site problem
When I was running Automation Sprints, I was also writing on my personal site. And this created a two-site problem.
For example, if I wrote about a tool like Sunsama, which I use for weekly planning and has an element of automation, I wasn’t sure which site it belonged on.
I’m now able to write content on one site, for one predominant audience. The content isn’t always about automation, but it is for a common audience.
This means I only have one site to think about and can put all my efforts into making it the best site possible. One great site is better than two average sites.
Positioning trade-off
There’s a trade-off on the positioning side: Automation Sprints was descriptive, which helped. A personal name is a blank slate. I need to fill it with positioning details on the site itself. That’s work, but it’s work I’d rather do once than be stuck with a name that can’t stretch.
I am a solo operator. Clients are buying my judgment, experience, and taste. A name like Automation Sprints suggests a team or a methodology, which creates unnecessary friction. A personal brand is more honest.
What stays, what changes
Most of my existing clients didn’t come through the Automation Sprints brand anyway. They know my company name, Wadman Consulting Limited. This won’t affect them.
Automation Sprints isn’t going away completely. It will continue as a service on my personal site. It will be one of three primary services. The three services are:
- Quick Start: for smaller builds, enhancements and fixes. Billed by the day
- 1:1 Systems Coaching: a thinking or training partner, not a builder
- Automation Sprint: 4-week engagement to design and build automations for one part of your marketing operation
A personal brand is a flexible container. It can hold systems coaching, writing experiments, client work across different domains, without me having to rename everything each time my focus shifts. I can keep Automation Sprints as a service while everything else grows around it, under my name.
We’ll see how it goes. But the call for change has been building for a while.