Creating Your Own Online Identity

I'm amazed every day by people who have decided to go into business for themselves, or start a blog and never do the homework to make sure that the brand that they create will be something unique to them.

When I decided to create the Lifestylist® Brands over 20 years ago, the first thing I did was make sure that no one else had trademarked the term or used it in a way that would conflict with how I wanted to use it. Now it seems like everyone wants to be a Lifestylist or use my brand to promote their own vision.

If you are wanting to start your own brand and identity, I recommend doing 3 things before you put a lot of time and effort into your idea:

1. Visit the US Trademark website and make sure that someone else hasn't trademarked the term.

2. Visit your favorite domain registering service and make sure that the .com, .net, and .org registrations are available, and if not if the compnay who has registered them is using them or just is holding on to them to sell.

3. Use Google and the other search engines to see if anyone or any site has a strong tie to your name.

All of the above can be done in less than 30 minutes, but it can save you years of grief protecting your brand in the future. I hope this helps others protect themselves from the headaches I've had protecting my brand.

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