1 Thing You Need to Know About Protecting A Coaching Brand Online
what do Tim Ferriss, Tony Robbins, Brene Brown all have in common?
These are all personal names that operate as more than just a name. What have they all done? They've taken their individual names and turned them into brand names. This is key when it comes to protecting a coaching brand online.
The difference between a personal and brand name
The difference between a personal name and a brand name is called "trademark use." Using your personal name as a brand name is super common in the coaching industry. Look up your favorite big-name coach and I'll bet you will find paperwork surrounding a registered trademark. You can see examples of Tim Ferriss and Tony Robbins and Brene and how they registered their personal names and connection with specific services.
do you use your personal name?
What's the difference between offering coaching services and using your name as a brand name? Let me kind of put it into website terms. What's the name on the top menu or the header of your website? Is that your personal name? Or is it kind of a business name?
For example, here on my website, you can see that I offer legal services. You might even call me a legal coach! Notice how at the top of my website, it says Spear IP? In fact, you don't see my name until you go to the About Me page. This is NOT an example of using your personal name as a brand name. My brand name is Spear IP, even though I offer legal coaching services.
Just because you are a person who offers coaching services doesn't necessarily mean that your personal name is your brand name. If you're a coach and you're offering coaching services, then that's great. But if your own personal name isn't that client-facing brand name, like Tim Ferriss, like Tony Robbins like Brene Brown, (or Oprah, Martha Stewart, and Michael Kors), and others that use their personal name as a brand name, your name is just your name. It's not a trademark.
want to protect a coaching brand online? your personal name may or may not operate as your brand name.
It's not enough to just offer services yourself. When it comes to protecting a coaching brand, your personal name has to be that client-facing brand name to earn that trademark protection. So dial down on whether you are using your personal name, or brand name and get it protected!
Head to spear-ip.com/quiz and take my free quiz that will diagnose the legal blind spot that secretly killing your business. Not only is it going to tell you what your blind spot is, but it's gonna tell you how to fix it yourself.