When I first started internet marketing I was extremely naieve and believed everything, anyone told me. After all, these were the experts – right?

I paid a lot of money for a block of instruction, which basically consisted of a few half hour telephone calls at really awkward times, where the so called “expert”told me to go off and do certain things.  However, he didn’t tell me how to do them or where

to start.

I was supposed to ask questions if I had any problems, but as everything was a problem, I didn’t know where to begin.  Also, as I’d paid for a specific amount of time, I needed to get as much instruction as possible even if I had no idea how to implement it.

Ultimately, I spent a lot of money and achieved nothing. I have obviously wasted a lot of time and made MANY mistakes  getting this far, but I’m “failing forward” as Alex says. Another saying which comes  from a very good mentornamed,  Lisa Diane is – “When the student’s ready – the teacher will come”.

Now I’m ready, and hopefully if you are planning a life in internet marketing, YOU are too.

If you want a web presence you will need a domain name and here you must be a bit careful, as my recent experience reveals. If you want a site which offers domain name suggestions for free you can go here, and to actually buy a name this is a very good site www.GoDaddy.com

Here’s my story…………

Until very recently, I had a blog which dealt with weight loss. It’s a subject which affects many,  and especially women going through the menopause.

The site was up for several months, and although I didn’t post often, I was proud of my efforts and other people linked to it.  It was specifically NOT about dieting, but rather the need for healthy eating and exercise. You can possibly find it here depending on whether the new owners have renewed the domain name. If it’sgone then you’ll know they haven’t.

Anyway, I chose what I thought was a good domain name, based on the subject matter.  Unfortunately,  two consecutive words combined to make the name of a well known slimming club,  and although I had never mentioned the company either in my posts or in my meta tags, after severaI months I received a letter from a firm of Trade Mark lawyers advising me I had to stop using  the site immediately.  I was required to hand over the domain name to their clients or risk legal action.

It appears the company had no objection to my blog or its contents, infact they liked it, BUT they were concerned I was piggybacking off their reputation.

I offered to make a statement on the site confirming I had no links to them and recommending anyone who wanted to actually go to a slimming club check them out.  Their program is good (if you follow it)and I even wrote a poem about them once.

They  declined and I can understand that, I suppose.  So, although the use of their company in my domain name  was completely unintentional, I have relinquished control of the site because you don’t mess with these lawyers. I liked the posts though so they may well appear on here pretty soon!

My point is, you need to check!

Alex Jeffreys has kindly offered, indeed recommend, his students piggyback off his success, but not everyone is so obliging.

The problem is you won’t know when you buy a domain name whether you will face objection. The companies which sell you domain names don’t know whether names are Trade Marked or not, or in what categories they are listed. It is up to YOU to check.

All companies  can do is sell you a domain name IF no-one else has already taken it.  Obviously if you use your own name you are safe, but don’t use words consecutively which make up Brand Names or Company Names, especially if you are marketing in the same type of niche.  I did it accidentally and it was a real headache sorting everything out.

Apparently if I’d been in something completely different to health, weight loss, fitness, etc., the blog may still be there, but the company had registered their name in several categories in several countries, such was their desire to brand themselves.

So there you are – if you are worried others may piggyback off your hard work you might want to Trade Mark your particular name or product.

Just thought you ought to know.

For great web hosting click here

Jean

P.S.

We all get heavier as we get older because there’s a lot more information in our heads. That means I’m not fat, just really intelligent.  I guess my head couldn’t hold any more so it started filling up the rest of me.

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!

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