The Ultimate Blog Podcast - 30. Whitney Bower shares why your blog should be trademarked

Episode Date: July 12, 2022

Should your blog be trademarked? These are the things that we don’t always want to think about but realizing how important it is can help. Our guest today, Whitney Bower, is an intellectual property lawyer who specializes in trademark and copyright. She has made it her mission to help the social media entrepreneurs, including bloggers. Whitney shares why bloggers need to be trademarked, how to find out if your blog name is already taken, when we should start the application process (earlier the better), how long it takes to become trademarked, intent to use (ITU) filing, the risks of not being trademarked, and how you can go about getting a trademark.Whitney shares valuable information with you that you can benefit from. She shares how you can work with her (one on one or through her course) in order to be sure that your brand/blog is trademarked.Check out the show notes (link below) for links and resources mentioned in this episode!Thanks for listening! Connect with us on Instagram: @sparkmediaconceptsIf you need questions answered before you start your blog, check out The Blog Depot, an online course and membership community!SHOW NOTES: www.sparkmediaconcepts.com/episode30 

Welcome to the Ultimate Blog Podcast with Amy Reinecke and Jennifer Draper. We're on a mission to empower women who want to start or grow their own blog. This podcast is for women who want to learn blogging basics and who crave inspiration and encouragement. Whether you're just getting started or have been a blogger for years, we're excited to welcome you into this space where we are passionate about creating community over competition. We are bloggers who want to encourage you to believe in your potential, step outside the norm, and step into a life where you create your own schedule, your own success, and your own story. Join us for weekly episodes as we navigate blogging

and work from home life, all while raising a family and having some serious fun along the way. all while raising a family and having some serious fun along the way. Today, we are talking with Whitney Bauer. And if you have ever wondered if your blog needs to be trademarked, Whitney is here to drop all the knowledge that you need to know. Whitney, welcome to the Ultimate Blog Podcast. Thank you so much. I'm happy to be here. to the Ultimate Blog Podcast. Thank you so much. I'm happy to be here. Yes. So let's start out today by having you introduce yourself and who you are and what you do to our listeners. Yes. Hey there. I am Whitney and I am an intellectual property lawyer specializing in trademark and copyright. I love the business model of a social media-based entrepreneur. So within the last couple of years, that has been my niche and focus.

I help social media entrepreneurs protect their brand and their content. So they protect their brand via trademark and their content via copyright. And I could literally talk all day about it. So let's go. Let's go. We love talking to you. We've had the opportunity to have a couple of different calls with you. And it's just been really interesting because I think as bloggers, we don't always think about this out of the gate. Like you think, okay, I have a story that I want to share. I have something that I want to put on a website and share with the world.

And then we might backtrack and be like, maybe I should protect myself. So for anybody who's listening, who hasn't started a blog, or if you already have, the first thing I want to tell you is don't panic. She just said that before we got on. None of this is a panic situation. We are just arming you with the knowledge that you need to know in order to be protected. And whether or not you already are protected, as long as you're looking at how you can protect yourself, you're on the right track. So let's dive into trademark. That's our main focus for today.

And so can you start out, Whitney, by sharing with everybody the definition of a trademark? What does it mean to be trademarked? Yes. Okay. So I'm going to give you just the basic definition first, and then we'll talk about it. A trademark is any word, phrase, symbol, design, or combination of those things that identifies your goods or services. It's basically how your audience recognizes you in the marketplace. And that's why sometimes bloggers don't think about this because they're not thinking of themselves as a service yet. They're not even thinking about that part of it. And that's, I think, probably the biggest thing that I see people doing, and not just in blogging,

but probably in life, is when you're starting a process, you're not thinking about how big this could be. I think that we all need to start at the beginning thinking about whatever project it is that we're doing, how big can this be? And that's where I see people getting caught because it can be as big as you want it to be, number one. And number two, you want to set yourself up in the beginning for when this becomes amazing and you're making revenue from it and you're making six figures, you know, you're, you want to set yourself up for that from the beginning. So that's the biggest thing that I tell people is, um, dream the biggest dream you can for yourself. I know that sounds trite, but that start out thinking that way instead of, Oh,

this is just a little blog. I don't, this is not, no, this is big blog energy. We're thinking of it like that because why would you start something if you didn't want it to be, you know, something, something big and fun and helping others and that kind of thing. So that's the definition of a trademark. And that's why that's important because it is what identifies you to the world. It's your unique moniker that says, this is mine. This is what I'm putting out there. And that's when someone sees, whether it's from a blog or from your handle or whatnot, it's coming from that moniker. Think about it.

When you see people, like if you have somebody that you follow and you were to see them in the grocery store, then you're going to think that's beautifully broken journey. Oh, there's spark media. You know, that's, that's how we think nowadays. It's, it's so funny that we think that way, but we think of people by their service that they're putting out into the world and they're doing that via social media. So that's so true. That's so true. And what I love about what you just said

is take yourself seriously from the start. Yeah. That was a big takeaway that I just gathered from what you're saying. And I think that that's great advice because we can achieve anything that we want to, but it starts with our mindset first. So as you're starting your blog, take it seriously. So it's not just the time and energy that you're putting into creating your blog, but also as in setting up the business and how you're spending your time and energy and how you're protecting yourself. So those are all wonderful things to consider and take that great advice from Winnie for sure. So you kind of answered my next question already, but would you say that most bloggers or all bloggers do need to be trademarked?

Yes. And I'm not just saying that because that's my business, because I obviously can't work with every blogger in the universe, even though I'd love to. I'm saying it because it's an online universe. You're putting your product or you're putting your service out into the universe, the world, and then that is your audience. So your trademark, and technically for bloggers, it's a service mark because we're providing a service, right? But I use the word trademark to encompass both of those and most lawyers do. So just if you hear that and go, huh, because usually some people will think a trademark is just for a product. And really,

we're using that as an umbrella term to mean include also a service mark. So technically, bloggers is a service mark. And I know that and now you do too. So with a service mark and a trademark, we're putting our service out into whoever wants to listen. So if everyone in the country is listening, if you do a state-based trademark, you're only protected in your geographical area. So that doesn't matter because as we three know, we are in all different parts of the country, you know, and we're, we found each other and are listening to each other. People listening right now are in all different parts of the country. So you need a federally registered trademark so that you're protected through your audience, right? Versus state, right? So every blogger should consider themselves to,

to need a federal trademark. So if they're in the beginning stages and they're looking at what to name their blog, should they go look somewhere and see, is there somewhere where they can find out if the name they're thinking of has already been taken? Is that kind of the first step in terms of deciding on a name? Yes. So that process is called a clearance search and it can get pretty involved, but there is a good, just basic way to do it. And that is by going to the federal database. has a federally registered trademark because that's who you're essentially competing with on names because that's where your market is, right? So attorneys call it TESS, but it's open to anyone that wants to go on there. And it's at the USPTO office and you can go on and you can look and just see, is this taken? Has someone used it in my category? So the blogging category specifically is 41. And then there's another category that I recommend protecting under, and that's 35. 35

is there's a marketing and promotion kind of category. And 41 is an actual blogging online publication category. So those are the two that I would really want you to protect because in essence, your goal, and you guys can tell me more about this, but your goal is to be promoting the products of others. And that's where that category 35 comes in. So you would just need to see if your name

or the combination of your name, the combination of your words is available in those two categories. So it may feel overwhelming because you'll go into that system and it's a government based website. So, you know, it's not the newest technology, right? If you do like the DMV online or anything like that, you'll be like, okay, this is familiar,

but it's actually, it's pretty intimidating, but it's so possible to do. I'm like, if they I'll see people, you know, after they've gone through the, the not looking it up before. And I'm thinking if they would have just done that one search on that one word, then they would know this can't be used, you know, or it may be able to be used. Like you might have your blog and it's fine. But at some point, you're in danger of someone saying, oh yeah, just kidding. You can no longer blog from here because that name is mine. You don't want to be at risk.

I mean, you don't want that risk. I wouldn't want that risk. Right. So essentially when someone is starting out, it would be ideal for them to go to this specific website, take a look and search, see if their name or a variation of their name is available. And then I think a question would be, do they then need to start the trademark process at that point or can they hold off or is it best to just get it going?

The reason I'm asking this is if I'm not mistaken, the trademark process takes about a year. Is that correct? You're correct. And that's only, it's only because of the USPTO's response time. They're just overwhelmed right now. And they're about to be a lot more overwhelmed because I'm telling everybody to get their trademark on their blog. So, but you know, during the pandemic, there was a really shift in people figuring out different avenues to make an income. Right. And so when

that shift happened, they were like, Hmm, maybe I need to do this. Maybe I need to do that. And I think that may have contributed to like the massive amount of people applying for trademarks, but it used to be around three to six month total process. And it's now about a year. So if you think about it, you want to think in terms of, okay, I'm starting this blog today, but in a year, it could be crazy. I mean, I'm going to take an example of, and just bear with me on this example, the D'Amelio girls, Charlie and Dixie. Okay. These girls I've watched, I watched their trademark process because I'm a nerd like that. And I use it to cure insomnia, but I watched their process as they went through that in 2018, these girls, no one knew who these girls

were. Okay. 2019, they had a millions of followers. Things can change quickly, you know, and that's my biggest message is it can go from zero to 60 in five seconds. And if you don't already have it reserved, then you've got the danger of number one, someone else may have it. Or number two, you can't really get your mark on that phrase or that name for some other reason. So it's good to start the process at the beginning

just because it takes so long. I mean, a year is ridiculous. Within a year, if you've started your blog and then in a mean, a year is ridiculous within a year. If you've started your blog and then in a year, if it is what you want to be using that as a revenue stream and that producing a healthy revenue for you, that will happen. And you want to protect it. Of course you want to protect your revenue stream, you know? So. Absolutely. So let's, let's say we're applying, we're starting the process. Okay. So let's just take beautiful broken journey because that's my own and I am not

trademarked. I'm admitting that I will be, I will be, but I am not yet. This is one of the big reasons we're having Whitney's because we, we need to learn this. So Beautifully Broken Journey, currently not trademarked. Do not steal it if you're listening. So I need to like go to this website, type in my name. When is that quote unquote reserved? Like how would I know? Okay. Let's assume that it's going to pass. Let's assume that I'm good to go. And then when do I know, like, so let's say I go in today, then when would that be protected in a way that nobody else could come in behind me and get it done? Is it that year mark or is it protected before then? So you are, when you have put your application in, you, even if eventually they reject it or something for that period of time, your mark is what's, what's called live. And you are holding, that's a place marker. Your, that your place is being held for that name. So you'll see, if you go on the system now and you did a search on whatever on, even on yours,

I haven't looked at yours yet. I probably should have done that before today, but you go and you see, you know, some different combinations. You might see some live marks, but they do not have a full registration certificate because they will, they've applied in January or March, you know, so they're pending, but I can't come in after them and usurp them because I'm cooler. You know, the other part of this message is that I want everyone to understand is that your follower count, your audience does not matter. If you have a blog that has two followers, first of all, love those two people for right now, because then it'll grow.

But your blog is no less than a person that has 2 million. no less than a person that has 2 million. The USPTO examiners do not look and say, okay, well, Susie's more popular. So she gets the name. They do not do it that way because they don't go into, first of all, they probably don't even have Instagram accounts or social media. They don't look at those channels. So the other thing that's so interesting to me and really why I started to get fascinated with this business model, this, this area of business blogging and influencers and that kind of area was that I was looking at it and I was saying like, trademark examiners don't understand that whole world, the social media, the blog, they don't understand that world. And so it doesn't necessarily translate, but theoretically let's do an analogy here.

Susie in her basement that has a blog audience of two people. Okay. And then we've got like Jenny that has a blog audience of 20,000. They both have a blog called I love mangoes. Okay. They both have a blog called I Love Mangoes. Okay. If Susie in her basement with two followers files for her mark on I Love Mangoes, and she's really blogging to her two people, and she files for her mark in that name, if she meets the requirements, regardless of her audience, she gets the mark. Jenny in her basement is gone. Now, it's going to take Susie saying, I own this

mark, Jenny, you can't blog anymore under that name, but there can be two different blogs going on at the same time that are sort of similar. And it doesn't matter your audience size, which is, I know that blows our minds because in the social media world, we think, Which is, I know that blows our minds because in the social media world, we think, oh, well, you know, I've been around longer. Well, the USPTO doesn't know you've been around longer because they are not on your Instagram account. Right. They're looking at the federally registered database of marks. So this is enlightening because we say often, often to to people you do not own your social media this is just another way of saying that like you don't actually own that unless it's trademarked

so you don't own your content unless it's on a blog like you don't own your name unless it's trademarked is that right right because the ultimate thing that Instagram and especially TikTok I've learned because I have some private TikTok clients, that's such an interesting space because I'm new at that space, but it's such an interesting space because this is an example of what happens. Let's say my name is, I love mangoes. I don't know why that's my blog name today, is I love mangoes. I don't know why that's my blog name today, but that's my name. I've never even eaten a mango, but that's my blog name. And I have two followers. I'm in my basement. I get my trademark. I go through that process. And then let's say on TikTok, somebody that really has always loved mangoes, that's always been over there. I take my federally registered trademark to TikTok and I say, just kidding. I own this because I do. I have a registered trademark.

Then this girl over here that's been dancing for her life for years, you know, on TikTok, all of a sudden she's no longer, I love mangoes. She is user 947749. Boom. Because I have a federally registered trademark and TikTok says, this is the law. We have to obey the law. So to me, that's crazy. Yeah. It's kind of scary to think about. It is. I think if you're a content creator and you haven't gone through this process, but now we know. And so now we can take a step forward. Well, right. The good news, this is the kind of the good news is that first of all, I don't want to, you know, I don't want panic to ensue, but the good news is that people really haven't

caught on to this, but you know, who is catching on to it? These companies with big legal teams, that's who's catching on to this, but you know who is catching on to it? These companies with big legal teams, that's who's catching on to it. Because let's say, I can't use examples of my actual clients, so I'm having to think of silly examples because that whole confidentiality thing, but let's say that you're a restaurant, okay? And you have a product called Shakey's or something, and you just have a food product. Well, the legal team with McDonald's or whatever has said, let's turn Shakey's into a blog. Let's make him a character and turn him into a blog. And then their trademark attorneys are immediately filing in your category. So that's what I'm seeing. I mean, in my, with my private clients, I'm saying

not just with blogs, but with anybody in that social media entrepreneur space, you know, these big companies that have these big legal teams are smart enough to know that I need to reserve that name. Like I need to get that reserved before, you know, we launched whatever computer program, whatever online program, whatever, whatever it is. I've actually had that somebody, a restaurant that had a food product. And I'm like, why? And why would they register in this category for this food product that doesn't even apply? And it totally put my client out of the running for this name, just because it happened to be the same as this food product. I'm like, what in the world? And the funny part is that they registered under an intent to use. They're not even using it that way yet the restaurant,

but they're just blocking it essentially basically blocking it because they have the resources to do it. So I don't want this to be like a, Oh, we're doomed kind of thing Basically blocking it because they have the resources to do it. So I don't want this to be like a, oh, we're doomed kind of thing. Because it's not. Because the majority of the time, a lot of time, you can protect it. You really can. There's a lot of times. Because people are so creative. I see the coolest names.

And sometimes I'll see a name on, you know, through socials. I'll be like, that's the coolest name. And, you know, of course, the first thing I do is go into the test system and look it up and see, like, is it protected? Are they crazy? They need to do it today, you know, which is why my course is here because I'm like, it makes me so nervous to see somebody with like the best name and then they haven't protected it because they don't, honestly, it's a core thing. They don't feel worthy yet. They don't feel worthy of protecting what they're putting out there because they feel

small. I want to be like, girl, you are not going to be small forever. You know, like wherever you're starting, that can be something huge, especially if it's an awesome name. Maybe not. I love mangoes, but anything else, Maybe not. I love mangoes, but anything else, maybe not. I love mangoes. Do you want to start building a foundation for your blog? Do you have questions you need to answer before you start? Do you wish that you had someone there to hold your hand through the

process? We are so excited to share that we have created a membership community just for you. The blog Depot is an online course and membership community that will teach you the foundations you need to build a blog. We teach you about niching down, finding the right mindset, the best platform to build a blog on, and so much more with monthly coaching calls inside the community, you will find the support you need to finally make your dream a reality. The doors are open to join this amazing blogging community, and we can't wait to help you. Find the link to join the blog depot in the show notes. So if they've maybe started on social media and they have this cool name, but they haven't even started their blog yet, can they start the process of trademarking? So there are some things that you have to be able,

they can do what's called an intent to use the ITU that I was talking about. They can reserve it that way. That's a different basis of filing. And I do, I can talk more about that, but so they can reserve their name that way, But you do have to have something, a product or a service in commerce. So that's a requirement. You have to have something that you're putting out into the world to make money. So it can't just be when people are like, should I trademark my handle? The answer is yes and no. Yes, if it's connected to the brand moniker that you're putting out into the world to make

money. And the whole idea of a blog is to create revenue eventually. You might not start that on day one, but you're doing it to create revenue, right? So if you're putting something, a product or service into commerce, then you can apply and it doesn't have to be an intent to use basis. It can be, I'm using it, here's the proof. But you do have to show proof that you're using it. So, you know, you need to have those things kind of in place. And if you don't have those in place and you want to reserve it because it's a great name, then you do the ITU. So the ITU still reserves it? ITU still reserves it. I have actually personally several ITU-based marks right now

because I'm a little bit mark crazy, but you never know. What if I had, I love mangoes and I didn't tell you guys, and then I just busted out with a blog. So how long is the process to get an ITU then? It's the same amount of time, actually. So we're all really just waiting on the trademark examiner to look at it. And what I'll say is that as far as once we can get them to put their eyes on that application, which is what you're waiting on, you actually would go to and through the registration process

faster. But you have to, after you've reserved that, you have to convert. You have six years from the time of getting that intent to use, you have six years to convert it and say, I'm here, I am, I'm using it. But if we can't do this in six years, I'm coming to your house and helping you, you know, like we got to, we've got to get this done. Six years is plenty of time, you know, so you actually can extend it a bit, but you have plenty of time. You just have to, at a certain point, you have to say, I'm using it or I'm not.

Your registration is actually easier if you do the ITU because you're not having to show proof that you have it in commerce. So it's a lot easier. It's the same actual price though. So if you can already have it in commerce, it's kind of nice because you don't have to do things twice, essentially. Okay. So I'm getting into the nitty gritty of questions here. Let's say you submit an ITU.

Let's say I submit that on July 1st. I haven't started the thing or the blog or the whatever you're wanting to do. Then let's say it's September and you're like, all right, I'm ready now. I'm ready to use that specific trademark name. Does that time start over then? No. So you're in the process, like you're kind of in the queue. So it would go from an ITU to... And you switch the basis. You would convert what basis you filed it under. And here's the fun part or not so fun part. You're still in line to have it looked at by the trademark examiner. So it doesn't change your place in line. Okay. Name is still reserved and you can say,

oh, I'm using it now. And you would file to convert it to a habit in use now. So the sooner you start, the better. The sooner you start, the better, because you're, you're, your place is in line. It's like, I just think of it like a line, you know, a really long line because there are a lot of trademark examiners, but there just probably aren't enough, just like everything right now, you know? So how does the person go about getting themselves in line? Is that something that they can do on their own? Is that, I know that's something that you help with, but you can do that on your own, but I'll say this and I don't, really not trying to sell anything, but it's good to have some guidance on it because it

can be intimidating. I mean, every time I go on, this is my practice. I'm educated to do this. Every time I go on the database to start a new one, I have to like, I almost find myself squinting at the screen because I'm thinking so hard. It's not that it's that hard of a process, but you need a formula, especially for it's that hard of a process that you need a formula, especially for like, especially for any social media entrepreneur or a blogger, because here's the thing, here's the thing that I've noticed is like these trademark companies, like you can go on Google right now and be like, how do I get a trademark? The social media world, the bloggers, influencers, content creators, those online platforms were not designed with that

kind of business model in mind. Like even the law wasn't designed for that kind of business model. If you think about it, these laws were put in place before we had the internet, which is crazy. You know, there's been some evolution, but it's before we even had these platforms, definitely before social media existed. So the categories and the drop-down boxes and the blanks do not fit well with what we're doing, if that makes sense. So you either need someone to take you through it one-on-one, which I know sounds like expensive, but it's really not that bad. It's worth it in the long run, or I'm offering a course. So that's super exciting to where I'm specific to the blogger business model or, and they can do it on their own. Like they can completely do it on their own and try to go through and just fill out the links.

And it, you know, it's sometimes I'll see, cause I look at people's applications all the time for fun. Cause like I said, it's a good, it's just fun to me because you know, anybody can look at this stuff. Like if you are obsessed with a celebrity and go and look at their trademark application, it's really fun to look at. You can look at like what proof they submitted, what their answers were to some of the trademark examiners questions. It's really fascinating. Sometimes my favorite one that I looked at was Lady Gaga because her proof that she submitted is so funny. Like it's so old and it's like a concert poster from one of her first like tiny when she was like playing at a small venue. And it's, it's fascinating. It is so fascinating to me. So yes, you probably need help guidance in some way. And what I've learned and why I'm here is that the online sources,

resources for that aren't specific to your business model. They're just not because they don't even understand your business model. You know, like I was at our bar meeting last week. It's a bunch of lawyers that gather and it sounds like a good time, doesn't it? But it is, you know, a bunch of- I'm glad you clarified bar. Right. The bar of our, of my state.

I was like, it does sound like a great time, actually. Bar, you know, for lawyers, but even my IP lawyer friends, you know, they just, that business model kind of blows their mind because you have to kind of explain, like, if I said affiliate link to them, it would take me a while to explain it to them, which. Oh, we've totally ran into that. Jennifer and I with, with spark media, trying to like get the protections that we need in like liability insurance or things like that. Like it is very difficult for people to understand the scope of work that you're doing, which is why I'm super thankful for people like you who this is your specialty. So this is who you work

with on a daily basis because I hate to break it to everybody like bloggers and people aren't going anywhere. Content creators are only on the rise and we have to be able to protect ourselves. Like because people, there's people out there that are so happy too. And so they're just looking for a reason, you know? And so we have to know like, am I protected or not? And I think that we, nobody wants to think about, well, it's not going to happen to me. So I'm just not going to think about it. Like, we don't want to think about that, but there are risks involved. If we don't decide to do that, once again, we're not causing panic. You have to look at the risk analysis and say to yourself, okay, so I can stay here and choose not to be trademarked, but I'm going to know this is the

risk that I'm choosing because it is a choice once you know, choosing to take by not moving forward. Or I'm going to invest in myself, whether you're just starting or whether you've been, you know, an established blogger or whatever. I think that we have to take that risk analysis and look at what is the best option for me right now. So with that said, I don't want to spend a ton of time on it, but I do want to let them know if you're not trademarked, like what is the risk of that? Like what, what is the risk that somebody takes by not trademarking their name? So this is a crazy concept that I know about, but I'm just shocked that people do this. But it's kind of the ambulance chaser version of a trademark lawyer.

There are, I use this term lightly, but there are trademark attorneys that only look up infringers for other people's trademarks. And they'll come to you and they'll say, you know, this person is infringing on your trademark. What do you want to do about it? I can get you $30,000 and then let me handle it for you, which I don't know why any lawyer would want to do that business model. It seems- I feel icky.

It feels so icky and mean, but it exists. You know, I have some friends that I happen to over a t-shirt design. That's a whole different thing on copyright, but this happens on trademark. It's kind of, that's their business model. I would, I do not know why they're in that negative place, but they are.

And that exists. So it's twofold. You're starting something that you're proud of. You have a mission. You have a goal. Your goal is to grow it. So you don't want to have to start over. So that's the risk. The inherent risk is that you have to reb it. So you don't want to have to start over. So that's the risk. The inherent risk is

that you have to rebrand. I can't give you a money amount on the risk, but there is a money amount at stake. It depends on whether they're going to litigate. And there are ambulance chaser type trademark lawyers out there that, you know, for whatever reason, that's their business model to say, oh, you have an infringer. You have this many infringers. And that can be done through a Google search. You can take that person's name and then you can go in and see who's doing that. Now, can that person go in and shut down?

This is a question that I get. Can that person go in and shut down my handle with their trademark? Well, it's all relative. It depends on what mood Instagram was in that day, right? I mean, TikTok is a lot more, they will shut an account. They will do it easily and quickly. But Instagram, like I said, it depends on their mood for the day, but you don't want to provide a basis. And what you do want to do is be able to say to Instagram, nah, I have a registered mark in my name because I've had people that come to me and, you know, I don't love this part of my business, but like that lose their accounts. And they're like, help us, you know, that big, healthy accounts, Instagram accounts, and they don't have a

registered mark on their name. And so I don't have that, the strength of that registration certificate to say, we have the mark. We own this mark. You can't shut us down for trademark infringement. We own it. We own the trademark. So that's another thing that I talk about in my course though, is that getting consistent across the board on that. Because a lot of people in the space of your business model, blogger, influencer, content creator, in that space are not completely consistent with what they're putting out there for revenue. So it's harder to get your mark on one moniker

because you're doing your five different things. You know, you're Jill Loves Food, but you're doing your five different things. You know, you're Jill loves food, but you're also Jill happy, but you're also, you know, do a thing under a moniker and do it well. It's not a have to, but it's what I advise just for protecting what you're putting out there.

So probably got off topic, but that's something I feel really strongly about. Like if you've got to think about what your source of revenue is, if that's your blog, your blog is your source of revenue, make that your umbrella, use that everywhere, you know, beautifully broken journey is your handle. It's your blog name. It's your, you know, when people see you in the grocery store, that's who they identify you as, you know, in their head, they might not call you that because they actually do. Yeah. Right. So, so that's what we're protecting because that's your thing. That's your revenue source,

you know, one of them, but, but that's your, your main umbrella. Yeah. I feel like we could talk for a really long time. Like I said, I'm so passionate about this because a couple of years ago, I started looking at it. I've been licensed to practice law for 20, almost 20 years, which is crazy because how'd that happen? But I really started looking at this during the pandemic. I was like, wait a minute. These, no, hang on, you know, I kind of started just, it was really a revelation seeing that these bigger, what I consider to be bigger social media stars, influencers, whatever you want to call them, they were not able to get their mark because they hadn't set

things up from the beginning in the right way. So they were building these brands on essentially nothing that was protected. I just started, it started all click. And I was like, oh my gosh. I mean, I, sometimes I feel like Stuart Little, the sky is falling, you know, like everybody needs to do this, but I can see it because I can see the pleadings in the system because I'm dorky enough to look at the system and read through what's happening. And I'm like, oh, sometimes I'll be pleasantly surprised and be like, this person did this so right. Sometimes I'll be, it's shock and awe because it'll be a huge person. It'll be the D'Amelio

girls. And I'll be like, how did this go so wrong? Like what happened? Yeah. You've given us so much to think about. And what I love is that, yes, you gave us a lot to think about, but you also have a way that you can help too. So do you want to share with everybody how you can help the two different ways? Yes. How you can help them if they want to begin this process or just like maybe gain some clarity on what their next step should be. Yes. So the first thing that I'll say is that you can follow me, the Whitney Bauer on Instagram. That's my main platform. I like to keep it simple. That's really where I am. I'm on TikTok, but nobody wants to see that. So we'll

keep it to the gram, but I try to educate in the best way possible there. And then I have spent a large amount of time really digesting this information and translating it for specifically for your business model as a blogger into a course, and it's called Social to Mogul. It is launching July 15th. So I'm so excited. I'm not dripping it out. You'll get all the material at one time, but I'm going to take you through all the steps to protect yourself, how to get your trademark, what you need to submit as proof. We go through a demo with you. I go through the application process with you. I tell you probably more than you need to know, but I've really broken the information down to where I'm like, this is how you do it.

There's also a little bonus content in there about copyright because we haven't talked about that today, but it's an issue that's kind of like, I don't love it as much as trademark as far as that area of the law, but it's important because you guys are creating content. So the course is really a total protection course to get you ready to be superstars, because once you become big time,

that's when everybody wants your stuff, your content and your brand, they want to be you. So you have to prepare for that. And you also do work with people one-on-one, correct? If somebody is like, I do not want that. I would rather somebody do it. You do offer that as well, correct? I do work with people one-on-one and I love that work. It's just limited, obviously, because we only have so many hours in the day. So I take a limited amount of clients per month, but I love that work because I can do like what I'm doing with you guys right now. I can talk and chat and we can work kind of workshop through it. So I do that as well. And all of those

links to get to me, to do the course, to do one-on-one work. Any of that is all through my Instagram page. I make it easy. So all those links are there. Yep. And you can also find them in our show notes. We will include all of those. So be sure to connect with Whitney. If you have any questions regarding trademark or just how to protect yourself as a blogger, thank you so much for coming and sharing all of your knowledge. Yes. I love it. I absolutely love the subject matter. And so anybody that needs anything, you're welcome to message me on there or email. You have all those links because I, you're not bothering me because I love talking about it.

I really can talk about it and, you know, I can talk about it all day. So I love it. I love your passion for helping people. Yes. I do too. My favorite. I love talking to you guys. Thanks so much for having me.

Thanks for being here. Yeah. It's so fun. Thanks so much for tuning in today. If you'd like to continue the conversation about blogging with us, please find us on Instagram at spark media concepts. You can also sign up for our weekly newsletter where we share blogging tips and inspiration. You can sign up by finding the link in the show notes for those of you who are ready for the next step and want to

start your own blog, join the wait list for the ultimate blog bootcamp. The link to join the wait list is also in the show notes. Go out and make today a great day.