Got dreams of being a professional podcaster but have no idea what you're doing. This is impossible. That's about to change. A new kind of school. Welcome to the PodSchool Podcast. Hello. Welcome to the show. Welcome totheshow.Today'squestionis fromApril, anditis,howdoI reservea nameformypodcastifIwant tomakesureit doesn't get taken before I get my butt into gear? Is it like registering a business name? Nope, That's ashortanswer.Thereisnosuch thingas
reservingapodcastname.Youmightnoticeifyouresearchapodcastbeforeyougetstartedthatthere are alreadyafew podcastsouttherewiththat name.Thereis nothingstoppingthat fromhappening. Youcan'treserveitlike youwouldadomain ora businessnameoratrademark. Youcantrademark thenameofsomethingifitisworthitto
you.Ifyouhaveabusinessandtherearefinancial implicationsforanother person doinga showthat has theexactsamename,especiallyifitwasthesamekindofcontentand thatkindofcompetitionwouldbedetrimentaltoyourbusiness and therewouldbefinancialloss,thenyou canstarttothinkabout,okay,thismightmakesensetotrademark,butI'veseen veryfewinstances,exceptwhenapodcastis specificallyrelatedtoaveryspecificbusiness, whereitmakessense totrademarkaname.And,andforthemostpart,therearejust multipleshowsouttherewithmultiple
names.Thatdoesnotmeanifyouresearchyourshow andyousee another showwiththe same name, thatyoushouldjustgo,oh, well, I'lljustdoittoo.Because youhave tothinkaboutalloftheSEOandthekindofsearchjuicethatthatshowhasbuiltupthatyouarenowcompetingwith,particularlyif thatexistingshoworshowsarereleasingepisodes. Itis goingtobeveryhardforyouto compete withashowthatalreadyexiststhat'sbeenpumping outepisodeswhenpeople are searching foryourgoingtofind
theothershowsbeforetheyfindyourshow.Soit'sreallybestto adjustyourname if therearealreadyshows outtherewith it.Alotofpeopledon'tdothat,but alotofpeopledon'tdoresearch,to behonest.Alotof peoplejust launcha showandthengo,oh, there'sanothershow outtherethat's named thesame asmine andthey haven'teven lookedbeforetheylauncheditbecausetheylike thenameso much. So it'sreallyimportantto dothe researchbeforeyoujumpin.Ideally, changeyouridea slightly
ifyouneedto.Ifyouhavecompetitorsoutthere,particularlyifit's inthesamekindofcontentcategory. Ideally,youdonotwanttocopyanideathat alreadyexists.Ifyouseeashow andyou'relike,it'salreadyoutthere,youdon'twant tomake acarboncopyofthat,really.Ifthereare othershowsin yournichethatarekind ofsimilartopicareas, that'stotallyfine.You doyourversionof thatshow.Butitneeds to beunique,it needstobe different. ButIwould research the name.I
wouldchangeitslightly.Ifthereisashowouttherealready,thatcan, Isay,canfeellike avery emotionalmoment,especiallyifyou've beenthinkingaboutthis ideaandyouhaven't reallydoneanyresearch,butyou'vejusthad theidea foralongtimeandit'salwaysfeltlikeit shouldbecalledthat.Andthat's what you've toldeverybodyandthat'swhat feelsrightinyourgut.Andthen allof asuddenyou'relike,somebodyelsehasalreadydoneit.What?This wasnotapartofmydream.Thatcan
bereallydifficulttogetthrough.ButIpromiseyou,youcangettoabettername.Ihavehad multiple times over thecourseofmycareer. Atthis pointintime,I'mracking upalmost60shows thatI've workedonthedevelopmentof.Sothat isalotofnamestocome up with.Andsometimesyouwillsettle onaname.You'relike,thisisperfect.Andthenyouwillseethere'sanother showouttherelikethat.Andoftenit'sbecausethatnameperfect becausea lotofotherpeoplehavethoughtabout italreadyanditisarealbummerbecauseyou'relike,gosh,thatwas sotheperfect namefor
thisshow.Buteverytime wefounda bettername,everysingletime.And thenthatshow just becomesthatnewname.Soeventhoughit canfeellikethedeathofafamilymember, you reallycangetto a pointwhere thatshow becomessomething else. And youareproudof tellingpeopleaboutthat.Andthennextthingyouknow,onceyou'vereleasedabunchofepisodes,you're like,ofcourse. Wasitalways calledthis?Did I?Ifeel like Ialways wantedtocallitthis.So youwillgetoverit.Ipromise.It willgeteasiertodealwith.
If yourshowexistsandyou'vechangedyour nameandnow you've got aname,you're like,great.Thisisfantastic.Iwouldthendefinitelytry andgo andfindtheURLforthat.And Iwouldtry andreservethatURL.Youdonot needan independent websiteforyourshowif youalready havean existingWebsitefor alotofmyshows,I've justredirectedthewebsitetoapageon myexistingwebsite.Youcancreateawebsitewithyour podcast host.Alot ofpodcast hosts nowofferpodcastwebsitesaswell.Someofthemlookreallygood,ifyoulikethedesign
ofit.That'sagreatwaytokind ofhave agoodpageforyour website.Andoftenthosearebuiltina way thatfeaturestheaudiothatitmightbetoohardfor youtoactually,depending onwhat themeyouhave,make apagethatworks aswell.Sothatcankind ofbeagoodoption.SoIwouldreservetheURL, andsometimesif you can'tgetthe URL for that,you can justget theversionof itthat has podcast attheend.So forthis show,Pod Schoolismyonlinepodcastingcourse.SoI alreadyhavethe Pod Schooldomain,andthePod Schoolpodcastversionof that
isthedomainthatIhaveforthepodcast.So I'vejust addedpodcast ontheendofthat.SothosearethestepsthatIwouldgo through,researchyouridea, seeif thereareothershowsoutthere,changeyour nameortweakitslightlyifthereareshowsoutthere, because youjustdon'twanttobe competing withanybody.You wanttomake surethat youhaveaskindofclearaspaceto buildyouraudienceaspossible. GrabtheURLforthat,because that isthe
thingthatsomebodycan'ttakefromyou.Sothey can take your podcast name,buttheycan'tgrabthe URL andthenjusttryandembraceanewnameif youhadto changeit.Ipromiseitdoesgeteasier.Wecangetso attachedtothesecreativeideasthatwecomeupwith,anditcanfeellikethisisthe onlyway that somethingcan exist.Buttherereally isalwaysabetter idea.Ifyoucan'tdo acertainidea,there'sareasonforit,and that justhas
tobesomethingthatyouacceptandyoumoveon.So,yes,you can'treserve ashowname,whichisabitofabummer,especiallyifyouare takingabitof timetogetyourselftogetherandgetthingsoutin theworld.Becausethereality issomeone mightjumpintherebefore yougetthere.But if youcangetthe URL, thengrab the URL, andthen ifyoucan'tget thepodcast nameatthetime, well,thenyoucanrethinkthat. Butatleastyou've gottheURLandyoucan getrid
ofitifyoudon'tneedit.Butthatis thethingthatyoucan'tget toof unlessofcourseyou dothe.ukor thedotFM orthedot whatever.Butifyouwant thedot com or whateverthatisspecificto yourarea,thenyouwillneedtotogetthat. Sothat's somethingthat ifyouhavetheidea Iwouldprobably tryandnaildown.
Ifyoucan.Ifyouwouldliketosubmita question, Iwouldloveto answer itandall youhave todoisgotothedescriptionoftheepisode,clickthelinkandputyour littlequestionin thereandthenI will talkintoa microphoneandtellyou mythoughts aboutit. Ifyouwantabitofhelp withyourpodcast,Pleasehead topodschool.comMyonlinepodcasting course.I'vegot allthe informationthereaboutwhatis includedin thecourse.
Andifyou'rethinking Ireallyjust wantto get thisupandrolling andI amsickof googling andchat,GPThasrunout ofideas,then justcomeundermywingandI'llhelpyou outandputeverythingin one placeso you can justlearnit stepbystep,getitdoneand and get itoutintotheworld.Allright,Iwillseeyou next week.Today'squestionisfromApril, anditis, howdoIreserveanameformypodcastif Iwantto makesure it doesn'tgettaken beforeIgetmybuttintogear?Is itlikeregisteringabusinessname?Nope.That'stheshortanswer.Thereisnosuch
thingasreservingapodcastname.Youmightnoticeifyouresearcha podcastbefore you getstartedthattherearealreadyafew podcastsouttherewiththatname.Thereisnothingstoppingthatfromhappening.Youcan't reserveitlikeyouwoulda domain,abusinessname,or atrademark.You cantrademarkthename ofsomething ifitisworthitto
you.Ifyou haveabusinessandtherearefinancialimplicationsforanother persondoing ashowthat has theexactsamename,especially ifitwasthesamekindof contentand thatkindofcompetitionwouldbedetrimentaltoyourbusiness andtherewouldbefinancialloss, you next week.Allright,Iwillseeyounextweek. That's all for today.