Using Alias In IM, Is It Ok?

Yes, it's fine, writers started this practice of using an alias or pen name many hundreds of years ago. Even Eben Pagan aka "David DeAngelo" (his pen name) has used this successfully for his wildly popular dating products.

Paul

you should be find as long as there isn't much conflict of interest between your groups

I think it is. Many writers do so as well. Many popular authors have done it. If you don't like your real name or it is very hard to pronounce in English, I don't see the problem of using a "ghost" name.

Greetings Fated82,

If you are this doing it for legal business purposes …….

You can use a pen name or a stage name. There is no legal requirement that the author be identified by his or her real name on the application form.


However, if you are filing under a fictitious name or pen name, you have to put a check-mark in the "Pseudonymous" box.

If you are going to sign contracts in the legal business, you should disclose your true identity.

Another option in most U.S. states is to go to your county clerk's office and file an assumed name certificate -- sometimes called a ficticious name or doing business as (DBA) filing. (Your county clerk's website will likely have the application form and other info.)

Basically, you'd be stating your intent to do the business of writing and publishing under a name other than your own.

The whole process takes about 10 minutes and has a very small costs in my county. This creates a court document that proves your pseudonym is you.


It is not allowed to use any name, other than your own ... in a illegal business.

Disclaimer … I am not a lawyer, and before taking any action you should check with an attorney on a local basis for advice. These laws change from state to state. Do some research, with a licensed attorney, before doing anything about using another name.

All the best … Ron

I actually should have more than 1 additional "pen name" but I think I've been lazy.

I do all non-IM marketing under a guy's name actually and all IM (which isn't much) under my own. Reason I say I should have more than 1 is because my non-IM really is all over the map.

But to answer your question - yes, I think most do this.

I came on WF to post a question about using aliases, but it seems a pretty similar question has already been asked in this thread, so I'll just continue here

I started wondering when I read in some sales letter about a regular Joe Schmo who made good in IM. And transformed from (as mentioned above) from David deAngelo to Eban Pagan (recognized Top Tier Guru.).

So now, it has me wondering whether any of the names out there are the people's real names. Kern, Filsaime, Fladlien, Reese, Dyson ... - the list goes on. Are these all fake names?

It seems there are might be a few reasons to go with an alias if you are planning on having a very public name.
1) Privacy -- don't want crazies looking you in the phone book.
2) Branding - maybe you are in a variety of niches, and want to retain a persona that appears to be consistent
3) Empathy -- for lack of a better term, choosing a name/persona that you think people will identify with so their resistance to your sales pitch is lowered. (Actually, a very interesting WF discussion over at http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...campaigns.html on the question of the appropriateness of men using a female alias.)

I have not yet built up my IM empire , but in preparation for doing so, I'm trying to figure out whether I should start an alias.

For maximum stickiness, I would want to present myself as a real and genuine person rather than some disembodied email address. But I'm wondering whether I should choose to do so under a name different than my real name.

My main motivation for building an alias is privacy, and not just for the desire to retain a certain wall between a public figure and my personal life/family, but also, in my case, because I work a full time job and I just think it would be awkward for potential/future employers/colleagues to run across my name (remote possibility, but you never know).

Now, I wouldn't be switching gender or anything like that, and I might even pick a name that's not very different that my real name, as long as it is just different.

This name would go on a blog header, as blog post author, on articles posted to directories, even on sales pages - "from the desk of: [name]", so that in search engines it would all be consistent. Then of course, I can't forget things like auto-responders, etc. It just all seems very daunting.

It seems the body of people most comfortable with this idea are those who write articles, and for whom the usage of pen names is a long and taken-for-granted habit. However, what I'm talking about goes way beyond authoring articles to every other facet of the public-facing name. For example, if somebody pays me via PayPal, I don't recall whether PayPal will show my personal name (which of course to PayPal or anything related to legal or financial I would give my real name).

So, for anybody who's still reading this post (), what are your thoughts on all this? I don't mean to make this about me, me, me, but simply understand the environment out there. Do you use an alias? What has your experience been? Especially, if you retain a "day job" and you don't want the two to mix (at least until you are ready for it).

Thanks in advance for your input. Not that I've been overthinking it (:confused, but I want to make a decision and move on.