Using a different name instead of your own???

Yes... you can use any name you like to sell anything you want.

BUT....

If you live in the U.S. you are required to notify the public
that you are operating under a fictitious identity. You do this
by filing the correct paper with your local county or state
authorities depending on the law in your state.

It's called a DBA... Doing Business As.

So... you would file a document saying, essentially, my name
is Joe Blow and I am doing business as Michael Jonson... or whatever.

That's it.

Tsnyder

The definition of false advertising is "Any advertising or promotion that misrepresents the nature, characteristics, qualities or geographic origin of goods, services or commercial activities"

What you call yourself has nothing to do with the actual goods or services.

You should probably legitimately identify yourself when a transaction is being made.

(Not legal advice)

EzineArticle like sites have facilities for an account to have multiple pen names.

Hi,
You can choose any name to sell your product. In most of the countries it is not necessary to use a specific type or your actual of name. You just have to keep in mind that if you use the actual name than you can not come again with the same name because Google does not croll it. So, selection of name is very sensitive and necessary area of concerning.

Do you think Pink's name is really Pink? Question answered.

As serious internet marketer, you must come into the world with real name and identity since trust is great factor decides ultimate success. It doesn't mean that you won't find a success with pen name but people who're dealing with you suffers by unprotected feelings (at least at the beginning).

I use different names instead of mine to escape my competitor finding me where and how I am active online.

It's really a personal choice. Your choice. If your products and services are 'above board' then by all means - create a good reputation and build your brand - you.

If you're trying to get on Page 1 of G for your 1000 exact searches micro niche blog - then, you'll probably not want your name all over the site.

I mix it up. Secret publishing companies, some pen-names, but Mostly me.

I only use pseudonym for different niches as affiliates. In IM niche and where I sell my own product I don't use pseudonym because I'm afraid being accused as scammer or potential one

this takes me back to the david deangelo and eban pagen thingie.

He is one and the same person.

I guess it doesnt really matter, what matters is that he is offereing good quality material...and he is, infact he is one of the top in his niche.... i.e. dating / relationships

Yes, David Deangel and Eban Pagen sprung to mind.

But so does Stephen King and Richard Bachman.

Many authors write under a fictitious name. (Pseudonym)

If your name is closely related to IM, then you might want to write weight loss under a different name. Happens all the time.

I use different names for different niches although sometimes like to keep my first name or something from my original name the same to avoid having an identity crisis! lol

I guess for a product that you are selling, the author does not have to be the same as the person who is actually selling it. So you could have a pen-name as the author of the product and then sell it under your company name.

For Clickbank products you might have a nice old man selling a gardening product, or a nice old lady selling a knitting product - but I doubt those people who act as the public image of the product are the Internet Marketing savvy types who are actually selling the thing?!

I think it is important to use your own name when promoting IM products. It's also important to use your real name on this forum. How else are you going to build trust and develop your reputation?

Pen names can be used for any other niche. This is especially true if you are a big time guru that doesn't want to be tracked and copied.

I use tons of aliases, it's all down to your own ethics really, nothing wrong with not using your own name unless you are trying to open a bank account or claim money or services etc under false details

I run several DBA under my s-corp for actual transactions.

Promotions is a different animal. I have one pen name that has been indexed in Google alone over 200,000 times.

I have it on good authority Frank Kerns is really Bill Clinton. If you believe that please join my mailing list:-)

I prefer to use my own name

i believe u are talking about pen name.

im not sure about US laws.

but pen name are very common.

like u may be john but u sign off ur newsletter or sales page as james.

its called pen name.

from what i know its not illegal.

unless u are setting up a company online then maybe u need to follow rules.

but online, come on anything goes. hahaha

there are so many scams online, dont talk about names. lol.

There is no answer to this that applies to every situation. It depends on the nature of your business, how you sell, what you are trying to sell. The examples of a publishing house above are good ones.

2 quick examples: Betty Crocker was never a real person. Mark Twain was not his real name.

Here's an eye-opening story from copyblogger about why a woman started doing business online using a man's name. She gained traction and became successful after she changed to man's name. "Why James Chartrand Wears Women’s Underpants." I don't have enough posts to include a real link. It's at copyblogger.com/james-chartrand-underpants/

While we're on the name thing, here are two of my pet peeves. Not exactly on topic fr this thread, but may be useful, nonetheless.

I can't tell you how many blogs I visit on which the blogger's name is never mentioned, not once. Especially IM related blogs. Look, to be honest--if a person is unwilling to reveal their name to me and expects me to buy something from their site or blog they are living in dreamland.

Even worse is getting emails from people, whom I may or may not opted into their lists, and at the bottom of the email they just sign a first name (and no real name is shown in the email header). I get these all the time. I you expect me to buy something from you, the least you could do is tell me who the hell you are when you email me.

Mini-rant ended. --Mike (McMillan)

It's far from being false advertising. Pen names have always been used in writing books and stuff, for instance: Mark Twain was really Sam Clemens and George Orwell was really Eric Blair. : )

I know of some big name marketers doing it but this is not something I'm comfortable with... If you believe in what you're selling, put your name on it

I have a pen name, an English name, and a legal name.
To me it seems it is the matter of consistency.
If you decide to use whatever name on one single niche
Then be consistence with that for that niche.
That's who to build trust and brand.
No matter it is real name, a pen name, a brand, a company, or whatever
It is always built via consistency in its mission, values, characters, policy, ethic, etc.
But you might also consider which name you are best known as.
I try to use a pen name, then figure most people from my hometown known me as my English name. So from then, on, i use my English name.
I would use my legal name whatever it tender legal matters (getting money to account), such as owner (if u r not incorporated) or the legal company name.

On the book cover or newsletter, u can use call name.
Just my thoughts.

Don't get legal advice on the internet. If you need legal advice, get an attorney.

Yes, that's what it's called, and you can indeed use whatever name you like for whatever purpose you like in the United States.

False advertising is about your product, not your spokesperson. Mr. Whipple was not really named Whipple and did not really work in a department store and did not have a problem with squeezing the Charmin. But the advertising is that "Charmin is soft," so they can use whatever fiction they like around it so long as Charmin really is soft and the fiction is not material to the product.

That's why some people get away with a claim and other people don't. You can make all the false claims you want, so long as they're not about your product. You can say "My name is Larry, and I'm a 19 year old Swedish girl who likes anal, and last year I made forty million dollars cleaning septic tanks. This handy guide will tell you how to clean your septic tank."

While the details may interest you, the product doesn't claim to do anything more than show you how to clean a septic tank. If you write to the FTC and complain that you thought you'd meet rich 19 year old Swedish girls who liked anal if you cleaned your own septic tank, they'll laugh and hang your letter on the wall in some executive's office.

Passing yourself off as another age/sex/race might be misleading, but I doubt that it's illegal. Passing yourself off as a real person who's got a reputation that you're exploiting would be fraud, but it doesn't sound like that's what you're doing.

You might consider actually hiring someone of that age/sex/race to sponsor or promote your product just to be certain that you're on the right side of everything.

It is fine so long as you are not doing it for malicious or illegal reasons.

I think, ultimately, you want to be as transparent as possible. Not only do potential customers appreciate that, but, many actually require it as the online world have shifted more to trust and reputation. With that said, this forum name was devised awhile ago. I go by my real name on my blog.

If you are just writing you can use a pen name, take a look at Eben Pagan and David DeAngelo pen name for example.

I think it's always, vitally important that you use your name because it's a brand builder.

Sure, having a pen name works for certain projects but it's really the brand and networking that lets you keep going and build momentum.

If people know you for who you are than when you launch your new project people will be all over it rather than trying to figure out "the new player in the market". People are ready to stand behind your brand. Best to build it off your name so its instantly recognizable with quality.

Seems like even the big gurus do it - David DeAngelo = Eben Pagan

As for Psuedonymous works, the copyright law presupposes that they will occur.

#1 reason not to do it, You might be shortening your copyright!

If you ARE identified by name in the copyright office as the author of a work, then your copyright is the life of the author plus 70 years in the United States.

If you publish psuedonymously and you do not identify yourself with the copyright office as the author, then the copyright term is 95 years from the date of publication, or 120 years from the date of authorship, whichever expires first.

So if you write something at age 40 and publish it that year, and you live to be 90 and you publish it psuedonomyously, your relatives will be able to cash royalty checks until you have been dead 45 years, if you publish it with your name and record it in the copyright office with your name, well then you get to retain ownership as the author for 120 years after first publication. In other words you get 30 extra years to make money.

Of course, Dr. Dre probably records his music and lyrics under his real name publishing under a psuedonym, as does Marshall Mathers, better known as Emenem.

And I suspect the "Richard Bachman" books were discovered as the works of Stephen King when somebody with too much time on their hands was digging through the copyright offices records and discovered that it was Mr. King's psuedonym.

So you can do both from a copyright perspective without a loss of rights.

Of course, if you publish the great American novel at age 18 and die at age 19, your family would've wished you had published it under a psuedonym, but those are the breaks. Of course the aging authors like Grisham and Clancy seem to be creating their works for corporations that they own now as works for hire to give them the corporate shelf life of 95 years from the date of publication too, so there are a million ways around it.