Stake your claim on the internet
If you don’t stake your business claim on the internet, you risk this happening to you (among other things). BP has been subject to a lot of abuse lately over their mishaps in the Gulf of Mexico. One of the more recent critical commentaries has come from a fake Twitter account set up in their name. @BPGlobalPR – an unofficial account has been posting scathing comments about the multi-national giant’s activities with comments such as this:
Much to BP’s dismay, the fake account has nearly 200,000 followers (while the legitimate account @BP_America has less 20,000) and has been publicised across the internet, causing yet more damage to their brand.
This sort of “name jacking” is not a new phenomenon with many celebrities being subject to the same sort of problems. Not being quick enough to register an account in their name they are forced to register accounts with “Real” in front of their name or otherwise beg Twitter to close down the fake accounts.
Twitters “verified” service is helpful when trying to determine real from fake, but only if the real person actually has an account. Kanye West famously hasn’t had one. Until recently that is; when he finally got one to get ahead of all the fakers. Interestingly, he’s only following 1 person, who is now making headlines himself.
Of course these sorts of problems are not new to the internet. Over the years many people (and businesses) have found their ideal domain name (website address) already purchased by someone else and held to ransom or used in unexpected and undesirable ways. Known as “cybersquatting” it has been a thorn in the side of business for years and a perfect example of why a business should stake its claim as soon as possible.
Staking your claim
Starting any new business, one of the first things you should do is stake your claim on the internet. Probably even before choosing your company name. If you have some ideas, carry out a domain search and quickly register a domain name before someone else beats you to it.
You should consider setting up a Facebook, Twitter and other social networking accounts, if only to prevent others from using your business name in vein.
The good news is Twitter is planning a business verification scheme for sometime in the future, which will help protect businesses and prevent customer confusion.
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