Can you reserve your podcast name before you launch?

Intro VO: 00:00:00

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.

Rachel: 00:00:10

Hello. Welcome to the show.

Today's question is from April, and it is, how do I reserve a name for my podcast if I want to make sure it doesn't get taken before I get my butt into gear? Is it like registering a business name? Nope. That's the short answer. There is no such thing as reserving a podcast name.

You might notice if you research a podcast before you get started that there are already a few podcasts out there with that name. There is nothing stopping that from happening. You can't reserve it like you would a domain, a business name, or a trademark.

You can trademark the name of something if it is worth it to you.

If you have a business and there are financial implications for another person doing a show that has the exact same name, especially if it was the same kind of content and that kind of competition would be detrimental to your business and there would be financial loss, then you can start to think about whether it makes sense to trademark. But I've seen very few instances, except when a podcast is specifically related to a very specific business, where it makes sense to trademark a name. And for the most part, there are just multiple shows out there with multiple names.

That does not mean if you research your show and see another show with the same name that you should just go, “Oh well, I’ll just do it too.”

Because you have to think about all of the SEO and the kind of search juice that that show has built up that you are now competing with, particularly if that existing show or shows are releasing episodes.

It is going to be very hard for you to compete with a show that already exists and has been pumping out episodes. When people are searching, they're going to find the other shows before they find your show. So it's really best to adjust your name if there are already shows out there with it.

A lot of people don't do that, but a lot of people don't do research, to be honest.

A lot of people just launch a show and then go, “Oh, there's another show out there that's named the same as mine,” and they haven't even looked before they launched it because they like the name so much. So it's really important to do the research before you jump in. Ideally, change your idea slightly if you need to.

If you have competitors out there, particularly if it's in the same kind of content category, ideally, you do not want to copy an idea that already exists.

If you see a show and you're like, “It's already out there,” you don't want to make a carbon copy of that. If there are other shows in your niche that are kind of similar topic areas, that's totally fine. You do your version of that show.

But it needs to be unique, it needs to be different. I would research the name and change it slightly.

If there is a show out there already, that can, I say, can feel like a very emotional moment, especially if you've been thinking about this idea and you haven't really done any research, but you've just had the idea for a long time and it's always felt like it should be called that. Maybe that's what you've told everybody, and it feels right in your gut.

And then all of a sudden you're like, “Somebody else has already done it? What?” This was not a part of my dream. That can be really difficult to get through, but I promise you, you can get to a better name.

I’ve had multiple times over the course of my career — at this point in time I’m racking up almost 60 shows that I’ve worked on the development of — so that is a lot of names to come up with.

And sometimes you will settle on a name, you’re like, this is perfect. And then you’ll see there’s another show out there like that.

And often it’s because that name is perfect because a lot of other people have thought about it already, and it is a real bummer because you're like, gosh, that was so the perfect name for this show. But every time we’ve found a better name. Every. Single. Time. And then that show just becomes that new name.

Even though it can feel like the death of a family member, you really can get to a point where that show becomes something else and you are proud of telling people about it. And then next thing you know, once you’ve released a bunch of episodes, you're like, “Of course. Was it always called this? I feel like I always wanted to call it this.” You will get over it, I promise. It will get easier to deal with.

If your show exists and you've changed your name and now you've got a name you like, great. This is fantastic. I would then definitely try and go and find the URL for that and try and reserve it.

You do not need an independent website for your show if you already have an existing website. For a lot of my shows, I’ve just redirected the website to a page on my existing website. You can create a website with your podcast host. A lot of podcast hosts now offer podcast websites as well.

Some of them look really good, and if you like the design of it, that’s a great way to have a good page for your podcast.

Often those are built in a way that features the audio and works better than trying to create it yourself, depending on what theme or website builder you’re using. So that can be a good option.

I would reserve the URL. And sometimes if you can’t get the URL exactly, you can just get the version of it that has “podcast” at the end. For this show, PodSchool is my online podcasting course.

So I already have the podschool.com.au domain, and the PodSchool Podcast version of that is the domain that I have for the podcast. So I’ve just added “podcast” on the end.

So those are the steps I’d go through. Research your idea. See if there are other shows out there. Change your name or tweak it slightly if there are shows out there, because you just don’t want to be competing with anybody. You want to make sure you have as clear a space to build your audience as possible.

Grab the URL for that, because that is the thing that somebody can’t take from you. They can take your podcast name, but they can’t grab the URL. And if they do, well then you’ve got to rethink it, but at least you’ve got something.

Sometimes, if the .com or .com.au is taken, you could look at things like .fm or .co — or whatever version suits your business. But ideally, if you want the .com or the local domain specific to your area, you’ll want to grab that as early as possible.

So yes, you can’t reserve a show name, which is a bit of a bummer — especially if you are taking a bit of time to get yourself together and get things out in the world — because the reality is someone might jump in there before you get there.

But if you can get the URL, then grab the URL. And if you can’t get the podcast name at the time, then you can rethink that. At least you’ve got the URL and you can get rid of it if you don’t need it.

But that is the thing that’s harder to get once it’s gone.

If you would like to submit a question, I would love to answer it. All you have to do is go to the description of the episode, click the link, and put your little question in there, and then I will talk into a microphone and tell you my thoughts about it.

If you want a bit of help with your podcast, please head to podschool.com.au. My online podcasting course has all the information about what’s included.

And if you’re thinking, “I really just want to get this up and rolling and I’m sick of Googling, and ChatGPT has run out of ideas,” then just come under my wing and I’ll help you out. I’ll put everything in one place so you can just learn it step-by-step, get it done, and get it out into the world.

All right, I will see you next week.

Intro VO: 00:07:45

That's all for today.