Four (4) Ways on How To Stand Out When You Have a Famous Namesake

My name is Jennifer Lopez and  I met Regine Velasquez and Ninoy Aquino months ago during the taping of  "What's Up Doods" hosted by Edu Manzano last  October 2013. 

Jennifer Lopez (that's me) with Mr. Edu Manzano

So what is it like to have these 3 personalities in one TV show for the first time? Watch this video and you'll find out.

  

The novelty of sharing your name with someone like JLo is fun, yet quite annoying. People would ask me as if they're asking  JLo, the celebrity. Pickup lines like "How's your concert?" and "When is your next concert?" is sometimes irritating.

Now that I am into online business, it is advantageous at times because of name recall and it is easier to talk to clients. But let's talk about branding. Google my name Jennifer Lopez and you'll get nothing. You will not find anything about me when I was still single, "None", "Wala", "Nada". So where I have been all my life? 

While researching on the internet about what to do with my branding problem, I found this great article on "How to Stand Out When you Have a Famous Namesake"  by Amy Fowler, who happens to share her name with the character of Dr. Amy Farrah Fowler on CBB's The Big Bang Theory.

What can I do now with my namesake stopping me from dominating the Search Engine Results Page (SERP)?

Here are some points from Amy Fowler's blog :

Snag your name on a domain 

If you haven’t already, it’s worth securing your name on a domain. Then, get a site built and include as much relevant information about yourself as possible. I.e. who you are, your skills and expertise, and who you work for.

You might also want to include a library of links to your proudest guest posts, and of course, links to your social profiles. Ideally, you’ll probably want to use this domain to blog too.If you haven’t already, it’s worth securing your name on a domain. Then, get a site built and include as much relevant information about yourself as possible. I.e. who you are, your skills and expertise, and who you work for.

I hope that JLo will not sue me for using JLofied, I'm glad that I  was the one who secured it first.

Play around with how you use your name

You could start using your middle name, or the initial of your middle name.

So I started to refer myself online as Jennifer Lopez-Gana which is much  less competitive when you search for them.

Start guest posting

Guest posting isn’t just for businesses and their brands, it’s great for your personal brand too. Secure yourself a spot on some big-name blogs in your industry and write a great guest post that will get you noticed.

I hope to guest post someday. Anyone?

Host a publicity stunt

Celebrities and brands do it all the time and it (mostly) works for them.

Doing something that will get people talking about you will go a long way towards ensuring that it’s your face popping up in Google for your name, not the celebrity who ‘stole’ your name. However, try not to offend anyone or embarrass yourself – you want your stunt to get you positive publicity!

Host or organize an event perhaps?

Look at the wider picture

And think about what you do, not just your name. It’s a big step in the right direction if you can ensure you dominate Google for “your name + your industry”.

Chances are, if someone is trying to find you and they don’t succeed when searching for just your name, they’ll search again with something else that they know about you. Quite possibly the industry you work in.

So it is Jennifer Lopez +  Wooden Kiddie Stools! 

Is having a famous namesake no fun? I think I should invite my friends for a grand eyeball and ask Regine Velasquez, Ninoy Aquino and Vilma Santos if it is not really fun at all. And to you Daniel Padilla, please leave me a message too. See you!