Is your information private? Today, on The Legalpreneur, I am sharing simple solutions to keep you and your information anonymous. Privacy is important, and your information is usually just a google search away, but there are steps you can take to keep your personal data off the public record.

Start by looking up your name on google,  if you have already filed any legal documents for your business with your personal information, that is a public record. You can remedy this by transferring the paperwork into the business name. For those who are in the beginning phases of registering your business, simply using a virtual address or any address that is not your own is a simple way to keep your personal information off the public record. 

If you value your privacy, you can enlist The Legalpreneur to file anonymously on your behalf. We now offer a baseline membership to help entrepreneurs start their businesses with the guidance of a competent attorney who can help you navigate the complexities of privacy protection. If you’re concerned about your online privacy, tune in and take note as I guide you through the basic steps to maintain your anonymity. 

Key Takeaways:

[1:00] The $99 Legalpreneur membership

[3:15] Staying anonymous and keeping your information private

[4:30] Using an alternative address

[5:00] Any filing with your personal information is a public record

[6:00] A virtual address is a great alternative if you relocate often

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Disclaimer: 

The Legalpreneur Podcast is advertising/marketing material. It is not legal advice. Please consult with your attorney on these topics. Copyright Legalpreneur Inc 2022

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Legalpreneur transcript:

Andrea Sager  00:03

Welcome to the Legalpreneur podcast. I’m your host Andrea Sager founder and CEO of Legalpreneur Inc. As a serial entrepreneur and someone that works exclusively with small business owners legally protecting their business. I’m dedicated to covering common legal issues faced by business owners, providing you with the business knowledge you need to catapult your business’s growth, and showing you just how some of the world’s most elite entrepreneurs have handled these legal and business issues themselves. In true attorney fashion, the information in this episode is not legal advice. This is for informational purposes only. And you should always consult with your attorney before implementing any of the information in the show. Hello, there Happy Monday. Welcome back. I am really excited for today because I get this question all the time about how to keep your information private. And I’m excited to share the answer with you because I literally get this question legitimately every single day.

Andrea Sager  01:03

But before we get into it, I have to share something super special with you, we have officially launched a new version of the Legalpreneur membership. And it’s less than $100 a month, you get q&a with me every month, you get document review. You don’t get the phone call, or unlimited emails. But you still get the trademark search, you get all of our contract templates, you get our contract generator, you also get the business audit. And this business audit is what really tempts most people to just go for the membership because in the audit, we tell you literally everything, we give you the breakdown of hey, this is the legal protection you currently have. And this is the legal protection you still need in your business. And that really gives you a good game plan to move forward and get started with everything in the business to legally protect it. This version of the membership is more for the DIY or somebody that knows they need legal protection, they need the legal information, but they can’t quite afford to work one on one with an attorney. We’ve had many requests for this over the years. And we have officially launched it.

Andrea Sager  02:12

So go to the link in the show notes. It’s $99 a month, ton of value in there. And we still have the normal membership. So it’s basically the base version now, which is 99 a month, or all access to your own attorney for 349 a month, whatever option works best for you. run, don’t walk. And on with both of them. What we’re about to launch is our attorney marketplace. So especially for the base membership, since you don’t get an attorney with a membership, we’re getting ready to launch our attorney marketplace. So any any attorney in our marketplace, you will get a 15% discount on any services. So if you’re like, hey, I actually want the membership to have like all this information and have all these resources. But I don’t want to have all access to my own attorney, but I do. Maybe you need something. That’s what the marketplace will be for if you want an attorney to file your trademark application. Or if you want an attorney to draft this contract for you because it’s more of a complicated contract and not something you really want to mess with a template for absolutely what the marketplace is for. We’re also going to be adding trusts and estate planning attorney. So for business owners, having your estate planning documents like that is so much more important now that you’re a business owner. So we’ll have attorneys for that you’ll of course, you’ll get the 15% discount. So I’m really excited for everything we have that is coming down the pipeline. So go to the show notes, sign up for the membership, whether you want the base membership or the advanced membership, they’re both there.

Andrea Sager  03:42

And I can’t wait to see you inside. Okay. Getting into staying anonymous online, not really staying anonymous, but keeping your address private. Because so many people come to me, and they’re like, Hey, I’m afraid to launch my business because I don’t want people to know my public info. I don’t want them to know my phone number, my address? Well, I have to get really real with people and let them know like, Hey, have you Googled yourself, because most likely that information is already out there. But moving forward, there are definitely things you can do when you own a business to make sure that information is not out there. First of all, if you have an LLC, you can have a Registered Agent, we can act as the Registered Agent. And basically we can have a virtual mailbox for you. So if you’re ever interested in that, just let us know. Just go to Legalpreneur.com. It’s there with the LLC stuff. If you’ve already filed something, it’s public knowledge, it’s public information. You can do some things to request to get it removed. It might take a while, but it can be done. So the number one thing you want to remember is before filing or doing anything if you want that information to not be public, then you need to make sure you’re using a virtual address or just

Andrea Sager  05:00

Another address if you work at a co working place, use their address, typically they’ll let you use their address. So besides the virtual address, I’ve seen this happen a lot, you filed a trademark application, and you used your own information. That is public record any government filings whether it’s an LLC, a trademark, a copyright, it’s all public information. Or once you file the trademark application, if you file it as an individual, you can transfer ownership to your LLC, which has a different address. If you use like us or another third party as your virtual address, you can use that however, it’s still public record of the initial information. Because it’s public record of who was initially the owner of this application or this registration, that will always be public record. So before you file anything, if you want to make sure that your information is not public, there are steps you need to take. And we can definitely help you with that. But you need to be aware before filing anything that Hey, okay, I need to have a registered agent, I need to have a virtual mailbox. All those things need to get done before having any filings done. Sometimes. So as an attorney, I actually can’t use a virtual address, I can’t use a peel box. But sometimes when you do have it most, obviously, most industries are not as heavily regulated as the legal industry. But when I had my firm, I couldn’t use a peel box. I usually just use my parents address for everything because they’re not moving, they ain’t leaving, they’ve been here for almost 40 years. So I’ve always used their mailbox their mailing addresses my mailing address, because I move all the time.

Andrea Sager  06:42

But if you move a lot, you may want to find even if you’re fine with your address being out there, but you move a lot, you may want to use a virtual address because it’s a pain to update every single place that has your address every single time you move. And if you’re like me, you move once a year, once every two years at the most. I have not lived anywhere longer than two years since I turned 18. Literally since I left my house and I never moved as a kid. I think it’s like, if you want to talk about childhood trauma. I think like being a kid and being in one place. And then being an adult like I can literally be anywhere. So I move legitimately at least once a year once every two years, somewhere between there. I’ve never lived anywhere longer than two years since I turned 18. And now I’m 31. So a lot of moving, which is why I decided to just use my parents address as my mailing address. Okay, I know this is a short episode. If you want to keep your address, private, you need to make sure that you are taking the steps necessary to get that done. If you need help reach out. But keep in mind if you did any public filings already any government filings already with that information. It’s already public knowledge. It’s already public information. It’s already available to the public. Alright, short and sweet. I hope you’ll have a wonderful week. I’m finishing up here in Austin at SXSW. If you’re here, let me know.

Andrea Sager  08:15

Come say hi. And I’ll see you soon. Here at Legalpreneur, we’re committed to providing a supportive legal community. For all business owners. I know how scary the legal stuff can be. If you found this information helpful, I would be so grateful if you could share it with a fellow business owner. And quite frankly, it doesn’t cost anything to rate review or subscribe to the show. Your support helps me reach more listeners which allows me to support more business owners in their entrepreneurial journey. Have any questions or comments about the show? Feel free to drop me a line on Instagram I promise I read all of the messages and comments. And if you want to be a guest on the show or know someone that would make a great guest simply fill out our application form and a team member will reach out if we think it’s a good fit. I’ll see you in the next episode.