Leveraging Your Personal Brand and Your Business

An individual officially becomes a celebrity when people know you and you don’t know them. You are a personal brand. There really isn’t much of a difference between people and business. In fact, personal brands often last longer than companies do.

As internet sales of Senorita Limonita began, I was leveraging myself straight into the spotlight at networking events every night of the week. Other days were filled with product tastings at Arizona Farmer’s Markets along with a variety of special events throughout the Phoenix Valley. I started being featured in radio shows and publications while my internet presence continue to grow.

In order to propel a brand to success, It’s important to partner with successful people. I had teamed up with Catherine Cross and Bob Anderson of Ujena Swimwear with the intention of creating a long-term business legacy along with Senorita Limonita. I noticed that an internet search of the  word Limonita Bikini netted pages and pages of models in sunshine yellow bikinis.

Needing to capitalize on this phenomenon, something needed to change in the nature of my personal appearances. I placed a phone call to Catherine to bounce some ideas off of her. I told her I needed something appropriate to wear at the events I was attending, and that it needed to be created in the sunshine yellow color that I had branded.  A popular Ujena catalog item at the time was a very sleek and sexy little number called the Red Carpet Dress. When Catherine made the suggestion that Ujena produce that same dress for me in the same sunshine yellow color and material as Senorita’s bikini, the decision was made. After all, I wanted my personal brand to be professional and polished. I was on a mission and willing to do things in an unconventional way, unaware that I was indigenously turning myself into a celebrity.

Two weeks later, I received that amazing dress in the mail. I wear it to every single personal appearance I attend. Believe me when I say that bold color makes me stand out in a room!

“Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.”

~George Bernhard Shaw

Define your brand and don’t be afraid to set the trends. Be prepared that what you start out with doesn’t necessarily mean that’s where you will end up. Remain true to yourself and remember that your unique selling proposition separates you from the crowd. Being confident and owning what you do, no matter the opinion of others, is a character of leadership which will lead to business success. Having a unique selling proposition can bring your status up from from regular person to celebrity. Senorita Limonita and I became our own unique selling proposition and brand definition, and we continue to have FUN doing it!

The Business Trademark Journey

A trademark is a distinctive word, name, phrase, symbol, design, or other device used by a company or person to distinguish its products or services from those  of other companies.Trademarks are basically brands, and must be protected by securing the associated trademark rights.

A logo is a type of trademark that consists of a design that is generally used by company or person and placed on its products or printed material related to its services. The logo may be a design by itself, a design with letters or words, or a design consisting simply of stylized words or letters.

“A great trademark is appropriate, dynamic, distinctive, memorable and unique.” ~Primo Angeli

I made the decision to name the product Limonita, as believed it carried an air of mystery to the name. Does it contains lemons, limes or limons? I wanted to keep the consumer guessing. The first step I took was making certain that no one else was using the word Limonita by performing an internet trademark search of the U.S Patent and Trademark Office. I discovered it was not being used, so I proceeded on the design. I made the decision to create my own font so that I did not have to pay any kind of royalty fees for the use of someone else’s typeface. I wanted the Limonita letters to be tropical, relaxed and fun! The accent marks were created to appeal to the Hispanic market and Spanish cultures throughout the globe. The “O” is actually a coconut, a subtle inference of possible product ingredients.

One the Limonita logo was completed, I wanted to take the proper steps to make certain that I secured the trademark rights to that logo. I began the application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Although my goal was to eventually secure a worldwide trademark, I was planning on doing business throughout the United States initially, so I figured this was the way to go.

I knew that trademark applications can be rather complicated and subject to esoteric procedures and rules, and was prepared to wait up to 18 months for the approval.

Four months after the submission, I received a letter from USPTO stating a conflict of interest. Apparently, there was a company in Florida that trademarked the word Limonrita about five years earlier. Although their trademark was for a product that contained alcohol and they were not even using it, my logo was kicked out of the trademark process. I attempted to contact the company’s attorneys to see if I could purchase it, but no one returned my calls.

Not knowing what to do at that point, I contacted a trademark attorney. After describing my situation, the attorney said, “Debbi, gather up some friends, get yourself a Scrabble board and come up with a new name.” He said, “Look at Apple, what’s that got to do with it?” I pondered his suggestion and said, “You know what? Something strange has taken place. I call the drink Limonita because it’s short and sounds fun. However, everyone I know is calling the drink Senorita Limonita because of the character I developed. I thought maybe it was too long, but everyone seems to love it. What if I trademark the words Senorita Limonita along with the character in full color?” He said, “I believe that will work.”

The only other bump in the road on the trademark journey was that I specifically had to identify some of the bright colors in the logo, particularly the sunshine yellow bikini. I did so utilizing the Pantone Matching System. Once I did that, Senorita Limonita officially became a trademark logo. The process took a year and a half, but she was clearly on her way to becoming an amazing icon!