Lorraine Dallmeier is the Director of Formula Botanica, an accredited online school that offers award-winning courses on organic cosmetics. She is a biologist and an online entrepreneur with nearly a decade of experience in the organic skincare industry. Her company has helped over 3,500 students in more than 100 countries worldwide to formulate their professional natural cosmetics as they start their organic skincare or haircare business.
Lorraine shares the five different types of copycats and the 10-step plan of positivity that she created when dealing with copycats and copyright infringement. She shares lessons she has learned from years of experience in dealing with copycats as well as the different ways you can respond when faced with this kind of situation. She also explains how to identify when it’s time to take legal action to address copyright issues and some common legal terms you may need to understand when addressing these matters.
“You’ve got to turn that negativity into positivity and just keep driving forward.” - Lorraine Dallmeier
In This Episode of The Sigrun Show:
- The first time Lorraine discovered others were copying her website content
- How she found out about a copycat who translated her materials into another language
- How not to give into the victim mentality when dealing with copycats
- The two types of copycats that almost everyone is guilty of at some point
- When to start stepping in and reaching out to a copycat
- When to start seeking legal action
- The worst type of copycat
- What passing off means in legal terms
- Four main points to demonstrate passing off
- Why you need a plan when dealing with copycats
- The significance of building a strong brand
- Why you should avoid all language of victimization on social media
Key Takeaways:
- Write to your copycat in very clear terms. Tell them what they’re doing is not okay.
- Create a standard template for what you’re going to say in different situations.
- Empower your team and delegate this task of dealing with copycats to a member of your team.
- Trademark your brand, logo, and any assets that go with your branding.
- Invest in brand awareness.
- Put things in perspective; the world has not ended. Have a rant about the issue. Get it out of your system and then move on – get back to building your business.
- Don’t go to social media and rant about this problem.
- Remember that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.
- Find a lawyer so that you can work with someone when things get bad.
- Congratulate yourself that you now have a copycat.
- The bigger your company gets, the more you have to set aside a budget for legal fees every year if you want to take the copycat issue seriously.