El Dorado Hills, CA asked in Business Formation and Business Law for California

Q: If I have an LLC with DBAs set up under it, do my social media and online profiles need to match DBA name exactly?

If I'm a freelancer that does business on sites like Fiverr and Upwork, do my screen/profile names need to exactly match my DBA name?

From what I've read about LLCs, everything says you must make it clear you're operating as a business/LLC. So, in this case, if I have set up a DBA but the exact match name isn't available, can I operate under a close match?

Lets say the DBA under the LLC is "Wordsmith Guru" but I operate on Fiverr as "Word Guru" or something close or not exact. Will I still be protected under the LLC?

1 Lawyer Answer
Julie King
Julie King
Answered
  • Monterey, CA
  • Licensed in California

A: I believe you are asking if your web address and user names need to match your business' name. If so, the answer is no. BUT, you are correct when you say you must make it clear that you are operating as a limited liability company, so your footer, signature, and other public information should clearly state the business' name, and you should sign everything with your name and title (Manager, Member, Managing Member, etc.) It's actually in your benefit to do that because, if something should go wrong, they would bring a claim against the LLC, not you personally -- unless, of course, you intentionally harmed someone or did something else that would allow the claimant to pierce the corporate veil to sue you personally. No one can intentionally harm another and then hide behind a company to escape liability. I'm not saying you would do that! I'm just giving you a high level overview of some of the issues that could arise. Best wishes.

Robert P. Cogan agrees with this answer

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