If you plan to brand yourself beyond a logo and an idea on the web, you need to purchase a lot of domains and secure them for at least three years at a time.

Buy as many domains as you can based on your main .COM domain. 

If you cannot get the .COM version of the domain you want, invent a different domain name. 

Everything spokes away from your .COM Entrepôt.

In addition to .COM you must AT LEAST purchase .NET and .ORG and .INFO to be effective in branding. 

Purchasing those extra extensions to your main .COM Entrepôt ensures your competition will not be able to fool customers into thinking they are with you on other sites you do not own.

You may register other domains, but beware a .US domain will not allow you to privately hold your domains registrations.

Only place content on the .COM domain.

Forward all other purchased domains in the .NET and .INFO and .ORG families to that .COM Entrepôt domain.