Business and Morals: Do You Take the Money Or Run?
I’ve written about the association between morals and business before. I even had an excellent guest post on the subject, so it’s no secret that my morals and values play an important role in my business decisions. However, I recently discovered these two things aren’t as cut and dried as I first thought.
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What Happens When You Know Too Much
Here’s the scenario: A client comes to you wanting to write a book on a subject you just happen to know a bit about. They give you the outline and main points for each chapter. Unfortunately, they’re wrong. And it isn’t a ‘I know I’m wrong but I just want to make money’. It’s a ‘I’m not wrong. I’m the expert’. Now, if you write this book, your name isn’t on it, but others will still be reading and learning from this book. Also, these mistruths aren’t glaringly obvious to anyone other than those who are familiar with the business, so it would be hard for anyone else to prove otherwise.
Do you write it, take the money, and shut up? Or do you turn away the cash and run with it?
The “Take the Money and Run Camp”
A lot of industry experts I’ve talked to about the subject say it depends on a number of things including whether or not their name is on it, how much money the project is worth, who it’s for, how big of a factual mistake it is, and many other variables.
The argument is that if it’s worth enough money, if the mistake isn’t that huge, and their name isn’t on it, they’d likely do it.
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“No Way In Hell Buddy Boy”
On the other side of the fence are those who say they wouldn’t take the job regardless. They don’t care who it’s for, what it could do to or for their career, or how much money they could make. They know what’s right and what’s wrong, and they refuse to allow something false like that from hitting the virtual shelves. They’d never be able to look at themselves in the mirror if they did.
“It’s Money. Duh”
The third opinion of this is that it’s a business transaction. This is doing a job for money. Nothing more. Nothing less. Their morals and values don’t enter into the picture because their morals and values aren’t for sale. They run a profitable business, and as such, they will do what keeps that business profitable.
Personally, I have to admit I’m torn. I really abhor the idea of writing the same garbage that I’ve argued against, but at the same time, I do have a family to support. From the client’s perspective, they may know I know about the subject, but they don’t know how much I know about. Also, they’re supposed to be the experts on the subject, not you. Why would they trust you?
I’m left in a position where I don’t want to touch the project because I know a portion of it is incorrect. The client won’t just change it because the writer said so either. There’s no real way to prove it, so what do we do?
Business | 3 comments
Angie’s Copywriting Gets Nominated for a SEMMY!
I was very pleasantly surprised yesterday. My piece, ‘Don’t Blame the Snake Oil Salesman‘, has been nominated for a SEMMY Award in the ‘industry’ category! Voting opens on January 20th.
I wanted to thank them very much for the nomination. Being ‘new’ to the industry (especially in comparison to many others on the list) and a copywriter, I’m honoured to know that my post is considered one of the year’s best.
Lighter Side | No comments
Social Media & Copywriting — Creating Link Bait and Viral Content
Hey all,
If you’re interested in getting a little more ‘bang for your buck’ out of your content, and are wondering how to structure your content program in order to gain the most benefit from your Social Media campaign, check out my guest post entitled “Copywriting and Social Media: Making the Connection” , which is published on Samir Balwani’s blog.
It covers the various types of content, and looks at the creation of link bait as well as viral content. In short, it’s idea for those of you looking to set up or tweak a Social Media or Content strategy.
Don’t forget to let me know what you think!
Social Media | No comments
Are You Building a Brand or Cash Grabbing?
Branding and making money go hand in hand, right? Well, yes, absolutely they do. BUT, there’s a huge difference between the two, and it’s this difference that business owners have to keep in mind if they hope to succeed in business and make things go as smoothly as possible.
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‘Cash Grabbing’ Businesses
We all want to make money, and with the way the economy has gone, the drive for cash seems to have intensified. The faster and easier we can make it the better. But, this isn’t always a good thing. You see, these techniques may work very well, but the results only last for a short time. They can also have serious, negative effects on your business.
Spamming is a great example. You know what? It works. As much as we all hate it, it works very well if you know what you’re doing and choose the right industry. Many people can make thousands in the day or two that the website is live and ranking in the search engines.
Unfortunately, the search engines try to get rid of these types of websites as quickly as possible, so you don’t have long to make money. It doesn’t help your reputation any and you can guarantee that you’re going to make a lot of people mad. In fact, an image of a large, angry mob with pitchforks and torches comes to mind.
Article marketing is another popular way to build links. While I won’t debate the value of the method in this post, I will mention that this portion of marketing is famous for being loaded full of…well…junk. Now, if I were to do this, I believe it would damage my business. How? Because I’m a copywriter and I make my money by providing quality. Have I done it? Yes, but after I learned a bit more, I stopped.
This is why I use a completely different form of article marketing. I create high-end quality pieces that people want to link to and place them on authoritative sites. This reflects my quality and improves my reach at the same time.
The same thing happens in real life. You know exactly what I’m talking about. I mean those marketing tactics that rival those of our biggest political figures. These are the tactics that aren’t necessarily illegal or wrong, but they still make you cringe just thinking about them.
Again, these business models make a quick turnaround and die. It doesn’t mean that you can’t make a living off them. It just means that you’d better not get attached to it. You’ll be starting numerous companies and websites simply to keep your income at a decent level.
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Building a Brand
When you build a brand, you rarely make large amounts of money at the start. It’s a long hard slog that can be downright disheartening, but the result is a legacy you will undoubtedly leave behind. These businesses also run completely different from the cash grabbing businesses mentioned previously.
Brand focused businesses rely heavy on word of mouth advertising, social media, and…well…advertising period. But, you need to be cautious. Every move you make will reflect back on your company and have either a positive or negative effect. This includes your marketing tactics, networking, charity, community events…everything.
If you are building a brand, quality is absolutely vital in everything you do. You need to look and act the part. You need a quality website, quality advertising materials, a quality marketing program, and a good connection with your target audience.
In addition to appearance, you don’t want to risk having something fall apart during one of the most critical moments in your business’ life either. And believe me, this happens. It’s Murphy’s Law. There’s no taking a short cut; everything you purchase and do has to match your image.
When I set up my new website, for example, absolutely everything from the architecture and keywords to the types of services I chose to offer and how I set up my business model were all chosen for specific reasons. The same can be said for my marketing strategy. I don’t want my clients to feel hunted or pressured. They can trust me to help them, and they know if I don’t know the answer, I can find it for them.
As for how far you’ll get by building a brand, it’s hard to say. You might become the next Richard Branson of Virgin Mobile, or you might only make enough to live out your life comfortably, but I’m a firm believer in the idea that it isn’t worth having if you don’t have to work for it.
So, knowing both sides, how will you choose to build your business? Do you prefer one method over the other?
Business | No comments
