Protecting Your Content and Your Reputation — A Response
I want to respond to Kristi Hines’ post entitled ‘Protecting Your Content and Your Reputation’. While she does bring up a number of very valid points, I do have a number of points to add. After all, we’ve all had different experiences, learned a variety of different things, and I think we can all learn from it.
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Having Submitted Work Edited
In a recent post giving advice to site owners on hosting guest posts, I recommend site owners make writers aware of what they’re editing. Unfortunately, many of them don’t follow this advice. Now, as a writer, I have to admit it annoys the heck out of me to have work edited and cut for no reason. From a site owner’s perspective, however, I really dislike a writer freaking out when I edit their content.
Why do I do it? Several reasons, aside from spelling and grammar, there are space constraints, optimum length for my readers, to fit in with my site theme and focus, etc. It also depends if it’s my site or not. If it isn’t mine, I tend to edit out extremely controversial points for the sake of my client. Bottom line, editing is a fact of life for a writer, so if it’s vital that the content remain exactly the same, sharing content may not be for you.
Policies and Income Generation
I personally have a big beef with this one, and not Kristi’s points either. Terms and conditions are nasty if you fail to check these out before sending in work. However, there are a number of assumed laws to be aware of. For example, Australian writers hold the rights to their work even if they’ve sold it. In other countries, the rights change hands as soon as the money does. (I cover this in my contract.) You need to be just as cautious of the ‘understood’ rules as you do the printed ones. On the same hand, never assume anything. I’ve learned the hard way to always get everything in writing.
Posting your work on sites that use ad revenue are a waste of any serious writer’s time. Trust me. I’ve tried it and I’ve yet to find a method that works well with these sites save for one: mass produce a creepload of content and spread it everywhere. You’re far better off spending the time to write decent content and using it to directly market yourself via a website or blog.
So long as you’re getting something of what you consider to be equal value in return for your content, you aren’t exactly losing it. For example, links, traffic, and money are common currency in a writer’s world, and as far as I get what I agree on initially, I’m happy with that. The important thing is to make sure the tradeoff is worth it to you and that you get it in writing! Many times, I’ve traded copy for something else and not gotten it in the end. Protect yourself.
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Reputation Leakage and Image
This is a huge one in some respects, but not so much in others. You are definitely judged by the company you keep. Without a doubt! However, this works in both ways. Use your access to high-end sites to your advantage, but don’t fall into the common trap of marketing to your peers either.
You gain and lose authority according to your clients, not necessarily from your peers. They pay you, and what they care about is what kind of a job you can do for them, not how many invitations you get to the next major conference or who you sit with while you’re there. Don’t underestimate the importance of complementary businesses either. These can potentially generate a large amount of profits if you play your cards right.
And while I wouldn’t get into the habit of appearing on low grade sites, I think people put a little too much emphasis on negative PR. I’ve learned there really is no such thing as bad PR so long as you deal with it the right way. The short-term damage is often far worse than the long term.
In short, treat your online business as you would a brick and mortar store. If you conduct yourself in the same way, you’ll do fine and have nothing to worry about.
For the Writer | No comments
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
Crime and Punishment: Are Big Bloggers Taking Dirty Money?
I don’t normally rant on my blog, but after seeing many big name bloggers struggle and make tweets like this I felt it was time for me to have my say. What’s all the hubbub about?
Bloggers are being all but stoned to death for taking money (or products) in exchange for sponsored blog posts. That tweet clearly states that the isn’t a paid post, but at the same time, why should they have to explain things like that? It shouldn’t make a difference whether it’s paid or not, so long as it’s honest.
Sponsored blog posts are yet another advertising/social media marketing practice being used by many companies. These aren’t little companies either; think cameras and cars for starters.
I don’t care whether we are talking about Brian Clark, Darren Rowse, Michel Fortin, or Joe Blow from down the street. When these people post entries in their blogs, they are providing a service. This service includes all kinds of thoughts and information that most readers would not have access to otherwise. The reader takes this information and can apply it to their own writing and blogs and make money with it.
Now, many bloggers sell advertising, have affiliate links, or use Adsense to monetize their service and ensure they can cover costs. I have several affiliate links on this site. I don’t hide the fact they are affiliate links. I have even provided readers with an alternative, non-affiliate link to use if they so choose. The only thing is that I only choose products that I have used and have had a positive experience with. In many instances, they have helped me get to where I am today.
Honesty and transparency is more than my values coming through in my writing. It has become a mainstream marketing trend whether we all like it or not. Consumers demand this out of every company they purchase from.
And they should!
I think, as a whole, we’ve had enough of the sleazy marketing types that could ’sell you the wedding ring from your own finger’. I agree wholeheartedly with this trend. I feel that this is the positive effect of the recession. (Because money has become tighter in most instances, people are a lot more careful about where they’re spending their money.) I also think part of the reason for this change is social media, which is the driving mechanism behind this trend.
What irritates me the most are those who write a sponsored post, and get roasted for it. Now, I could understand if this was kept a secret, but not when they are open and honest from the start. The way I see it, the ones who get these opportunities are all big time names who have been around a long time. Their readers have generally been reading them for a long time, and should have some level of trust there to ensure the honesty of the blogger.
What bothers me is the idea that some people feel offended that the writer would take money to write a post. Hello??? How much do some readers honestly expect to get for free? The money isn’t out of their pockets. No one is forced to read the post. No one is forced to buy. What’s the issue?
I do think there is a reason for this. Michael Martine of Remarkablogger (Michael, I think this was you. If it isn’t please correct me. It sounds like Remarkablogger wisdom to me though.) hit this nail right on the head with a single statement. ‘If you don’t monetize from the start, readers are offended by it when you do decided to recoup some of your loses’ (paraphrasing here, but you get the idea).
Regardless of what anyone tells me, there is a lot of expense tied to blogging, particularly for those who blog or write professionally. The time invested in quality posts costs money. Then, there is hosting and domains. On top of that, there are the expenses associated with the design, development, and upkeep of the site not to mention those last-minute, panicked repairs. Bloggers shouldn’t have to apologize for trying to recoup some of these costs and even make some profit.
Dirty money? IMO, not a chance!
Am I being irrational here? Should bloggers refuse companies who ask for sponsored posts? Should it only be done under certain circumstances?
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For the Writer | 16 comments
An In-Depth Look At Morals, Values and Business
I had originally planned to write a post on the single biggest mistake anyone in business makes, but I had a very pleasant surprise yesterday. A fellow Twitterpeep and a passionate SEOer known as Suthnautr (David Curtis in the real world) posted a response to my post “Do Morals and Values Affect Your Writing?”
He took it quite a bit further than I did, and frankly, did an excellent job. I fully agree with his points and wanted to share that with you as well. In reality, I think this is something that everyone should consider whether you get a paperroute or are starting with a fortune 500 company. Without further delay, his guest post/response:
Having studied philosophy, morals and ethics a bit I believe that I owe it to people to tell them the truth.
There is more than one way to tell the truth, however. If a little girl’s cat runs away and gets run over (and I know because I have seen it get run over) I won’t tell her the truth – I’ll tell her that most cats that run away get found by nice families and are given a new place to live. Technology needs its own truth – if I were explaining technology to a tribe living in a jungle led by a medicine man with rattles and a string of animal claws who didn’t understand it, the truth I would describe would be something quite different from how I’d word it on my Web site meant for more technically experienced and educated people. I have taught basic computer to people for years – and I know for a fact that these same people often can’t figure out how to set the clocks on their microwaves, VCR’s, etc – you know the old joke from www.internethelpdesk.com (no longer around, I’m afraid), where the tech refers to them all as just “Serious 12 O’Clock Blinkers”.
There are PLENTY of them around – a whole LOT of them around – and a whole LOAD of them are business owners and executives. Special considerations have to be made explaining things to them, because someone told them once (and they will NOT let it go) that there is just one thing and one thing alone that’s important – (when it’s not and hasn’t been for ten years) and if you don’t agree with that, then you’re, well, just no “good”. So if they can’t be educated, you still owe it to them to help them because they’re so ignorant and mis-informed that for their own good you have to take them on as clients because if you don’t, they are going to get ripped off big time.
Morality and ethics are a bit different from “truth” – and maybe more akin to philosophy – where perceptions of reality are shifted based upon whichever philosophy you adhere to (Whether you know it or not – we all view the world through the veil of some kind of philosophy or another). Sometimes I have to help shift someone’s philosophy slightly to let them see an advantage in something I’m proposing.
In general a lot of Web copywriting in the past has relied on print advertising scenarios and solutions (fear tactics, keep up with the Jones’, jump on the bandwagon, be the first in the neighborhood etc. etc.) or whatever else made sales happen as expected. More recently the “Imagine that…” scenario seems to have worked well… but now the Web copywriting model is more of a “dialogue with the people, and do it genuinely, they’ll find you out if you don’t” (with which I agree). But the fact is that in all I do, I personally believe in my true heart of hearts that what I do now, right now, is the right thing or I wouldn’t be doing it. Tomorrow I may learn differently and change – but keeping up with what works today is the best way to do things.
As far as (finite) money goes, making money is a game of musical chairs (visit my site http://www.buildingcapital.us ) to see why someone MUST lose even if everyone did everything exactly right – and everyone was a CPA keeping every rule and doing everything by the book. My job is to get the money that’s out there. Someone has got to get it, I do my job better than most, and I owe it to my family, my wife and my kids to get it first – by convincing those who will get ripped off if they hire someone else that I’m the right man for the job, even if I have to say I agree with his idea that we must do something I know no longer works.
The economy is full of artful and successful con-artists and rip-offs who truly do not care whom they hurt. The economy is such that some will always make it and some will always go bankrupt – and my job, my number one job, my obligation and moral duty, is to do whatever it takes to make sure that the guy living in the tribe in the jungle (whether it be filled with trees or tall office buildings, whether that non-technical guy has a title like chief or CEO, CFO or is just some citizen operating a small to medium family owned business) is to make sure he doesn’t do worse (out of ignorance) by hiring someone not as good as me at performing the services I perform or by hiring someone who is promising the world and is going to rip him or her off for quadruple what I would charge. It is also my duty to lead him in the right direction if the job is beyond me and he needs someone better. I will NOT screw him up just to make money.
My personal morality and ethics play a major role in writing, all the time.
(Image provided by MacieKlew)
Business | No comments
Do Your Morals And Values Affect Your Writing?
Ghostwriting -- Is it morally right? If so, when is it and when isn't it?
Celebrities such as 50Cent, Barak Obama, and Britney Spears recently revealed they hired writers and others to add content to social networks like Twitter and Facebook. Guy Kawasaki furthered this debate when he spoke at a conference about having other employees update his Twitter account as well as using Twitterhawk and CoTweet to promote Alltop.
Twitterhawk brings up the issue of spamming. In my opinion, having someone else run your account for you is no different. I can understand that these people are busy. I can even see them avoiding these types of platforms purely for safety reasons. After all, you never realize what you have revealed to the public until it’s too late. However, I honestly feel that if you are going to brand these things as personal rather than as a general business thing, having someone else do all the work defeats the purpose.
Ghostwriting is not a new idea. It’s a popular form of writing that happens all the time, and it has been around for years. I would estimate that 95% of all the writing I do is under someone else’s name.
Is it morally wrong? No, but it depends on several variables. What image is that person projecting? What points are they trying to make? Today’s world is all about transparency and honesty, and if you haven’t got that, you are going to be left behind..
If someone offered the right amount of money, would I write content for a celebrity to send out on Twitter or Facebook?
I would like to say no, but I’m not sure. It would really depend on how the material was being presented. If it was no secret that writers were supplying the information or if there were a few personal posts or tweets in between and others knew. I could live with that.
When would I refuse a writing project?
Adult content pays a lot of money. And when I say a lot, I mean a lot more than any other topic, generally speaking of course. Would I take these projects? Anyone who looks at my copywriting services page knows I won’t take adult content. I also won’t take anything that could wind me up in jail.
I’m no prude and I even enjoy the odd romance novel (ok, ok, more than just the odd one…Ok, fine, pretty much any of them that gives an image of Fabio on the cover. If he’s wearing chainmail and swinging a sword, all the better.) I just would never feel right about writing them myself. Also, in my opinion, there is a big difference between a romance novel and all-out porn.
I have nothing against the porn industry. I mean, if you are involved either in the production or on the buying side, that’s fine. It’s completely your choice. It just isn’t something I choose to be involved in.
For me, it’s all about morals and respect. Think about this: you’re in the middle of writing some smutty article and you look up to see your kid standing right there…yeah. It just isn’t going to happen.
I had trouble writing for a women’s lingerie company. Still not something I write with my kid around, but my opinion on lingerie is that it’s all about building self-confidence in the women who wear it; it has nothing to do with guys.
What about you? Do your morals and values enter into your writing? Does it dictate what you write about something, or what subjects you take on?
(image for today’s post taken by striatic)
For the Writer | 4 comments
