Small Biz Sanity

3 Ways to Handle Content Theft Online Without Getting a Lawyer Involved

This has happened to me before--and I have to tell you, "Whoosa!" goes a long way when you come across someone stealing your content online!  But I love the suggestions that award-winning blogger & social marketing expert Leesa Barnes offers in this following article.  Check it out while you wait for your blood pressure to go back down, lol.

3 Ways to Handle Content Theft Online Without Getting a Lawyer Involved by Leesa Barnes

In the last 90 days, I’ve discovered individuals who have copied content from my sales pages. In fact, one person started promoting her virtual event using the exact name that I use for my annual telesummit.

Of course, I was upset. My heart started beating, my hands started shaking and I wanted nothing more than to send a cease and desist letter from my lawyer.

But there is a way that you can handle content theft without getting a lawyer involved. Here are my tips on how you can approach the person who has stolen your content so you get the results you’re looking for.

First, take a 15 minute breather. I find that when you fire off an e-mail in the heat of the moment, you tend to regret what you have written. So instead of replying right away, go for a walk, grab some tea, or head out to the gym. Just take a quick break before you take any action.

Next, craft an e-mail where you do not pass blame. One time, I approached someone who had ripped off content from one of my sales pages. She replied to my e-mail stating that she had hired a copywriter to write the content for her. She had no idea that the copywriter plagiarized my content and sold it to her as the finished product. So, here’s a case of someone trusting a freelancer to get the job done, and the freelancer was dishonest.

When you write an e-mail to the person who plagiarized your content, treat it as if the person did not do something wrong. Yes, I know they did something wrong, but the tone of your e-mail should lean towards being forgiving.

For example, you can say in your e-mail:

“Hey, the content on your webpage looks exactly like mine. You may not be aware of it, but since I wrote that content first, can you please remove it or give me credit?”

Last, reward honesty. About 90% of the time, if your e-mail has a tone of forgiveness, the person will come out and admit that they were wrong. Recently, someone who attended my Social Media Telesummit launched her own virtual event. The topic of her virtual event was similar to mine and sadly, she copied content from my sales page for her own.

After approaching her over twitter, she admitted that she knew very little about marketing and felt that the only way she could complete a sales page was to “copy” from who she considered to be the best.

At this point, I felt the need to provide a little bit of coaching. After doing so, not only did she change the content on her sales page so it read less than mine, but she enjoyed a very successful attendance at her virtual event.

Now, I’m not suggesting that you provide free coaching. Also, if you are writing blog posts or articles and you’re giving people permission to copy and paste it on their own blog or in their e-zines, then this is a different story.

However, if the person has copied your content without giving you credit, then this is grounds to send them an e-mail and ask them to stop.

In my virtual event marketing blueprint, I’ll teach you how to create a name for your virtual event so that it does not plagiarize someone else’s. I’m also going to teach you how to write sales copy so that it’s original and fresh. The live training starts on May 19 and there are still spots available. Click here to grab your spot before the price goes up on May 14, 2009.

Leesa Barnes is an award winning blogger and critically acclaimed author who helps businesses get active using social media in 3 simple steps. To learn how you can become Marketing Fit, visit http://www.marketingfit.com to get your complimentary to get your complimentary kit called the Marketing Fit Success Kit containing a social media checklist, mindmap, MP3 file and a complimentary subscription to the Marketing Fit ezine.

Marketing your social networking site...

So, last week I posted an entry & article on how to discover your small business niche--and how it's key when it comes to maximizing your income & client demand.  But that was just the tip of the iceberg...

Once you do determine your niche, there are so many ways to work it. For example, how about starting a social networking site catered to your specific niche?  Sound like a plan?  In that case, check out the following article I found online--in which social networking guru Chris Bennett (founder & president of SEO firm 97th Floor) discusses all you need to know.

11 Ways to Market Your Social Networking Site by Chris Bennett

1. Identify your target audience

Who are you targeting — specifically? To help answer this question, think about the target age, gender, interest, and geographic location of who you want to use your new site.

Remember, social networkers are already busy on sites like Facebook, MySpace, Digg, and others, so the average person probably won’t add a “general” social networking site to their agenda. So, choose a niche and identify the relevant audience so you can stand out.

Once you know who you are targeting, figure out how many people are in your target audience and might be interested in your site. To do this, think about keyword searches this audience might do to find sites like yours, and then check out keyword search volume on Google and research data on sites like compete.com and hitwise.com. You should also visit Stumbleupon, go to groups, and find out how many people subscribe to the group or groups related to your topic.

2. Beta test – thoroughly

Social networkers have choices, and they definitely don’t have the time or willingness to deal with problems. So before you launch, you need a really strong beta site that’s been tested and tested and tested. And tested one more time for good measure. If you have the budget, consider private or third-party testing – not only will they do a thorough job, but they may notice problems that over time you’ve come to ignore.  The easiest way to turn off a potential customer is to deliver a sub-par experience.

In addition testing the user experience, be sure to include server and load testing: When sites go down, visitors are turned off and leave, most likely for good.

Remember that social media users as a group tend to be more technically savvy, and as a result, more likely to bail on you if they’re unsatisfied. The bottom line is that you’ll want to have your site in top shape before driving traffic to it.

3. Seed your site

Say you’re creating a site for interior designers and your goal is for thousands of designers to upload photos for the community to comment on. At launch, make sure you have tons of photos in place.

A common mistake is assuming visitors will load your content for you, but in reality almost no visitor will commit to making that jump unless they see other people have already done so. Think about it — would you as a visitor upload photos, add descriptions, and comment on other photos when it is unlikely people will see what you’ve done?

The basic principle is that visiting a social networking site is a lot like using a forum – if there’s no activity, you’ll leave. So seed your site with the kind of content you want users to generate and interact with.

How can you do this? Get a beta group to help you seed your site – even if it’s just your friends and family. Not only will you be seeding, you’ll also be performing additional beta tests in the process.

4. Network to generate traffic

The key message here is that social networking requires online, not offline, buzz generation. Get in touch with online influencers during your website’s pre-launch phase and more general blogs and PR sites post-launch.

How? Use Technorati and Google Blog Search to identify the popular blogs that focus on your demographic. Then, after you’ve conducted beta testing and you’re proud of your site, contact the major bloggers and influencers in your demographic and ask them to beta test your site prior to launch. By reaching out early, you’re showing you respect their knowledge and you really value their feedback.

That’s a much better approach than contacting them after the launch. Why? Most will be flattered you sought their opinion ahead of time, and not only will you get valuable feedback, you’re more likely to be reviewed when you do launch. Reviews and mentions by influencers help create buzz – and buzz creates traffic.

Then notify influential blogs like techcrunch.com, mashable.com, and killerstartups.com. Keep in mind they get tons of requests, so make sure your pitch is to the point.

5. Consider traditional online advertising

If you have the budget, contact the large sites and forums in your demographic that sell ad space and buy a few ads (federatedmedia.com could be a good source). But do not delude yourself into buying just any traffic, and don’t focus on general-interest sites even if they get huge amounts of traffic. In the early stages of your website, you want your ads in front of the right eyeballs – not just any eyeballs.

6. Don’t forget SEO

Getting traffic from search engines is key, right? And getting free traffic is even better. To do this, one of the first things you’ll want to do is identify keywords and continually optimize your site and pages and get ranked for those words.

For example, if your niche is interior design, you’ll definitely want to rank for terms like “interior design ideas,” interior design photos,” “interior design community,” etc. Look for keywords that describe the content you offer instead of products and integrate that content into your pages. (Unless your site is devoted to product reviews or discussions, of course.) And remember, it’s hard to rank highly for general terms; it’s much easier to rank highly for specific and focused keywords.

7. Participate on sites related to your niche

If there’s a huge forum or a thriving group in StumbleUpon in your demographic, set up an account, link back to your site, and interact and become well-known in that community and you’ll generate traffic to your site.

When you set up your account, make your username the name of your social site to help further brand you. Make a name for yourself – actually, for your site – in your demographic. Here’s a guide to help you set up a StumbleUpon account and, if you like, becoming a top Stumbler.

8. Create spokes for your hub

Set up Facebook and MySpace pages that are extensions of your site. Then search and network with people who share your interest. Aggregating content from your social site and placing it on your Facebook and MySpace pages will give potential visitors a sense of what is on your main site.

You can also set up a Twitter page, with the name of your site as your Twitter username, and tweet all day about what you’re working on and what’s new on your site. You can also perform searches on Twitter to find people interested in your niche. Many influential bloggers use Twitter to alert their readers about new content – you can too.

Make sure you also link to all your Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and Stumbleupon profiles from your main site – basically, anywhere you’ve created an account related to your brand.

9. Analyze, analyze, analyze

The key to effectively marketing your social networking site is to understand conversions. A conversion in social networking terms is not a sale, it’s a sign-up. (Marketing is, after all, about spreading the word, getting the right visitors, and converting them.) A free tool on blvdstatus.com can help you understand where visitors came from before they signed up, whether based on a keyword, a site, or a blog.

Understanding where your conversions come from helps you determine where to focus your marketing efforts. If a mention on a particular blog resulted in a nice volume of sign-ups from the blog’s readers, you’re on to something. Analytics help you determine where it’s worth spending your marketing time.

10. Encourage your active community

Think of ways to get your community to interact with each other. The benefit is that ever elusive ‘network effect’ – when an active community creates buzz and word of mouth, yielding more users.

Things you should do to facilitate interaction: comment on user comments, create contests for things like adding content, allow users to vote, and let users submit questions.

Note: I’m sure you’ll be surprised by what can create interaction. We work with a best-selling author who, due to time constraints, isn’t easy for the average reader to contact. We asked site users to submit questions they’d like the author to answer, and then the community voted on the top ten questions. It’s so popular it’s become a monthly feature on the site and generates an incredible amount of participation and interaction.

11. When you reach critical mass, work on features to fine-tune the community experience

Once the buzz from the launch dies down, new features can build new excitement, both within your community and outside. So spend time adding features or tools. Then contact bloggers and influencers to let them know what you’ve done – not only will you maintain a vibrant community, but the buzz will help you generate more new users.

Is Twitter giving your biz the hookup?

Facebook might have recently knocked MySpace to the side in becoming the world's largest social network (not that I was a big MySpace-er anyway), but that doesn't mean Twitter is anywhere near being out of the game.  It's gotten some interesting press in the past few days; for example, actor Ashton Kutcher just beat out CNN in becoming the first Twitter member to net a million followers.  And in related "If Oprah Even Farts It's News" news, the media felt it was important to announce that the mogul's first words on Twitter were the profound "HI TWITTERS."

So, okay.  Everybody & their mama, it seems, is on Twitter--got it.  But if you're a business owner who's not that familiar with it, you might be thinking, how can this help me & my biz?  You might want to check out this Manta.com article, "How Twitter Works and How It Can Help Your Business."

Why aren't you on Facebook? (Not an ad...I'm just saying...)

Okay, I'll admit--being that I am a Facebook aficionado,  I'm a little biased in favor of this following article.  Twitter? Meh.  (Although "small biz marketing rules" say that I should be more involved with it than I am, I'll admit I kind of fell off...I'll keep trying, lol.)  MySpace?  As a grown woman, I'll say "not so much." 

But Facebook?  Ah, The Face.  Not only is it a great tool in terms of marketing your business, it's wonderful for personal networking, keeping up with friends/family, and re-connecting with those about whom you've thought for years, "I wonder whatever happened to...?"  But of course, we all know them--the Facebook Holdouts (FBHs, I call them).  That good friend who's always asking about mutual friends you haven't heard from in years--yet they still won't get an FB account even after you tell them all the folks they've been looking for are on the site, lol.   Hey, maybe you're the FBH I speak of. 

If so, this article's for you.

The Fastest Way to Lose Your Followers on Twitter

By Leesa Barnes, MarketingFit.com

Over the past few days, I’ve noticed a curious tactic that some Twitter users are employing to generate leads from this microblogging tool.

Whenever someone follows me, I follow them back. And then on first contact, they send a direct message to me (DM) that says:

“Thanks for the follow. I have a special bonus ebook for you at mywebsite.com.”

Hoppin' on the Twitter Train (Part 2)...

Last week, I did an intro post on the benefits of using Twitter, and I said I'd be back periodically with more tips & resources--as I learn & discover them along the way myself.  I'm still pretty new (just check my "following/followers" status compared to some veterans, lol), so I'm far from perfect with this thing!  As I come across remedies to certain situations, I'll pass 'em on to you.  Like this one here:

Your Tweet agenda:  One of my biggest things is sometimes forgetting to tweet.  What I've resolved to do from here on out is remind myself by setting aside a couple of times each day (preferably in the morning and evening) to bang out a few Twitter updates.  There are lots of Twitter reminder tools out there--you can start with the website's own Twitter Timer, which is also good for general self-reminders. 

Hoppin' on the Twitter Train (Part 1)...

You've probably heard about Twitter by now--heck, maybe you're one of the louder Tweets.  Ask many, and they'll tell you it's addicting. 

 

If you don't know, you're asking, "Okay...what is 'Twitter,' exactly?"  Basically, it's  a free social networking & micro-blogging service that allows its users to send and read other users' updates (otherwise known as tweets), which are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length.   And it's all based on a "What are you doing right now?" standpoint (similar to Facebook). 

It's a great way for small biz owners to network--the best way to do it is to just jump in, checking out the pages of folks you'd like to network with (they have links to their main websites on the pages), click their "follow" button, and then follow the links of their followers to discover others you'd like to connect with.  And just start tweeting--don't be shy.  You can update on whatever you want--whether it's a new blog post you've uploaded, your new product, or just everyday stuff you're doing at the moment.  And respond to other people's posts, as well.  Once you start putting yourself out there on Twitter, inevitably people will start finding you--and you'll begin to see emails in your inbox letting you know that "So-and-So is now following you on Twitter."

Basically, that's the gist of how it works.  But I've just scratched the tip of the iceberg.  There are tons of other tips out there from people who really know how to work Twitter, and I'll continue shortly with tidbits from a couple of other small biz whizzes. 

I Love It! Ping.fm

I'm fairly new to the social networking thing, I'll admit--but oooh, is it oh-so-addictive.  Very cool meeting new folks & getting my networking on on Twitter, and re-connecting with friends & colleagues on Facebook.  (I did get a laugh from my cousin-in-law though, who quipped when she saw my once-Internetphobe husband's friend request on Facebook: "You being on Facebook means it's time to get off!")

So social networking definitely has it's perks, but it can become time-consuming if you're not careful.  And for some reason, it seemed like although I'm constantly Twittering (although not nearly as much as many), I always drew a blank when it came to posting a "what am I doing right now?" blurb on Facebook.  (Every time I figured it out the moment had passed, lol.)  And I have to be honest--they need to really tighten up Facebook's so-called Twitter integration--because apparently, it doesn't work for many (I'm one of them).

Enter Ping.fm--a simple, free service that makes updating your social networks a snap.  Go to Ping, take like, two seconds to sign up, and choose which networks you want Ping to simultaneously post your entries to (Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Yahoo 360, Friendster, LiveJournal, Delicious and more).  When you want to update everyone with the exciting highlights of whatever you're doing at the moment, sign in to Ping, update away--and it updates all your networks at once. 

How cool is that?  Okay, it might be old hat to some--but heck, I'm excited at any new discovery that ups my efficiency quotent.   It's the little things that make me do my happy dance.