Are you copying someone's work?... You should be...

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In the internet marketing world, copying another author's article is a big no no! From an SEO point of view we've been taught that Google doesn't like it and you can even be penalized for doing it. Well screw Google and the high horse they ride on! In life copying someone else is actually a great way to get ahead! Let me explain how copying in other facets of life is a good thing. (You still shouldn't do it for content. That's still bad. LOL)

Be Robin Hood!

If there are people that are already successful in what you want to do, then take a shortcut and mimic what they're doing. It ain't rocket science folks. Chances are they have picked up some behaviors, experience and insight that have made them successful. So why try to ice skate up a mountain when you can glide downhill and get to your destination faster? Sure you should add your own flavor to the recipe, that's the spice of life. But don't be a fool and make life more difficult than it has to be by ignoring the folks that have come before you who have achieved what you want.

Fortunately being here at WA is a sign you understand that concept. But dig deeper with your actions consistently! Seek people specifically in your niche and study what they're doing from their writing, social media activities, the products they create, the things they promote, etc. Chances are you'll find some great jewels of knowledge to "steal" (aka inspire you) and apply in your own life.

Summing it all up...

Well here's a quote that pretty much sums up this whole blog post:

Why be good when you're actually meant to be great! Now go out this week and rob successful folks blind! (Figuratively people.) LOL

Let me know what you guys think! Chime in below, I'd love to hear from you. Do you agree with this? Are you already doing this?

Thanks for reading my little rant. Hopefully it inspires you and you like at stealing in a whole new way.

Eddy

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Recent Comments

58

Be a copycat...just make sure you're copying the right cat! Wooo hooo!

LOL, Love it!!!! Very wise and simple advice. Thanks for chiming in!

Like a Monkey.....Monkey see...Monkey do!

Hi Eddy, I'm glad you answered egonsarv by saying you don't mean stealing literally, a thought provoking blog from you indeed.

All great coaches will advise people that they will become like the people they mix with, so if you see someone great and you want to be like them then take a leaf from their book and work in a similar way. Hey is that not what WA is all about?

With regards to websites some of us may be guilty of copying a little but as we grow and realise that it won't get us ranked we quickly learn the art of thinking for oursevles and following the great experienced peoples advice.

I'm not on page 1 yet for my review and it's a long way but we have good teachers :) we can but tweak and live in hope

Thanks for starting my brain off today

kind regards

Sharon


Hey Sharon,

No problem. Apparently I may need to edit the article to make that even more clear. LOL But I'm happy you got the spirit of the article. You've hit it on the head, you only become great by being around other great people and mimicking their behavior and thought process. But as I said in the article you have to add your own flavor to the mix as well.

In terms of copying actually content, I'm not condoning that at all. I just referenced that as an analogy. I think it's a good idea to look at successful content and be inspired by it and write your own content in your own way. So hopefully that's clear as well.

I got people talking and thinking with this post. So that's good even if some are mis-interpreting the message. LOL But I appreciate you chiming in and happy you see where I'm coming from.

Something that people may not now, Joe Vitale used Napoleon Hills works and made millions, Rhonda Byrne used the material of William Wattles for THE Secret and made millions, You can use information that is avaliable in the public domain and change it if so want to, another way of getting ideas and helping you write material is to buy PLR articles that give you total rights to change the product and title, that is how most people will get there information.

Hope that helps

Richard, exactly! All the personal development folks we've all probably read were influenced by folks before them. The modern guys have just taken the concepts re-packaged them ADDED their own imprint and have delivered the content in different ways and mediums. I think that's great because they've made the principles accessible to people in different ways. But most will tell you that the basis for their teachings come from the folks before them.

And quite frankly they've become very successful because they mimicked the great people before them. But again all these folks have added their own imprint and personality which is key. But they followed an already successful blueprint and I think that's what we should all do to a certain degree to help us reach success a bit faster.

Either way, thanks for chiming in and making reference to that. Because a lot of folks aren't aware of that.

I've got a question on this, presumably if you copy work from the public domain and change bits make it your own, do you not then have copyright over your work? I guess this could lead to multiple sites being punished by Google? It may be the best site in the World but if no one sees it? sorry more thought provoking questions :)

Sharon, honestly I wouldn't know. Maybe someone else can chime in!

The only way to legally have copyright is to apply for copyright. When you do your own writing, you do own it, but it is not necessarily copyrighted unless you go through the copyright process. Hopes this makes sense.

RichardMS
Good examples. And it sounds like PLR could be one way to get started.

A dangerous start Eddy but I completely get, and agree with the point. It's not stealing or copying, it's"being inspired by"!

Finally! Someone got the spirit of the article! LOL I'm not advocating stealing! LOL I love how you put it. "being inspired by". That's exactly it. But this is great because it's sparking us all to have a conversation which is what WA is about! =)

Thanks for chiming in Paul and getting it! I appreciate it! =D

Interesting thoughts, Eddy.

"You can take this article and alter the content and add your name as the Author!" What a brilliant idea! Now, how many times has this particular article been re-hashed and re-authored? Quite often by the ignorant or illiterate, trying to pass themselves off as an "authority" in the field. So, it seems to me, that plagiarism - in a not too thinly veiled form - is an "art" to be encouraged by some segments of IM. How many people can you keep fooling - and for how long? Sure, I can take an article, add a bit of BS and hope someone will swallow it - so to speak... Or, get some software that does it for me!

It's bloody difficult to be totally original and if you are - there's a danger that someone will steal your concept or idea and try to make $$ from it. There are quite a few "scraper sites" out there, taking other people's works and Pinning them to their own "boards", without acknowledging the original source. So easy for those without any talent or any scruples. You know who you are!!! The amazing thing is, that this activity is being promoted and encouraged - and yes, some are profiting from it! (The photo and art sharing site I belong to constantly has these problems, watermarks notwithstanding!)

This is not to say that one cannot be inspired and uplifted by great artist or writers.

:) george

George I totally agree with you and hopefully you understand by reading the article I'm not condoning or encouraging any of the activity you described. I hate scrapper sites. But fortunately they don't have longevity because they tend to be missing the element I described in my article above which is to add your own flavor to the recipe.

The point of the article is to encourage folks to get inspired by the best and try to model your activity by them while adding your own DNA to the activity. Unfortunately you're right in that our industry actually preaches just the opposite and will sell you tools and strategies that fly in the face of what my article is about. So no argument here. I totally agree with you.

But this is about getting inspired as you've said. Thanks for chiming in and shedding light on some of that shadier side of our industry. This is all good conversation!

OldCodger, it becomes your own original work when your get inspired by someone else's work and add the things that they have not added. No piece of work is perfect, it is just original to the author. You can get ideas from others and fine tune them to your own original work. Hope this makes sense.

Another good post, Eddy. Another point I'd like to make is that sometimes the right thing to do is quote someone and give them the credit, whether it's words or photos. Sometimes even provide the link to their site within your article. We don't need to fear that our visitors won't come back to our website if they click the link because they will likely remember who provided them the valuable information and come back to see what else we have.

Yep, I agree with you! The person you link to may also link and reference you in their article as well.

I swear I have seen that exact blog before somewhere Eddie LOL.......Nice job totally agree with you.

LOL Good one Mikey! Glad you liked it. Thanks for chiming in and being witty so early in the morning. LOL

Eddy its 1.28 in MikeyB land.....Not early, my wit has been going for 5 hours now

Hi Eddy
You are not supposed to promote your own blog or fanpage and suggest that people subscribe.

Beverley

I've removed the reference to connecting with me.

Yes Eddy, I understood what you wanted to say :)

What I wanted to add, was that sometimes (actually too often) the line between the legal and illegal is too thin and many end up on the other side. This is where all the plagiarism and stealing comes from. People don't bother to be creative they just want to enjoy the fruits. So I really understand what you mean and I also advocate honesty - not to cross that line, even if it looks lucrative.

I totally agree with you Egonsarv. Too often people are lazy and don't want to add their own dna to the mix. And if they did, they would find more success because people connect to others because of the unique things they bring to the table. So I agree with you! Thanks again for chiming in. That's what makes WA great. We can have these intellectual debates as adults. =)

I understand what you mean but as much as I see it then we should follow our conscious to keep our hearts clean. I definitely want to learn from successful marketers and they often give away tips and tricks but stealing... I personally don't want to promote stealing, even when it comes from Picasso. Somebody has said that whatever you want people do to you, you also do to them. :)

Hey Egonsarv, Thanks for chiming in. I appreciate your thoughts but I think you're taking the my pun too literally. It was more of a way to get you thinking which it did. But the spirit of the article is exactly what you surmised which is to learn from successful people and mimic their behavior. If you want to be as good as Lebron James for instance, then you may want to look up what his pre-game and after game regimens are and follow it. Then you may want to tweak it to add or remove somethings. There is nothing dirty in your heart for doing something like that.

That's what I'm implying here. Pepsi & Coke are pretty much the same product but they have some variations. Many of the products and conveniences you use are based on this principle. So don't take it literally. I would never recommend literally "stealing" from someone. It's just a play on words my friend. It got you thinking and commenting and that's always a good thing in my book! =)

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