Tread lightly when your receive guidance from a stranger because your business is at risk. I know some people mean well, but that isn’t a good enough reason to let your guard down.
When you follow a piece of bad advice, it could cost you money, reputation, or your business! I don’t like hearing this person was arrested or that one had his computer confiscated by the government. Yet, it happens.
Being in business means you’re willing to take responsibilities for your decisions. Sometimes, it’s better to walk away than to take a chance on something that could cause irreversible damage.
Here are 3 examples for you to ponder…
Mentor Gone Wrong
Yesterday I had the unfortunate experience of watching a video tutorial that taught people how to write an article by copying material from a WIKI website. As I sat in horror watching this video unfold, I realized there was a great lesson to share.
I contacted the party involved and explained this was plagiarism and the consequences of the action. That’s when I found out this person learned the practice from another marketer.
Lesson #1: Whether or not a copyright symbol appears on an article, it’s not free for the taking. If you didn’t write it, you can’t spin it – period!
Wasting Prime Advertising Space
Several days prior to finding the video, I read a post that explained how to build your list with articles. I won’t dispute the fact that article marketing can boost your visibility and build a list, but only if it’s done properly.
The piece went on to describe how to use the resource box (the 4-6 lines at the bottom of your article) to include pointless information. Luckily, the suggestion was made to also include a call to action.
Your resource box isn’t meant to glorify you, it’s meant to make an offer that readers can’t refuse. Since the resource box is limited in space, it’s best if you put it to good use. Make certain your call to action is listed front and center.
Why?
People don’t want to call you. They want solutions to their problems! If you have an answer to what troubles them, stick it in the resource box and tell them how to get their hands on it.
Lesson #2: Your resource box is where you place a call-to-action. Don’t waste this space by filling it with useless text, telephone numbers, or college credentials.
If you were given an advertising spot on the front page of the New York Times, would you use this opportunity to brag about your education or home town? I doubt it, so don’t do it in an article.
Electronic Advice Echoes to Thousands
Last year, I attended an online webinar where a speaker informed the guests that they shouldn’t bother writing a conclusion in their articles. He claimed it was an unnecessary waste of space.
Seriously dude, a waste?
Since the invention of time, stories were told in a fashion where they offered a beginning, middle, and an end. A conclusion serves a far better purpose than just taking up space at the end of an article.
This is the paragraph where you get to summarize your facts and drive the point home you made in the opening paragraph, get them to put your information to use, or sway their opinion over to your side.
In online writing, the conclusion offers you a means to insert your keyword or keyword phrase, arouse interest about your resource box, or simply to recap what you stated in the title.
If you were to leave the conclusion off, your readers would feel as if they were left hanging. So offer them encouragement to try your suggestions and end the piece on a positive note.
Lesson #3: A good writer always provides closure with every piece that is written. Never leave your readers hanging!
It’s sad, but poor advice gets shared all across the Internet, even when it’s driven by the best of intentions. As the captain of your ship, the responsibility falls on your shoulders to accept this advice or push it out to sea.
Hell, if you’re second guessing the authenticity of this article, then I’ve driven my point home. Do yourself a favor; accept a stranger’s advice with caution until you can prove it’s worthy to act on.
Thanks for reading!
– Bonnie
P.S. Did you enjoy this message? If so, please share it with your friends so they can benefit from schmoozing. Then, if you want to get more messages like this one, connect with me via my social links below or hop aboard my notification list. I would like to keep in touch.
Blogging with John Chow Review, Part 6
Great article Bonnie! It does take time and effort to keep a blog at a high level. Better make sure the advice you get is good. Some common sense is also handy! Sometimes I wonder if people stop thinking when the get online…;-)
I couldn’t help laugh when I read your line that said “I wonder if people stop thinking when they get online” and I think the same thing, sometimes! 🙂
Thanks for stopping by. I hope you come back often!
I have learned to be very particular of who I get advice from. Always want to keep it ethical.
That’s a good way to proceed online, Mary!
Sorry I have not gotten to your blog yet to make more posts. I have made it there, but something always comes up that I have to leave before I can comment. LOL
I’ll kick my rear over there after this reply! Thanks for popping in.
Did you see my Video Blog yet tonight?
Wow girl you are wearing well if you have been working from home for so long – makes you about 350 years old! Perhaps you meant the 21st century – oh I can’t stop laughing!
I forget what I wanted to say now I’m laughing so much.
Seriously though what makes me mad is a social media ‘expert’ who has calls to action and web urls’s all over their Facebook timeline image, or they advertise training on how to get more likes on Facebook when their page has about 100!
If you walk the walk as well as talk the talk you will know what works first hand, rather than regurgitating second hand information that you have not tested yourself.
Fab post as usual from Bonnie aged 352 and a half!
Sue
x
ROFL – Oh my goodness, NO WONDER I sound so old. If I was doing business since the 18th century, I’d be as hard as petrified wood! LOL
You made me laugh my fool head off, just reading your post. I’m like, what the heck is she talking about? So I go over to my last response to Tamsin and see I put down I’ve been working from home since the 18th century. OMG, I almost wet myself. hehe
It’s a good thing you love me so dearly… 350 and a half years old. Well, I look GOOD for my age!
Thank you for the tips. I will be using them in my business. Keep up the great work.
You’re welcome, Arleen. Thanks for visiting!
We have forgotten the value of effort and reward – sowing and reaping – and have been bombarded with “the easy life”, when really, when you love what you do, it’s not work! Too many people following paths that are not their true calling. Life is not supposed to be just lying on the beach drinking cocktails and reading books :), it is to be of service to each other (although there is nothing wrong with time out and reading, of course, it’s just not meant to be a way of life!!)
Time to stop looking for the short cuts and Just Do It!
I have worked from home since the start of the 18th century (wow, I sound old when I put it like that)… and it doesn’t feel like work to me, yet!
Too many believe that working from home is the easy road, which it’s not. Most times you work harder and longer hours while working at home than you ever work in a corporate office.
Mainly due to the fact that you’re a solo player in the home office, but you have help in the corporate J.O.B.
The 18th century, Bonnie? You don’t sound old, you are old. Although if I hit over 300, I want to look as good as you!
I saw that wiki articles one in passing and switched off – it’s classic no-no spinning anything that’s already out there and not your own. Spinning at all – well that’s a whole other debate!
As for conclusions – you know, there is a point to that. It’s more how it’s written than not concluding and tying the ends up. If you actually write “in conclusion” or “to sum up” they are markers that the article is ending and to stop reading. If you’re article marketing, people don’t get as far as the resource box because they have switched off.
A few years ago, I did mini test that theory using articles across different platforms with the same resource box yet different ending paragraphs. It wasn’t particularly scientific, but very interesting. In short – don’t conclude…
That doesn’t mean don’t tie up your article, just don’t tell people you’re concluding 🙂
Yeah, go ahead and laugh (Sue already did!) – LOL
I am sitting here with egg on my face and contemplated editing it, but what the heck. Let’s just say I look good for my age! Don’t you wish you were me? 🙂
Yes, we agree:
Stating “in conclusion or in summary” is not the way to end your article. But it’s necessary to give closure. We learned this basic rule of writing during elementary school – remember essays? Same thing…
That’s not to say that you actually write out “in conclusion” but you do need to close out the argument (or promise) you introduced during the introduction – otherwise the reader is left hanging.
I can sit here and voice several writing books that back up my case, but what’s the point? There will always be SOMEONE out there that teaches others the wrong way (read lesson #1).
Plus, we both know by now, I disagree! 🙂
Bad advice is prevalent in the IM niche. And some people know they’re doing something shady but don’t care (like with plagiarism). Others are just gullible and don’t know they’re getting bad advice.
I know and it makes me so sad that some are taken over like that.
It sickens me that some are making profit off of their bad advice as well.
Great post and great tips. Thanks for sharing!
You’re welcome Vanessa. Thanks for stopping by and sharing with us!
Great message – think for yourself! Two points of contention here: when are credentials important or not? If I’m hiring someone to do something for me, I want to know their creds. Also, not every article/story needs a conclusion – exceptions to every rule. If you’ve hammered your point in so well through multiple illustrations, a conclusion can be insulting and superfluous to your audience.
Credentials ARE important if you’re looking to hire someone. But, in all honesty, if I was searching to hire a capable professional, I wouldn’t be looking for them in an article directory. I would be checking their resume and/or website about me page.
My college buddies used to say – An exception to the rule only happens when a person is dissatisfied with the original rule. – LOL – I still love that saying to this day…
There are 3 sections that make up a sound article:
1. The introduction
This is your lead-in paragraph and contains the golden nugget of your story- a short capsule that summarizes what’s coming in the body. It builds on the topic already presented in the title.
The best introductions will answer the most pertinent question on everybody’s mind – What’s in it for me?
2. The body
The body of the article follows the introduction and fulfills the promise made in your title and lead-in paragraph. This is where you get the opportunity to expand on your topic and is the longest part of your article.
3. The conclusion
The concluding paragraph is wrapping it all up. This is the only place in the article where you get to drive the main point home for your readers so it’s REINFORCED in their minds.
In college, we used to agree that anyone could write an article because you only had to remember 3 things:
1. Inform your reader what you’re going to teach them (introduction)
2. Tell them (body)
3. Remind readers on what you just told them (closure/conclusion)
Needless to say, if you didn’t provide closure – the professor made an example of you. That’s a mistake I only made once. LOL
When I ran an article directory, if an article didn’t have a conclusion, it didn’t get published.
Thanks for sharing!
As a college writing professor, I teach the same formula to my students. However, professional writers/authors can break the rule effectively. It’s good advice to not try this at home 🙂
Point taken, Suzi (I love how your name is spelled!)
I can almost feel the eraser whizzing by. 🙂
It sounds like a lot of spinning is going on out there. Even with copyleft, the articles need to be kept as written.
Creating new content requires effort, and many people don’t want to go to that effort, or don’t know how.
I would venture to say there’s quite a bit of spinning going on. Likewise, I’m assuming there are many who are unaware that what they’re spinning is taboo.
I realize creating new content is more of an effort for some than it is for others, but that’s still no excuse for taking the low road.