Ethics and your Blogging Business

Professional Blogging is a Business.  As with every Business, it is absolutely necessary to be Ethical with Blogging.

We all take care to be Good to ourselves, when running a Blog.

But how can we be Good to our Readers and Fellow Bloggers?

No Plagiarism

Plagiarism is one serious thing, that can greatly affect the Credibility of your Blog.  The Primary Attribute of a Blogger is Authenticity and Credibility – and plagiarism can do serious damage, to both these!

But, never confuse Plagiarism with the usage of Excerpts and References to related content.  They are always good and healthy to your Blogging Business.  As a thumb rule, make sure to keep in mind the following, before including relevant content in your Blog Posts:

• Check if the Content can be Referred or Used with Attribution (Best way is to the check the Copyright Information on the Source Website/Blog)
• Make sure the Source Content is not Paid/Premium.  If yes, chances are high that it cannot be Referred or Reused
• If in doubt, contact the Source Content Owner to clarify any questions before using the content

No Spam

When your Blog gets Subscribers – you not only Get their Email Addresses, but also their Trust.

Avoid Misusing the Trust or their Email Addresses at any cost.  Don’t Spam your Subscribers.  Before publishing content to your Subscribers make sure to ask yourself the following questions:

• Will I be happy to receive such content or promotion in my Inbox?
• Does it add Value to your Subscribers?
• Did you experience the Benefit yourself, before recommending to your Subscribers?

No Promotion to Illegal Content

At any cost, don’t promote Illegal Content.  It marks a scar on your Blog’s reputation and though you may get immediate benefits, they may not work well on a long term.

Some examples of Illegal Content include:

• Pirated Software
• Illegal Distribution of Copyrighted Videos
• Sharing Paid eBooks or other Material for Free
• Selling Email Addresses
• Sharing or Promoting Confidential Information

In short, don’t promote or share anything, that you won’t do, if it was your own!

No to Offensive Content

Never publish anything on your Blog that can be offensive to your Primary Readers.  That not only hurts their emotion, but also can damage the reputation of your Blog.

I want to be clear on the message here!  Your Blog’s primary niche may be a generally offensive content – but that’s not what I am talking about.

Don’t do or publish anything that might be Offensive to the Primary Readers of your Blog, in your own Niche!

To Conclude

Be always nice to your Readers.  Not just that – be nice to your Fellow Bloggers and other Internet Marketers you deal with.  After all, your Blog is part of the Big Ecosystem and it cannot flourish without being nice to others in the System.  Being Ethical also makes you an Inspiration and Illustration for others to emulate!  Happy Blogging.

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