internet | Schmidtcomm's Blog

Copy. Paste. Now your info is mine.

So what do you do when a competitor uses your proprietary information?

Usually, I would tell a client to make sure information has a copyright © sign or they contact their attorneys. However, today everyone’s a publisher thanks to WordPress and everyone’s a journalist thanks to the internet. So “garage journalists” who don’t give a hoot about objectivity, attributing information to sources or vetting the facts will easily copy and paste your proprietary info into their blogs, Facebook pages or tweets.

Recently, we discussed exactly this situation at a business training program with entrepreneurs who have been in business 5-10 years. One businessman (we’ll call him Larry) publishes his own industry information and a competitor has been “borrowing” it liberally for his business without attributing it. Larry’s customers depend on his information and look forward to it in his emails and newsletters. Being a direct guy, Larry has personally asked the guy to stop taking his info.

Does he call a lawyer?

Perhaps. But our solution was to inform his customers and social networks of the situation and have the network get to work. Larry’s customers are fiercely loyal to him—because they are so deeply involved in his lifestyle, products and services they are likely to take this action personally. Larry’s a hard-working guy who lives and breathes his business—his passion attracts equally passionate customers.

You can do everything to protect your information, but often the best weapon is an engaged and committed customer base. Remember to involve your customer in your personal story so they become as dedicated to your product/business as you are. Get your customer involved by regularly communicating with them, presenting a compelling story and providing information that matters to their lifestyles.

I can’t wait to see what happens when his fans find out an interloper is falsely trading on Larry’s sweat-equity.

If you’re interested, find me at mkathrynschmidt@gmail.com.

So how are those staff cuts working for ya?

My network of reporter/editor friends got some great chuckles out of recent gaffes in regional papers. Nothing entertains a bunch of journalists like implied (or actual) swear words in 36 point type. When you traffic in the printed or spoken word, mistakes are part of the landscape.

Usually an editor reviews final copy before it hits production or the air. Veteran journalists are fairly trustworthy when writing copy or headlines. But that’s just the problem—there aren’t many veteran journalists left.

In the last months, print newsrooms across the country have been slashed to the bone with budget cuts. Staffers with seniority and higher wages based on experience and ability have been trimmed from the balance sheet—along with their institutional knowledge. We can argue the failing business model of newspapers all day long and blame everything on the internet, but there’s a bigger issue here.

Trust me on this: you WANT experienced journalists on the job if only to perform their most important function as a watchdog. That’s an old-fashioned term that has a lot of modern implications.

In your busy life, will you ever attend a city council meeting? Do you have time to sit through floor debate at the legislature? Do you know your elected officials, your zoning committee or your school board personally?

You want a reporter at these meetings questioning why legislation is being proposed. You want a reporter asking why a zoning variance is being granted to a developer. You need a reporter following policy changes that could affect your childrens’ schools.

Journalists are trained to be the fourth estate—the unofficial branch of the government that monitors the political process to ensure the players don’t abuse the democratic process. That means they watch, they listen, they ask questions. But now there are fewer on the street asking those questions.

Journalists are also bound by a code of ethics in their newsroom and answer to editors who verify sources, strive for objectivity and hold them accountable. Sure, you can always find out more on the internet, but it’s caveat emptor. How do you know the author has checked sources or even if the author is a real person? And with a nod to history, most web-based content is only slightly better than the yellow journalism of 1900.

I never thought I would see the day when a local TV newsroom has more feet on the ground than the local paper. But that day is here.

If you’re interested, find me at mkathrynschmidt@gmail.com.

What does that “www” thing mean?

Hi, my name is Mary and I’m addicted to social media. The first step toward recovery is to admit your problem and I should have seen this coming about 100 posts ago. At least once a week someone tells me social media is a pointless waste of time. Some clients can’t imagine why anyone would spend time on a screen. Spousal Unit moaned in disgust when he found out I was taking pictures of myself and posting them to Facebook and Twitter to stave off boredom in the deer stand during a hunting season. Now, my hunting posts on Facebook are eagerly anticipated by clients and friends alike. Here’s what I have to say to them.

My 75-year old father has a Facebook page. That either makes him a hip adaptor or it makes Facebook terminally un-cool, but you can’t ignore it.

I’m showing my age, but as a TV reporter in the 80s, we laughed at the idea of 24-hour news on a cable network. What would they cover? In the early days of the internet, employers and clients told me no one would ever get product information on a screen much less write and send letters over a computer.

The idea behind social media is to connect, participate, discuss. No restrictions and opinions interpreted as news. Is it perfect? Nothing is perfect and I’ve found that people who make questionable decisions in other parts of their lives will do the same thing on social media. But like they say, you can pick your friends.