Has Someone Copied From Your Business?

You may have seen some recent outcry via blogs and Facebook about a mom inventor who basically had her patent-pending invention design stolen out from underneath her. You can read more about it here, but basically, it looks as though a larger company stole Peachy, LLC’s concept, design and even her custom advertising images! That is pretty terrible if you ask me.

But, beware, even if you’re not an inventor, small business theft is common. The above example sheds a bad light on larger businesses, but it isn’t always a larger company taking advantage of a smaller one. Other small, mom-owned businesses who are just starting out can also be the culprit. Sometimes it’s a result of naivety but sometimes it is just blatant theft. This is one more good reason to do your research before launching a business and make sure you’re not infringing on someone else!

Trademarks, copyrights and patents can help us protect what is ours, but sometimes it isn’t enough. And, sometimes protection costs more than new entrepreneurs can afford. However, these things are definitely something that serious entrepreneurs should invest in.

I know first-hand the difficulties that copycats can cause and how expensive it can be to legally fight trademark infringement. Unfortunately, I’m not alone. This is an issue that is more common than you may know and it comes in varying forms.

Kelly Russo, owner of Travel with the Magic, has had several instances of others using her designs and materials. “In the past year I have had around five companies steal the layout, colors, HTML coding from the home page all the keywords there and more from my website,” she said.  “I have also had people steal graphics and buttons made for my website that Travel with the Magic paid for.” Not only have her backgrounds, borders, fonts, frames and navigation bar been reproduced, but Russo also said her entire terms and conditions and privacy policy pages have also been copied. 

Russo’s strategy is to immediately contact the site owner, send them a cease and desist with proof and demand that the copied material is taken down within 24 hours. Everyone that Russo has contacted has then removed the materials. However, some companies have apologized while others have made excuses. “I try to be firm, but when someone apologizes I accept it and move on. I know how hard it is to build your own site but it is better to build relationships with people and then ask for help, rather than just take someone’s hard work.”

Issues like this can have an obvious negative effect on someone’s business. “Once, someone’s site looked so similar to mine I had a client contact me and ask if I had a new agent. She thought that person was a division of Travel with the Magic.” When there are strong similarities between sites or business names, it’s easy for consumers to confuse the two. “If the copycat agency is not offering good customer service or helping clients the right way, it can negatively affect our reputation,” she added.

Russo admits that it is a tough situation and can be intimidating to contact someone you believe is copying you. “However, when you build a website and put the time and effort into it, someone should not steal your hard work.”

You may not always know if someone has copied or stolen from you. But, you should keep an eye out for it. Be active in your niche and monitor competitors. You should also set up Google Alerts for your business name or other keywords so you know when someone else is using them online.

Have you faced issues such as these? What have you done about it? Join the discussion in our Forum!

Facebook Page vs. Facebook Profile

In recent months, I’ve seen several businesses that have created personal Facebook profiles instead of business pages. In all honesty, it's a bit of a pet peeve of mine. Facebook very clearly defines the difference, and groups, brands, institutions, businesses, who are using personal profiles are subject to have their profiles disabled, erasing a lot of their hard work.

Facebook is a great way to network and market your business, but it must be done according to Facebook’s policies, or you’re at risk of being banned.  This is especially true if you’re running contests and giveaways on Facebook. You can see all of their rules governing those, here.

Let’s focus on the difference between pages and profiles. Facebook says this in their help section:

Profiles (timelines) represent individuals and must be held under an individual name, while Pages allow an organization, business, celebrity, or band to maintain a professional presence on Facebook. You may only create Facebook Pages to represent real organizations of which you are an authorized representative.

In addition, Pages are managed by admins who have personal Facebook profiles (timelines). Pages are not separate Facebook accounts and do not have separate login information from your profile (timeline). They are merely different entities on our site, similar to how Groups and Events function. Once you have set up a Page within your profile (timeline), you may add other admins to help you manage this Page. People who choose to connect to your Page won't be able to see that you are the Page admin or have any access to your personal account.

Profiles::        

• Can be created by anyone, over age 13
• Other users become friends of other profiles
• Can upload pictures, update their status, create events and invite people to become friends
• A Facebook Profile can upload pictures, videos, status updates, and can invite people to become friends

Pages:: 

• Are designed for businesses, products, organizations, brands and celebrities
• Other users can ‘like’ a page to follow their updates and posts
• Can upload pictures, videos, create events and post status updates
• Can track metrics, such as the number of likes, page views, interactions and demographics of users
• Can not invite other members to ‘like’ the page
• Can add free applications to run contests or for other features

As you can see, there are some differences and definite benefits to creating an actual business page for your business. The biggest benefit, I would say is the metrics you can track. This is extremely beneficial when you’re investigating how effective your page is.

I, personally, never ‘friend’ a business. If someone has created a profile instead of a page, I do not accept their request. I am pretty thorough at keeping my business page and postings separate from my personal profile. I do not know who is actually administering these profiles that were created incorrectly and therefore I do not want them to see my personal posts, pictures of my children, etc. When you accept a friend request from a business, you are allowing them access to all of your personal updates, pictures and posts. I’m sure this is one of the many reasons Facebook has clearly defined the two.

If you have incorrectly formed a profile, I’d recommend you start switching it over to a page as soon as possible. You will most likely enjoy the expanded capabilities, and you definitely want to make a change before Facebook makes the change for you and disables your page!

Watch for more Facebook related posts in the near future, we’re working on exploring other topics that will be of value to you and your business. Do you have specific questions related to Facebook marketing? Leave them in the comments and we’ll do our best to answer them for you!

Marketing 101:: As Taught by Super Bowl Commercials

As a marketing professional {and as a woman} my favorite part of the Super Bowl is always the commercials. And, of course, the half time show. I always find it fascinating how large corporations choose to express their brands, considering they’ve spent millions to do so.

Now, it’s obvious that none of us here will ever be advertising on Super Bowl night. Nationally, anyway. However, you may have been lucky enough to scoop up one of the few local spots that were available. If you were, I hope your spot looked better than some of our local promotions. Sad. I digress ….

So, what were your favorite commercials from last night? And, what did they teach you, or fail to teach you about marketing? I think the biggest lesson to be learned is impact. When spending a significant amount of money, make sure your ad will be effective and make an impact. While we remember many of the spots from last night, many more are already forgotten. And, sadly enough they spent the same amount of money, maybe even more when you consider production.

I really enjoyed the M&M commercial, the Doritos baby and the Pepsi spot was great too. I liked many others, but those were probably my top three.

Another advertising strategy that was apparent last night was the use of celebrities. Obviously, it’s much more common when it comes to these high budget projects, but you can make that work for you as well. Network and align your brand with those who are well-known in your niche or in your community. An endorsement from someone popular can go a long way. Or, perhaps you could try celebrity gifting. Maybe a famous celebrity will endorse you indirectly by using, wearing or displaying your products. {We published a guest post last week about making the most of celebrity gifting here.}

Granted, we probably won’t see celebrities like Elton John, Mark Cuban or Clint Eastwood in your ads like we did those on Super Bowl Sunday, but that doesn’t mean you can’t use celebrities to push your brand.

It probably wouldn’t be a regular Super Bowl without a little bit of controversy, right? {It wasn’t just in the half-time show this year.} Ford asked GM to cancel their commercial mimicking the apocalypse, but they ignored the request and aired it last night anyway. You can read more about the GM vs. Ford debate here, but basically GM directly called out its competitor. They aren’t shying away, stating that the Chevy Silverado is the most reliable, longest-lasting truck on the road.

It was a brazen act, but admirable. Although I don’t usually recommend directly undercutting your competitors, if you’re going to do so you better have the data and the proof to back it up. That wasn’t the only clever thing GM did last night. They also incorporated technology and a giveaway. If you downloaded their app, you had a chance to win a new vehicle. Who doesn’t like a giveaway? This is an example of another easy marketing strategy that you can incorporate into your plan. You won’t be giving away cars, but giving away some of your own products can be beneficial.

So, what do you think? What did you enjoy and not enjoy about the marketing on television last night? Let us know in your comments!

Marketing Recipe

It’s Friday, so I thought I’d do something a little out of the ordinary and fun today. I’m posting a recipe to use when marketing your business. Wouldn’t it be so much easier if we just had a recipe to follow word by word during this journey of entrepreneurship? I think so.

I have to admit, I am not all-knowing, and this recipe will probably leave something to be desired. However, it is a lighthearted way to end the week :o) I look forward to your comments, what would you add or change?

Ingredients

1 cup Persistence

1 cup Creativity

½ cup Research

½ cup Knowledge

¼ cup Personality

¼ cup Money

1 tsp. Humor

1 enormous chunk of time

Directions

1. Start by dividing the Research into your enormous chunk of time; this will yield Knowledge.
2. Keep Persistence and Creativity close by your side, sprinkling in throughout.
3. When mixing it all together becomes tough, add in your Personality. It will help soften the task!
4. Don’t forget to add the Money; it will help raise an otherwise flat outcome.
5. Add Humor as needed.  {Note: Humor can be substituted with a shot of tequila or a glass of white wine.}
6. Be sure to monitor the results so that you can alter the recipe as needed!

 Have a great weekend, everyone!

Surround Yourself with Positive Energy!

“Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.” Mark Twain.

We’ve talked a lot about networking and the importance of building relationships with others. But, have you given much thought to the type of people you’re attracting and working with? This is definitely a situation where quality is better than quantity.

I had a situation recently that reminded me of the importance of surrounding myself with positive people and ignoring the negative. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, there are always some people that want you to fail. These are the people you need to ignore.

Surrounding yourself with positive, encouraging people will help you to reach your dreams. Unfortunately, negativity and pessimism are just as contagious as optimism and positivity.

Who is in your circle of colleagues and business associates?

You’ve probably run across your share of the negative, discouraging people in your business life. The key is focusing on those that are positive. Think about it for a minute. I’m sure there is someone in your business life that is encouraging and that you enjoy speaking with. Reach out to them on a regular basis. It can keep you on track and give you a little pick-me-up when you need it.

Other positive people will want to connect with and interact with you if you are a positive person yourself. Build your own self confidence and positive attitude by thinking and speaking positively. Be optimistic. Be open to new ideas and new challenges. Be flexible and always willing to learn. Seek out those who share your values and goals. Remove the toxicity!

Happy Weekend! Don’t forget, our big Think Spring! Blog Party begins Monday morning. There are going to be more than a dozen terrific prizes up for grabs! And, there will be insight from several positive mom entrepreneurs! It will be fun AND inspiring!!