There are a lot of things that go into creating a successful affiliate marketing website…

1) You should learn enough programming to manage and maintain your own site

2) You need to hone your writing skills

3) You need a strategy for implementation and marketing

4) You have to build a brand (even if that brand is just YOU and your content)

I bet none of these items are new to you, and I’m sure you’ve read them all before.  [Insert Yawn Here.]

I’ve seen a lot of websites do all the above fairly well, yet they still fall short of success.  One reason some people never get over the hump is they forget to add the human component to their sites.

People need to know you are real and you shouldn’t be afraid to be somewhat transparent.  Talk about things you’ve done wrong, problems you’ve had and how you’ve solved them.

Not only does this create credibility, but it shows you are human and helps people trust and relate to you more.

Some of my most popular videos on YouTube are the ones where I’m talking about mistakes I’ve made.

People love transparency, especially with sites on topics that often create skepticism (i.e. making money online).

Marketing is Only Part of the Story

I get lots of e-mails from people who want to know how to build a presence and get more traffic.  They are so focused on things like linking schemes, inbound links and social networking.

However, when I go to their websites, it often looks like no one’s home.  There’s a bunch of bland content that almost anyone could have written.  There’s no personality and the content is clearly missing that human component.

Of course, being transparent and vulnerable may not work for every kind of website.  But if you are struggling with building credibility and being unique, think of ways you can add more of yourself to your own site.

For example, if your site is about dealing with depression, talk about strategies that have worked for you.  People want to know what makes you the expert on the subject.  How do you relate to what you’re talking about?  Give examples.

People often ask me how I come up with ideas for my content.  The answer is simple.  A lot of my content and videos are inspired by my own experiences and lessons.  That’s why it’s so helpful to be actively involved and engaged with the topic of your site.

Now this doesn’t mean you should become a complete narcissist and babble on and on about yourself on every page.  It just means to add your own relevant stories, personal examples, and personality into the site where appropriate.  It makes a world of difference.

Don’t talk AT your visitors, talk TO them.  Trust me.  They want to know there’s a real person behind the website.

Build connections.  Build trust.  Build income.

A lot of people feel pressure to make their articles a certain length.  As if, more words automatically equals more value.

That isn’t always true.  In fact, more words can often make articles difficult to read and monotonous.

Brevity has its advantages…

1)  People are busy and subscribe to dozens of blogs and websites, so they often appreciate the quick read.

2) Attention spans are short (and getting shorter as technology grows).  Get to the point and the more likely they’ll read/absorb your message.

3)  It’s less writing for you.  Duh.

Here are some tips to writing shorter, more concise and meaningful pieces.

1.  Keep your goal in mind

Don’t write just because you feel you have to.  Every article should have a goal (inform, educate, sell, promote a download, build credibility etc.)   Be careful of babbling for the sake of babbling and not really saying anything.

When you finish writing, ask yourself,

Did this piece accomplish what I set out to do?

Am I getting to the message/benefit early enough?

That’s a great way of checking yourself and keeping the article focused.

2.  Write shorter, active sentences

Look at these two sentences…

I have finished reading the book and it has really taught me a lot about what it takes to design a good-looking website.

vs.

I read the book and it taught me a lot about good web design.

Both sentences say the same thing, but the 2nd one is more concise and easier to read.  Imagine cleaning up an entire article and making more of your sentences active and concise. It will make a huge difference with the overall delivery.

3.  Watch your use of filler words

Words like naturally, usually, eventually, normally, possibly and really can junk up your writing and make it difficult to read.  Sometimes these words are useful, but just like anything else, you can overdo it.

We have a tendency to write like we talk and sometimes filler words are unnecessary.  This is something I have to check myself on all the time.

A lot of times we add these words because we are unconsciously trying to lengthen and improve our article.  But the reality is, they can disrupt the flow.

Sometimes longer pieces are necessary and there’s no way to get around it, but most articles can be just as effective by trimming the word count significantly.

Blogging…

It seems everyone is doing it.

In fact, I asked someone the other day, “Does anyone create websites anymore?”  It seems that when given the choice between a blog and a website, most people opt for blogs these days.

If this describes you, I certainly understand your reasons.  Blogs are much easier to setup than websites.

They are dynamic, which means the scripts allow you to display content in many different ways (by date, category, tag, most commented posts, etc.)

The search engines love them, and the free plug-ins (if you use WordPress) can give you even more flexibility and increase your blog’s coolness factor.

One Problem With Blogging

Even though there are many positives with blogging, there’s one thing I’ve noticed about many who choose a blog over a website.

Blogging can often discourage beginners from learning the fundamentals of website creation and design.  Unlike a website, you don’t need to learn anything about HTML, CSS or uploading files to publish a blog.

You might argue the same could be said about websites if you use an editor.  However, even if you use an HTML editor like Dreamweaver or CoffeeCup for a website, you still have to familiarize yourself with the fundamentals of HTML at some point. (At least I had to.)

With blogs, everything can be done through a WYSIWYG (what-you-see-is-what-you-get) control panel that comes with your blogging platform.  You don’t have to look at a lick of code if you don’t want to.

Of course, this is no big deal if you find a blog template/theme that you want to use “as is”.  But what if you want to customize large sections of your design or change it completely?

Staring at a gazillion lines of CSS code can be quite intimidating.  In fact, most people will tell you that in order to learn CSS, you should have a basic understanding of HTML first. (And I agree.)  So with no HTML background, I completely understand why some bloggers cringe at the thought of going near the code.

Many people choose blogs because they are easier to setup, but many don’t venture out and learn the fundamentals of HTML and CSS so they can freely update their designs.

I have nothing against blogging. I own one myself, obviously.  But I do believe that if you are going to blog, you should spend time learning the basics of HTML and CSS so you have the freedom to update your design beyond the standard template.

Of course, outsourcing a designer is always an option too.  However, you don’t want to become completely reliant on a third party.  I’ve heard too many nightmare stories with this scenario.

About once a month I get an email from someone who’s paid a designer to create and design their site, but they’ve lost contact with the person and have no idea how to make edits to the design.

As I say all the time, I am far from being a designer, but I have learned enough to maintain and customize my site.  You should too.

Even if you buy the premium WordPress Thesis Theme that I use for this blog, it still helps to know the basics of CSS so you can juice up the standard, out-of-the-box template.

A CSS Tutorial Minus The Techie Talk

If you haven’t viewed my newest 4-part CSS tutorial on YouTube, you can watch all four videos in the playlist below.  I even provide a very simple, 3-column template that goes along with the video.  You can tweak it as needed.

Even though this template and tutorial is for a website instead of a blog, it will still help you grasp the basics and make more sense of your blog’s template code.

Give yourself the freedom to design the kind of blog you want.

I received an email from a lady named Angelica, who plans to publish an instructional blog post about Google Analytics (GA), but she is a bit hesitant because she feels it won’t be comprehensive enough.

She admits she is afraid of coming across dumb because her article is not going to be as thorough as other bloggers who’ve written about it.

My first question to her was, “Who is this article for?”

She told me it was for new Webmasters.

Bingo!

This is a mistake many people make.  They worry about coming across as inferior to people they aren’t even writing for.  If your site is for beginning Webmasters, write for them.

Don’t concern yourself with the perceptions of people you aren’t even targeting.  As I said in this article, there will always be people who know less than you, and need your advice.  This is your target audience, and should be your main focus.

Let’s say the Site Overlay is Angelica’s favorite Google Analytics report. She could focus her blog post on that portion of GA by explaining how it works and how she uses it.   She could even preface that she is still learning a lot about GA, but wants to share one of her favorite features.

Let’s remember.  Her audience consists of new Webmasters, so chances are, many of them may not know a lot about GA yet.  That’s why it’s so important to keep in mind WHO you are writing for!

Instead of publishing a comprehensive article about the entire Google Analytics program, she can focus on the area she is most knowledgeable about.  Then at the end of the article she can invite her readers to share their favorite reports and features.

This accomplishes a few things…

1)  Angelica can appear as the “expert” on the part of Google Analytics that she is comfortable with

2) Since she knows who her audience is (important!), she is bound to teach several people something new

3) Inviting her readers to share their favorite GA report can spark a discussion and educate other readers

Now, sometimes it’s necessary to do a little research before publishing an article.  Of course, it wouldn’t hurt Angelica to learn a little more about GA to give the blog post more meat.

However, she shouldn’t feel that she has to know EVERYTHING about a topic in order to write a solid, polished article.  And she certainly shouldn’t compare her article to others who may target a different audience.

If I had waited until I knew everything about how to create a website, I would have never published 2CreateAWebsite.com.

I still don’t know everything (and probably never will), but I know enough to publish content that is relevant and appeals to my audience.

As I always say, focus on what you know, and let the content flow.  There will always be people who know less than you and desire to learn what you already know.

I have a confession to make.

I used to have major trouble with commitment.

Commitment to WordPress themes, that is.

I have been using WordPress for 14 months and bounced from theme to theme because I kept running into walls when it came to the customization piece.

And even though I’m not a complete novice when it comes to CSS, I’ve never been a fan of manipulating sections and columns of a pre-designed theme because I would often get lost in the nested div tags.

In English, that just means I could never get the design to do what I wanted. Nothing seemed to give me the no-hassle flexibility that I desired.

Until now.

You’ve probably heard the buzz about the Thesis WordPress theme. I have to admit, I wasn’t impressed when I first read about it because the out-of-the-box template looked a little bland to me.

“Why in the world would I pay for that??” is what I initially thought.

So I started researching it a little more, viewed a few blogs using the theme and eventually discovered Thesis offered two features I was looking for…

1) Easy customization

2) Support

DIYThemes boasts Thesis “does the heavy lifting behind the scenes” and allows you to “command your site with ease.”  Boy, are they right.  Never have I had a theme that is so easy to customize and I wish it hadn’t taken me so long to explore Thesis.

And if you’re reading or assuming it’s only for beginners, I would challenge you on that thought.  Even though Thesis targets people who want a professional-looking blog without having to know much about coding, if you are savvy with CSS and PHP, this theme gives you even more flexibility to create amazing designs.

But don’t just take my word for it.  Let me SHOW you what Thesis can do…

Thanks, Thesis for curing my commitment phobia.  It’s just the therapy I needed.

Lisa’s Advice: In my personal opinion, knowing CSS will help you unlock the real power of Thesis.  You don’t HAVE to be fluent, but the more you know, the more you’ll be able to customize your theme’s design.

If you don’t know CSS, you can still move elements around the page (sidebars, etc.) without getting into the code.  Plus, you can make more custom edits using the OpenHook plugin.

But if you want to really customize your header and make your overall design very different from the default, you should learn CSS.  I taught myself the basics and I’m glad I did.

Want to make money with an information affiliate site, but tired of bouncing from topic to topic?

Don’t feel like you know enough about anything to publish an interesting website or blog?

Is the word “expert” discouraging you because you don’t feel like an expert on any topic?

You’re not alone. It’s a feeling that plagues many first-time website builders and bloggers while they rack their brains trying to come up with the right topic.

The word “expert” is overrated and part of the problem is the way we often define it.  You may feel that in order to be an expert you need a degree in the subject matter or know enough to teach some sort of class.

Well I can tell you that when it comes to making money as an affiliate (like me), that couldn’t be further from the truth.

We’re All Experts on Some Level

Someone once told me, “Lisa, everyone is an expert on some topic because there will always be people who know less than you and desire to learn what you already know.” That taught me to stop trying to be everything to everybody, and target people I knew I could reach with my knowledge.

Years ago a programmer told me my site would never succeed because my HTML tutorials were too simplistic and didn’t cover more advanced web design languages.

Well, if 2 Create a Website was targeting ColdFusion or Dot Net programmers, perhaps this guy would have been right.  However, that’s not who I’m targeting so I’m not really concerned with what people like him think.

When I created my site, I knew there were people out there like me who just wanted to learn enough to launch a basic website without getting too involved in the technical gibble gabble.   So THAT’s the audience I focused on.

Does that make me “The Official Expert” on Web Development?  Of course not, but it makes me an “expert” to the people who want to learn what I know.

I brought my own flavor and personality to a topic that has been done over and over again. This is a big reason I have been able to compete in a niche that is immensely saturated.

Avoid The Inferiority Complex

Many people have anxiety over their first site because they don’t feel they know enough or they’ve found too many sites that they perceive to be “better” than what they can do.

The information is certainly an important part of your site, but your writing style, presentation, voice and content organization also play a role in how successful your site will be.  It’s the total package.

Research your potential competitors.  I bet you will find gaps and areas you can improve upon. There’s always room for creativity and a unique perspective.

Don’t avoid a topic you are truly passionate about because you are intimidated by your competition or other people who appear to be experts.

Any topic that is worth considering is going to have some competition.   Just find a way to reach your audience in a way other sites may not.

It’s time we look at the way we define the word “expert”.  When it comes to information affiliate websites, it doesn’t mean you have to be all-knowing.

It just requires you to present your information in a fresh, unique way that will reach an audience who wants to learn what you already know.

Now of course I am not implying you should never strive to learn more and continually improve your site over time.  I just don’t want you to get stuck in neutral because you feel your site could never compare to your potential competition.

Dig deeper.  You are already an “expert” on many things.  You don’t have to know more than everyone, but if you know more than a group of people in your niche, build a site to reach them.

Become THEIR expert.

Arial of AttackDepression.com learned a great lesson about anonymity.  Even though her site has been around for 2 years, she just added an About The Author page in June.

Due to the fact her site includes a lot of personal information about her own depression, she didn’t want her family and friends to find out about her condition from the web.

So she registered a private domain and chose to remain anonymous.

After reading numerous blogs and websites that discuss the importance and advantages of getting more personal, she realized it may be doing her site a disservice to remain anonymous.

So she created an “About The Author” page that includes a few details about herself. Even though Arial does not disclose her real name, she tells her story about her battles with depression.

You won’t find a photo of Arial on her site, but she uses her Yahoo Avatar and playfully promises her audience, “It looks pretty close to the real me.”

Arial admits a real-life photo would be better, but due to her situation, I can certainly understand why she chose not to go there.  Nevertheless, she believes telling her story and being honest about her situation is much better than having no information about herself at all.

I asked if she’s noticed a difference since she added her “About The Author” page.  Here is her reply…

The first thing I noticed was how I am able to connect with my readers better than before.  Now that I’ve told my story, many people have emailed me because they can relate to my story, and they’ve given me ideas for other topics.

Feedback from my About The Author page has provided greater insight to what my audience wants to learn about so my content will be more relevant and useful going forward.

And the best thing is, my affiliate commissions have gone up by about 30% even though my traffic has remained steady.

While I have no proof it’s all because of my About The Author page, it’s hard to believe that doesn’t have some impact.

I also just updated my design using your free 3 column template, so I’m sure that helped as well.  My old layout was pretty drab.

Nevertheless, I still believe people are more likely to buy things you recommend when they know about your relationship with the topic.  That’s hard to accomplish when your website is anonymous and you don’t explain how you’re connected with your subject matter.

My site may not be completely un-anonymous (Is that a word?), but it’s better than before.

Arial’s right.  Telling your audience about yourself and how you relate to your topic can do a world of good for your credibility.

People want to know what qualifies you to be the “expert” on the subject, so adding a few sentences about yourself can breathe some life into your site or blog. I encourage you to think of ways you can connect with your readers better. If you’re not comfortable adding a picture, it’s not a necessity but definitely helps.

Also explain how you got involved with your topic and why you created your site or blog. Small changes like this can make a big difference in the long-run.

Sometimes it’s the little things you do that help build loyalty, and I’ve made a vow to come up with more ways to reward my visitors — particularly the ones who continue to add value to my blog and forum.

With the emergence of the social networking scene, developing connections and acknowledging regular contributors is an important part of marketing (particularly if you’re a blogger).

Having said that, I thought I’d discuss a few of the ways people publicly reward their visitors…

EntreCard – Top Droppers

Many EntreCard members make the occasional post to their blog with a list of their top EntreCard droppers.

If you aren’t familiar with EntreCard, it’s a free service that allows you to promote your blog by dropping your card (a 125×125 image) on other blogs.

You earn credits for every “drop” you make and you can use those credits to buy advertising space on other blogs.

I haven’t posted a list of my top droppers as of yet.  On one hand, I like the idea, but on the other, it opens the door for a bunch of empty drops by people looking to make my “Top Dropper” list.

Nevertheless, it can be a good way to build up loyalty.

Top Commenters

I read every comment posted here and often follow them to view the person’s blog.  But I pay even more attention to the people who take the time to craft insightful posts.

Blog comments are important because they make a blog look active and they encourage participation from other readers.  So I appreciate it greatly when people take the time to make a thoughtful comment.

WordPress has a plugin that allows you to display the top commenters as a widget on your sidebar.  While that’s a very generous thing to do, you still have to monitor rewards like this very closely.

People are competitive, and any time there’s a reward for quantity, some take advantage of that and the quality of the content begins to suffer.  So you have to evaluate if it’s worth implementing.

Your top commenters may not always be your best contributors. Personally, I’d much rather reward someone with a few good comments than someone else with a bunch of empty ones who is just looking for first billing on my widget.

That’s why I’m a fan of the new partnership between SezWho and EntreCard.  Hopefully this will enhance the commenting community and encourage more productive discussions across the blogosphere.

As an EntreCard member you can now earn credits for leaving comments on SezWho-enabled blogs.  The catch is you only earn credits for quality comments.

This keeps people from flooding other blogs with quick comments like “nice post” or “great info”, just to drive up their credit totals.

Just for the record, this blog uses SezWho, so if you’re an EntreCard member, get to commenting and earn those credits.

vBulletin – Top Posters

There’s a hack out for vBulletin 3.x that allows you to show your forum’s top posters for the month.  I’ve installed it and posted a link to this list in two places on my forum Website Babble.

While the quantity vs. quality issue could come into play here as well, I’m not as concerned about that with my forum due to the high number of regular, quality contributors.

As many of you know, it takes a lot of work to build and maintain an forum active, and I am truly grateful to the active members who have helped Website Babble grow.

My forum is nowhere as active as Digital Point or ABestWeb, but for someone who has launched 3 forums that failed in the past, you won’t hear me complaining.

When I first launched Website Babble, I held 2 contests and gave away cash prizes ($300 and $150 respectively) to the the MVP (Most Valuable Posters).

I do believe that incentive helped my forum grow in the early days, and I do have plans to offer more prizes in the near future.

The great thing about this reward was that it was based on quality of posts, not quantity.

Even though I had to manually review several posts to determine who was eligible for the contest, it was worth it. It’s important to recognize and give back to quality contributors.

You can join my forum here.  I’d love to get to know you.

If you’re thinking of starting your own forum, think of ways you can reward your members.  It doesn’t haven’t to be money.  Perhaps it’s free advertising space on your blog, or you could give away EntreCard credits.

Public Response to Tweets

Darren Rowse of ProBlogger.net is good at this.  Anytime someone poses a question on Twitter that he feels is best answered publicly on his blog, he’ll post a link to the person’s Twitter account in the post.

When you get a link from a blog with over 50,000 RSS readers, you’re bound to get some kind of reward, even if it’s just a few extra Twitter followers.

I just started using my Twitter account in the last week to announce my blog posts, and plan to come up with more useful ways to interact with my followers.

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The bottom line is people love to be recognized, and it’s important to show your audience that you appreciate their support.

Do you reward your visitors?  If so, how do you do it?

I define a robotic Webmaster as one who goes through the motions of managing and updating a website, without a clear understanding for what it takes to succeed online.

They haphazardly throw up content without much regard to how their target audience will interpret it. They’re more concerned with quantity of tasks than measuring the results and seeing the big picture.

Instead of developing their own voice and personality, they often mimic other successful sites. So they end up re-inventing the wheel instead of redefining themselves as a credible Webmaster of niche XYZ.

Robotic Webmasters Focus on Quantity Over Quality

One of the most common questions I receive is “How much content do I need to make money?”

As if there is some golden rule out there that says “Build 150 pages of content and you will begin seeing $3 per visitor.”

Or someone will say, “I created 45 pages but I haven’t made any money yet. How much more content do I need to write?”

First of all, you could build 400 pages of content and never see a dime. Making money online goes far beyond robotically putting up content.

You have to define an audience, understand how your content impacts them, and do your best to meet their needs.

In addition, you have to build credibility by showing you are a trusted source and that you are providing information that can’t be found anywhere else.

Finally, you have to find where your audience is and market to these people. Where you go may depend on your niche, talents, etc.

Social Networking sites may work well for one Webmaster while another may find a gold mine in writing guest articles for another site or blog.

You may be clever enough to master pay per click marketing and someone else may find success building relationships through a newsletter.

Not every Webmaster takes the same approach to marketing. You have to think outside of the box, experiment and find what’s best for you and your site.

Don’t feel you have to take the same approach as those who’ve come before you. The Net is changing fast. What worked in 2006 may not work as well today. You have to discover what works with your talents, site goals, etc.

It’s your job to stay abreast of the latest marketing strategies and discover ways to apply them to your site or blog. Remember, this is a business, so these are things you must do if you want to thrive online.

Robotic Webmasters Have Trouble Coming Up With Content

This often happens when a Webmaster is not passionate enough about their topic. They find similar articles on the Web and paraphrase them into their own words.

This may be OK for the first 5-10 articles, but this gets boring after awhile because the person is obviously not into the topic.

So they end up with another personality-less site with no voice and no unique spin because they don’t have a personal attachment to the topic.

Another reason robotic Webmasters have trouble coming with content is they don’t take the time to define a specific audience, or they try to appeal to everyone and end up appealing to no one.

When you’ve defined who your site is directed to, you shouldn’t have to wonder what to write about. Anytime someone asks me to give them advice on what to write about I know they are taking a backward approach.

You don’t write content and then hope people will find it useful. You define who you are trying to reach with your site and make sure it meets their needs based on what you’ve defined.

As you develop traffic, you’ll begin getting feedback from your readers and that will further define the questions, problems and issues you may want to address. This will help you produce even more useful content down the road.

You may discover along the way (as I did) that your content is off-target. That’s OK. That’s all part of the process, my friend. Take what you’ve learned and work to make your site better.

Robotic Webmasters are Overly Obsessed With Small Details

When people don’t understand the big picture of Internet marketing, it’s easy to get sidetracked on little things that don’t matter as much. For example…

How long do my articles need to be?

Perhaps the important question to ask here is, “What is the goal of this article and how much do I need to write to get my point across and make it useful?”

An article should be as long as it needs to be. And of course that will vary depending on the situation, goal of the article, etc.

Some articles need to be longer to get the point across. Others can be shorter. But the point is, don’t stress over size or character length. Focus on the usefulness in relation to your audience.

While there are certain steps you must follow as a Webmaster, if you find that you performing the same tasks over and over again with no results, perhaps you need to step back and look at the big picture.

1. Have you clearly defined an audience?

2. Is your audience definition narrow enough?

3. Will your content have a direct impact on your audience’s needs?

4. Does your site look as if it wants to inform/help or are you bombarding your visitors with ads?

5. What can you do to set your site apart from the competition?

6. Are you focusing more on quantity than quality?

7. Are you trying to mimic someone else’s successful idea or do you have your own path?

8. Are you interested enough in this topic to remain creative and motivated?

9. Do you challenge yourself to think outside the box in terms of marketing your site?

When you can answer these questions precisely, developing a useful site and writing content becomes much easier and less robotic.

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While there are some repetitive tasks involved with owning a website, it’s the creativity and thinking outside of the box that is going to set you apart from your competition and make you successful.

If your site is a year old with 150 pages of content and you still only have 10 visitors per day, something needs to be adjusted. Step back and answer the 9 questions above and see which ones need attention.

Robotic Webmasters have short lives because their batteries die quickly. They start out full-speed ahead completing task after task, writing article after article, submitting to directories and social networking sites as if on queue.

If you want success out here, you cannot be a robot. Robotic Webmasters have no emotional attachment to their sites and often perform tasks as if they were programmed, while not seeing the big picture.

Step outside your box. Make sure the goals of your site are clearly defined and look for creative ways to market. Remember there several ways to make it to the top, so if your methods aren’t working don’t be afraid to try something new.

Being successful online takes more than robotically publishing content, submitting to various sites and waiting for results.

You have to be proactive, creative, take risks and you can’t be afraid to fail. And last but certainly not least…

Enjoy yourself.

I always say… You know you’ve made it when people begin copying your work.

And thanks to services like www.copyscape.com it’s much easier to spot offenders these days.

Plagiarizing used to really bother me, especially when the search engines weren’t as smart as they are today. It used to be much easier for thieves to steal your rankings.

However, since the engines value quality inbound links more these days, it’s a little harder for thieves to benefit from stealing your work.

Of course, that doesn’t mean people aren’t going to try.

I normally don’t let copycatters bother me too much. They usually get what’s coming to them in the form of search engine penalties or simply lack of success. (I do believe in Karma!)

Besides, if I spent my time chasing these spineless people, it would be counterproductive for my business. So I usually ignore them.

But once and a while I’ll find a person who has gone too far.

The most recent offender not only stole my content word for word, but he stole my pictures (even the photos of me.)

And what angered me even more is the fact he’s an AdSense member and was attempting to make money off the content he stole from me.

Since he is an AdSense publisher, I figured Google would be more proactive about taking action. So I submitted a copyright infringement claim (under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act).

After only 3 days of faxing the claim, his AdSense ads were disabled and the copyrighted content was deleted from the Web server.

Because I didn’t press charges, the offender was allowed back into AdSense after 7 days. But at least he knows I’m watching and was forced to remove the copyrighted content.

So I was somewhat pleased with the overall results. I have to admit, though, I was a little shocked Google didn’t remove him from AdSense completely. I’m pretty sure that was a violation of the AdSense T&C’s.

What Should You Do?

If you find an AdSense Publisher (or any site that appears in Google) copying your content, here’s what you do…

1. Immediately print out all pages from the offender’s site that contain plagiarized content.

2. Print out the pages on your site that contain the copyrighted content.

3. Try contacting the offender first and ask them to remove the content. In my case, there was no contact information on the site (imagine that?) so I wasn’t able to do this.

4. Complete the claim and mail (or fax) the claim to Google. (Faxing is much faster.)

You may have noticed I didn’t mention looking up their domain name records and contacting them and/or their web host.

In my experience, if the person does not have a contact form on their site, they usually have a bogus email in their domain records or never reply to my emails.

I’ve also had horrible luck with contacting Web hosts. After all, these are their customers so they are often reluctant to do anything. So I decided to go straight to Google.

It only took Google a few days to contact the offender and the AdSense ads were disabled immediately.

This procedure will probably work even if the person doesn’t belong to AdSense, but you better believe Google is especially interested in AdSense Publishers who steal content.

Their AdWords advertisers are their primary concern, so they want to make sure the AdSense program is as “clean” as possible.

A Note to Thieves…

It may be quick and easy to steal someone’s content, but I believe you’ll always get what’s coming to you in the end. So is it really worth it?

Copyright infringement is illegal, even if it’s online. And if you steal from the wrong person, you could end up in a world of trouble should they decide to take legal action against you.

Try publishing your own work for a change. Yes, I know… that requires you to do real work and use your brain. Life’s tough, huh?

Great Resource

Jessica Hupp wrote a very useful and comprehensive article on various ways to combat plagiarism. I’d highly recommend you bookmark this blog post.