Or, as I wanted to call this post, “I feel like I’ve been duped.”
Let me tell you a story.
When I was in college, I went out to McDonalds with a bunch of friends. A friend said that there was a new way to test a person’s IQ. He stuck a quarter to his forehead, then started hitting the back of his head till the quarter fell off. “3 hits, that’s pretty good,” he said. “Do you want to try it, Margie?” Well, being me, I of course said yes. He came ’round behind me, stuck the quarter to my head, and told me to start hitting the back of my head. I of course eventually realized that the quarter had never been stuck to my forehead. I had been stupidly tricked into hitting the back of my head repeatedly at a McDonalds. I felt stupid, and I was disappointed a little that a person I liked and trusted had made me feel that way (though I admit, gullible is my middle name).
Right now, as I am writing this, I am feeling that same red hot feeling of humiliation, disappointment, stupidity, and anger. I feel like I’ve been let down by people I really like and trust. And I feel stupid for not realizing this sooner.
My issue – I have been buying these great marketing books. I, a person without a lot of money, have spent a pretty fair chunk of change this year buying books from people I wanted to learn from. This evening, I realized that with about the same time investment as it took me to read the book I could have read said person’s blog, going a ways back and reading forward, and acquired the same information, written, at times, in exactly the same way. I quite frankly feel duped.
The part that isn’t a surprise
It’s not a secret that a lot of folks engaged full time in Social Media marketing have been using their blog posts as fodder for books, speeches, and webinars. In fact, you’ll find that a lot of people recommend repurposing content from blogs in this manner.
The part that is a surprise
What I realized tonight is that people are not taking an idea from a blog post and extrapolating it out into a fully researched chapter or power point presentation. Rather, they are taking a blog post, maybe mushing it a bit with another blog post, and literally plagiarizing themselves. They are also enticing me to buy a book or pay hundreds of dollars to watch them speak based on the understanding that this is content I will not be able to get anywhere else. This is not true, apparently. I could get it in all kinds of places, just not bound together.
If Content is King, this has to stop.
Let me step back here and explain why doing what some of these folks are doing is a really bad idea for them and for Social Media marketing. And by the way, I understand that we are all strapped for time. I understand that sometimes it’s hard to figure out how to actually get paid for all of the time you put in. I understand. I sympathize. I’m just still sticking to my guns.
1. It’s clear when a book has been written and when it has been woven. Maybe the tonality of books is changing or has changed, or maybe the tonality of blogs changed and I didn’t notice it, but blog writing, to me, is different from book writing. In a book, chapters build upon each other in a logical way. Each chapter assumes that you have read the last chapters. There might be references to previous concepts or chapters, but because the work is cohesive, you don’t need to insert the same phrases over and over. In a blog, you do. You have to link to that blog post you wrote 6 months ago because it was written 6 months ago. When you see blog-type references in a book it signals sloppiness to me.
2. It makes you look like you don’t really care. I signed up for a webinar once and the presentation was essentially a book report on the presenter’s own book. There was hardly even an effort to customize the content to what the webinar was supposed to be about. This made the presenter look like they were a) lazy and b) didn’t care. I was highly disappointed.
3. Your circle of influence is finite. You know how sometimes skeevy guys get caught using the same pick-up line on a bunch of girls who are all friends? When you use the same content, right down to the same joke or the same little aside, it’s the same kind of feeling. As much as we all feel like Social Media marketing and Social Media in general are infinite universes of being, in fact it is not so. If someone reads your blog, they will very probably hear about speeches you’re due to give or a book you’re promoting. If you give them the same information 3 times, they will know it, and they will lose respect for you. Like I have lost respect for some folks.
4. You’re dealing with people who are immersed in this world. I am hungry. I am hungry for knowledge. I am hungry for you to teach me. And I’m not stupid. Do you think I’m not going to look someone up on Twitter and in the world of blogs if I really really like a presentation they give? Do you think I’m not going to get your book if I have been loyal to your blog? Now multiply that by a bunch more people. What if I see that all of the parts of your presentation that I thought seemed really authentic and genuine were written in a blog post, verbatim, a couple of weeks before?
If it’s a duck, call it a duck
If you really feel that you don’t have the time to generate enough content for constant blogging, a book, and other stuff you are doing, be honest about it. When you publish your collection of blog posts, market it as, well, a collection of your blog posts. Maybe with some additional notes and interviews that you added. If the main thrust of your speech is a series of blog posts you did 2 years ago, integrate the 2 together. Use your actual blog on some of your slides. Show your foundation, then show how you are adding icing to the cake. Give me something extra when you are asking me to pay something, or start charging for your blog straight up. Just like the pay walls in newspapers, maybe this is an inevitability we can’t avoid for much longer. But don’t get me excited about seeing new content for you and then let me find out that it’s just your blog in hard cover.
By the way
I had an idea for a book a month or so ago, and I tried my hand at doing some blog posts that I could use to create the book since, as I have mentioned, that is increasingly being called a best practice. You know what? Writing a blog post is not like writing a chapter of a book for me. There was no way I would ask anyone to pay for those posts as they were. They were written as posts. The tonality is that of my blog. The tonality tied in to other perhaps unrelated blog posts surrounding those blog posts. It would not have made sense in a book. It would have looked uneven, sloppy, and lazy.
Is that the new standard for us, my peers in Social Media?
I’m open to your thoughts, and I’m definitely open to being proven wrong.
View Margie Clayman's profile
Thank You Marjorie for addressing this “On Purpose” 🙂 http://www.twitvid.com/TLC7J
I completely agree. And kudos to you for speaking out! A client I worked with told me to re-purpose the books into blog posts, and some of his blog posts into books. I was a little iffy about this, considering I had been offered credits and profit sharing in the book. I didn’t feel like selling something that people could easily read for free in the website.
His answer, was that business had no time to scour a blog post. That smart ones just buy books. I thought this argument was crazy. I would think smart ones could read the damn blog in their iPads or laptop, on a biz trip, and saved themselves some money. Most of it are ebooks anyway, so they’d be reading electronic copies in the first place.
Some marketers are shady (or clever, depending on who you ask). They are just off to make a buck. But we keep buying stuff from them because they package it well, even if it is bad information, or info that you could have gotten from him for free.
When Wil Wheaton sold his book of short stories, he mentioned that some of them had been in his site. I think what he did was smart–he was honest. He told you what you were getting, and if you were still interested, here was the price. He made some improvements, and I think added a few stories that were not on the site, but he made mo false advertising. And I totally admired him for that.
I think, if you’re going to re-purpose some blog posts, or hash similar information, that you should at least be honest about it. I’m sure those who really want to buy the book will get it anyway.
That action that Wil Wheaton engaged in is what I am talking about.
I have no problem with saying, “Hey, this content was really good, I want to package it and send it out there and maybe try to make some money on it.”
But say that. As you say, my desire to support a person will likely still inspire me to buy the book, but I’ll know what it is I’m buying.
Within blogs sometimes one blog article seems like a deja vu of one from a few months earlier, if you’ve been reading the blog often. However, I think, (just my 2 cents and based on gut) that this idea of self-plagiarism will happen less often with non-monetized blogs. I think there is a rift between the way monetized blogs (doing product reviews, cluttered with ads, or as a platform to find clients) operate and pure hobby blogs.
I would have had him hitting me on the back of my head too!
Glad to know I’m not the only one 🙂
And yes, rehashing the same material in a blog is a danger as well. If you’re passionate about something, it’s easy to use the same phrases or topics. But in that case, you’re not asking someone to buy your rehashing 🙂
Marjorie,
I think you have reason to feel duped and disappointed if the books you have invested in are, as you describe, a mish-mash of ordinary blog posts that you could have read for free. Frankly, shame on the publisher (I’m surprised a publisher would even allow a book made up of primarily free content on the Web to be published, at all).
I don’t have a problem with a blogger turning his/her content into books, but you’re correct: the blog posts need to be elaborated upon, ten-fold. The worth of the content should explode exponentially.
The amount of free content on the Internet on all these subjects is raising the bar of expectation for what publishers put in print. I think your post here is a prime example of the delicate art of blogs-turned-books.
Warmly,
Dave Ursillo
Thanks for your comment, Dave.
I am a bit surprised as well, although let’s face it, publishers are in need of making money too.
The other disturbing thing about all of this, speaking of publishers, is that the editing in these books tends to be abominable. So many types, misspelled words, that a very simple spell check or Word grammar check should have caught. For an industry that necessitate careful action and scrutiny, this really rubs me the wrong way.
Hi Marjorie,
Great post and I agree. A blog is viewed as a short cut to writing a book now and the effort put into research, style and weaving it into a cohesive story is gone.
I thought about this before i considered writing a book and decided to do it differently. Here is what each level is providing my audience.
The blog: While i am writing on topics I will cover in my book, the actual writing, chapter by chapter will be tightly woven in following a greatly detailed outline. The really is about testing concepts for me and engaging with my audience to find out what they really want.
E-books and/or whitepapers: I am going to be putting out a small series of e-books and whitepapers covering marketing disciplines: Demand gen, customer experience and social experience. The are meant to provide “how to knowledge” at a tactical level. But all stem from my core IP; an IP which is being used to not only write these papers but to write my book(s).
The book: I am looking at some really unique ways to “up the ante” on books for marketers because i too am tired of minimalist efforts. The book itself will be written in two voices; one emotional and one analytical and the perspective (or story) that binds it all together will be very unique. I am saving all of the powerful metaphors, case studies and visuals for the book, although i might tease some out earlier. Further, I am commissioning new research studies to back up my assumptions and arguments. I have already secured a leading research company to assist on the book. This is content you can only find in the book.
Support of the book: Because my company designs/develops applications for marketing, we are designing a free app to go along with the book to help marketers “label and understand” all the different types of social beings/creatures. Further, we are looking at monthly offers that take the higher level book concepts and focus on tactics. Lastly, our community effort around the book will be fierce.
I think that in the same way so many amateurs have donned the title of “social media expert”, an absolutely meaningless term now, amateurs now see blogs as a way to write a book – I can write a blog post, its the same as a book isn’t it?
Just like using the stove 3 times to make soup doesn’t make me a chef, writing a blog doesn’t make me an author worth reading.
Sorry for the long comment!!
Cheers!
Jeff – Sensei
Wow, those are all some fantastic ideas. Mad, mad amounts of kudos to you and your company. Great stuff!
Excellent points, thank you! I’ve been noticing the same thing but was hesitant to complain because I thought, “Well,that’s the way it’s done.” But you’re right — it’s not the way it SHOULD be done. I’m in the process of creating a webinar myself – was actually going to start writing it today – and I’m really glad I came across your post first!
Thanks, LaVonne.
Don’t get me wrong – if there are things you really want to get across, do so in whatever you do. But find different ways to say it. Customize to the opportunity. Or alert me if you are recycling rather than repurposing 🙂
This is a brave post, and like many have backed up in the comments, the key is being open about what’s in your book, how much of it is fresh, how much is repurposed blog posts.
I like what Jeff the Sensei says about how he uses his blog. I definitely use mine to try new ideas, new topics, or new ways of talking about a familiar topic, to gauge the reaction and popularity of certain topics and approaches, and to experiment.
I’m currently in the midst of writing an ebook, and whilst of course it covers many ideas and themes I have covered to some degree in posts on my blog, I’m actually writing the book from scratch so it is a sequential pathway for people to follow. I wouldn’t feel, personally, I could charge money for the exact same writing that was available free in my blog archives.
Thanks, Dan.
I absolutely understand the desire/need/value of taking an idea across multiple channels. As you say, a blog is a great way to see what your audience might want to learn about, or what your community wants to know. Taking those kernels of truth and popping them into a popcorn medley of a book or a speech is awesome and a best practice.
Simply tweaking posts and sending them to a publisher is what I am talking about/worried about.
Thanks again for commenting!
Wow, I thought this article was excellent !
You have written succinctly about the issue that so many of us ( average ‘joes’ ) find disheartening!
Well done and thank you for putting it out there!
well thank you!
Disheartening is indeed a very good word for it.