Common sense could be our friend

Great post, Steve. Is it OK if I copy it to sell as a WSO?

.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

You made some excellent points here. The content theft one is my biggest pet peeve.

I was actually going to recommend a sticky on the issue of copyright infringement since it comes up so often.

It astounds me how many people think its okay to use someone elses work without permission. It's blatant theft. And as someone who writes a lot of content, it boils my blood to think someone would just take an article I've written and copy/paste it to their site. Even a short article can take hours to write, depending on the subject and research involved.

People who do that not only lack common sense, they're just plain lazy.

Someone said that common sense isn't so common. Very true.

have you ever tried asking a question on a site like stack exchange?

If the WF was moderated like that 75% of post wouldn't exist.

they don't allow (I don't want to say stupid) post that have already been answered or are overly general like:

how do i earn online?

Having said that, we all tend to borrow ideas and plans from one another. There is not really that much originality in the world. Variations on a theme is what keeps the marketing world spinning on its axis. If you are going to become particularly exact or moralising about 'exchanged' info then you should make sure your own business stocks are in order. Hell, we copy each other on a daily basis without even thinking about it that much.
Intentional and calculated theft, well that's another matter ...

It's amazing how uncommon common sense is nowadays. Great list, Steve but some of it is purely subjective. What might be trash to someone else might be gold to you and vice versa.

You should probably define "wrong" since some of your "Of course you shouldn't..." items are perfectly legal or would need a few caveats depending on the situation.

For example, many images you can "snatch" online are public domain or fall under a permissive creative commons license. You should add the caveat "copyright images you do not have the right to snatch".

It is also not strictly "wrong", in the legal sense, to review things you have not personally seen or tested. There would need be caveats to that statement as well.

For example, one could use and compare statistics gathered by others and public domain information published by the government to create a "review" of the best diet to reduce cholesterol among a selection of types of diets (Mediterranean, High Fibre, Vegetarian, Vegan) without actually spending time eating a vegan or Mediterranean diet.

See? More caveats.

It should be common sense to use less pejorative and more precise terms.

It is sweeping generalizations and inaccurate terminology along with imprecise or confusing terms like "wrong" that cause many of the problems as much as any lack of common sense in the discussions.

Not that I am saying there doesn't need to be more common sense around here, but this post is typical of those that are very judgemental of other members by using sweeping generalizations about what is "right", "wrong" or "common sense".

Edit: "Subjective" means in that person's opinion. Since many of the items listed as "wrong" are not technically "illegal" then it is only the OPs opinion they are "wrong" in the general way he stated.

Notice many of these people who are asking about these things are also the ones asking why they are not making any money. You know what. I have never lied to a customer. I have never tricked someone into buying my products and I have never (intentionally) went back on my word. Guess what else. In the 6 years that I have been working online I have never been without a paycheck.

Great post Steve, even though there are one or
Two long winded replies that say otherwise .

May I just say that unfortunately not everyone has the
Ability to exercise common sense, hence you see some of the
Stupidest questions appear on forums.

Also, because these forums have members from all over the world Its fair to say we don't all share the same beliefs/culture.

What we may see as stealing,lying,cheating etc. other people may find
Acceptable...

Excellent post! I think Google makes the Internet changing into a new world with few common senses.

There are many people in this forum who believe that making money doesn’t depend on honesty. This is why they make funny questions.

Great piece of advice Thanks

Great Post Steve,

I have been a reader of this forum for long.

Funny enough I have seen some posts on this forum where poster asks how to make few bucks or how to make money online or maybe I am giving up because I have tried and couldn't make money and when you look at their signatures, it would say "find out how I made $500 in 2 hours" "Catch my formula of making $1000 per day" "I can help you make $10000 a month"

What a hypocrisy; same people begging others to find out on how to make some money are teaching others how to make fortunes. What a hypocrisy in the world of marketing. :confused:

People don't care if this is wrong or not. They just do it anyway and make money every time.

Hey Steve, thanks for this. A mentor of mine once defined marketing as the act of giving value. Sometimes I think that gets forgotten in the world of internet marketing. Of course the above are wrong.
And as I say, if it feels wrong, it usually is.

Best,
Mark

Oh and I almost forgot - you know what they say about common sense?
It ain't that common.

Thanks for this- of course outright lying is wrong but Seth Godin's take on it that you tell the story then live the story to make it authentic is an interesting way of looking at it. It makes the line between honest/dishonest more of a grey area.