Martin,

The people that write stuff on medical things don't have any clue. Although some of them have a very good education in that field so I can not bash them.

I know that this is not really fare for people to write about health things that they know nothing about, but people will do anything for a quick buck.

Tal

A little integrity is better than any career. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Some people want that quick buck, but someone else might suffer for it.

What a scary story, Martin! Hopefully this drives home the point for many IMers out there - you can never do too much research. There are plenty of people out there who figure they can write whatever they want, right off the top of their head. Or, they head to Wikipedia, change a few words and fancy themselves writers.

If you really want to be credible in your niche, you have to know the facts. You can't cut corners, or else you'll never really be taken seriously. Think of all the horror stories just like Martin's that you never hear about!

Thanks you for this important reminder!

However, "thanks" is not sufficient. Your personal story brings this issue home. Getting on Google's coveted first page does not take the same sort of knowledge that a genuine product review requires. Your example deals with an extremely important issue, but we have an ethical responsibility to our readers even if we are only reviewing mouse traps.

Regardless of the size of the commission, the anguish your wife endured can't be justified. As communicators we have a social responsibility to get it right. It is possible to make money even by being forthright.

As a former professor, I know that it was very difficult to convince my students that just because they read it on the Internet, it isn't necessarily true. It is our job as publishers to check and verify. I fear that internet marketing is too often imitating that so called news organization named appropriate for a wily animal owned by a former Aussie and new American citizen--worry first about self interest, the rest (truth) be damned.

Do only what makes us proud and hopefully enough money will follow.

Thank you for such a poignantly described plea to our better natures.

Greg

Personally, I tend to take what I read with a pinch of salt and usually head srtaight for the author's bio to see their credentials. If they don;t have a Dr. in front of their name then I'll tend to not believe what I read. However, saying that, we're all internet savvy and we know the game. I do feel for your wife though.

I also agree that writers should write with morals and have some compassion.

Hope your wife is better Martin. All the best

Zaheer

Thanks for sharing your personal story. It is a good reminder for all online writers not just in the medical field. Humans will be reading the information and may base important decisions on what we write. It is easy to forget how quickly most of us can spot the hype or the clever emotional triggers. Even regular skeptical Internet users will often miss what is happening. There are many very professional LOOKING sites that have garbage and misleading content.

I have also been on the receiving end as well ... similar circumstances. When I write medical articles I try and keep it general and along the lines of commonly accepted "medical truths." Thanks for the reminder ...

Very interesting post. Yes, I try to stay away from things like this. Medical advice certainly is dicey.

Good advice to remember the end benefit of the consumer, in any niche. If you are producing the best product available, you should have nothing to worry about.

Great post, Martin. I took that to heart.

Martin

So sorry this happened to you.

I agree that there are too many people out there who think they can write health articles after reading a few lines on Wikipedia.

There is real danger in misinformation that is being spread all over the Internet for the sake of a quick buck. When I write health articles I do so objectively and give the reader factual information that I have gotten from medical books or trusted online health sites.

I know what it is like to be on both sides of the coin, so to speak, when it comes to health problems. I see the fear in people's eyes every day after the doctor has given them a poor prognosis. It is my job to help them deal with these fears the best they can.

I have also recently received a scary diagnosis. It was funny because I just completed an article series on cervical cancer and not a week later my doctor drops the bomb and tells me I have it. The emotions that you experience when you hear the word cancer cannot be put into words.

So when I write health articles I try to do so with integrity. If only every one who thinks they are a health writer would do the same.

True enough... When was the last time that you actually read a review that wasn't written in order to sell a product?

Hi Martin,

I would like to believe that everyone had a "Do unto others as you would
have other's do unto you" kind of attitude.

I know that may never come to be 100% in my life time but I try to believe
humans are mostly good and a few bad apples don't necessarily spoil the mix.

Sorry you and your wife had to come across such garbage. Then again, In
a another way it was sort of a blessing because other than tears no one
was hurt and others are now aware of the effects they could have on
their readers.

I believe the way to handle the medical info niche review style would require
a Honest "Pros vs Cons" type of review.

Personally, I avoid that type of niche as I don't feel comfortable writing
articles about the subjects.

Thanks for the reminder,
Have a Great Day!
Michael

I agree that you should always talk with your doctor about any medical condition you may have. However, it will do you well to research your particular condition first so you are better prepared to meet with your doctor.

If you know more about your problem you can have a list of questions to ask your doctor.

I am a firm believer in self education.

We have access to any kind of information we want these days. It is just a matter of being smart enough to determine fact from fiction.

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I saw a "cure cancer with my awesome medicinal herbs!!!111one" website for sale on Flippa the other day. Sadly, it had revenue.

It honestly made me sick, and I reported it. But they didn't take it down.

I have written my fair share of medical related articles, and I am far from being a trained professional. I always live by the theory to give basic facts I have researched, repeatedly mention visiting with your Doctor, and discuss the alternative treatment my client has asked me to write about. Emphasizing the fact it is wise to use the alternative treatment in conjunction with your Doctor's advice, not in place of it.

Writing a article discussing the symptoms, getting people concerned enough to take action can actually be helpful, if you just as strongly recommend they seek medical advice. Your article could be the key to produce action, instead of inaction.

Stepping over the line to create a panic response just for the sake of a sale is irresponsible at best for any product, not just medical products.


Martin, there is an important benefit your wife and you received from the articles, even though the response was much too strong. You gained added knowledge about her condition you would not have discovered otherwise. Her feeling caused immediate action to consult with an expert who explained the actual risks, her exact situation, and gave you quality information. If she had not read those articles, not felt the panic, would you have asked those same questions?

Hi Martin.Avis

First of all, I am so sorry to hear of your wife's experience. I hope she gets well and makes a full recovery.

As to this thread, there is a lot of hyprocracy here!

Simply put in the words "pain problem solution" in the "search" and see the many people giving advice, especially to newbies. Find a problem, exagerate their pain and present the solution. The basic salespage recomended to all newcomers. (Take a look at the threads and see who agrees).

It really depends if you are into IM to give value and help people or "shearing and milking" just to make money.

Fully agree Martin. The ethics of business get's tossed around care free all too often, I never deal with anything I feel guilty or bad about when I'm writing articles as there are plenty of clients who can offer the same money, without the shadow looming over.

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You have written an excellent post. Article writes must be beware about that.I am Fully agree with you Martin. internet marketing is very garbage there out.I know that may never come to be 100% in my life time but I try to believe. Thank you for giving this post.

Hi Martin,

I totally agree with your views. People really should think of the next person for whom they are going to write. I think the best solution to avoid this kind of problems in the future is to teach and educate Article Writers about the importance of writing relevant and realistic articles which can provide real value to the readers.

The writers can take reference from the authoritative websites in the particular medical niche and then write only about what is realistic information. They should not make people frighten about their conditions ; rather they need to educate them properly.

There are many official US government websites online which contains all kinds of authentic information related to all types of diseases and medical conditions. Article writers can take the reference from these authentic sites to make their content more valuable and realistic.

This way you will provide high quality and value added content to people who seek for reliable information online. And as a writer you will also get what you want, the real interested and targeted visitors.

Provide Value to Your Readers and You Will Get The Quality Web Traffic. Its Actually a WIN-WIN for both sides.

Great post Martin.

What scares me is that many people read these kinds of articles and
believe them to be true.

I used to work for a medical related agency. One day I got a call
about an issue I was not familiar with so I called our National office.

The person who picked up said that they did not have anything on hand
on the topic but would email me about it later in the day. When I checked
my email it read "Found this article on the subject, be sure to check it out."

The article was from EZA. The writer was obviously promoting a health remedy
for the subject at hand.

Scary to say the least.

I was tempted to write an article at EZA on the topic with at least some factual
evidence.

I had the same problem about a year ago for my gastric pain. I was just browsing through google and the 1st site that came out in the ranking provides no new information at all. Well at least I was not that concerned about the contents and threatening garbages that the site gave me as I had received proper treatment from the doctors.

Being an aff marketer and article writer, I just stayed away from health related niches as I know that I'm not a certified doctor to offer ideas and solutions. Yes I may have all the information from reliable sources to write contents, but still I'd just stay away because I just don't want to be accused of "writing garbage articles".

It's a sad thing to see people who're willing to write crap information or becoming an overnight expert sharing tips and ideas just because they found health related niches profitable.I wish that GOOGLE has the "extra sensory" tool to detect these kind of websites and ban them forever from appearing again on search engine. LOL.!!

Anyway hope your wife recovers fast

I perfectly agree Martin, Thank you

A big plus for you. This is why I avoid medical niches, I hate writing articles targeting to people who are sick and desperate.

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I have struggled with a lot of tactics people use to sell their affiliate products. I thought that I would struggle in this business as a christian with very high moral standards, and a big heart (I swear I can't even kill a spider).

It is hard to compete sometimes with all the black hatters out there, but I just keep persevering with tactics that make me sleep easy at night, and I have had great success from it.

I am so glad you posted this! Thanks!

First the medical issue -- authority isn't foolproof. You want to see the worst abuse of medical info check out the ads on TV for pharmaceuticals. That crap should be illegal. We have many drugs on the market right now that are killing people. The pharms have the money to foot the bill on the lawsuits and have even become able to keep drugs that are proven to do more harm than good on the market.

You want to know how they get them on the market? They have writers. Writers who are so good that they can turn horror story research results around to look GOOD.

Authority is not a solution to propaganda. Learning how to read research results and looking up the research...not just the "official" results but the stuff from the non-financially backed institutions and professionals that didn't have the capital to get their research published against the will of a voracious medical/industrial complex.

My sister's dog has cancer. Officially there is nothing that can be done but cut off his leg or just drug him til drugs can no longer make him comfortable, then put him to sleep. I have no official medical status but am knocking the snot out of that tumor. He's almost well. How have I managed? Simple. I had to save my own butt from a medical community that outwardly lied to my parents (both fault of the Dr. and of a medical community that delivers pharmaceutical spin to the Doctors instead of a completely unbiased medical report composed from ALL research done). Simply put - I've been studying the stuff for 30 years and I don't just look at the stuff that is officially allowed distributed to doctors - that's how they get their info. And there's a lot of info so they CAN'T research it ALL.

I won't go into all the details on how written information works in the brain, but will go into what I am seeing in IM.

It used to take some real in-depth interest in and knowledge about a subject to start and run a business - there was a good chunk of capital investment to do so. Here comes the internet and it's almost nothing to start a business. So you get people flocking online that have severely limited educations and not much of any intentions other than to be rich.

They come to Internet Marketing forums and what they hear is all about what niches are hot - how to turn a quick buck. Article writing. Article writing. Oh - and article writing. So now you have people with no real research skills or experience in a field picking up niches for the soul purpose of turning a quick buck. Others of their own ilk market those ideas to them to make their own quick buck. And they believe - and believe strong enough to consider some of these clowns to be "gurus" . The idiocy spreads. Like wildfire.

It's gotten bad enough that the FTC is now cracking down on some of the people who write outlandish crap just to make a buck.

The sad part is - we will always have people who have absolutely no integrity where there is quick money to be made.

The other sad part is that there are people that don't know the first thing about evaluating what they read and don't know HOW to research a subject any further. They will believe anything in black and white.

If your doctor gives you a diagnosis, and says there is nothing more that he can do for you - what do you do? Sit and wait for the end? I didn't. I got into playing hardball in research. Synthesizing the research and trying other approaches doesn't always work - but if you try enough you will find what you are looking for. It ultimately is a person's own responsibility, no matter what subject they need information about, to learn to find the best info and learn to compare everything they read. That's why people learn to read in the first place - so they can learn what they want or need to. I'd not be alive today if I hadn't understood that. Ricky wouldn't be here today if I hadn't had the years into it that I do.

IN this world you can not count on any faction whatsoever, whether they have a seal of authority or not, to give you straight and completely correct information. Sometimes you have to count on your own ability to find and understand issues so you can sort and weed til you find the right answer. You are always more concerned about your own butt than the other person who has something to gain from you. ALWAYS. People must never forget that one.

Am I saying that I think it's okay for people to just run out and find a niche and start writing garbage in a niche in which they have no in-depth knowledge? Not even. In fact, I think it's a travesty that a person would be so driven by gain that they would do so. Is money a god now with no reprimand for sins committed to achieve the favor of that god? How is it to sleep at night knowing that you peddle worthless or even harmful crap at people? How long do you think it will last? Sure, it's the other person's fault if they let you suck them in.......but how do you really feel inside deep knowing you are a fraud? Is it worth the greenbacks to feel so slippery? When someone asks "who are you?" -- What in God's name do you tell them?

Another fact that needs to be pointed out is that it's marketers who have made good money teaching people IM that dish the crap that makes people believe they just need to pick up a niche and start writing. It's the marketers that have made good money writing that push writing on everyone that enters this forum. Exquisite writing isn't just a matter of knowing how to construct a grammatically faultless sentence (um...a lot of "online writers" can't, btw) - it's also a matter of being able to do real research, to analyze and synthesize the material and present it in an understandable venue. It is not grabbing a spinner and putting out trash just to spew a few keywords that will grab some search engines.

What we have come to is a society of money grubbers. People used to know how to earn their acclaim, knew how to work hard in it - because they had a dream of being exquisite at what they do. They sometimes achieved wealth in the process - it was earned and there was extreme pride behind it.

Now the ethos has turned to "what can I do with no education, no skills, no real background in anything, no real in-depth interest in anything they want to put their weight behind. Some think that there is no wish at all to be exquisite an longer. I disagree.

I think that people still want to be exquisite - but in the last decade the attitude is that "exquisite" and "wealthy" became used interchangeably, essentially becoming the same perception.

Which of us in here are guilty of aiding in the proliferation of that perception?

Are overweightness and obesity medical conditions? I think so. How many marketers sold **** and weight-loss supplements to people wanting to feel and look healthier? I don't condone hyperbole and alarmist sales pitches to get folk to open their wallets. It's just bad practice. However, as a Naturopath, I have used alternative treatments from the earth that reversed conditions that doctors could not do as a result of their limited, symptom-based approach to illness. Big Pharma has done more harm than good and now has targeted children in Kindergarten for prescribing anti-depressants and other drugs! The upside is that the internet has leveled the playing field betwixt doctor and patient as it relates to that "second" opinion and discovering that doctor in you (you are truly the first responder and doctor). That being said, I hope your wife is okay and I will continue to put a warning out that you should consult your physician before performing any exercise routine or taking dietary herbal supplements of any kind.

This is so very true Martin, and happens in many important niches.

In the credit and foreclosure niches, I see articles all the time referencing out-of-date or state-specifc information just to sell a product. Naive readers then take that and post summaries of it on other blogs and websites. Before you know it, someone Googling the same questions will see pages of dangerously misleading information. ...and the more times they see it repeated, the more it seems legit.

But its often bad advice that could cost them their house or credit or both...
_____
Bruce

Martin,

Thanks for any important post. Because a number of authoritative medical sites have adsense on them as well, I don't see how the general public would be able to distinguish a made for adsense site from a well-researched one. Also, sadly many of the mfa sites in health have lots of links from blog commenting that puts them in google above sites with authors that are MDs but don't have time to market the site.

Debbie

This is a sad story though, writers must be aware of their materials, it should be neutral. Thanks for a lesson learned.

Just be careful about self diagnosis. Some of these sites list worst case scenarios and spell out an ugly picture. Try not to worry.

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I'm deciding whether or not to pull the trigger on a general medical niche that I have content for. Most likely its a no go. Since people have given their opinions, I will give mine.

One person said that they wont believe anything they read unless it has a Dr in front of it.
Obviously, anyone can be anyone on the internet so lol to that.

Another person asked where that "moral" bar should be. Whats the diffference between health niche, finance niche, emotional niche etc etc.

Its just as bad making people pull out their wallets for a product to gain muscle fast. You might not think so because its not as obvious as a medical niche. How do you know that person is not so severely depressed and/or broke with no self esteem and now some internet marketer is here to save the day?

Then another person brought up her Christian morals.

Here we have a person that believes in a book without doing any kind of research commenting on whether or not browsers of the internet should believe what they read on the internet and how morally bad it is to be the content provider of certain niches but lets not go there.

At the end of the day, I've decided that I wont go into this medical niche. Not because my moral standards are sooo high, but because the articles that I had written sucks a!#.