One of my friends just sent me a funny email.<\/p>\n
It was a forwarded email from someone else, actually.<\/p>\n
What was funny about it is, the subject line was almost identical to the email I wrote you yesterday that said: “The George Costanza School Of Copywriting.”<\/strong><\/p>\n Except, instead of it being about “copywriting” it said it was the George Costanza School of something else.<\/p>\n So I started reading.<\/p>\n The opening line was identical to my email.<\/p>\n The second line was similar, but not an exact copy.<\/p>\n In other words, he changed things just enough where he wasn’t using the exact words I used.<\/p>\n Same with the next several lines.<\/p>\n The EXACT<\/strong> story I told — but substituting different words. <\/p>\n Until he finally segued into his own lesson, and used ideas from his<\/em> own brain instead of mine<\/em>.<\/p>\n Now, some may think this is “okay.”<\/p>\n Especially since this is the Internet and “everyone else does it.”<\/p>\n Personally, I don’t think it is okay.<\/p>\n Besides the lack of original thought and blatant misuse of swiping, he made a HUGE mistake that could cost him dearly: <\/p>\n He lost a LOT of respect from not only me, but many others in marketing.<\/strong><\/p>\n I’ve been getting emails all morning about this. <\/p>\n Apparently, a lot of people on my list are marketing spies<\/em> on his.<\/p>\n People who, in some cases, even know<\/em> him. <\/p>\n Some of who may have even bought<\/em> from him.<\/p>\n And they are all P-O’d.<\/p>\n Why?<\/p>\n Because as Matt Furey says: “You don’t have just one ant in your house.”<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n In other words, chances are, if this dude is blatantly stealing from me, he is fully capable of stealing from THEM, too.<\/p>\n And how many people do you know trust people who steal?<\/p>\n Anyway, despite all this, I am not mad at this guy.<\/p>\n In some ways, I’m flattered he thinks that highly of my work. (And as someone on Twitter just told me, this is something George Costanza would probably do haha).<\/p>\n But I am disappointed<\/em>.<\/p>\n Especially since, all he had to do was say something like:<\/p>\n “Yesterday I was reading an email from someone I know in business named Ben Settle. He was talking about George Costanza from Seinfeld…”<\/em><\/p>\n And then he could have said whatever he wanted.<\/p>\n The lesson here?<\/p>\n When you’re writing your emails… be honest.<\/p>\n Don’t steal.<\/p>\n And, when you want to use someone else’s idea, simply cite and give them credit.<\/p>\n Otherwise you could take a HUGE hit in your credibility.<\/strong><\/p>\n And that can take a long, long time to fix.<\/p>\n Ben Settle<\/p>\n P.S.<\/strong> Crime doesn’t pay in the long run — and neither does stealing other peoples’ ideas and copy. You can learn how to write powerful, moolah-making emails and ads without resorting to stealing (as well as the RIGHT way to swipe) in “The Copywriting Grab Bag”:<\/p>\n