I just read an interesting post about Chris Anderson’s new book Free, the Future of a Radical Price. This article gives a number of text passages that were lifted from Wikipedia and published in the book without citation.
This isn’t the first time we’ve discussed the idea of harming your credibility by using improper content to promote your region.
Sometimes, it’s just not possible to get the photos you want. You may also stumble-upon text that you think would be great for marketing your tourism business or region.
Use this simple test to determine if you should use the content:
Ask yourself, “Would I feel comfortable answering the phone to talk with the original content creator to explain my use of their content without permission?” If it’s Creative Commons content and you give credit, no worries, otherwise – DON’T USE IT, no matter how perfectly it appears to match your needs. Plagiarism is illegal after all.
Never sacrifice industry relationships for the possibility of luring a new customer
In the past, we’ve had competitors use our tourism experiences and create exact duplicates of three day experiences and then market them right in our backyard. We’ve had a tourism business offer a trip in a region for the first time using pictures of our staff and our guests in the destination to market their trip.
As difficult as these situations were for me, it must have been extremely difficult to be on the other side of the phone trying to make things right.
Difficult times breed innovation
Use challenging economic times to get creative and dream up new offers for your ideal guest. Pay attention to what others are doing to stimulate new business ideas, just make sure they’re your own, and give credit where it’s due.
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