Ethical Guidelines for Blogging

Blogging seems simple enough! But did you know that you could get in
legal trouble for blogging, or at least risk angering someone you
admire? Consider some basic blogging ethics and understand the legal
issues with blogging. Not only do you want to keep things legal, but you
want your readers to trust and respect you. Here are some things to
think about.

Copyright and credit

If you’re able to write all the content for your blog, and create all
the graphics and take all the photos, you will be in the clear as far
as copyright infringement goes. A great side effect of all this
diligence is that your blog will shine for the hard work you’re putting
into it.




Not everyone has the skill and the time to create every last bit of
content from scratch. If you don’t, make sure you’re using images
correctly. Your only legitimate ways to gather images for your blog are:

1. Create the photo or graphic yourself


2. Use paid or free stock photography with an appropriate license


3. Get permission from the content creator to re-use their work

Just because someone posted an image on their own site or on social
media doesn’t mean it can be posted anywhere. If you will be posting
images that you didn’t create, you need to have the right to do that.


When in doubt, if you’re putting any kind of content on your blog
that you haven’t created yourself, you should both ask the creator for
permission, and credit that person in your blog post.


If you’re re-using written content, it’s usually okay to insert an
attributed quote into your text (and even better if you link back to the
source). It’s not okay to re-print someone else’s entire article
without permission.




If your post is based off of the original idea of someone else’s, share the credit and mention the inspiration in your post.

Truth and opinion

You may not think of yourself as a journalist, but as a blogger, you
are responsible for earning your readers’ trust. You need to be clear
about what is fact and what is your opinion. When speaking of others, be
sure that you’ve verified what you’re writing about them. Libel is a
real thing that you can get in legal trouble about.




Be transparent with your readers about what is editorial and what is
advertising. Are you sharing affiliate links? Did you receive payment or
get free product to blog about a certain topic? Readers need to know if
they’re getting your unbiased opinion, or if your writing is affected
by a relationship with an advertiser.

Giveaways and contests

Before you go wild promoting your blog or business with giveaways and
contests, read up on how to do these legally. Your innocent blog
giveaway may be an illegal lottery in some states. If your prize is
worth enough, there will be tax concerns you need to think about.

Marketing and spam

When promoting your blog, make sure that you do so tastefully, and
steer clear of anything spammy. This means not sending unsolicited
emails, not posting inappropriately about your business in public
forums, and not forcing advertisements on people who aren’t looking for
them.




Even in your own spaces (your blog, your social media accounts),
remember that people want value from you, not an endless stream of ads.

Privacy and policies

Always respect your readers’ privacy. This means keeping their email
address private, and if you collect any data about them, you shouldn’t
share this information with others, or use this information
inappropriately. Your emails must be opt-in, and you can’t share your
email lists with other people or companies.


Make some policies for your blog and be sure to share them with your
readers! What is your comments policy, privacy policy, terms and
conditions for use of your site? These don’t need to be pages and pages
of legalese, but could instead be a few sentences by your comments box,
or a promise next to your email opt-in that you won’t share email
addresses with other companies.




Did you know that the comments people write on your blog posts are
not yours to use? By default, they are copyrighted by the comment
poster. If you want to use that wording elsewhere on your site or in
your marketing materials, you’ll need permission. You can get this
permission in advance by having a comments policy stated on your site.

More help with your blog

This is a brief overview of topics to think about. If you blog, I
urge you to spend some time on Google learning more about blogging
ethics and legalities.




This post kicks off a series on the Aeolidia website about starting a
blog for creative businesses. Upcoming posts will discuss whether you
should have a blog, share the steps to take to start a blog, give you a
huge list of ideas of what to blog about, and cover common blogging
mistakes I see.






Since we’re talking ethics here, I had better mention that I will
keep your email address completely private, and will not share it with
others or use it for anything but to send you my newsletter!


Do you have a blog? Are you thinking of starting a blog? What
questions do you have about blogs for business, or blogs on ecommerce
sites? Please share in the comments. I’d love to offer some personalized
tips.