Fairground Media

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Copyright (or “intellectual property”) law here in the US is an odd thing. It’s unfair, easily. But then, complete fairness is far too subjective, ambiguous, and expensive to achieve on a grand scale, so the best we’ve got to work with are some hard-and-fast rules.

Fact is, if you have a truly great idea, someone is bound to want to steal it.

Sometimes the culprit is just blindly naive about the whole thing. In this category, I’d place anyone who sees your design as just another DIY challenge on the internet, or the type of blogger who creates “knockoff” tutorials to recreate others’ products. Often, these bloggers and their readers have Etsy shops of their own, where these copied items end up.

Other times said person is knowingly and deceptively trying to channel your work’s success into their own pocket (these are the ones we really, really hate, of course).

In 2011, Urban Outfitters was said to have ripped off an Etsy seller’s bestselling jewelry design. In her rage, the artisan wrote a Tumblr post showing the sameness of the necklaces. It soon went viral and set the handmade community abuzz with fighting words for big retailers like UO. But the Etsy seller never did take legal action, and Urban Outfitters went on selling the item… here’s some reasons why….

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One of the many skewed ideas that hold us back from doing what we desire is the belief that someone else should tell us who we are. To be specific, we expect that someone will deem us worthy of the business we want to run or the title we want to have when we’ve finally “made it” to that level of expertise.

We expect someone from a high place will validate us by saying “As of this 18th day of June, you may hereby refer to yourself as an ‘artist’! Thou shalt now charge premium prices!”

It’s no grand coincidence that so many people feel this way, subconsciously waiting for such a moment to arrive. Before the internet, in the land of the gatekeepers, it often was necessary to be deemed worthy in order to do what you wanted. But as independents, this just isn’t our reality anymore.

To be clear, people who follow one path their whole life can still expect a certain amount of solid validation to affirm their identity and status– report cards, degrees, a resume full of experience. But what about those who go off-the-beaten-path? Who didn’t explicitly set out to accomplish one thing, but who find themselves drawn to it later?….

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Imagine this. A man and a woman are both learning how to use some new software. Maybe it’s WordPress. Maybe it’s a shopping cart. Or some kind of plugin or widget for their pre-existing websites– the specifics don’t really matter.

As is inevitable when learning something new, they both run into a problem. An error message. A technical glitch.

Their reactions are very different, though.

When faced with an error like this, the woman might say, “Did I break it??” or What did I do??” She’s very likely to blame herself– assuming some kind of “innate defectiveness” and that technology isn’t her “thing.”

Meanwhile, the man is more likely to blame the program for the error– charging it with being buggy or unintuitive. He’s thinking, “I did what I thought I was supposed to. This isn’t working properly!”

This distinction between how men and women (on a statistically-significant scale) react to problems with technology has been researched from many angles over the last several years….

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{Today’s post comes from Lucy Wright, and it’s all about optimizing online ads.

Truth be told, the success of any advertising campaign really depends on your strategy going in. So before you buy that next ad, make sure to consider Lucy’s advice for improving your click-through rate and making the most of your campaign! –Stephanie}

There’s no doubt that banner ads on websites and blogs might not be the marketing powerhouse that they once were. Ad blocking software, mobile browsers, and other trends have diminished the interest in banner ads for many marketers. But don’t let that completely discourage you! They can still provide outstanding marketing benefits when optimized thoroughly.

These five strategies all offer ways to improve your ad click-through rates and get the most quality web traffic for your advertising dollars….

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Choice paralysis is a very real sickness, and you and I are both constantly at risk.

We as “doers,” independents, marchers to the beat of our own drums. Entrepreneurs who deal in and with technology– in charge of operations from very big to very small– all have plenty of decisions to make. And any one single decision can completely shut us down if we let it.

It’s obvious that an e-commerce business can’t exist without a functional website. But those who have taken the leap from, “Online business is cool! I want to do that!” to “I need a website. What kind should I have?” know how loaded that task is. And how a weekend spent unpacking it can easily turn into a week, a month, or even years!….

Marketplace websites are awesome, right?

I’m talking about sites like Etsy, Artfire, Bonanza, Zazzle, Meylah, Society 6, BRIKA… where there’s a huge gathering of buyers and sellers, in one place. It seems like new ones are popping up all the time.

From the sellers’ perspective, sites like Etsy can be a great place to start– and test– a business with minimal commitment. See if your business concept is one that attracts people. Try out different pricing. Gather information about what does or doesn’t sell.

Further, sites like Etsy can be incredible marketing channels. Driving traffic is a major hardship for most new businesses, but Etsy already gets tons of it.

That’s not to say you get the benefit of Etsy’s traffic without any work at all. You need to be selling something that stands out in the crowd, you need to know how to use keywords, and be able to jump on seasonal trends– since catering to the time of year or pop culture trends will help snag e-mail and front page features.

At least all of the conventional advice says that if you manage to do the above you’ll see success through the site….