What is up everyone.
Welcome back to my channel.
In today's video, we're going to talk all about how you can deal with copycats online.
If you are a content creator or a business owner, at some point in your journey, you're
going to encounter this frustrating situation where you catch someone either ripping off
your work or your concepts or your content, and that is extremely upsetting.
So if you want to learn exactly how you can deal or handle these situations, then keep
on watching.
Now, before I dive right into the details, I do want to say one thing.
Of course, the Internet is a very vast space nowadays.
You can get any information online.
However, I do want to make a very clear distinction between inspiration and imitation because
the line between the two is quite blurred.
Inspiration on one hand means that you've maybe seen someone else's work or someone
else's concept, and as a result that has inspired you to create your own in your own voice without
copying and pasting or duplicating that other person's original work.
For example, let's say that you see that I've started a youtube channel and I'm gaining
traction.
I'm driving traffic to my business, thanks to youtube.
Well, you're inspired by that, so you create your own youtube channel as well.
That is a result of you being inspired by me or by any other youtube or on this platform.
On the other hand, imitation means that you're taking someone else's work and you're duplicating
it.
For example, yes, you are inspired to start your youtube channel because you saw my account,
let's say, but then you start doing the same type of content and you're recycling the content
that I provided you content and information that you otherwise would not have known enough
if it weren't for me.
Now, obviously information is everywhere.
Take me, for example, in my niche, there are so many other youtubers that you could watch
to get the similar type of information.
However, what differentiates all of us is our styles.
The way that we explain something, the sequence that we explain in our own personal examples
that we leverage.
If you are seeing all of that and you're copying it on your channel, then that is a true form
of imitation.
Now with those examples aside, if you want a part two of this video where I go deeper
in depth on the differences between imitation and inspiration and how you can avoid being
a copycat yourself, make sure you sums up this video.
In the meantime, if you're interested, make sure you also check out this blog post.
I found this blog post and I thought it was really well written in a sense of how you
can differentiate between inspiration and imitation.
So definitely check this out too.
Now in the article that I just shared with you, one of my favorite things that they mentioned
was appreciation.
If you are so inspired by someone, make sure you're also appreciating their work and by
appreciating their work, ensure that you are not disrespecting their work as well.
Because even though a lot of people will tell you that imitation is the sincerest form of
flattery, I personally think that imitation is the sincerest form of laziness and disrespect
and that's why I want to give you my first tip and that is remember that people follow
leaders and not followers.
Think about it, most people do not copy crappy content and if you're finding yourself in
a situation where people are copying your work, that's a really good indication that
you are becoming a true leader within your industry.
Now a common question that I get or a common concern that I get from a lot of people who
end up being copied is that they ends up becoming super discouraged and then they start saying
things like, oh my gosh, I'm never going to put content out there again because people
are just going to copy it.
Well, my honest answer to that reaction is don't do that.
Don't go that route.
Do not dim your light or play it safe because you're afraid of copycats because in the long
run that ends up hurting you and your community the most, and what I mean by this is that
if you aren't putting your best foot forward in your content, and I talk a lot about this
in this video right here, you're hurting your business.
You're hurting your brand because that content is really important for you to generate leads
for you to accelerate yourself as an authority in this space.
If you start giving out mediocre content because you are scared that your good content is going
to get taken by other people, then you are hindering your own growth.
Even for me having a handful of encounters of my own copycats, I still continue to produce
content.
Now of course, there's going to be times where even though you are ignoring these copycats,
there's still going to be more and more that come your way.
Well, here's the second thing that I want to tell you and that is no one can do you
better than you.
Even though people may be copying your content or your strategies or your concepts, at the
end of the day, they're not going to be able to replicate the way that you deliver something.
The way that your energy is, the way that you answer questions, things that you have
to think on your own feet for.
So if you are someone who is truly owning that content and you know everything like
the back of your hand, you're always going to come out on top and there's a reason why
your community chooses to learn from you versus all of your other copycats who are trying
to imitate every single thing that you do.
Kind of think of it like an exam.
Yes, someone can peer over your shoulder and copy or every single answer.
However, when it actually comes to getting the job done, you are always going to come
out on top because you're the one that's creating the content.
You're the one that's actually experienced the things that you're teaching.
And not only this, you are the one that has the creativity.
At the end of the day, what you need to realize is when people copy you, it's probably because
they aren't creative themselves.
And creativity is something that's a lot harder to master and it's not as easy as just copy
and pasting off of someone else's work.
Creativity is something that you own and as long as you're always creative, you're always,
always, like I said, going to come out on top.
So what I'm really trying to say here is that creativity cannot be duplicated.
And so instead of seeing your copycats and feeling defeated and suddenly wanting to quit,
I encourage you to actually use it as fuel to push your boundaries, push the limits on
how creative you can really be with your own work.
Because at the end of the day, you are the one that's going to have the most longevity
in the industry compared to anyone who is copying you.
But at some point your copycats can cross the line.
And that's why I want to give my third tip and that is to make sure you have contracts.
And that you're protecting yourself legally.
For me, if you visit my website, I have a very clear terms and conditions that I'd created
with a lawyer that clearly addresses copyright and something important that I want you to
note is within this clause that my lawyer wrote, it clearly states that the absence
of a copyright symbol does it mean that it's a free for all meaning.
If someone's posting content online on social media and there is no specific copyright symbol,
it still doesn't mean that it's okay to take.
Now, if you want a real life mistake that I made, make sure you check out this video
because I kind of talk about copyright infringement there anyways, remember that it is worth the
investment to protect yourself.
That's why the moment you start making money in your business or you're really wanting
to take your career a little bit more seriously than a highly advise that you invest in that
lawyer or that you even invest in trademarking any processes, anything that's proprietary
so that you are truly protecting your brand in the long run.
Now, if you are someone who cannot be bothered to send your copycat a cease and desist letter
than here's the fourth option for you, and that is to send them a friendly nudge, even
though it can absolutely be super frustrating and demoralizing to see your work copied by
someone else.
I encourage you to try to calm down and see the best in others because instead of assuming
the worst and thinking that everyone is out to get you a most times, what I found is people
don't even realize that they've made that mistake.
And by simply sending them a really quick nudge or just telling them about how you feel,
it generally usually comes with a good result, meaning that that person is probably going
to change their work, take it down, or at least credit you.
So instead of getting upset, what you could do is you could easily message that copycat
and ask them about their intentions of why they shared your work without crediting you.
Let me give you an example.
What you could do specifically is you could screenshot the work that they copied, send
it to them and say, Hey, I saw this and I saw that this was my work that you share that
you hadn't necessarily credited me for it.
I'm just wondering where your intentions were with this.
Before I jump into conclusions, I would love to sort this out with you.
Now, remember what you do at counter a copycat and make sure you're screenshotting whatever
they coffeed because it's going to protect you in case it does end up being something
that needs legal attention.
Not only this, copycats are really quick to obviously become really guilty and then they
start modifying things and they start removing it and so in the future you're not going to
have proof on that.
Especially if this copycat is someone who does it over and over again.
You're going to want to collect all those screenshots and potentially take legal action
in the future if it has to come to that.
So make sure you are smart about this.
You're leaving paper trails, you're not sending voice notes and you're texting it to them
so that you have proof and when you text it to them and they respond back, make sure you're
also screenshotting the conversation because in my experience, I've had people just delete
their messages and send me new messages and it looks like an entirely different conversation
and I'm personally really glad that I screenshot it a lot of things so that I have proof anyways,
depending how that person replies or how they react to it, you can choose to either press
even further or you can just choose to let it go.
Now in my experience as well, most people will apologize, but at the end of the day
you really want to gauge this, this person.
Do they seem like they're experienced in the industry isn't really a rookie mistake or
are they just saying sorry because there's nothing else to say at this point?
Really gauge their character, where they're at in their journey and really honor that
because I want to talk about the fifth tip that I have and that is actually having consequences
because if I'm really going to give you guys real talk, what I find is that people are
going to say that they made a mistake, but if they are two years into their journey and
they literally copied your work word for word at that point, they should know better.
They were 100% aware of what they were doing.
They're not a kid, they're not a rookie, they're not someone who has no idea what copyright
infringement is.
They are 100% aware of their actions and they were willing to take that risk.
That's why it's important for you as a business owner to enforce consequences so that person
truly learns from their mistake because if you let them go scot-free, they're going to
either do it again to you or they're going to do it again to other people.
And I know not a lot of people want to be the bad guy, but it's important to be the
bad guy in order to protect the integrity of your business and to enforce respect from
other people to you.
For example, even for me, I've kicked people out of my programs and I've put people on
blacklist because I've caught them copying my work word for word when they should have
known better.
If I had let them do that and they continue to stay in my programs, that is sending a
very negative signal to my other students.
That's showing to my other students and my clients that it's okay to take my work and
that I won't say anything about it.
So that's why it's really important right from the get go to be firm.
When you are dealing with copycats, not only this, if you are letting everyone walk all
over you and you have zero consequences and you're the nice guy all the time and it's
okay that people copy your work, don't just think about yourself, but think about all
the other content creators and all the other business owners.
You are now setting a new standard that it's okay to copy people's work if they do youtube,
if they do Instagram, if it's public information, then it's okay to copy word for word.
That's not okay, so make sure you are standing your ground when you're dealing with copycats
because you in that action alone, you're protecting other content creators and other business
owners as well.
Now, one last thing that I want to mention when it comes to dealing with copycats is
I want you to continue having your own style and being consistent with that style because
if you are consistent in your branding, in your brand voice, in your delivery, you're
eventually going to become recognizable.
Meaning that even though other people are copying your work, your followers or external
people are going to know exactly where they copied that from.
Meaning the more consistent that you can be in your branding and also ensuring that you're
sprinkling a lot of originality within your content pieces, other people are going to
be able to recognize that.
Even for me, I have my own followers emailing me, messaging me, and they're the ones that
are telling me about my copycats.
They always say, Hey Vanessa, I found this person and I recognize that their style or
their information or the way that they put their freebie together or their thumbnails
are like literally the same as yours and that's really good for me because at least I'm creating
something that's recognizable.
So always think about that when you want to protect your brand as well.
Now.
So far, we've talked a lot about how to deal with copycats, and like I said earlier in
the video, if you want a part two on how you can prevent from becoming a copycat and ensuring
that you're respecting your mentors, respecting your favorite content creators while still
being able to take their information so that you can leverage it for yourself, then make
sure you like or comment below.
Now, in the meantime, while you wait for new videos to come out, make sure you also check
out these two videos right here.
I post a lot about social media, being a content creator, and also being an entrepreneur.
So make sure you check out those two videos.
As always, guys, I appreciate you.
I hope you guys have a great day, a great week, and a great life, and I'll see you in
the next one.
Bye guys.