When is imitation a form of flattery and when is it infringing on your intellectual property?
I got a message last night that there was a....similarity...between a blog I recently wrote (for one of the brands we're managing) and the latest blog of another local business. And before I made any decision on whether to funk some wagnalls, I clicked on the link and read the blog entry in question.
And immediately dismissed it. Yes, the main idea of the blog was similar to my own, but a good idea is almost never original. While we are all about Good Ideas here at Unit HQ, we know that it's really the execution that matters.
The pursuit of progress comes about through the execution of good ideas. Can't find new horizons unless you're on the move.
Had the blog entry in question been a pale distillation of my own style, I think I would have "felt some type of way" (as the kids say - do the kids still say that? whatever, I'm bringing it back!). Yes, it was very similar in content / themes / advice to my own blog, but it was also very similar to about a gazillion other blogs out there, if only because none of the content was very original.
So I don't get offended when someone else takes my idea. If they put their own spin on it and make it hotness, awesome. If they do it better than I do, even better. Because that only spurs me on to try harder. And then good things happen.
* I stole that line off of Twitter or Facebook. I figured it was appropriate.
