CopyCats

I was cleaning up some old files on a laptop I really haven't used in over a year. Why? Oh, the reason why I was cleaning it up is the simple fact that I was bored, the reason why I haven't used it is even more simple; While having a conversation, chat, online with one of my downliners I got so upset that the beer... uh... Coke I was drinking fell over the keyboard. Needless to say my laptop did not like that.

Uff, I see my mind wandered off again. So, anyways, there I was cleaning old files when I stumbled over a text document with no name. For you to understand how unusual that is, I have to tell you that a thing like that have only happened once before in my life; when my then 16 year old son was "borrowing" my computer.

Back to the textfile. I discovered a very well written article about affiliate marketing. The thing is, I did NOT recognize the darn thing as mine. I know that, at the time, I wrote a lot - and I mean a multitude - of articles about affiliate marketing, but this one I didn't recall. The words and phrasing looked like mine, but...

So I did the most common thing available for uncertain people around these days; I Googled a part of it.

I copy-pasted the following:

3. Get the kind of traffic that is targeted to your product. Just think, if the person who visited your website has no interest whatsoever in what you are offering, they will be among those who move on and never come back. Write articles for publication in e-zines and e-reports. This way you can locate publications that is focusing on your target customers and what you have put up might just grab their interest.

Google found 231.000 hits.

I went through the first couple of pages that Google found, all the articles where identical TO THE WORD. I had to sit down, thinking for myself: "Oh my god, what if I have written this! I should get the Noble Prize!".

Well, I still don't know where the original article came from - and I still hope that it may be mine - but here is the point of this story:

CopyCatting is one heck of an excellent way of getting quality material for your blogs, websites and newsletters. But how much quality is there left when 200.000+ people use the same stuff?
At least, copycatters, change a few words here and there!