Authors Who Post Contact Information Will Be Suspended

[Ed]

Hi All . . .

Better get the word out. We will be immediately suspending any author who posts contact information in the customer Q/A section. This includes spelling out email addresses. These are monitored, and will be even more closely monitored from this point forward.

Thanks,
Ed

[Celeste Stewart]

This warning is really important. I've seen some of my own dear friends lured away... While I understand the temptation to cut out the middleman, it's really not right. Nor is it all that great from what I can tell.

CC markets us. They provide an invoicing system. The community is awesome. The assignments are varied. I could go on and on. People have told me I'm crazy for "giving away" 35% of my income but I don't see that money as mine to start with. I price the articles with what I want to earn in mind and mark it up so that CC gets their fee for their services. After all, they are providing me with a huge service that I wouldn't have on my own. Of the clients that I have landed on my own, I can tell you that finding them in the first place was difficult and getting paid after the fact has been even harder! (Except for a few gems of course).

However, I also understand that customers sometimes don't like logging into a system in order to communicate and when the site is in a transition phase, it's especially rough. Many of my customers have asked me to send them files or have said they would prefer email as a communications method. I can't say I've had many who have come out and said "Let's bypass the system." Rather, they are frustrated with the difficulties involved in communicating back and forth.

What I'd love to see is some sort of way where writers had an assigned email CC system address or something that the customers could enter in their email client as if they were writing a regular email. Kind of like when you have a blog set up where you can email your post to a specific email address and it goes directly on your blog. That would solve the customer's frustration. I don't know if something like that is possible but it might solve a large percentage of "off the system" emails.

[Celeste Stewart]

Part 2

Sorry for Part 2. I guess I was too long-winded (who me?) and restricted from having over 2000 characters in my post. Ha! That may need to be adjusted with some of us...

Anyhow, for those who are tempted to point customers to personal websites, email addresses, phone #s, etc., heed Ed's warning. Think long term with me, will you? CC's an awesome place for writers and customers alike. If you need pointers on how to deal with "off the system" communications requests, post your queries in the forum. Many of us have stood our ground and customers do respect that. I believe that integrity is ultimately rewarded. Of course, I'm preaching to the choir...

PS - and by the way, I've said "No, I'm bound my contract with CC" and am still happily supplying articles to these very same customers via the CC system.

[Ed]

Thanks for adding your voice, Celeste. Everyone at CC works really hard for its authors - this has always been the case and will continue to be so. Using CC and then going around it is unprofessional and lacks integrity. Unfortunately, many of the authors who disregard our protocol do not look into the forums. Some do not even submit articles. However, I do know that many writers here have referred friends or colleagues, so this message is not a waste of time or energy.


Ed

[Celeste Stewart]

Writers may not realize that when they work with CC customers outside of the CC system it's not just CC they are hurting - they are hurting those of us who are following the rules. I have no problem with writers finding that CC isn't for them. Fine, go elsewhere. Just don't take our customers with you!

[jstevewhite]

I think CC performs an extremely valuable service. I have no desire to spend the time and effort building up a client base. I want to write stuff, and have someone buy it. It doesn't get much easier than that, and if that means 35% goes to CC, so be it!

" That may need to be adjusted with some of us..."

Got anyone in mind? (lol)

[Ed]

The request system is certainly under reconstruction. I don't know what sort of plans will be implemented as of yet, but I do know that both customer and author usability are priority.

I'll pass your idea along, Celeste.

[JD]

I have exchanged a few emails with the customer who's after a hairdressing blogger. I emailed him a link to an article on CC, and also told him that I had sold two articles about hair, one of which I could provide him with a link to (I found the article on the Web a while ago). I also sent him the url to my blog, because I've also got some articles on there about hair (these are posted at Helium, too). I perhaps shouldn't have sent him the blog url but there is no email address on it (although there is a link from it to Helium). It's difficult sometimes to remember that these things could enable someone who does want to circumnavigate the system to do so, especially when you yourself don't want to! At the end of the day, I won't agree to anything outside of CC's protocols because I always want to have the opportunity to submit - and sell - here. And it's certainly not worth jeopardizing that for something that may not even come off, or if it does, may be very short-lived. No way.

[jak]

I'm a bit worried now, although I have never, nor would I, post contact info in CC. But I do refer people to my profile and sometimes to particular articles, particularly in my blogs, where I post links. This, of course, means I can be identified. But I also think it could be a good way to promote my work at CC and to promote the site and the work of others.

What's the Constant take on that?

[jak]

My last post here seems to have been overlooked. Should I take it my practice is condoned?

[Ed]

Please refer authors *only* to profiles and content on CC. If you suggest customers look elsewhere at your work - say AC, your personal site, or Helium, this goes against CC's best interest and may be seen as an attempt to get around our system and policies.

[jak]

[quote="Ed"]Please refer authors *only* to profiles and content on CC. [/quote] Do you mean affiliates here? Perhaps you misunderstood me. What I meant to say was that, in my two blogs, I have sometimes refer readers to my work at CC via links from the blog post. I don't know whether this has resulted in purchases from CC, either from me or any other author, because I don't know the identity of its customers.

[quote="Ed"]If you suggest customers look elsewhere at your work - say AC, your personal site, or Helium, this goes against CC's best interest and may be seen as an attempt to get around our system and policies.[/quote]. I don't have a personal site or use any other content sites, but I wouldn't do this if I had, as understand this would not be an ethical thing to do anyway.

I think I've talked myself into realising that I don't actually have anything to worry about.

[Ed]

Yeah, I think you don't, too. :P

[Celeste Stewart]

Yeah. It sounds like you are pointing people TO CC, not away from it :)

[jak]

Yup, that's the idea.

Whew. Breathe again.