It’s been a while since the last poll eh? The last one, How Important are Forums?, resulted in some numbers that pretty much correlated with the comments I got on it. For the most part people think forums are just optional. Although I think most websites will benefit from having forums, I know plenty of people who added forums long after their sites became popular and profitable. At the end of the day it’s just a hard factor to measure. In any case, here are the results!
Now it’s time for a new poll (yay, right?)! I’ve been getting some mixed responses, as was to be expected, to my latest series on business ethics and how they affect internet marketing in the public eye. Personally I always put ethics above profit, but that could be one of the reasons why I’m not a 6 figure earner. It’s one of the biggest questions not only in internet marketing but in business in general. However with the anonymity of the internet the ethics commonly practiced in business for the sole purpose of saving face tend to go out the window and we’re left with a much more raw version of business.
So what I’d like to ask you, my faithful readers – Do Ethics Affect Your Business Decisions?
What do you guys think? Does the consumer’s experience matter? Or is the only important factor your bottom line? I’m not going to criticize anybody who responds no matter how their opinion may differ from mine, so please feel free to comment and let me know how you really feel!
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Add your commentFor me, ethics certainly do affect my business decisions. Running a community website I know that I could financially clean up if I were to run and promote sites that were ‘adult’ in nature. However, I choose not to from an ethical and moral standpoint.
- Martin Reed
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If ethics didn’t affect my business, I would be so blackhat it’s not even funny. I’d be popping malware on everyone’s computer and making bank off it…..popups galore, porn all over the place. copyright violations…you name it.
of course that’s getting into the legal problems too :D
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Ethics is a set of rules that can be, and often are pushed. Integrity is a measure above ethics because there’s a sincerity to work together with someone.
I use integrity as much as possible. It cultivates real business relationships with long term value.
But if I see I’m getting screwed or about to, then I get ethical and I push those rules to the absolute breaking point. And maybe a little more.
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There’ll always be people who respect guidelines and moral code.
And there’ll always be people who make every effort to push the borders as far as they can and still call themselves legitimate and honorable because the rule wasn’t technically broken.
Doesn’t take much effort to find examples of the latter.
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Chow’s site is suffering the effects of this as well as of late. (re: his announcement of a $10 / month no-follow tag removal on comments)
What’s more disheartening than one man’s slick idea is to see the comment masses chiming in about what a great idea it is.
http://thepaperbull.com/crossing-the-ethics-line-with-a-monetized-blog/
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Definately effect decisions over here Matt. I try to lead my life by a strict moral code, and when business is involved I don’t leave it at the door.
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I’ve been thinking of throwing up a forum on my site, but I think I’ll do that once I have to reset my comments on a weekly basis, which at this pace won’t be for a while. Brian’s threaded comments has really put a dent in the necessity of an online forum, too!
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I’ve no business, but I plan to open one around a community, and ethics will be very important. It’s not just a matter of “saving face”, respecting one’s customers and work relations is very important in my humble opinion. Having a good reputation would be the optional benefit.
Then again I’m utterly unable to generate income. :)
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