You’d think this would go without saying, but in today’s technologically dominated society, please — be careful what you write on the Internet and where you post it! It might be okay to vent in person or over the phone, but as soon as you make your opinion known online and in print, you have little to no control over who reads it. How hard is it to spend twenty-four hours pondering what you really want to put online? Pretty damn hard I’d say, given how many instances I can think of where an individual posted or sent something they probably regretted later. Failing to use good judgment can really wreak havoc in your life.
For example, I know a prominent attorney who has a popular blog about the industry. He wrote about his opinion of a particular company — and it gained such a large circulation, the company ended up finding out and sued him! Anyone can find what you’ve written on the Internet, and not with a lot of difficulty. Several years ago, I met an editor of a popular magazine at an event and exchanged words. He wasn’t particularly wild about me. When I e-mailed him later with several questions, he accidentally hit “reply all” instead of just replying to his colleagues. He said some pretty nasty things about me in the e-mail he had written, things I’m sure he was embarrassed about. It was totally unprofessional. And one of the most striking examples I can remember is about a man who is now the executive director of a non-profit. But before he became the director, he voiced his opinion about a number of people and companies in the industry, including people he now works with and the company he represents! What a mistake.
Take a breather before you post anything heated on the Internet. It’s just not worth it. You can’t predict who will read it, where you’ll be in ten years, and what you don’t want getting back to you. And remember: even private e-mails can be forwarded! Be prudent.
Stephen Key is a successful award-winning inventor who has licensed over 20 products in the past 30 years. He is a board member of Accudial Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and has a new book "One Simple Idea: Turn your dreams into a licensing goldmine while letting others do the work" due to release March 18, 2011 from McGraw-Hill. Along with business partner Andrew Krauss, Stephen runs inventRight, a company dedicated to education. Teaching inventors and entrepreneurs the skills needed to successfully license their ideas. You can listen to the weekly radio show on inventing.
Preorder One Simple Idea now and get access to our special lecture series along with our database of over 1300 companies looking for ideas.
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