Starting my own business... is this cheating?

[Mynyel]

I am in the works of stating my own business. I send out my LLC papers tomorrow. *Happy dance*

 

Anyway. I am trying to make a website with pertinent info and other such things. I am going to other websites that offer the same or similar services and I have a spiral memo pad with 5 pages of notes so far. I am not copying any verbiage. I am not taking graphics or layout. I am simply saying.. oh that would be good to add to my site. Such as elaborating on some info or adding something. Nothing is proprietary.

 

You think that is kosher? I am just trying to see what works and make it with my own flair.

 

Thoughts?

[Forget-Me-Not]

I think that's fine

[Unicorn.]

Getting ideas- scoping out the competition.... nope, not cheating unless you copy something that is uniquely theirs.

[goldberry]

Nope, that would be normal business practice!

[Dandelion]

Totally fine, and quite standard actually. One of the best resources on how to market your business online (content marketing, social media, increasing traffic to your site, etc.) is the blog over at CopyBlogger: www.copyblogger.com/blog Tons of great (and totally free!) information there if you're interested.

 

Good luck with your start-up! :)

[Seasider]

Not plagiarizing, not swiping graphics, not cheating.

 

Frankly, I'd be concerned you hadn't done enough research if you launched your site without a thorough look at the competitors'.

[SKL]

Sounds legal to me. Just make sure that you organize yours in a unique way. Check back against the others once you are done to make sure nothing seems to say "copycat."

[gardenmom5]

If I'm understanding your correctly, you're doing what major corporations do everyday. find out what the other guy is doing, and aim what you think is a good idea at your base.

[Harriet Vane]

What you are doing is market research. It is standard for businesses to do an assessment of this nature before a new venture--we did it all the time when I worked in publishing. Just make what you offer unique, with your own words.

[hillfarm]

The only down side I can see is that by scoping out the others first, you might lose some of your uniqueness. Perhaps you could jot down what you would have done before you saw any of the others. that way you could hopefully avoid the "all of a sameness" look and really stand out from the crowd.

 

Another thing you might do is to contact friendly clients and ask them what they want to see on a website. It is possible that they want something that no one is offering on any of the websites and you can be the first tooffer it.