Where do Ya Draw the Line?
OK, let me say first I think ethics in SEO is bs. But at the same time, I have my limits as to how I will make my money.
I was asked today to help with a ‘bulk emailing campaign’. I asked how the list of emails were made. I was told it was by screen scraping. I said, “So it’s spam” and was told “yes, it is spam.” I said “No thank you.”
Maybe I’m a prude. While people talk about how spam pisses them off, it must make money. It has to. Otherwise your email box wouldn’t overflow with emails for viagra, casinos and college coeds who just want you to watch them playing naked.
But at what point do you say “I just won’t do this because it just doesn’t sit right?” If it makes you enough money, can you overlook it?
Now, let me tell you a little about myself. I’m a nutrition fanatic. I don’t spend money on a lot of things, but I do feed my family and pets the best quality food I can afford. Whole grain bread. Organic milk. Lots of fresh vegetables. (I am a vegetable nazi.) I am such a fanatic about eating right that I usually don’t get along with people who don’t eat right. I very much believe that by eating right and exercising, you can be healthy.
But in desperation one day when I really needed money, I let a friend of mine talk me into making a diet pill site. I did it, and hated every minute of it. But, I reasoned, “people are gonna buy it anyway, I may as well make some coin.”
I made one sale and realized I couldn’t do it. I felt horrible that someone was going to potentially harm themselves from a product I sold them. They weren’t going to learn how to eat right if I sold them a pill. They were going to take a pill, lose weight, stop taking the pills and then gain all the weight back. I took down the site.
When the check came in from that one sale, the guilt was so much, I bawled for 20 minutes before donating the money to a charity.
But that’s me. I have to wonder where other people draw the line. Maybe I’m in a minority. Maybe I’d be more successful if I just said “Whatever it takes.”
*shrug*
“More successful” meaning you’d make more money? How do you measure success? With $$$ and nothing more, or do you include personal satisfaction and happiness in your calculations?
Personally, I think I’d be much more successful making a comfortable living while abiding by my personal ethical standards, than if I got filthy rich ignoring them.
“If your success is not on your own terms, if it looks good to the world but does not feel good in your heart, it is not success at all.” –Anna Quindlen
Comment by mivox — November 16, 2005 @ 3:46 pmI wouldn’t be able to help with making spam either without feeling bad and I wonder what the legal implications might be for a person even knowingly helping with it. I wouldn’t want to take a chance.
Sometimes I think I might could make more money too if I did things that I don’t necessarily think are right or at least the best way to do something.
Comment by Trisha — November 16, 2005 @ 4:01 pmsometimes professionalism would allow me to work with some companies.
Comment by paisley — November 21, 2005 @ 11:08 am