Idea thieves… Should I punish them?

[expertc]

I do chemical eMarketing for living. One serious company contacted me regarding their eCommerce Project. We had number of initial discussions and reassurances that Project would go ahead almost immediately. Therefore I’ve disclosed some of my own techniques in 1 hour long phone discussion and several emails. After that they disappeared but I’ve noticed that my ideas are being partially implemented on their website.

I receive no reply from them whatsoever – complete silence. It looks like just another skill theft. OK, I usually time-bomb my advice and some of it (if I don’t put certain extra safeguards) would backfire in 1-2 months. E.g. Google love affair would be short-lived and the site would go into supplemental results. They don’t know about safeguards.

But I am still angry. To be honest I have punished unreliable clients before. I have many sites with high PR and therefore putting negative keworded link like “Unreliable Chemical Company” and linking to their website would simply make this search term to go directly to their site. Or I can take other type of "webmaster's revenge".

Should I do it? Your opinion is appreciated.

 

[fish]

I do chemical eMarketing for living. One serious company contacted me regarding their eCommerce Project. We had number of initial discussions and reassurances that Project would go ahead almost immediately. Therefore I’ve disclosed some of my own techniques in 1 hour long phone discussion and several emails. After that they disappeared but I’ve noticed that my ideas are being partially implemented on their website.

I receive no reply from them whatsoever – complete silence. It looks like just another skill theft. OK, I usually time-bomb my advice and some of it (if I don’t put certain extra safeguards) would backfire in 1-2 months. E.g. Google love affair would be short-lived and the site would go into supplemental results. They don’t know about safeguards.

But I am still angry. To be honest I have punished unreliable clients before. I have many sites with high PR and therefore putting negative keworded link like “Unreliable Chemical Company” and linking to their website would simply make this search term to go directly to their site. Or I can take other type of "webmaster's revenge".

Should I do it? Your opinion is appreciated.

read about the evolving trend of reversing negative pr.
don't get involved in the mire.
don't give free advice about a subject you specialise in or could impact your business.

 

[expertc]

read about the evolving trend of reversing negative pr.
don't get involved in the mire.
don't give free advice about a subject you specialise in or could impact your business.

Thanks! Well, it wasn't a free advice. It looked like "preliminary discussion" with tons of messages like: Project is starting next day... blah-blah.

The thing is, company is not a cheapo one-day get-and-run type. This is why I am not happy. OK, I know about reversing PR but I can do a "keyword redirect" and anchor text with their name to get to a page with my story. I don't know... I am just not happy with them.

I have many customers and sometimes they try to get a "free lunch"... but at list they do let me know upfront.

 

[rob]

Send them a bill for your time

 

[expertc]

Send them a bill for your time

I did that. No reply!

 

[mojoco]

Get your solicitors to send them a bill, and advise them that they will be responsible for any further costs that you incur recovering what is due to you. Hopefully not all of your conversations were by telephone and you have some documented proof of how you / they got to the current position.

 

[fish]

have you spoken to them post event, do they know your grievance?

 

[expertc]

Get your solicitors to send them a bill, and advise them that they will be responsible for any further costs that you incur recovering what is due to you. Hopefully not all of your conversations were by telephone and you have some documented proof of how you / they got to the current position.

Yep, I got several emails like: "We are certainly interested in implementing all the strategies that you suggested", "We will be in touch very shortly..." - it was more than a month ago. And also they are from the USA which makes legal things a bit difficult.

@fish. They don't reply to mails or calls, b***s!

 

[fish]

unless you have a contract with them then legal threats are worthless.

 

[expertc]

unless you have a contract with them then legal threats are worthless.

No contract Only emails. But they are "reputable" company with large turnover. This is why I am angry.

 

[expertc]

Learn from the mistake and move on, best way.

I also think it could be the best way. But still ... nasty aftertaste... :x

 

[aZooZa]

Learning who not to do business with is an ever-evolving process. The aftertaste soon turns to a comforting disdain

 

[WestHamFan]

I can understand your anger but as others have said there is very little you can do legally without a formal agreement or contract. Unfortunately for you there is no copyright on ideas!

As tempting as it may be to spend time and effort trying to publicise their unreliable nature it is probably just going to be more of your time, effort and money going down the same toilet.

IMO the best you can do is put it behind you. Learn from the experience and, if they don't have the complete understanding of what they are doing, enjoy the thought that they are unlikely to maximise their results the same way you could have done for them.

 

[expertc]

Thanks for your support, people.

Trying to steal idea in this case was almost like asking a neurosurgeon how to do an open brain surgery and attempting to do it based on his advice.

Some clients do understand it straight away, others learn this hard way. I simply didn’t expect such stupid move from quite reputable company. Or, maybe, reputation is something you shouldn’t believe unless you deal with a company yourself.

 

[retired_member26]

Thanks! Well, it wasn't a free advice. It looked like "preliminary discussion" with tons of messages like: Project is starting next day... blah-blah.

The thing is, company is not a cheapo one-day get-and-run type. This is why I am not happy. OK, I know about reversing PR but I can do a "keyword redirect" and anchor text with their name to get to a page with my story. I don't know... I am just not happy with them.

I have many customers and sometimes they try to get a "free lunch"... but at list they do let me know upfront.

I am sorry but I will give you an engineering answer. I read your long explanation and answers and I think they think they can do whatever you said with themselves. They probably think your advise is inferior.

 

[expertc]

I am sorry but I will give you an engineering answer. I read your long explanation and answers and I think they think they can do whatever you said with themselves. They probably think your advise is inferior.

OK, let me reply scientifically to an engineering post (well Theoretical Physics, to be precise). When people think of something as inferior they don’t start implementing it … literally. I got a name in the industry that I’ve earned after years of consulting. In industrial B2B people know each other; it’s not a niche with thousands of “SEO consultants”. I’ve worked with customers in Europe, USA, China, India… you name it. This is not a common practice in my industry; and yes, ordinary non-specialist SEO companies simply couldn’t do the job.

 

[wb]

Agreed that this must be extremely annoying for you, however as mentioned already the more time you will waste trying to punish them will also mean you lose money which you could be doing on other work so staying on the positive side, it would seem best to cut your losses.

If non-specialist SEO companies could not do what you do (curious as to what chemical eMarketing is now!), then I would not be too worried about them using your preliminary advice as it will be unlikely to succeed. Chances are they won't do it properly and may even realise they need your help and come crawling back... of course is this happens charge a nice rate and get a contract signed.

 

[retired_member12]

I also think it could be the best way. But still ... nasty aftertaste... :x

Learn by your experience by all means, but also bide your time, keep abreast of what they are up to, and if you're lucky enough to get the chance, stick the knife in and fuck them over real bad. You might have to wait years, but it'll be worth it!

 

[foz]

My sympathies. It would be difficult to prove that ideas conveyed by yourself are exclusively known to you. Their comeback could be "we went with someone else in that field".

 

[crabfoot]

I've had people walk away with my ideas for much of my working life - and precious little credit for them.

It is too late to employ my advice in this case, but I'm writing it out in case it is useful in the future.

My advice would be to use "Black Hat" techniques, which could not be traced back to you, to sabotage their aims. As you said, you know some things work in the short term, and will not be sustained without further effort.

Track the results of your negation methods using standard tracking techniques.

When the initial success starts to fall over and go negative, you have hard evidence that the person in their company who thought it was a good idea to thieve your concepts is a twit.

Compile a report and send it to the man who is two levels senior above the person who was asking for your advice, with projections showing what the site performance would have been like if you had been involved.

Offer to complete the project properly if paid in advance for each stage, citing "loss of trust" as the reason you are asking for advance payment.

Whether or not you get the customer back, you get a few nails into the coffin of the twits who thought they could walk off with your ideas.

Don't get angry, get even. Vengeance is a dish best served cold.