I hope everyone enjoyed the long weekend and is ready to get back to reality.
It's a confusing world out there. Every day, all day we are inundated with information about products, services, ideas, methodologies, skills and, sometimes, just banter. It's a lot to take in. It's also a lot to manage. For instance, I now own space out in the cyber-universe that's a constant reference page of information. I have a website, this blog, a Twitter connection and even a Facebook page. Apparently, I spend a lot of time updating the world on what I am up to.
Because these sites are all linked to my business and can serve as a ready source for people to learn about me and what I do, the information needs to be accurate. Not just those who might want to retain me have the most up to date information or a complete picture of what I do, but because there is liability attached to my failure to do so.
Believe it or not, this came as a shock to some people I mentioned this to. Some folks genuinely believed that the inclusion of inaccurate or incomplete information on their websites could only lead to trouble if, and only if, the information was there with the intent to deceive others. Folks, have I got news for you. Your website is the same thing as a commercial or print advertising. You cannot improperly use, maintain or convey any information on there that others could misconstrue. More importantly, you do not have to have any intent to deceive to be held accountable.
What's the biggest problem with this? Something lawyers call "palming off." (I know, fragment sentence). It's governed by some pretty complex statutes, but, in essence it prohibits you from associating yourself with someone or marketing your products in a way that would cause a consumer, customer or buyer to think that what you were selling was someone else's product. For instance, Company A makes an energy drink called "Power Up." You make another energy drink "Product X." On your website you tell people to "Power up with Product X." Guess what you just did. You have caused potential confusion among consumers as to whether your product is associated with Power Up. In other words, Power Up has a cause against you for using its product as a means to sell yours. Let's suppose you didn't know Power Up even existed. It doesn't matter. This is exactly why you have to be so careful.
Another example - and this is one I am currently litigating. My client handles website and software implementation and considers itself "partners" with a company that designs software. These two entities, despite being populated with a lot of intellectually gifted engineers, has no formal or legal arrangement governing their relationship. They thought it would be ok if they put one another's corporate logo on their respective stationery. Well, now my client's partner has been sued - and so has my client because of a deal that went wrong. The only reason my client is in the mix? Because it's logo appears on the letterhead and everyone thinks they are truly are partners.
So, do yourselves a favor. Clean up your advertising, your websites, your online and print information. Outdated information needs to go. People and companies you no longer represent need to be deleted. Even if you do it accidentally, confusing consumers can be costly.
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