Dear Bhav…help!! Someone copied my content series. What do I do?
After spotting a very familiar-looking version of the content format they built from scratch, a reader asks what to do next. Frustrating? Absolutely, and something we can all relate to. Just remember…a format can be imitated but the person behind it cant.
I’ve spent the last few months working on a specific content format that my audience loves. Today, I scrolled past a social post from someone else in the same industry who’s completely lifted the concept, the naming structure, and even some of the language I use for my series. I feel frustrated and annoyed. What should I do?
Dear Fuming in the Feed,
Argh, I’m sorry, I totally get how frustrating and upsetting this is! Seeing your own idea turning up to the party, dressed in someone else’s clothes is icky and feeling annoyed is a very valid reaction.
Before you make a decision about whether you’re going to respond, and how, take some time to take a deep breath and decide how you truly feel.
Is it a copy, or the same space?
Plenty of people run similar series, and similar ideas can crop up in so many different places.
But a similar naming structure, similar phrases and a very similar look is a different story. Ask yourself whether this is someone who’s been inspired by you, or someone who’s copying you. How you respond will depend on the answer.
Three things to do (in this order)
Do nothing for 24 hours. No comments or reaction in the first hour usually says more about your stress than about their behaviour.
Document it. Screenshots with dates visible, links, and your own timeline: when you launched and what you published since. Even if you never use it, you’ll feel calmer for having it.
Decide what you actually want. Credit? Some clear distance between you both? A quiet private conversation? Or is it actually to just get on with your week? Each one points to a different next step, and “ignore it and out-build them” is a perfectly valid answer.
What they can’t copy
They can copy how it looks. But they can’t copy why you started it, what you’ve learned from every reader’s question, or the opinions you’d defend over a good cup of coffee.
Because the things that make this content series yours are:
The thinking behind why you do it the way you do
Your voice, the opinions and the perspectives only you’d have
The relationship you’ve built with the people who actually read it
The consistency of showing up month after month
A (thin) silver lining
So… I’m not saying it makes it okay, because it really doesn’t. But being copied usually means that something you’re putting out into the world is getting noticed. So on the days that it stings, that’s worth holding onto.
The bottom line
Feel the annoyance and don’t try to brush it off or ignore it. Write it down, maybe go to a rage room?! Then put all your energy into your next piece of content, not theirs. Copycats can only follow where you’ve already been. Keep going somewhere they haven’t.
Onwards, Bhav x
P.S. / Author’s note
Okay, dear readers…confession time. This one was me.
I’m “Fuming in the Feed.” I scrolled past something very familiar-looking on LinkedIn yesterday, and mostly spent the evening crashing out and trying to talk myself out of throwing something out the window.
So if the advice above sounds calm and level-headed... it’s exactly what I needed to hear and I was giving it to myself. (While humming a certain Hamilton song about being an original, obviously.)
Anyway… who’s got the next question?
Go on, ask…
Got a burning brand question or dilemma you're too embarrassed to ask out loud? Whether your logo is giving you a headache, your website feels a bit Frankenstein, or you just don't know where to start, send it over completely anonymously to dearbhav@b81designs.com.
No judgement, just honest advice. Anonymously.
