Unprofessional- You Would Not Say That If It Was You Being Ripped Off

I read a comment down below about putting the watermark on a sample or article. You may think it is unprofessional, but then you brought up a good point, you can just write the article and post it anyway. Yes you could and when the author finds the article that was stolen, they can take action because they have the article in their files with a watermark saying the MONTH, YEAR and DO NOT COPY.

Anonymous said---

This actually strikes me as a tad unprofessional. I DO buy articles and contents and if I asked someone for a sample and got sent something with "do not copy" across the front, I'd wonder why the sender was so blippin' worried about ME stealing their work.

It would just seem a bit hysterical to me, and, honestly, what's to stop someone from just re-typing the content and still publishing it as their own anyway? I just don't think the unprofessional message being sent is worth the pay-off.

It is people who think the way you do that cause authors to take every possible step to protect their articles. Do you know that ripping off articles from other people can cause you a great deal of trouble and problems. For one, if you use the article as your own on your website, I would contact the web-hosting site and report it. If it was a client of yours, I would contact them as I have already done, imagine your reputation when they hear what you did.

I have been doing this ever since and I know longer have fears of being ripped off, I think a professional person should respect an author for their professional approach to copyrighting their own articles until payment is released.

I still receive many jobs and I have never been turned down because I take the time to protect my work and myself. If you have articles you need written, please feel free to ask me for a sample of my work and I will supply it and you can be the first to turn me down.

How To Add The Watermark To The Sample

When using Microsoft Word it is actually easy to add your watermark too.

Step 1- Click on the format tab and find Background. You will then see "Printed Watermark"

Step 2- Click on "Printed Watermark" and another box opens up.

Step 3- Check the "Text Watermark"

Step 4- In the TEXT box, you can enter "Copyright September 2007 Do Not Copy"

Step 5- Then pick your font, size and color. A light color is more professional, therefore, I use the gray. The font size will depend on your article length. Here is where you just play around with the different fonts and sizes until you find the one that fits the page the best.

Step 6- Then check "Diagonal"

Step 7- Click on "Apply" and the "OK".

You now have a text watermark on your article.

My First Two Samples With COPYRIGHT Across The Front

Well, I have sent out my first two samples with my ‘Copyright September 2007 Do Not Copy’ plastered across it. I am more at ease because of using this way of showing potential clients a sample of my work. I can now start taking more action if my samples are stolen and not paid for.

I think that everyone should consider this as an every day occurrence. My motto from now on will be copyright, copyright, copyright.

If you do not have any clue how to make the watermark in the picture below, I will be happy to post the directions on here so that everyone can see how to do it.

Thanks for stopping and I hope this blog is a help to you in the future.