Ted Nuyten's Business For Home blog recently published an article on the GoFunRewards closure, titled "Go Fun Places Shut Down." This report closely matches a BehindMLM article covering the same event, released a full day earlier. The Business For Home piece, appearing online, offers no attribution to its source material.
The multi-level marketing (MLM) blogosphere typically attributes its sources. Bloggers in this niche often review each other's work for research and to track industry developments. When content from another blogger is used, standard practice includes referencing the source with a link back and full acknowledgement. This maintains professional standards within the relatively small community.
The Business For Home article, published in May 2012, presented content nearly identical to the BehindMLM piece. Only minor editorial changes, such as a link to Kevin Thompson's website and the opening phrase "As of May 2012," differentiated the two. Nuyten's publication gave readers the impression he wrote the article himself.
Nuyten's February 2013 affiliation with the Empower Network, a gifting scheme, raises questions about his editorial focus. This involvement, however, does not justify verbatim copying of another's work.
While some autoblogs scrape RSS feeds and republish content, they usually include a link back to the original source. Business For Home does not operate in this manner. The blog charges readers for access, with "Inner Circle" subscriptions costing $4.95 monthly or a one-time $77 fee. This revenue model places a higher expectation on original or properly attributed content.