Frenzy ensued and the question as to whether or not Groupon was good or evil was debated in numerous circles. The truth of the matter is that Groupon as a platform isn't the one lacking integrity; the photographer is. I don't know the extent of fact-checking Groupon does to ensure that the vendors offering deals can back up their claims, but it shouldn't have to be at government-clearance level. At some point they have to be able to say, "Ok, we trust that you own the copyright to the photos on your site because surely you wouldn't be stupid enough to offer 1,175 sales based on stolen work and a fake reputation, because you know, this is this is the Internet and Al Gore set it up so that those types of lies can be discovered quickly."
Social media doesn't make someone good or bad, it amplifies who they already are. People have been selling snake oil throughout the ages; social media is simply the newest way to do so. It doesn't make the online media platforms evil, it just means that the people using them in this manner lack integrity, and that they lack integrity both on and offline.
Don't be quick to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Is Groupon right for your business? Maybe not. But is it wrong for you just because someone lacking morals took advantage of the system? No. People use good things for unethical purposes all the time. This is simply the latest example.
Welcome to 
8 comments:
Great blog as ever.....and just as social media amplifies who you are (and broadcasts it to a wider audience), another thing to consider from your blog is (and people forget this far too often) that you need to apply the same level of diligence to people you "meet" through social media as you would in real life.
This applies not only to doing business, but to taking their advice... boy, there are so many "experts" and "gurus" (shoot me immediately if I ever give myself or accept such a tag!).... don't accept someone as an expert just because they have a pretty website and call themselves one :)
Of course, if one IS an expert, that is fine... and Liene, you have the experience, proof, AND content to show it !
Thanks for posting about this, Liene! I watched the drama unfold and knew it would be a great lesson for anyone in the service industry.
There are two problems with the whole scenario:
First, the photographer misused images that didn't belong to her. Understandably, she's looking at some potential legal trouble from the owner who took the photos. If someone stole my work and published it as their own, I would be upset too. Anyone in a creative business needs to know about copyright law and plagiarism (and general human ethics, for that matter). Strike one.
Second, she made a gross mistake in accepting all those customers. Surely she could have run some numbers with a simple Excel spreadsheet and realized that one person simply cannot work that hard. Any photographer will tell you that the number of hours spent editing usually far outweighs the number of hours spent shooting. It's easy to take the money but impossible to create more hours in a day. Putting a small business on Groupon only makes sense when the price is right and the number of customers is manageable for the staff. In this woman's case I don't believe she had either component.
I'm really interested to see what other vendors have to say about this (especially photographers). The moral of the story reaches to the root of any method of marketing and is a good lesson for us all.
Absolutely 100% agree. It isn't Groupon's (or anyone else's, for that matter) responsibility to police ethics for the creative world. Every artist is accountable for that on their own.
LOVE reading your insights!
Wow- to think any businessperson would stoop this low! I think the lesson learned for all of us it that we have to be smart and savvy consumers and know when something is too good to be true. When looking to hire a wedding vendor for their services, look to national review websites and local websites like austinweddings.com or saweddings.com to ensure that you are dealing with a professional.
Liene,
Off topic a bit: Did you see the Facebook post by the small business owner who nearly lost everything because she did a Groupon deal? Bernadette linked to it on Twitter last week. Since I am plugging it here, I hope it's real. What she revealed was that Groupon wouldn't let her limit the number of deals available for sale, and their original pitch was that they got to keep all of the money from the Groupon sales - eventually she negotiated to keep half of the money. While in the situation you've written about, the villain certainly is Dana Dawes, and my understanding is that Groupon did the right thing and immediately refunded the purchasers, I don't feel good about buying from Groupon anymore.
Thanks for the great post!
It is imperative that anyone who enters into one of these deals (as a merchant) knows is how many "purchases" that they can ultimately handle. There's a local cupcake place here in SF that did a Groupon-type deal, and nearly lost all of their employees b/c of the HUGE onslaught of orders and incapacity of keeping up w/ the demand. It was a story that made the news here because of the popularity of the deal and the demand. Some of the offer companies do let you set a limit mark, which I (personally) would suggest to any sole proprietor.
Merchants also need to read the fine print -- you often only keep 50% of the revenue, so if you're offering a $200 value at $100, you likely will only be taking home $50 (before taxes). So make sure it is worth it to you as a business owner!
I just hate hearing about slimy scams like this, especially involving wedding professionals.
Of course, it's not Groupon's fault. The photographer is fully responsible.
I'm sure Groupon will work for some wedding businesses, but I would proceed with caution. I'm leery of using discounts to attract business.
What do discounts attract? DISCOUNT BRIDES.
If that's your market, go for it. If you're targeting the high-end bride or you offer high-end services, there are plenty of other ways to use social networking to get more business.
Ew! I hate that! I use Groupon all the time and I've seen other photographers sell discounted shoots....so not cool to think that people take advantage of such great things!
Post a Comment