Simply use this link: http://www.copyscape.com/. You can type your website in there (the homepage first, and then each other page if you want). It's an amazing tool.

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Angela Mattson
Define Your Day

I agree that it terrible for someone to steal content on a website. I wanted to add this though. I am new and had no idea how to write a website. I looked at 1000's of VA websites and after awhile they all started to look the same. I know for certain that I liked a sentence from one site, or the phrasing in another site was perfect, or the format of someone's bio was compelling. I wrote my own stuff and thank goodness the person I bought my VA start up kit had content I was allowed to copy. But I know I read a ton of bios before I came up with my own.
My point is I would be furious if somone copied my whole first page, but, if's a word or sentence, maybe try to take is as a compliment.

I am not condoning plagerism, I am suggesting that maliousness was likely not the intent of the VA.

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Tammie Crainich
The Essence of Time, Virtual Assistance

Tammie:
I agree with you that certain words are just part of the Virtual Assistant lingo, and that being copied can be seen as a form of flattery, but those of us having issues are seeing entire paragraphs, pages, or bios cut and pasted from our websites.

My opinion is if someone is having that hard a time writing about what they do as a Virtual or Mobile Assistant and are having trouble even creating a bio who they are using their OWN words, then they either need to rethink what they are doing or hire a professional writer to help them.

Cutting and pasting entire sentences, paragraphs or pages is simply wrong. And illegal without permission.

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Angela Mattson
Define Your Day

I hope I didn't offend you.

I just wanted to just give a different prospective. I will tell you what...I checked mine. I am sure that is all my content! My girlfriend is writing alot of the content for me.

You're are right if this is something you can't do, you need to do some soul searching... outsource it, which is what I did.

I appreciate your feedback.

Originally Posted by Modern Marketing Support

Many new VAs have a difficult time writing their website content. I know it took me a really long time and many, many revisions before I finally wrote something I liked. The main point is that I wrote it myself and didn't steal it from anyone else. It's tempting to copy and paste a line or 2 two from another VA's website. But, when you copy entire paragraphs then it becomes plagarism and is illegal. I used copyscape.com for the first time in a long time tonight. On a whim I decided to see if anyone had plagarized my stuff and I was stunned to learn that someone had. I researched the offending site and realized it had only been registered a few weeks ago. I imagine this is a new VA who doesn't know any better. At least I hope that is the case. I would hate to think she just doesn't care. Still, I sent the person an email requesting she removes "my" content from her site. She copied many parts of my site, including parts of my bio among others. Please don't copy and paste another VA's website and put it on your own. It will be discovered eventually because copyscape is a free program that almost ALL virtual assistants use to learn if anyone is plagarizing their sites. We all make mistakes and most VAs recognize this. Please write your own stuff.

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Tammie Crainich
The Essence of Time, Virtual Assistance

Because I am not the creative type I had a friend of mine write my about page. I then took what she wrote and pared it down.

Thank you for telling those of us that didn't know about Copyscape.com. As a new VA, I was not even thinking about someone stealing my work.

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Karie Duckworth
Outsource Clerical Associates

Tammie:
No offense taken and hopefully none on your end!

I'm just very much into personal responsibility and integrity. I've worked hard to create the business and websites that I have. I'm happy to teach and share and mentor and coach, but not happy to be "ripped off" even it is softened with the flattery of being copied.

It's sort of the opposite of "better to ask for forgiveness than permission."

But I hear you loud and clear about how hard it can be to be new and figure all this out. And it can be extremely difficult to not feeling like you're "reinventing the wheel" since there are so many established Mobile and Virtual Assistants out there with really great information!

If you feel like you personally need any help, these boards are a great resource. Ask and we'll jump right in to help. Heck, we'll even review your website!

Thanks for adding your insight and thoughts!

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Angela Mattson
Define Your Day

Wow these stories are awful! My husband's favorite saying is how you anything is how you do everything. If they are stealing content and cheating, it will chatch up to them.

Maybe that will bring some comfort.

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Tammie Crainich
The Essence of Time, Virtual Assistance

I came across a site last night that had copied my entire services page word for word, even using my graphics. She also had copied each one of my packages, only changing the names of them slightly, and used a ton of my wording in her profile on Active Rain, a real estate social networking site.

Once I found out who the site owner was, I had recognized her as someone who had once emailed me posing as a potential client.

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April Sullivan
The REVA Academy

Aw, that's awful, April. Feels slimy, huh? Did you tell her to set it straight?

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Mary H. Ruth/Virtual Writing & Communications
http://www.writingVA.com