7 Marketing Outsourcing Dangers

Who owns the info?

Do you own your customers?  You might be surprised.  If the vendor comes into contact with the customer in any way, it is possible by the terms of your agreement that they have just as much right to that client as you do -- or even more!  By contract, if they provide financial processing, they might be able to contact them too.  Never underestimate the guerilla marketing tactics of a company that is aggressively seeking customers. 

If someone writes an article for you, do you own it, do they, or do you both have rights to it?  What about graphics?  Do you own the rights to the pictures on your website?  Many people do not.  The web developer might own them or unfortunately, some less than scrupulous web developers will steal photos and then put them on your website.  

In such cases, guess who is liable!!!  Actually, probably both of you.  Though the web developer might also be liable to you for damages, you could be liable to the copyright holder and have to sue the developer for damaging you.  

If you have a website, you also might be interested in who owns it.  If you have opted for one of these deals that costs nothing up front but you pay by the month, chances are that you are only leasing it but own nothing.

Marketing >> Marketing Principles >> Marketing Outsourcing