Blogging Dilemma: Dealing with (Almost) Duplicate Articles

Whether you run your company's blog with multiple writers (like this one) or have a blog of your own with guest bloggers, you might have come across the similar article submission dilemma. Today's guest blogger and former blog editor, Cathleen Spayde, has good advice on how to deal with this issue.

Occasionally, a blog editor may find that the job is more about politics than punctuation. One such occasion for me, was when two contributing authors unknowingly submitted very similar articles on the same topic.

If there is time to ask your authors to write something else, that’s great. But, that is not always feasible for reasons of budget or deadline. And, there can be some wounded feelings, should anyone think his article was unfairly rejected.

One harmonious solution I have employed is to combine both articles into one Q&A piece with the contributing writers as the featured experts.

 To do this, break up each article into small chunks by topic. These are now your “answers”. Combine the like answers and lead into them with a relevant question.

Example: What’s your number one tip for being a successful in sales? Kate: The most important thing is to deliver on your promises. Good follow-through is key to ensuring customers’ satisfaction. You’ll earn trust, leading to repeat orders and even referrals. Dan: There are many customer care items that are important after the sale. But, to get the sale, my number one tip is: LISTEN! Don’t go into an appointment and start blabbing away. Instead, ask the prospect lots of questions about his needs, so you can offer relevant solutions. This is the difference between providing useful service to your customers, and just selling them on something.

Once you have your questions and answers organized, open the article with a brief introduction of the topic at hand. Including some biographical information about your experts and a flattering photo of each is a nice way to give them recognition.

Now, it should be emphasized that this is a very special situation. You are not merely editing, but completely re-writing someone else’s work. Before you undertake anything, call your authors to explain the situation and ask permission. Offer to let them see the finished piece and have final say. I have found that, if the writers trust your editorial skill and understand that your intent is to be fair, while producing quality content, they may actually be quite agreeable.

Cathleen Spayde, Marketing, Advertising and Social Media professional