Whether you are a big time CEO or a blogger like myself, I wish that 2009 will be the year of transparency (as in “you have nothing to hide”) for you, your company or your blog.

Thinking back to 2008 one particular advise from a friend, blogger and SEO expert jumps at me. In one of our e-mail exchanges Andy Beard advised me something to this effect:

Do not ever write or say anything you are not willing to put your name to it

His advise proved to be one of the most valuable on so many levels. Not that I was going around posting and writing things that I was not ready to put my name next to those things. But it helped me to cope with a temptation to become “anonymous” and just let the few individuals “have it”.

I think in business (doesn’t matter really what kind of business), you are in danger of utter failure if you do not embrace transparency. Just think about the collapse of global financial system. Do you think we will be in the place that we are now if every one involved was completely transparent?

I wish every reader a successful 2009! Most of all I encourage you to become transparent in what you do and what you say!

So you client just called you screaming on the top of his voice: “Libel! Defamation! I am suing the SOB!”. What are you going to do? Of course you have several choices. You can fire up a cease and desist letter or maybe even file a claim. But you can also ask your client to take a breather (in some cases some sedatives may help as well). Think about the issue at hand for at least 24 hours after which you can offer to discuss the matter. Your choice can make a world of difference to your client’s reputation.

Yes, if there is a clear libel or defamation (hopefully supported by bulletproof evidence), you should probably do what you do the best- be a good attorney and protect your client. However often it may be a case that your client have mistakenly perceived as libel and defamation something that has more to do with public relations. (It would be good idea to have handy phone numbers of good PR firms for such cases). Pulling the trigger with legal action or even a cease and desist letter can have an effect of pouring fuel into a fire.

Chances are that you will be dealing with a small time blogger and soon will be perceived as a bully. The blogger on the other hand will be viewed as a “David fighting Goliath”. Not to many people are impressed with bullies and when it’s time to “cross swords” majority will side with the “little man”.

Bloggers as a group are very sensitive when it comes to their rights. And they tend to stick together by writing about you and your client hundreds of posts scrutinizing your clients business and even founding defense funds to help the blogger in trouble.

Another unwanted side effect that many of these bloggers will continue to keep a close eye on your clients future ventures. And even a slightest misstep on your client part will be countered with a fresh wave of scrutiny- generally much harsher then before.

Internet has a very long memory. Most of the courts in the united states now have some sort of online archive that can be accessed just by about anyone. Once trigger is pulled, you have to be mindful that even if you and your client prevail, you may never be able to erase this “internet memory”! You will also have very little control over the “spins” that may continue to populate the blogosphere.

Finally, if the internet related issues are some what new to you. It might be a good idea to “brush up on things”- Citizen Media Law Project is an excellent place to start, as they profiled hundreds or maybe thousands of internet related cases.

You can’t count your blessings when they are countless. That is exactly how I feel today. It is not an escape from recognizing the fact how fortunate I am, rather it is an acknowledgment that no article or post in the world would be able to contain all of them.

This past year was extremely challenging for my wife and I. Without support and generosity of people we have never met we could never be able faced these challenging times.

It is so humbling to know that some of you find this and other blogs curious enough to visit them more than once.

No words will ever describe my gratitude for every single person I have ever met, either online or in person. Thank you my friends for who you are.

To all my American readers, followers and friends Happy Thanksgiving.

The content of this article is a long overdue explanation to my readers about sudden disappearance of posts addressing one particular company, namely ePerks. If you are not familiar with the issue, you probably will be much better off to skip this post, because it is going to be a very long post. If you however interested in Chilling Effects, you might as well stick around. I believe I have a classic example how can a behemoth company silence a blogger.

If you are a regular reader, you may remember several posts on my blog addressing dealings of ePerks. These post have generated over 200+ comments. Majority of those comments were quiet negative to say the least. On February 13, I have received a Cease and Desist (see below) notice from ePerks attorney. The letter contains nothing but untruthful accusations. To write 200+ comments on my own posts would require my presence in 200+ locations across the United States in a span of very short time frame. The accusation that I am financially involved with ePerks competitor(s) is complete lie, because ePerks was the only company that I was financially involved with. In fact they paid me to write a review about their website. The only thing that did not go according to their plan, was the fact that many of my readers are real estate agents. This also taught me a difficult lesson about “paid or sponsored reviews” model of blogging. Needless to say I discourage you to ever write a paid review.

It was not easy decision to take the articles down. It felt like I was betraying all those who commented on my posts. But I simply wanted the issue to go away, because I was also tired of moderating my posts from false testimonies of ePerks fans, who would leave four or more “positive” reviews during just one single visit to my website.

So why am I publishing this post? It appears that many visitors and regular readers are still looking for those posts and I think they deserve an explanation:

Hi! My name is ***** and I am a real estate agent from *******. I have had an absolute horrible time with eperks…disputing unauthorized charges (canceled in Jan but still getting charged) among numerous other complaints! Filed with the BBB also. A link to your blog pops up when I search eperks scam, but I can never actually get to the blog? I was hoping you could help me out…would really like to read it.
Thanks!

I also hope that some of the leading real estate blogs and websites will notice this issue and will stand up for the freedom of speech on the Internet. I also have reasons to be concerned about my and my family’s safety.

So without further ado, here is the letter I received from Ronald J. Cook:

WILLOUGHBY, STUART & BENIN
A Professional Law Corporation
50 West San Fernando, Suite 400
San Jose. CA 85113
Phone 408 289 1972

Respectfully,
WILLOUGHBY, STUART & BENING
Ronald J. Cook

I also would like to say thank you to at least two bloggers for offering their support and help. Although if it only meant to take links to my blog down: Paying bloggers to say nice things and Eperks commercial.

Finally a little bit of winter is here……

It probably will not last long anyway….