By “taking what you want,” I don’t mean in a rapey Dexter season 5 villain sort of way, but rather when it comes to business success. Recently Shoe wrote about how growing up morbidly obese actually contributed to his success as an Internet marketer, and Lisa Barone followed up with the story of how she… read more

A couple weeks ago, I wrote about how a small business called Cooks Source Magazine plagiarized a woman’s article and, instead of apologizing to her, insisted that everyone steals content from the Internet and said that she should pay them money for bringing some exposure to her piece. An Internet backlash of epic proportions ensued, with irate people contacting the magazine’s advertisers, sending disgusted emails to the editor, and leaving exceptionally negative comments on the brand’s Facebook wall. Shortly after I published my post, Shoe wrote a piece called “Do You Need a Scandal?” and talked about how sometimes controversy can boost your business or image into the next level, and that there’s no such thing as bad press. I partially agree with him, but, as always, it’s all about execution.