<rant>

Being original and having my own ideas is extremely important to me.  I started Dirty Diaper Laundry with the unique idea to allow potential cloth diapering parents the opportunity to “virtually” shop for diapers using my library of videos.  I didn’t start out with a clear path- blogging and cloth diapering were both new to me.  I shaped my videos and molded them into what I feel has become my signature style.

In my career I have made it a point to be ignorant of other cloth diaper blogs.  I pride myself on having original content thought up while laying in bed each night and not by reading another blog and saying “Hey, that is a great idea I should write about that too.”  A part of me wants to be supportive of the other blogs and moms but I can’t take the risk of inadvertently stealing an idea so I don’t often visit them unless I see a link to a post that I’m comfortable visiting.

What that means to the readers is that they can trust my content and my intentions.  What that means to me is that I can sleep soundly at night and be at peace with my conscience.

When I see other posts, blogs, and videos that are farming ideas from my own or from friends it pisses me off.  I have run into other blogs that have taken my Star Rating System and made a minor change to it for their own uses.  I’ve noticed the style of my videos down to the letter being copied.  Even ideas for posts I felt were very original seemed to then pop up elsewhere.

I’m not afraid of competition but only if the competition is playing fair.  

I can’t copyright my ratings system, the style of my videos that I developed over almost 3 years, or the ideas I come up with.  I can’t even prevent people from copying my blog format (I believe I was the first cloth diaper blog to independently sell ads in this format.)  The only thing I can do is hope that enough of you recognize the hard work I have poured into Dirty Diaper Laundry and continue to visit and tell your friends!  I don’t have an ad budget; I rely on word of mouth to help DDL grow.  I also hope that anyone who has taken my ratings or other ideas will quietly do the right thing and revisit your system and come up with something that is your own and not mine.  I’ve considered emailing the parties in question but since they obviously visit my site it is just easier to do it in a post.    Sadly, I’ve had ideas that I thought were great and when I researched to see if it existed, and it did, I backed off.  No need to redo something that is already working.

Blogging is a hard job and there is always someone out there ready to take your place as soon as you let them.  The competitive part of me is afraid to take any time off during our move for that reason.  Besides, I am brimming with good ideas that I want to share with the world.

I may be coming off as catty (I am) and bitchy (I am) and pissed off (I defintely am) but I have stood by while others benefit from 3 years of learning and development on my part.  I didn’t start out as a successful blog- I worked my fingers to the bone to get here.  And I’m not even the most successful or popular.  Seeing a video this morning that was a clone of my own except with different hands/voice was the straw that broke this blogger’s back!

I truly appreciate all of you that come here for cloth diaper information.  I just love seeing the comments you have here and on my fanpage.  I love even more when I see someone talk about DDL on a messageboard.  Blogging is an ever evolving job and I have to do my best to keep up with the medium but I make damn sure to do so with my integrity in tact.  I may get inspiration elsewhere but the core ideas behind my posts, my videos, my design, and my database are purely my own.  That is my pledge to you and me.  I am a nice, giving person and I feel taken advantage of.  Nothing hurts worse than feeling used.

</rant> (a little html humor for the geeks out there!)