Are You Protecting Yourself and Your Blog Legally?
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When I saw the pin mentioning “blogging legally” as I was perusing Pinterest, I saved it for later thinking maybe it was something I would eventually read when I had time. I got around to checking it out this past weekend, and I have to say I am grateful I did. See, I am a pharmacist, coach, health and wellness junkie, and beauty enthusiast; not an attorney. I have also been blogging since 2012, and I have never ONCE been educated about the legal protections I should have had this entire time for my blog/business. I was completely CLUELESS as far as what I needed to do to protect myself from lawsuits and be legally compliant. I am here to share with you what I have learned and how quick and simple it was for me to make the update. Now I am not an attorney and this is not legal advice, but I did use one for consult to get my templates for my blog.
There are three items to have posted on your blog/website that are considered bare minimum for legal protection.
The first is a privacy policy. The attorney whose services I used is named Amira, and her definition of a privacy policy is as follows:“A Privacy Policy is to inform your website visitors WHAT personal information you are collecting from them and HOW you are going to use that information.”This is especially important if you have an email list that you have collected on your blog to communicate with your subscribers.
The second is a disclaimer. Amira’s definition of a disclaimer is:“A disclaimer protects you from lawsuits. By having a disclaimer, you ‘disclaim’ or ‘deny’ liability for the content you publish on your blog.”You can have different kinds of disclaimers in addition to the general one: medical/health, legal, insert your profession here. I have a medical/health disclaimer that informs my subscribers that nothing on my blog should be construed as medical advice, and that people should always consult a medical professional before making changes to their healthcare or medical plans, etc.
The third is term and conditions. Amira’s definition of this document is:“A legal binding contract between you and your website user, incorporating your Privacy Policy and Disclaimer, which can later be used in court to enforce your rights and settle any legal disputes.”As you can now likely see, having these posted is very important and can protect you and your business (a.k.a. blog) moving forward. The peace of mind created by having this taken care of is 100% worth it.
Now, you ask, how do I do this? There have to be free templates out there, right? The answer: YES. The truth about those free templates: you get what you pay for. These free templates are very time consuming, and not all encompassing when it comes to all of the protection bloggers need. Amira has done audits of many of the free templates and found significant errors as well as lack of comprehensive coverage of the legalities needed to be addressed.
When I found Amira’s website, I was honestly afraid that her services were going to cost an arm and a leg. They didn’t at all. She has templates for not only a privacy policy, disclaimer, and terms and conditions, but bonus templates that come with each package. She has different packages that you can choose according to the level of blog or business you have; all at different levels of affordability. There is even a coupon code running for the bundles for 2020! She wrote these templates herself as an attorney, so I know they are comprehensive and quality.
All in all, it took me about 30 minutes to insert my information and load them onto my blog. I was shocked! (In a great way, of course!) She also has a fantastic affiliate program that you can join if you find her products beneficial and would like to share it with others. I am so happy to be able to share this with all of you, and I hope you found this helpful if you are a blogger and business owner!
Happy Trails!
Stacey and Jade
