How To Cite Sources On Your Home Business Blog

I mentor several entrepreneurs who have online home business blogs. Some of these home business owners are new to the online marketplace and are learning the principles of small business blogging. Today’s article explains how to cite third-party information in your home business blog.

Generally, it is permissible to include third-party information as long as you include a source reference. For example, if I wanted to include an excerpt from an article about a chocolate research study, I would cite the name of the article, the journal, the author, and the date. If I accessed it from a website, I would include that also.

Here is an example from webmd.com. The article: ‘Dark Chocolate Takes a Bite Out of Stress’ by Jennifer Warner is about a study conducted at the Nestle Research Center in Lausanne Switzerland. At the end of the article, the following paragraph is included: ‘The study appears in the Journal of Proteome Research and was conducted by researchers at the Nestle Research Center in Lausanne, Switzerland.’
Qualityhealth.com included an article by Tabby Biddle that also cites the Swiss study and several others. They cited their sources at the end of the article in the following format:
American Chemical Society. New evidence that dark chocolate helps ease emotional stress. ScienceDaily. http://www.sciencedaily.com  /releases/2009/11/091111123612.htm. Accessed Dec. 7, 2009.

If you want to include material that is licensed, follow the appropriate procedure to obtain permission outlined by the owners of the content. Then be sure to let your readers know that you have permission by saying: ‘Reprinted by permission of so-and-so.’ Home business bloggers who reprint information without permission damage their credibility and run the risk of legal action.

I am  entrepreneur coach Pam Kalian. I own a healthy chocolate business based in my Bellevue home. I advise new  home business owners on sales, marketing, and recruiting.
If you want to own your own online business but need some guidance to get started, give me a call at 206-499-1461. I will make sure your home business hits the ground running.