Don’t Assume Readers Want Asian Escort Services Because I’m Asian

Pin It

As an active blogger I receive emails daily requesting that I write about a product, a cause, or a service. Sometime I do, but often times I don’t if the request is not a good fit with my site or readership.

Recently I received an email offering an infographic for my site. The man who sent it noted that he enjoyed a previous infographic I had posted called Addicted to Toys Despite Weak Economy. He then offered his own economy-based infographic that contained interesting facts about signs that the economy was improving.

I like infographics because they show numbers in a visual way that’s easily digestible for readers. Plus, I’m sometimes a geek when it comes to data so I often find the information fascinating.

For due diligence, I always check the source of the infographics. Usually they’re created by a college or some other benign organization. For this newly proposed infographic, the source included the word “Asian.” I assumed it must be some Asian-based research organization.

I searched the internet for this Asian group, and to my surprise it was actually an Asian escort service. Seriously? My site’s name and content implies it’s a parenting blog with a cultural and societal angle (The “Mama” in Bicultural Mama should have been a big hint).

I checked the HTML code of the proposed infographic and saw that the website URL for the Asian escort service was embedded. In other words, if I had posted this seemingly innocent infographic on my site and readers had clicked on it, they would have been brought to the escort service site.

The person who sent me this infographic probably just quickly viewed my profile and saw that I was Asian. But in a big Marketing 101 fail, he did not delve deeper to see if my site’s content would bring readers that would match his own.

Needless to say, I declined to post the infographic. I’m Asian, but don’t assume it means my readers will want Asian escort services.

Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net