For Subscribers

The Truth is Out There

Don't fall into the trap of lying about your competitors, and don't just take it if they lie about you.

By Rieva Lesonsky

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Remember that childhood chant: "Liar, liar, pants onfire"? Chances are, at one time in our lives (likely before weturned 11), we all hurled this phrase at someone we knew. As kids,we weren't afraid to call a liar a liar. Adults, on the otherhand, are generally not that blunt (or honest).

Lying, unfortunately, has been raised to an art form in manyfacets of our lives. This is particularly apparent in the area ofsales and marketing. We've all seen commercials that, insteadof touting their own product's benefits, take aim atcompetitors. And even months later, only a small fraction of thosewho saw the original ads know that the claims made were false ormisleading.

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