At present, the FTC Disclosure Rule in regards to testimonials does not come into play for this blog, as I have not made a practice of using testimonials at this point in time.  Even so, the common opinion amongst marketers is that those that do achieve spectacular success as a result of a single program fall into two categories.  The first category is that of the 80/20 rule, which is much better explained by Perry Marshall in his take on the FTC Disclosure Regulations.  Before you ask, I am an affiliate of Perry Marshall, but this is not an affiliate link.

The second category that I personally believe many achieving spectacular successes fall into is what I call the “penny drop” category.  These are the folks that have put in substantial time and effort learning the field of Internet marketing and with this particular product, the penny dropped and it all came together for them.

Almost every successful marketer I know has a story of spending a great deal of time, if not money, building their knowledge on just how Internet marketing works.  While the product may have allowed them to follow step-by-step instructions and achieve monetary success in a relatively short period of time, it was their previous struggles and time in the learning curve that made it possible.  This is why I now recommend and will continue to recommend products that focus on the nuts and bolts of assembling a knowledge base in Internet marketing.

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Because of these two primary categories for success in Internet marketing, I believe that the FTC Disclosure Rule on testimonials will enhance the information people receive as a result of those testimonials.  A case study showing the experience and efforts used will give greater credibility to the success achieved.

The FTC Disclosure Rule in regards to disclosure on material connections is the rule that effects this blog the most, as it is an affiliate blog. 

This is not legal advice, and as always, please check with your own legal counsel before implementing.  However, what I took away from the discussion at the webinar is this:

1) If you can foresee the possibility of gaining income as a result of material provided by you, be it in a blog post, email, free report or eBook, a material connection disclosure is required.  As a result, I’ve spent a few hours going over free material given to my list  and added disclosures to emails and to my web and blog pages.

2) The material disclosure needs to be front and center, not hidden in the fine print or on a link.  As you will see at the bottom of this post, I have attempted to meet that requirement in the FTC Disclosure Regulations head on.

Now for the ironic part.  Rather than hurting my affiliate efforts, it has served to enhance them.  Several people, including a successful Internet marketer that I admire, have mentioned that they like the way the material connection disclosure is handled and feel it adds to, rather than detracts from, the authority of this blog.  In addition, I received an email from one of my subscribers, which said in a nutshell, that he felt the addition of the material connections disclosure had increased his trust in the content he received.

The FTC Disclosure Regulations are amongst the online marketing realities that Internet marketers have to face and will come into effect on December 1, 2009.  If you have not read the requirements of these regulations, don’t wait around hoping they will go away.  Seek legal advise and do not leave your compliance to chance.

To Your Success,

SherryD
http://www.wbobr.com

First of all, let me say that I am not an affiliate of Nichole’s at the time of this writing, although I have found her content well written and thought provoking. As well, neither Nichole or myself are legal experts, and at no time should what we say be misconstrued as legal advice of any nature. My recommendation to you is that you seek qualified legal counsel in all matters regarding your business or online efforts.

Having said that, I would like to share with you the email from Nichole.

Well the whole affiliate marketing world and blogging world
is abuzz about the FTC’s recent statement and what it means
to the average affiliate marketer, blogger, internet marketer
and how we can protect ourselves.

If you haven’t heard the buzz, basically any time we receive
a product for free or receive anything in compensation (like
as part of an affiliate promotion) – we need to make sure our
readers know that.

The FTC rules are pretty tricky to decipher and I’m not going to
try beyond that. I’m not a lawyer, nor will I ever be.

I posted a disclaimer on my blog quite awhile ago, and I
realized that not everyone knows about the free service that I
used to create it.

How you can generate your own, free:
http://disclosurepolicy.org/

Plus, I’ve found some videos that better explain how we can protect ourselves.
http://blog.disclosurepolicy.org/

Nothing for sale today. Just some tips that I found that I hope help you.

Have a fantastic weekend.

Warmly,
Nicole

http://www.easyplr.com

As you can see, neither Nichole or myself has anything to gain, other than the privilege of providing you with a resource that you may find beneficial and I will add that hers is the first I have received of many on this topic that was not related to an affiliate resource of some nature.

To read up on what the FTC has to say in regards to the FTC Disclosure Regulations, here are two links to get you started:

http://ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005revisedendorsementguides.pdf

http://ftc.gov/opa/2009/10/endortest.shtm

The concern I have now, and will continue to have until it has been addressed, is whether the FTC Disclosure Regulations are retroactive. In other words, does content that has been posted prior to December 1, 2009 require updating to meet these regulations? In most cases, such as those of a blog, that may be adequately covered by a site disclaimer.

The other areas of concern are ones in which the content is not posted on a blog, but is circulating in the form of a report or eBook. Obviously, it would be impossible to recall any and all of this material. They may or may not be an issue.

As mentioned above, I am not a lawyer and I don’t play one on TV. I, along with the rest of the affiliate world, am simply looking for clarification and a means to meet the requirements of the FTC Disclosure Regulations as quickly and honestly as is possible, even though, as a Canadian, these may or may not directly effect me. There as well, the issue is unclear. However, these regulations have been put into place in an effort to promote ethics and as such, I support those regulations and will do what is necessary to comply.

The biggest obstacle to compliance, in my humble opinion, is the broad nature of the FTC Disclosure Regulations.

To Your Success,

SherryD
http://www.wbobr.com