iYingHang  on November 30th, 2009

That’s very very scary to us. Sure Malaysians and Singaporeans will not be touched by FTC?

iYingHang  on November 30th, 2009

That’s very very scary. Sure we will not be touched by FTC? What if we are using US hosting?

Edmund Loh  on November 30th, 2009

@YingHang from what I gathered, yes. As long as we are using anything American - payment processor (2CO, PAYPAL), web hosting - and we are selling to US citizens, non-US citizens are just as involved.

WinterWong  on November 30th, 2009

Thanks Edmund for sharing this info.
I have heard of this few months ago, that’s why it is harder to get clickbank approval as merchant now because they basically screen through all the application. For all the clickbank merchant website with income screen shot, you are required to provide earning disclaimer and detail like clickbankid in the screenshot as well.

Ian del Carmen  on November 30th, 2009

Thanks bro! And yes, I’m launching on the same date as FTC’s “launch” — jeez!

Your bonus ready? http://PocketBrand.com is on at 8am EST bro…

Ian

Syuxx  on November 30th, 2009

There are both positive and negative impacts to internet marketers by this rule.

Oaky Wood  on November 30th, 2009

Hi Edmund,
Why are all these internet marketers in such a huge flap about this. Who really believes these testimonials anyway nowadays. Surely almost all products would benefit from the removal of all these boring long winded testimonial claims. No-one would ever post negative testimonials would they? So it goes without saying that any testimonial at all, is always going to praise the product being sold.

Link masking, and link redirection of any discription and for any reason, could technically under the new regulations of disclosure of information, be also classified as a form of non-disclosure and deception, which has not as yet been discussed anywhere.

The good and the honest will survive through it all, unfortunately so too will many rotten apples, as they will invariably slip through the FTC’s net.

Do have a great day
John Elliott aka Oaky Wood
TC4Women.com
truthaboutabs4women.com

rgmbh82197  on November 30th, 2009

Sorry, but I don’t understand why special this big “gurus” be afraid about this FTC law? If there wouldn’t laying in the first place to make millions then they have not be scared. Finely now they have to let the cat out the back.

Edmund Loh  on November 30th, 2009

@John Elliot people always want to know if anyone else have tried the product out before. If it doesn’t work, a lot of successful companies won’t use them at all.

No not every rotten apple will be eliminated, but big changes like this separate the wheat from chaff every now and then.

@rgmbh82197 I take it you didn’t read the outbound links in detail. In short, if your customer’s testimonial’s written “I made $5000 in 10 days” you have to publish his proof. Also, it has to represent ‘typical results’. Unless the customer is willing to provide such detailed proof for your sales letter (and every single of these testimonials) - and it IS typical results to expect - you’re toast.

@IandelCarmen yeah I’m still game, been following the Pocket Brand launch. All the best, bro! I’ve got your back on this.

Elvin  on November 30th, 2009

Hi, Edmund

If this is the case, then for new product launch, there will be no earning testimonial?

Ronnie  on November 30th, 2009

Hi all
I dont see a problem here to be frank
i think this will make things better for
long term marketers. if we buy a book from the shop there is no guarentee that we will enjoy the story it is accepted however that it has been researched and compiled correctly and many of us know the auther.
Therfore if you are concerned about a testimonials honesty you need to look in the mirror and ask yourself am i lying not is the testimonial lying
as far as the ftc doing worldwide fines can you immagine the legal implications of trying to enforce this on a global scale crossing government
bodies in many changing political environments i think that would be impractical nie on impossible
if my sites were in the uk for example (this system has been im place here for a long time) and an american serches google and pulls it up from the world wide web and then buys something from it who is primarily responsible the customer goole for listing it and providing a uk site to america or the site owner the scenarios could be endless.
All that said dont lie or exagerate things if it is good say why and how it is good and we will all be better off but never be afraid of any threat fix the problem and move on and then you will just be to busy lookin gooood hahahaha
take care
ROn

Ammar Zahar  on December 1st, 2009

I’m following John Reese taught, “don’t place a testimonial at all”.. Its better to strengthen our copy in other way than put on the testimonials.

Barry Wells  on December 1st, 2009

Hi Edmund, thanks for the heads up. I was aware of the changes, but wasn’t sure of what had to be done.

I’ve now solved this issue and have covered myself.

Regards, Barry

Misato  on December 1st, 2009

Hello all,
I agress with Syuxx, who says that there are negatives and positives to this.

To the consumer, it is all positive. That’s a good thing and that’s as it should be. The only internet marketers that would say otherwise would be the ones who practice deception in all of their promotion and advertising.

Having worked for 8 years as an advertising consultant, I know how this usually goes.

It is very easy to be deceptive and still not fall under the legal definition of fraud. Most marketers who sell with deception are usually pretty shrewd and intelligent people, and they know exactly where to straddle the fence in order to deceive buyers while still maintaining a legal business practice.

My guess is that this might be one reason why the FTC has taken this action.

The bad side of this though is, that these new regulations will most likely only penalize the honest merchants.

From what I have read, it is not that you just can’t say that you make a certain amount of money with this or that product, you also have to disclose that you get paid for the product or services recommended.

I am an honest seller myself, and I don’t even use the hype that most internet marketers do, and yes, I admit, as a result, I don’t make the big bucks that they do either, but at least I can sleep at night.

Yes, there are some things that I get a commission from if they get sold through my efforts, but I also recommend a lot of things that I don’t get paid dime one for.

In short, I only recommend things that I genuinely consider good, but now it isn’t enough that I generate less revenue because I am an honest marketer, but now I have to slit my own throat by saying I get money for this and I get money for that. Thanks a lot FTC. =D

This doesn’t seem like a bad thing on the surface, but now all of your potential customers are gonna have 2nd and 3rd thoughts about buying from you.

Yes, you may also be an honest seller, and I now a lot of other sellers that also only recommend good products and services, and get paid sometimes for recommending them, but what do you think your potential customers are gonna think now?

They aren’t gonna see that your are just making a living by recommending things that will help others. All they are going to assume now is that you are just recommending something just to make a buck.

What is it that all of us internet marketers have been hearing day in and day out? That you have to build trust with your customers.

So now, here comes the FTC, and they are going to give all of your would-be customers one more reason to look at you with distrust, without ever having done business with you before.

Although I do have to admit, internet marketers have brought this on themselves, because most of them are deceptive as all get out, and this is coming from a fellow internet marketer.

That is the one big drawback of the internet marketing field though, isn’t it? Me, you, and others might be as honest as the day is long, but most internet marketers are not, and you get judged by the company you keep.

Is it right? Is if fair? Probably not, but that is just the way it is.

Misato K.

Kris Blair  on December 1st, 2009

Hello Edmund
If I read this right the FTC is going to crack down on any unsubstantiated claims in testimonials. Does this also go for the weightloss industry as well; in the case of claimed amounts of weight lost using the advertised product over a certain period of time? If so how do you prove that it was the product alone that caused the weightloss?

Just wondering.

ps, Thanks for a great site.

A point for Misato K.
I see no difference with what is happening with the FTC and the laws that we have in Aust already.
You just cant blatantly lie to people and get away with it, unfortunately there are some that do but that also happens in the offline sector as well so its about time the weasels got weeded out.
I dont know of many industries that dont make a buck off of recommending that you should buy this product or that. If your customers trust you there is really no difference to online and offline shopping.
And edmund do you have irrefutable proof of the earnings in the advertised bellow Case Studie

The Frog  on December 2nd, 2009

I agree with all of you, that this is scaey, but if you take the precautions that edmmung did, and as I am going to do, before I launch. I am going to take a more drastic step and that is to not use any testimonials. I never realy believed in them. I have seen to many fake ones, an example is I get five ads in my email, for diferent products from 5 diferent marketers, with the same scewwn shots of their earnings. I am not saying that all markerters do it znd remember the FTC will go after the owner even if the affiliate sends out ad’s that violate the FTC rules ad the owner has no knowledge of it.

STANLEY C  on December 3rd, 2009

Hi

Putting unsolicited testimonial is a way to gain more confidence and sales, but must be SUPPORTED by REAL proof.

My 2 cents.

Misato  on January 15th, 2010

“A point for Misato K.
I see no difference with what is happening with the FTC and the laws that we have in Aust already.
You just cant blatantly lie to people and get away with it.”

The quote above was made by Kris Blair

And now, a point for Kris Blair” We don’t need a law for false advertising, or ‘blantantly lying’ as you put it.

There are already laws against fraudulent advertising for those that just plain out lie. on’t need need more laws for that.

The adverters I were refering to are the honest advertisers. To say or imply that honest marketers need laws against fraudulent advertising is an oxy-moron.

If you are an honest marketer then you don’t need the FTC or other other government agency demanding that you be honest. That’s like telling Bill Clinton that he needs to be a womanizer. Sounds just plain dumb, doesn’t it?

I dont know that the FTC’s agenda is, but it sure isn’t to punish only the fraudulent marketers. That’s just a well made up ruse.

If that were really the FTC’s agenda, then they wouldn’t be going out of there way to make things difficult for the honest marketers.

Case in point:
The fine for an infraction of the FTC’s new regulation is $11,000. Odds are though, that the majority of the crooks will lose a lot more money in lost sales due to honest and truthful marketing, then they will buy paying an $11,000.00 fine.

On the other hand, and $11,000.fine would severly cripple or just plain put the honest ma and pa businesses out of business.

Yeah, on the surface, it probably does look like a beneficial law for everyone, but people really need to think about things, like those mentioned above, before they start rallying behind this cause of that cause.

No, I still say that the only people the new FTC law will hurt are the honest marketers, who are already at a severe disadvantage compared to the fraudulent big wigs.

Misato Katsuragi