FTC (Federal Trade Commission) Clarifies New Internet Marketing, Blogging & Affiliate Advertising Guidelines With Jim Edwards

Jim,

Thanks for the great information. Haven’t been here in ages!!!

Peter

Jim,

This is what generous looks like. Thanks for doing a service for your fellow marketers.

Ray Edwards

Thanks Jim for stepping forward and providing this valuable service to the internet marketing community.

Warmest Regard,
Edward Philipp

Jim

This is terrific and I really appreciate that you’ve made access free.

I was seeing more people jumping on the bandwagon of selling info products to help you become FTC compliant but this puts everything into perspective.

I really enjoyed this Webinar and definetly a eye opener….
The testimonials issue is wild… Your testimonial must be current and not old…. Must be current reviews not old content
which has been a trick of many marketers using screen shots from 2008 and older… Wow

Thank you for a wonderful and informative interview. You have stripped away the unreasonable fears that have come along with the scare-tactic hype floating around and yet drilled home the common sense aspect of these compliance issues. I’m sending this on to all of my clients. Thanks again!

Hey Jim,

A big thanks for making this available to everyone!

The new FTC changes are pretty confusing.

Thanks,
~Brett

Thank you for providing so much direct source information. Very helpful.

Great stuff!

Thanks

Thanks for this. As a small time website owner who was just coming out with new videos to help coaches teaching boys and girls baseball and softball, I was getting nervous with all this talk about the “new rules you have to follow of the FTC”.

I wanted to use testimonials and that was one of the areas covered. These were just parents and kids who had received coaching from me in the past and not someone who was selling my services so this gave me a lot more peace.

Andy Collins

Generosity and consideration for others are just a few things that come to mind. But there is much,much,more.

Jim,

Thanks for great information from the source. The sky really isn’t following.

Lowell

Ray said it best – this was very generous. Not even an optin Jim? (smile).

Thank you for all the information and inviting me to the teem.

Dear Jim,

Thanks for such a complete interview on this subject. I have had several e-mails saying that I will get all the information but this is the best. We are a chiropractic office that treats fibromyalgia and the chiropractic boards require that we have data to back up the testimonials. But I didn’t know that they had to be recent. Our most recent is from last winter because it takes alot of time to collect the test data and write up the information. Now it looks like we are going to have to do several new studies each year on our fibromyalgia patients.

Thanks Jim,

I’ve already made my changes and officially made myself FTC-Compliant even though I reside in Canada. Most of my subscribers are from the US. Some of the biggest changes I’ve discovered is that a reviewer will need to be customer of the product. Or the advertiser has given or paid me to review the product. And I must disclose my connection between me and the advertiser. Plus… I must disclose how I received the product. And 1 last note – disclose if I’m getting a commission.

AWWWWWW…com’mon. Whats this guy really know? If he really knows anything about anything then tell me why something like Enzyte is ok to sell anywhere! Why dont they just say they have a pill that will grow an extra finger or a foot. Two sets of rules maybe?!? Tell the truth….thats not the way American marketing works. There is no truth in advertising and if you have any real moral fiber then you’ll go broke telling the truth….Pretty mad about the “big boys” of american advertising.
So whats the real deal here? The drug companies and corporate america really doesnt like competition. Results will vary. Im sick if it.
Discolsure….GGGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
Love you site though. Sorry for the rant.

Still listening but thought I would make a suggestion

1. Set it up with a player such as JW Player with their viral plugin – if you still have a Semiologic license you get JW Player Licensed version free.

2. Let people share the whole thing, embed it in their affiliate areas etc.

3. License it for free distribution for commercial use with attribution

If you want help setting this up just drop me an email – how it is currently hosted isn’t ideal as an Amazon bucket isn’t a good permanent home

Thank you, Jim. This was most informative and will help many people properly comply with these new FTC rules. A lot of it is common sense when remembering the key word here: transparency. I do believe product sellers/owners will have to be more careful with their affiliates than stated. Best to remember the rule, “The buck stops here”, just to be on the safe side rather than point to “rogue” affiliates on the edge…just saying.

Hey Jim,

Thanks so much for doing this and for making it available for free. It’s a real service to small businesses who are busy trying to earn their way out of this economic mess.

I think my primary frustration with these new guidelines regarding testimonials is that they are based on what I believe are fundamentally flawed assumptions… that anyone who buys stuff actually thinks that testimonials represent “typical results” rather than just an indication of what’s possible. I mean, as a nation, are we really that stupid?

If you see a testimonial about a guy in Idaho losing 100 pounds in two months, do you really assume that’s a typical result? Does the average American assume that? If so, then we might as well just put the yellow police tape up around the whole damn country and declare ourselves a nation of idiots.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve only ever looked at testimonials as being an indication of what’s POSSIBLE, not what’s expected, typical or even average.

How about this… instead of forcing millions of American small businesses to deal with hours of endless red tape in the middle of the crappiest economy since the great depression… why doesn’t the government just come out with ONE BIG NATIONAL disclaimer saying that NO testimonials represent average results and you should NEVER assume that results are typical unless someone tells you otherwise. It would save billions of dollars in lost man-hours of non-productivity caused by small businesses having to track, quantify and document the obvious… that testimonials are an indication of what’s POSSIBLE, not a guarantee of results or an indication of what’s average.

It’s just inconceivable to me that we’re stuck dealing with this issue at a time when we should all be focused on PRODUCTIVITY.

Sorry to vent, but this is just NUTS.

You da man, Jim.

Thanks from Dave
Yer Typical Dumb American in Need of Government Intervention
Before Reading a Results-Based Testimonial

Thanks Jim .. the interview really cleared up a number of issues (and a certain amount of angst)that have been puzzling folks ever since the FTC issued the rule-making.

One issue that I don’t recall being completely covered was that of how to adequately disclose the nature of affiliate links typically included within the “Freebie e-books and other PDF’s. Is it enough to include a “blanket” disclosure at the beginning of the publication, or is it necessary to somehow disclose on each and every link?

Thanks again!

Such nice guys over at the FTC.

Jim…this information is INVALUABLE.

There has been alot of mumbling, grumbling and false information about these “new” regulations for a while now. It is good to hear what the real deal is from the proverbial horse’s mouth.

I have shared your video with as many people as I can. I am praying that they will watch and take heed.

These are MAD economic times that we are living in… and bottom line…people are scared and that makes them vulnerable. People deserve to know what it is they are getting into. And we as marketers owe them that level of transparency and authenticity.

If people OBEYED the golden rule of “Do Unto Others As You Would Have Done Unto You” none of this would be necessary.

My marketing has always been in compliance and will remain so. I can’t stomach hype and it makes me ill to see what people will do for a buck.

Thank you vry much for sharing this. Have an incredible holiday !!

Hey Jim, thanks so much for doing this. It is really eye opening. While it will be additional work for the good guys, hopefully it will help weed out the not so good.

Joe

Jim,

Many thanks for putting this together and sharing with us. This is a sensational interview and helps to clarify the entire FTC situation.

Mahalo

James Jacobson
Maui, Hawaii

Thank you for the video. It was awesome. I’ve been getting hit with ads from lawyers and others trying to scare the hell out me. I would like to see them investigated. I’m only wondering about two issues. How is say Google adwords going to regulate their ads? They have banner ads and text ads. What about these video sites, are they going to make the owners of the videos put a disclaimer at the end of all the videos that have been submitted to these sites?

I’m thinking someone at the FTC was feeling like they had some time to kill and decided to use it to justify their existence. I believe there are more than 2 sets of rules, as Jerry alluded to. In fact, I’m inclined to believe the rules are made up as they go along.

Here’s a refreshing idea… how about the government tells people to get some common sense and look out for themselves for a change?! Doesn’t common sense dictate that, if you’re reading a “review” and it’s pushing a particular product, there may just be something in it for the reviewer? Who cares if there is? If the product is good and does what’s expected, who cares who got a free one or gets compensated for promoting it?

I’ve had it with the political elite telling the rest of us what’s good for us. I’m an adult and prefer to make my own choices. Whenever the government gets involved and tries to decide for me, it almost never works out well.

Great interview! It clears a lot of things from my mind. Being a newbie, I was worried at first when I read about FTC new rulings coming into effect. Now I can rest and focus on my tasks keeping in mind these new guidelines. Thanks for everything!

Patrick

Jim, this was very refreshing. You took the FTC issues, concerns and hyped up fear-panicking and brought it to a reasonable professional business level. I was very impressed with the quality and transparency shown by yourself and Rick Cleland. Especially helpful were your own examples. Im very grateful!

Aditi

Hi Jim.

As always, you did a fantastic job interviewing the FTC rep. Thank you for going right to the source of the issue and getting a fact-filled, information oriented interview.
It was interesting to note that for the most part, this is really nothing new, they are merely trying to better enforce and better disclose the regs as they have stood for a while.
If all internet marketers were as honest as you, we would not need so many government rules! I understand totally when people complain about the “nanny state” but it is also true, that the egregious offenders indeed need to be reigned in.

Say hi to Teri and Soonsan and everybody else. Thanks.

Lorraine G.

Excellent info, I appreciate then folks that posted this.
I feel this reconfirms the practice of professionalism,
being transparent and effective are not always easy tasks.

KISS.. Do the right things and all will be fine.. I appreciate these friendly reminders as sometimes we tend to drift off the correct path into harms ways.

Be transparent with honest intentions and you’ll get great attention.

Talk soon,

Dan Weik
Billion Dollar Benefit

Jim,

Thank you so much for making this available, for free, to say the least.

I’m sure that, like many marketers, I’ve heard different argument and opinions about the new FTC guidelines and still was not clear on certain of these guidelines.

You really did a great job in asking specific and clear questions that gave me a better understanding on the actions I need to take from here.

Thanks Jim.

Paul

Jim-

Outstanding resource here. THANKS for putting out valuable information to serve the internet marketing community. Please extend our (my) gratitude to Mr. Cleland as well.

-Travis

Well, this proves that It is worthwhile to seek out the facts and know the truth about anything. The possibilities for exaggeration have been diminished by being able to watch this interview.

Thanks again wholeheartedly
Lawrence S

Jim,

Thank you soooo much for this webinar. After being bombarded by scare mongering ‘Gurus’ telling me I’m going to jail or I’m go’na lose my house you have blown away the dust from my eyes.
What a guy.
Thanks,
Barry

Many thanks for being so helpful and blessings of the Season to you and yours.

Sincerely,

Jim

It’s me again the like is there so please check it out it is this like this that must be learned on the internet … Grandma Scott

I think they should go after “bait and switch” product launch tactics, like the “I’m giving away 2,000 sets of my $2595 DVD course, free this Monday, 12 noon…sign up here” and come to find out, you are FORCED to take their monthly continuity program to get the freebie that you were baited with.

People in my niche are making a killing with this deception, and I REFUSE to do it.

Surely this would fall under deceptive business practices, promising freebies that are not, in fact, free.

RJ

Go away big brother! We don’t want you digging into our pockets! Power to the people!

Great interview Jim I have been on this FTP oops, FTC thing for a while now and this interview has to be the BEST YET! Wonderful explainations from Mr. Cleland answering your thought out questions! A1 in my book!

I would like permission to post this on my blog. I have taken the liberty of screen capture but, will not use them without your permission. Of course there will be a link back to the entire video.

May you have a blessed Thanksgiving and Holliday Season!
Walter Gavurnik

Jim,

I can only echo what many have said – Thanks for the free information! Having been around IM since the early days, when The Warrior Forum promoted mass UCE, aka spam, to today when the IM industry generally looks down on spam and focuses on permission based email systems gives me hope that the IM community will understand the impact of continuing down the trail of misrepresentation and self-regulate just like we did in the old spam days. (apologies for that long sentence)

Dave

Really enjoyed the webinar. Thanks Jim for taking the effort to get the information from the horse’s mouth (so to speak). It’s nothing more than responsibility in advertising. Nice to hear that complete honesty is not only the right thing to do but is also a requirement by the FTC.

Great content Jim, I agree with you I think this is a good thing, everybody is tired of misleading and hype so this is a good thing, while I can’t help my conspiracy theory side of me from thinking about big corporation’s hand in this, in the end the consumer i.e. All of us will be greatly served by it.

Thanks for creating this and ending the hype and anxiousness regarding this matter.

Hey Jim,

Many thanks for great discussion with Mr. Cleland!
Seems to me that this all boils down to common sense,
common decency and solid business practices.

Anyone wishing to operate a legitimate business with
repeat customers over the long haul should have no problem
with these simple compliance issues!

All the best,

Jon

More regulation means bigger government, bigger government means more taxes, more taxes means we’re all poor and more laws eliminates the incentive for wanting to be successful and the American dream. In the end, this new move will make it difficult for anyone to make a living at it. Way to go big government!
Idiots.

What did Grandma Scott say????

I AM A RETIRED ENGINEER AND A GRADUATE OF GEORGIA TECH. I PERSONALLY THINK THAT IF YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND ENGINEERING, DON’T USE THE WORD! LET ME TAKE THIS MOMENT TO SUGGEST THE WORD(S) LIKE THE FOLLOWING:BIG MOUTH MARKETING GORUS, ATTEMPTING TO SELL REJECTS, BE IT SOFTWARE OR HARDWARE OR TOYS, BY COMPILING LIES ON TOP OF LIES KNOWING THERE IS NO ONE OR ORGANIZATION TO PUNISH THE THIEVES. GET ALL YOU CAN, GET OUT, AND START ANOTHER COMPANY AND PROPAGATE, PROPAGATE PROPAGATE…….THERE IS NO ONE TO MAKE YOU PAY.
AND ANOTHER THING , THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS RE-ENGINEERING . THIS IS NON-ENGINEERING PERSONNEL BUYING AND COPYING THEIR COMPETITORS PRODUCTS WHOM HAS JUST BEAT THEM TO MARKET. STOP USING THE WORD RE-………..! ONE ONLY STOPS SMOKING ONCE, RIGHT!

Jim, thank you for doing this. I’m still listening but my guess is those of us with Aweber auto responders will need to add disclosures to those e-mails. I promote products that I use and make recommendations based on my actual use. I was thinking my disclosure would read like this:

“In the interest of complete transparency I’m an affiliate of XYZ company and I get a commission if you purchase this product. I’ve been an affiliate for over XX years and I’d recommend if you’re interested in this product you become an affiliate also, you can learn how at this link.”

Just wording off the top of my head.

Any thoughts?

Thank you, Jim, for your generosity in posting such a helpful discussion with Mr. Cleland! Transparency builds better trusting relationships, which can make repeat business flourish. The whole process seems likely to spawn common decency and best practices ? and lucrative success.

Jim,

Thank you for sharing this information with me. You do such a wonderful job interviewing… and I know we all appreciate Mr. Rich Cleland’s assistance and valuable time! Thank you “both” for making this happen… I am sure it will help many other Internet Marketers.

In addition, Jim… I enjoyed seeing you in Vegas a couple of weeks ago and having an opportunity to sit at the same table during one of the lunch session at the Internet Marketing event. It was really great seeing you! Plus, I loved the interview you did with Les Brown!

Can’t wait to see what you come out with next! Great Stuff!

Thanks so much!

Veronica

Thanks Jim! Very detailed and makes the issue crystal clear.

Jim, thank you so much for putting this information together. It’s refreshing to see an expert gving away information while others are marketing legal expertise to newbie marketeers.

All the very best from the UK

~Geoff Matthews~

Hi Jim,

Seasons greetings and thanks for the information. Wish you a great New Year!

Stephen & Jennifer from the UK.

Thanks Jim. This is good stuff.

Summary of what I got:
If you are selling make money stuff, you need to give typical results in your testimonials. So it will read:

“If you buy this product, you will most likely not do anything with it and thus not make any money with this or any other program. If you did follow the instructions, you would still most likely not make any money with this,”

:p

Jim,

My opinion is that you have lost your mind. What were you thinking? Now you won’t be trusted by ANY internet marketer who uses the long sales letter format. Do you think that ANYTHING that was said in your interview would be worth anything if 1000s of people start complaining about you to the FTC? The FTC is motivated by numbers of complaints period. What does a government employee have to lose by making expensive trouble for you? They will make trouble first and ask questions later.

Oren

P.S. You do seem to have good intentions.

Oren

Hi Jim

“Webinar King” is not an idle boast! I don’t know of another big-time marketer who does it as well as you do or as thoroughly.

Thank you for putting the very questions on our minds and for the opportunity to hear answers straight from the “horse’s mouth” (if you’ll pardon the expression)!

I’m not US based but even so I welcome the FTC stance, especially with regard to testimonials and endorsements, because false ones do the industry a great disservice whilst misleading the customer.

I shall be referring my list (mainly US-based) to your interview.

Thanks, once again.

Madeline

Great to hear from the horses mouth so to speak. Its only the real big abusers that will get targeted by the FTC.

It’s good to know the new ruling about affiliate marketing. I was a bit worried about this because I barely started 6 months ago in this business. I thought marketers from the Philippines will be greatly affected by this rules.

All the best from the Philippines…

Hello and thank you for some insight as to what is required from FTC.

Being online and only starting to setup it is good to be aware of the ruling even though not resident in the USA.

All Affiliate Marketing will eventually end up somehow going over boundaries.

I concur, keep it clean and look after your customers to the best of your ability.

Could clean up many websites in a heartbeat if affiliates only supported FTC compliant websites…

Of course it also might be 90 degrees outside in Michigan this Februrary…

Excellent informative info… Great service for your subscribers.

Cruiser

Jim you rule!

There has been so much stuff out lately and people trying to capitalise on the confusion (that lawyer selling a compliance kit…) and to have it straight from the FTC and really understand how they think and find out the truth (no $11,000 fine per infraction for instance) is absolute gold dust.

Everything else people have said is speculation, this is fact.

Thanks!

P.S. Lester – what the hell you talking about man? You snorting mothballs or what?

Hi Jim,

I really wish that I was on this call with you
because I know I would’ve ripped this guy apart

If these rule’s are being used outside of the
internet world… Why are the corporates still
breaking them!!

The next time an advert comes on offering some type of cosmetic
take a closer look at the bottom of the screen…

Ill use the eyeliner adverts as an example.

When you see these women who are promoting
the eyeliner you will see that they have the
best looking eyelashes in the world right?

Take a look a the small print it says that
this woman has had eyelash implants( or
something along them lines)…

So when you think about it they are just
showing a woman like i would say is Hot..

And then they are saying she hasnt actually had
these results using the eyeliner :-S

Whats you view on this?

Sorry for such a long comment, and
thanks for the video it was great

Speak Soon,

Henry

Jim,

This is so great and valuable. I have sent the link to all my clients. Thank you also for making it just so easy to get.

Lynda

This is a great offering, thank you.

Don’t you think, All things must expand, before they can contract to a place of balance….. Just the process of time, get the message out, recondition almost to over kill and then a new revision by way of “common sense” by all those that have forged to success, can come in to serve the masses…

This seems to be the way of all things…. by my observation! Funny thing is…. as humans we are always striving for a high and in order to enable those in enertia… the offering must be made in a way, they must be able to feel it, to see it. So it is a fine line of creating the excitment and making it realistic enough without giving away the farm…

Cool, that everyone can look in their own back yard and self regulate…!
C*

I expect the enforcement of anything will be spotty. The FTC lets the worst offenders continue. Two well known IM gurus are now promoting software that lets them steal content from article directories and remove the author’s bio boxes while changing the content against terms. Funny how these fools who claim they are making so much money have to steal. They didn’t answer emails I sent asking what their rationalization for this was. The whole IM industry sucks right now with the lazy, sleazy ones multiplying like randy rabbits. I got out for a while, came back, and they are still there. Here’s to some real legislation with teeth that treats these thieves like street criminals and not politicians and bankers who steal freely and get rewarded for it. This FTC stuff probably won’t correct things. They even make it difficult to report the worst offenders with their bad website setup. Google slaps people, yet they did not want to deal with the content thives whose main thrust in their training was how to scam Google. Why? because the other main thrust was to use AdSense. Money talks, and we know what walks!

Will not affect those outside America. Like Americans being unable to bet online. You’ll just have to give your stuff to me here in Ireland and for a fee I’ll blast it to America LOL

Very good article..get the word out..if you visit my Blog..it already has that FTC compliance statement on it..so i am ahead of the game…Happy Thanksgiving…http://mikeseals.blogspot.com/

Thanks Jim!

Your interview covered a HUGE amount of invaluable content that everyone planning to start a business should know, regarding marketing practices, on-line and off-line.

The list of questions and examples that you prepared for Rich to respond to and clarify were EXCELLENT!!! Everyone on the webinar should be grateful for the amount of time and effort that you and Rich devoted to educating the masses about the new/updated FTC rules.

Again, thanks for continuing to share your quirky sense of humor, as well as your probing intellect that never fails to inform and serve the rest of us.

Michael

Well, you can tell by the comments that some are not going to comply to the new laws. That is a shame as TRUTH in advertising should be the mantra of all Internet marketers, or at least the honest ones.
I THANK YOU for doing this article with the FTC as it should be important to all marketers.
I think that the point is, if your product does not do what you claim it does, then take it off the market, get something that does, it is not that hard.
There is so many products that work as claimed that you really don’t have to lie about anything.
I also think that this is a great way to clean up the market, and make more great opportunities for the honest marketers.

Jim,

Thanks for the great interview… I really appreciate your questions specific to the IM field. I can see where the FTC guidelines are coming from and how they’ll help the consumer in the end. It’s a bit of a drag to those of us whose businesses benefit from our awesome statistical outliers, but it’s not the end of the world, for sure.

Cheers,
Steve

Jim, I think they really need to publish standard disclaimers to use. For example, when publishing performance testimonials use this disclaimer. There are only about 6 situations or so and I think that would be very helpful.

Very similar to how the stock trading teaching industry has to use required federal disclaimers or how weight loss products have to say they aren’t FDA approved.

Killer interview man!

Thank you Jim for being so courageous and doing such a much needed and controversal interview.

Excelling information with clear guidelines thus securing the future of my business and many other online business

And a special thanks to Debra Thompson Roedl for forwarding this on to me

Thanks, I appreciate this information.

It has been helpful. The bottom line is to
be truthful and don’t try to sham the folks.

Hope every one has a great holiday weekend!

Bob

Great coup in getting that interview. Way to go! I have nothing but positive things to say about the new FTC Ruling. It bodes well for all that market ethically and legitimately and eliminates the “black hats”.

Thanks for the info and I can’t wait to get the transcript.

Hi Jim,
Thanks for the information. It cleared up a lot of the haze surrounding these issues. I agree most with the point of using common sense and policing ourselves there should be few problems.
Thanks again,
Greg

What an extremely interesting and informative interview. An excellent “heads up” for those just starting their business. Many thanks for making this available.

Thanks for the great information Jim! You always over-deliver.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Come on people we all know how the online industry works if we’ve been it longer than a week. Marketer A has a product that he gives to his buddies for “review”. Then he asks them for an endorsement and gives them an affiliate link. They agree to write a glowing testimonial even if they have never opened the product. In return when they have a new product they remind Marketer A that he owes them a favor and the cycle of endorsement and affiliate sales starts all over again. It’s called JV partnerships and it’s how little guys get to be big guys.

The FTC wants those testimonials to carry a disclosure. If they never popped the cover they better not be saying “This is the best thing since sliced white bread and you can make a bazzilion dollars (or lose 30 pounds) if you use it cause I did.”

What’s s hard about honesty? If your product is good why do you need to lie about how good it is? And if you do have to lie about how good it is maybe you need to improve the product so it actually matches the promises you make about it.

As far as “Big Brother” it’s about time the FTC started investigating and enforcing the law. Maybe now my inbox won’t be loaded with “Make xxxxxxxx dollars in a week” or “get in there NOW cause we only hve 5 left!” (and of course if you go back to that link 6 months later there’s STILL 5 left!)

And the funniest part about all this are the massive amounts of emails I’ve seen in the past two weeks wanting to sell me high priced programs to be sure I comply with the “new” FTC regs or my business will be in trouble and I’ll be in jail! Puhleeeze get an honest life.

I am from the UK, & not even a customer of Jim’s. I got knowledge of this interview via another marketer. I would like to express my total gratitude to Jim for holding this interview & allowing me to listen for no charge. Certainly my worries & concerns have been laid to rest. Thank you Jim – top bloke

Be well
Phil

Hey
At last some sense and clarification about the whole ‘Big Bad FTC’ thing. Personally I think it’s about time that some regulation was introduced into this industry. Were all these Guru’s in some kind of bubble thinking their duplicitious tactics would never be found out? Basically if you’re an honest marketer, there is nothing to wory about.

May Honesty, Integrity and Truth prevail!

Peace and properity to all.

PS Lester…..What the deuce? Did you not take your meddies?

Thanks Jim for making this available to everyone. If you do follow-up with Andy Beard’s suggestion, I am assuming it would be announced in the “I Gotta Tell You” newsletter. (I am submitting my subscription after this comment.)

Mr. Cleland was exceptionally open and informative. As Paul (no url)above states it really is common sense. And Jim you did an excellent job exploring the not so “black-and-white” areas. But I have to wonder Mr. Cleland, might you be available should the FTC knock on my door? Or at least will all FTC employees be required to watch the interview?

It does seem we need to operate under the assumption that all consumers are morons. As both a consumer especially of “make money online” and a website owner ethically attempting to do same,
I always weigh if I really have the time to follow through with whatever I buy. Time seems to be a really scarce commodity along with money. If I don’t think I can at least get my money back out in a reasonable time, I don’t buy regardless of how good I think it is. It’s simply no good to me.

Rose Mis is “Spot On”, using the Golden Rule. And a lot of other lessons from Sunday School. One would like to think the new FTC rules will wipe out out the hype and misleading advertising and actually put all of us on a level playing field. I am not that gullible. “Patience is a virtue” has gone down the road with the late 90′s rise of the internet. I have been breaking even online for over ten years and applaud this new effort by the FTC.

Thanks Jim for the enzyte chuckle. When those commercials first came out they were so hokey, I thought they were a spoof. People actually send them money? LOL indeed.

JEDs

Jim, heads up for this interview. I am just writing up a quick blog post and recommend all my readers to check it out.
Thanks a lot.

Hi Jim,

The information you shared is great, it is going to relieve some stress for a lot of people.

There was a big nose and confusion about this, but now it is very clear what you can do and how you can do it so, you don’t have to worry any more about the ‘new FTC guidelines’.

Thanks!
^PV Reymond

I agree with u ,
how to prevent our invironment
all r out of control . What we can do about it.
Tell me about it ok see again bye .

Our life or human life how to survibe it .

with continuous . but …………..

Thank you for providing this interview for us to listen to. I look forward to receiving the written transcript of it.

I’ve known for a long time there are some that resort to fraudulent testimonials because I see them listed as “jobs” on some of the freelance work sites.

I had to chuckle when you said the typical usually means they buy, never read and likely never open the product they bought. And that would a killer to any marketing strategy. I think we’ve all bought products we’ve not done anything with whether they are digitally designed or not.

And I beg to disagree with the FTC official. They say the FTC did consumer surveys to come up with these new guidelines using print ads not Internet based media. He doesn’t specify how many people they used in the surveys. According to Google, as of July 2008 there were 304,059,724 people in the United States. If they used anything less than half that amount of people in their surveys, how can they say their findings are typical of all consumers in the United States. In all likelihood they probably took samplings of opinions from less than 1000 people and called them “typical” and voila we have new guidelines to live by.

If people would just take a bit of time and read the FINE PRINT and use some COMMON SENSE we wouldn’t have need of these type of regulations. If I don’t do my diligent homework regarding anything I want to buy the only person to blame is myself, not the company I bought from based on their advertising propaganda.

Bottom line though, typical, to me is a subjective term. What I consider typical isn’t what you might. And in that alone, there lies the problem. I know that without having motivation and clear-cut goals on what I want to do with anything that I buy it’s just going to end up gathering dust or being used as a doorstop.

Jim
Thanks for the opportunity to hear the new stance the FTC is taking. I was taken in by one of the television promotions who used false testimonials and the program is the pits and impossible to get help. That was 7 months ago and I am still not on line. Is there a way I can get my money back? The FTC has charged them. It is the Jeff Paul Program.
Thanks
Marty

Jim this is the best online interview for 2009! Mr.FTC he’s a cool guy. He’s just doin his job. You Jim you’re doin’ what you love. I must signup to your list. Gotta kep upto date.

Nice one Jim:)

Thanks Jim for interviewing Mr. Cleland. You could’ve sold this to us, but you gave it for free, that was nice. This helps a lot! Your interview was very good, you asked very good questions. Nice to hear it directly from an FTC official.

Thanks, Jim for providing this comprehensive interview on a controversial subject that affects us all – marketers and customers, too.

Mr. Cleland seems like an intelligent and reasonable guy, and I sure wouldn’t want to trade places with him. Things could get really sticky. (I got a chuckle from Nancy above saying the FTC would be hard-pressed to get a proper sampling to be able to state what is typical.)

However, as a natural healing practitioner, I find it interesting that The FDA/FTC is perfectly happy to look the other way when big pharmaceutical companies disallow study participants who are not getting the company’s “desired” result, thereby positively skewing their study.

Yet it appears that an honest customer, wishing to help others to have the same positive results they had received themselves, is basically not allowed to say what benefits they enjoyed from a product. Or at least, the vendor isn’t allowed to print it.

Hmmmm…

Thank you Jim for the great presentation. Over in the Warrior’s forum this subject has been discussed at length, with quite lively discussions at that.

I just find the whole subject confusing. I understand the spirit of the guidelines, it is just the details that will have many of us fretting over our marketing materials, because as the old saying goes “The Devil Is In The Details”

Regards,
Debbie

One of the hurdles I have been facing while looking to get into some sort of internet business is how to know if the products which are looking for affiliate marketers are any good. None of the programs I have seen addressed that and is a person really supposed to buy everything they think might be good in order to find one or two they want to promote? That decidedly doesn’t fit my budget. I certainly don’t want to be associated with sleaze bags either,and it’s not always easy to spot them.So what to do?

In any case, thank you VERY much for this interview. You handled it well; there was absolutely no point in trying to be confrontational, and you weren’t. You DID get quite a lot of specific information, which isn’t always easy to do with government people. Kudos and thank you.

Marty,
thanks for doing this interview and giving the affiliate/internet marketing community a good insight about the new ftc guidelines and what not to be afraid of as much as anything!
Thanks again,
Jason

Lot of people out here, and credibility has gone to shit. people make all kinds of claims and pass it on to others, no validity to it at all, we need real verification on a world wide bassis, we should have the right to know who we are talking to and where they are in the world at the click of a button, that way no one doing spam on purpose can get away with it, there should be a review board and a way to fix the problem before being condemned as a spammer, many are here online, new people that don’t know ship, and the truth is it never happens the way it was offered to them, never has for me, .. and even when you get online and try to build you as a business you find the world full of crap too.. Everyone is wrapped up in not caring for those who they promote to help, and they do all they can to get that sale so they can move on to others and now if your not on the Board, you will cause problems not keeping to what your actually providing people .. or tricking people to join for a trial that actually costs them $hundreds automatically out of their accounts, is wrong, many don’t read and it’s not made clear.. there needs to be a rule of thumb that you have to be able to just be able to find online, through googleearth, where each person online doing business can be found and contacted from. that will help the system to regulate itself..

Jim: Thanks so much for making this information available to everyone. I’ll have to admit that if I had done the interview I probably would have sold information as valuable as this. This is a reflection of how you care about your followers and the general population that particiapates in internet marketing. Both you and the FTC official did an amazing job. I have purchased many of your products and as I attempt to develop an ebook business I’m sure I’ll be purchasing more. I’ve always felt that you are trustworthy and that your products always deliver what they promise. Thank you!

Finally… someone gets to the truth and the meat of the matter. Thank you very much for this interview. I finally have a good idea of what I need to do to get into compliance with the regs as an affiliate marketer. Thanks!

Jackie Lee

Great interview. Puts my mind at ease. Basically, be upfront when promoting something that you are getting paid for and you are cool. No problem. It amuses me though how officials can’t directly answer questions. The “guidelines” seem to be somewhat general in nature as well as the applications of the guidelines.

There are a couple of questions that Jim asks this guy that he can’t directly answer. Well, if he can’t answer them, how can we know what is allowed and what is not allowed? And if the answer is not black and white, how can they come after me, and for what?

Sounds like not too much has been cleared up except that I shouldn’t have to worry about anything as I operate above-board.

Jim,

I would really like to extend my gratitude to you for getting this interview online for us to listen to. I was looking for some info about the new FTC law about internet marketing and I must say that I am so happy that I found your site and this audio session.

Thanks,

Tal Fighel

Jim,

Thanks for the great information. Cool to actually hear from someone at the FTC. Several of the big names in the IM industry have emailed me…telling me to come to this page. Looks like you-the-man on this one. Keep up the great work.

Thanks Jim for such an insightful interview. The success,I believe, is based on the thought provoking questions you asked, drawing out the real world answers.

I attempted to register for the full interview transcript but it does not seem to be working. Please tell me how I can get acquiret the transcript.

Thanks,

Jim, thank you very much. There was a lot of misconceptions about new FTC regulations. Your interview clears it. I personally have never felt threatened in any way. If you do things right to start with, there is nothing to fear.

What everyone is forgetting is that the FTC employees get paid through stolen (tax) money, and are not creating anything in society, but merely act as leaches upon the productive business people. Clearly, business can “regulate” itself and does not need bureaucrats to tell us what we can and can’t do. None of us are pointing guns to people’s heads to make them buy our products. The FTC does nothing but prevent progress. Most marketers who try to screw people do not last long. This new FTC regulation should be ignored by business people, as it does nothing to “protect the consumer”, but does a lot to harm business.

Mr.Edwards, I must say after so much information overload of the good bad and ugly of “IM”, and then the world of rumors regarding the FTC matter you and Mr.Cleveland so eloquently covered, It is so refreshing to hear the truth. You are a man of integrity and I love that. Be honest in your dealings and you won’t have to worry about getting caught in fraudulent practices, is all you are asking, why is that so difficult for people to grasp?
We as affiliate marketers and consumers must be as honest as we were brought up to be. We can’t monitor each and everyone who purchases from us, though it almost seems like it might come to that unthinkable task at the rate those who have and won’t abide by what they know are bad business practices. I’m a Jim Ewdards believer and product buyer. Keep keeping it real in your advise, and I’ll stay loyal to you.

Wow! Jim,

Thank you so much for this free interview and the clarification it brings on the subject. What a difference this makes to so many of the other so called ‘gurus’ who immediately come out with paid for products feasting on the fears of the small marketers.

I really appreciate your efforts.

Thank you so much Chad.
Awesome!
Robert

Jim,

Thanks for providing this valuable information. This will ultimately level the playing field and force the “over-the-top” claims and hype to be significantly reduced or eliminated.

Let’s watch the so called guru’s incomes now that there are enforcement guidelines in place that will stop the “incestuous” networking hype amongst the top guru’s hyping each others products.

Consumer protection and transparency rules now!

Dear Mr. Edwards..I want to thank you for your interview with Mr. Cleland. I am just getting started (literally) in Affliate Marketing and am just in the very early learning stage. I found your interview with Mr. Cleland very informative and answered a number of my questions. Thank you.

However, I was reading through the responses to your FTC Interview with Mr. Cleland and the following response caught my eye for some reason (probably because it was so negative). I went to their website and was totally blown away! This person is literally asking for money!!! What?? Is he getting rich $5 at a time? Unbelievable!! This was his response to your interview…..

“Dax Cheng:
November 25, 2009 at 4:56 am

Thanks Jim. This is good stuff.

Summary of what I got:
If you are selling make money stuff, you need to give typical results in your testimonials. So it will read:

?If you buy this product, you will most likely not do anything with it and thus not make any money with this or any other program. If you did follow the instructions, you would still most likely not make any money with this,?

:p”

My question is this….

Are people really sending him money??? Unbelievable!

Thank you very much for making the FTC Guidelines more understandable for newbies.

Pamela S
pammysu32753@aol.com

Hi Jim,

Thanks for this WONDERFUL information! I just wish this new FTC regulations came out four months sooner or, I would never open up my wallet to those affiliates/marketers out there that they just want your money. I’ve only been an online marketer/affiliate for about four months. I thought, this is the way to embrace the technology and to earn some extra while your having fun. I am totally in favour of the new FTC regulations bottom line is…tell the truth. By the way, I’ve subscribe on your blog/website and I can’t wait for you to email me the PDF version of this issue. THANKS again Jim!

Mary

Hi!I watch the interview, I can wait the transcript. You guest was very knowledgeable, I think to change some habits it is challenging, is not going to happen over the night, and a lot of gray areas will surface. What I don’t like is the “subjectivity” and “interpretation” which can vary from one person to other.

Jim Thanks a lot, this is an excellent start, which will help us to be pro-active.
Michey

Hi Jim,
Thank you for the very informative interview with the representative from the FTC. I appreciate you taking the time to do this and to help clear up the misconceptions and rumors that have been circulating lately (for example: $11,000 fines and what is and isn’t allowed). I believe the FTC guidelines will make the world of internet commerce a much better place. Thanks again.

-Joan Miller

Hi Jim,

This interview went above and beyond what I’ve seen ANY other marketer do. And since I’m just getting into IM, this was specially useful to know.

Thanks a million!!

Extremely valuable information, Jim, thank you. Seems fairly easy to
be compliant with FTC expectations. Don’t lie, don’t cheat. Just be fair and deal with people honestly. Good advice for life in general, don’cha think?

Thanks again. You’re the model for integrity in the biz.

This was a great Interview. Thanks so much Jim. It was badly needed to get some real clarity.

As per the interview, I did check the FTC.gov website and I found this interesting page of which I copied a portion. It is from an FTC “Stipulated Final Judgment and Order for Permanent Injunction”.

PROHIBITED REPRESENTATIONS

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that, in connection with the advertising, promotion, offering for sale, or sale of any good or service, including, but not limited to business ventures, employment opportunities, and work-at-home opportunities….

are permanently enjoined and restrained from,
expressly or by implication,

A. Falsely representing the earnings, income, profits, or sales volume likely to be achieved in connection with the purchase of or investment in any business venture,employment opportunity, or work-at-home opportunity;

B. Falsely representing the earnings, income, profits, or sales volume achieved by other purchasers or investors in any business venture, employment opportunity, or work-at-home opportunity;….

Internet marketing “gurus” please take note.

Hi, Jim!

I have been following you since your “early days” and you have always stressed the need to be a person of integrity, and have consistently demonstrated it as well. Thank you for “taking the bull by the horns” and helping IM’ers and affiliate marketers get the Facts about what these guidelines mean in real-world terms and how to apply them. You asked several good, in-depth questions…Thank you so much for not only getting this information, but also for making it freely available–in audio, downloadable and PDF formats. I will certainly pass the link to your interview along to my subscribers and IM colleagues. As someone else has previously mentioned, practicing the Golden Rule would go a long way toward resolving problems like those having to be addressed by these guidelines.

Seeking YOUR Success,

Stephen Boutelle
Co-creator of IMNewswatch.com
with Mike Mograbi

Hi Jim,

I listened to yourblog on Friday. Really good stuff. He was remarkably frank for an FTC official.

Thanks for posting this.

Best,

Shane Starling

It’s great to see someone taking the bull by the horns and getting to the source. There’s always a lot of misinformation put about when big changes are made to any legislation.

Thanks Jim

Jim Montgomery

Hey Jim,

Your MSC2.0 was my first product
for internet marketing in 2008.

It was a great course to get started
with IM. I learned a lot, created 2
of my own products and recently did
a mini 5k launch in my first month..

Now it’s to automate the process
and to keep trucking.

I am 27 with a beautiful wife and
a 15 month old daughter. I will make
this internet work!

3:30AM most nights are a common place

The IM world is a hell of a ride
but I gotta say… This is my way
out of the race.

The interview was EXCELLENT you
had asked questions better than
what I would of come up with

Anyway, Hope to meet you sometime
maybe at Yanik’s…

Anthony B.
Hawaii

Hi Jim,

I just wanted to say a big thank you for conducting this interview, then giving it away for free!

I have only recently started to take my online business seriously and I’ve finally started to see results. I was therefore extremely worried that all I’ve achieved so far was in jeopardy.

You see, since the announcement of these new rules I’ve read so much misinformation on the subject that I was actually considering just taking down all of my webpages until I had a better understanding of the rules.

Thanks to your interview, I now know I only need to tweak a few things to ensure they comply. (It’s a good job, because I’ve left it rather late!)

I think the important thing to understand, is that if you already market ethically, then you probably have nothing to worry about; it’s just a case of being even more transparent, open and honest with your customers, which us ethical marketers aspire to be anyway!

Thanks again,

Warm Regards,

Steve Wakefield

Hey Jim!
Just wanted to say thanks for this FTC post/interview and I hope everyone realizes what a HUGE favor you did for us with this. I’ve gotten more BS emails, hype and scary CRAP from all the “gurus” about this whole FTC regulation thing that I just started hitting delete.

You, without a doubt, have been the ONLY person I follow that handled this realistically and covered it like a good friend and professional. Thanks a TON and also thanks to Rich Cleland for taking the time to do the interview as well.

Tim

I have found in my life that it is better to give than to receive Jim has made a place of honor on my website. Last night I crossed linked with over 100 website across the world.(there were over 200 site) There were some incredible sites, but there were alot of bad ones, I looked and evaluated every site before adding them no junk, it took 6 hours but I think it time well spent. hugs Grandma Scott

Thanks Jim,

Very helpful information…I feel a lot better about what I can and can’t do, and appreciate the way you made this available to so many at no cost. You have helped many people through this thougtful contribution.

All the Best,

Bill

Hi Jim
Good of you to put this webinar up for all to share.
Just goes to show that if you’re honest and ‘above board’ then you shouldn’t have too much to worry about.
But I still think it’s a matter of interpretation!
I thought it was amusing to hear that these were only FTC “guidelines” and that they didn’t have the resources to investigate certain “problem” come ‘grey areas’.
Still, at the end of the day if by doing this it cleans up the internet then it must be a good thing.
regards
Graham in UK

Just bear in mind that this is the same government agency that “cleaned up” SPAM not too many years ago. I still have my comments posted on the FTC regarding CAN SPAM when there was an open discussion going on.

We’ve seen double opt in become standard and even with that not the same deliverability we had prior, and of course new rules that apply at the state level in CA as well.

Let’s face it, government intervention just adds time and expense to your business. It rarely ever means profit.

Excellent resource here Jim. Thanks for your balanced approach, thorough, and thoughtful interview. GREAT questions!

-Travis

Jim…
Thanks for getting that interview for FTC it was helpfull… Need to review it a few times for me to totaly understand it…
There was another issue that was not brought up and that is “Writing Articles” and adding like my website or an affiliate link at the bottom. Do we still need to disclose that earning if they click it?
But a great job, best of all the other Guru’s that try to inform us. “That oppinion is of the writer” lol
Have a great day
Reg B.

Jim, thanks for caring about us…and the profession…enough to arrange and record the interview with Rich Cleland.

It is obvious from quality of the interview that you put a lot of thought into it beforehand. Finding Rich for the interview was a stroke of genius. You have a similar “voice” (the way you both express your thoughts)…so much so that the result was a textbook example of an excellent interview.

Vital questions and informative answers…and the case studies using your own real examples was an excellent way to summarize the salient content of the interview.

You are a master at providing timely content in down to earth, easy to grasp presentations.

Thanks

Garth

Jim,

Thanks for taking the mystery out of this transition. Too many “others” wanted to make profit out of this confusion and you just took us to the source. That moves you up a on my list from “interesting information” to solid resource to check first. Thanks.

Hi Jim,
Thanks for taking the time to do the interview. It was full of useful content and has given me clarity. You no nonsense approach to is simply refreshing.

What happens if you have a squeeze page as the first thing consumers see on your site? Is the page that is scrutinized or is it the “sales” copy page?

Again thanks.

Awesome info!

mike

Good interview Jim … this is the most informative, authoritative approach that I have seen to these guidelines. I’m in the UK, but I’ve been reading all sorts on nonsense about these changes … in this interview you’ve sensibly gone straight to the source and de-mystified the whole thing. Many thanks … I’ve re-Tweeted the page because I think a lot of people will find this really useful. Best wishes, Paul

Thanks for sharing the Richard Cleland interview. I also have spoken to his office and to Mary Engle (Associate Director for Advertising Practices) concerning this topic.

I sell DVD guitar lessons and operate an affiliate marketing program so I’m able to view this situation from an affiliate marketing perspective. However, the Google AdWords program allows my competitor and his affiliates to create a bogus “guitar lesson review” scam that puts me firmly on the FTC’s side. Google benefits from this deceptive practice as well as my competitor. For this reason Google won’t stop running these bogus reviews.

How does this scam work? Check out http://www.rockguitar.com/google.htm

Once you’ve been online for a while, you do educate yourself to recognize what the scammers are doing. Although the information was very good in terms of clarification, you cannot regulate or legislate morality. Honest marketers will comply and the scammers will not and continue to hide from the FTC. It will be interesting to see if demishes online dishonesty at all.

Hi Jim,
Thanks for a no fluff, no baloney interview. It is obvious to me that care about your subscribers. You are one of a handful of people who I trust online. The interview has given me clarity and direction with my ebsites.

Thanks again!
Mike

@George Burks

I totally agree.
This does nothing but hurt good honest marketers.
Honest marketers will comply and the scammers will not and continue to hide from the FTC.
I am telling you right now, I WILL be reporting all non compliant blogs and sites who do not comply with the FTC Rules.
However, what is to stop scammers from getting shut down and popping up somewhere else with the exact same site or product? We all know that they CAN hide.. especially with all the proxy servers and private surfing programs these days.

This is absolutely stupid and the guy on this webinar seemed to not even know what he was talking about when it comes to online marketing. He even said that if we have a link next to an ad saying that we are getting compensated in some way, won’t hurt conversion rates. WHAT A CROC.

The new testimonials guide or regulations or whateve they want to call it is just not feasable for the very small business person selling “how to” information.

What they say can apply things like weight loss and those type of products but the FTC doesn’t know anything about “how to” information and products. As Jim says most people don’t do anything with “how to” products.

I’m not talking about selling affiliate or CPA stuff. If you are publishing information, we can’t track typical results, we can’t measure it so basically we can’t use any performance testimonials.

So we get a thank you or testimonial that says I made $_____ in my business using your techniques or something else specific and we can’t use it.

That is crap!

Ron

THANK YOU. I AM A STUDENT AND ETHIOPIA.WILL DO SOMETHINGS BE OPEN.AND WRITE ME SOON.

Hi Jim,

Seems to me the U.S. is only just catching up with New Zealand’s fair trading laws, lol.

Hi everyone, hi Jim,

first of all thanks for providing so much value for free, taking us to the source of the issue. You demonstrated you are a very valuable person in this industry.

I am a spanish marketer that trades with latin american people that lives in USA, so I understand that the new laws are affecting me, despite the fact I am living out of the United States.

I just want to ask about the transcript, because Im not sure if it has been sent to the subscribers,yet.

Anyway, thanks again for the heads up and the high quality content that you provided us!

sincerely,
Alex Amo

Jim, I appreciate you taking the time to set up the call with the FTC representative, Mr Rich. so many people that I’ve seen are creating software and services to address this issue, but getting the information directly from the FTC. I support giving disclosure it is just a good thing to do. I do it in my real estate business for short sales and it is well needed in that industry and now it has just followed online. that’s cool. I do feel much better about what I can do and what I can’t do. I’ve also seeked legal counsel from an attorney to get someone to view my sites as well. I first want to interview this attorney to make sure that they are competent in the new FTC rulings. i may forward them to your site so that they know what I’m hearing.

Keep you the great work Jim…

Mark

Thank you very much for putting this interview on-line! I am just getting started in this business and will be off on the right foot with your information under my belt. Of course, now that I have listened to the whole thing, I know that I can trust you and your products! Good job!

I am grateful to you for setting this interview up and allowing me to attend. I have really been wondering, since I first heard about the change, how I would go about getting the straight scoop before somebody figured out how to make a fortune for providing it. You are a good man. Thanks again.

Sincerely,

Olson

Many thanks to you and Mr. Cleland for creating the webinar about the FTC guidelines. The information was clear and presented so that anyone should be able to understand and apply it to their business today. I am going to share this with my team and encourage them to share it with theirs right away. You two hit a home run!

To your continued success,

Will

Jim- thanks! Excellent interview. Of course, now I’ve got to (find and) review all my websites in the light of this new information.

Thanks for the great interview, it sounds to me like the biggest area of concern might be the social sites. i.e. alot of affiliates are promoting via twitter etc now that google is slapping affliate ads etc. How can you even attempt to control that if you have affliates working for you?

Jim,

Thank you for doing this interview and posting it the way you have. As a leader in the MLM niche this has been a huge question and issue for us.

YOu have given me plenty of information for training others, but more than that, you have given me a place I can trust to send folks to get the information from the horses mouth.

Living An Epic Adventure,

Hi Jim,
Other people have said it, but I’ll echo the sentiment; thanks for making the real information available, while short-circuiting the scaremongers!
I think the message is “Just be straight.” Why is it that people find that so hard to do? Well, I guess we know why…

Hi Jim,

Thank you for this great interview. It not only cleared up questions I have now, but addressed issues that may arise for me in the future. Transparency appears to be key.

Great video, Jim. Cleared-up quite a bit of BS. Also, to have someone from the FTC on the show lends much more credibility.

Thanks

- Matt

I agree with Bill who said: Let?s face it, government intervention just adds time and expense to your business. It rarely ever means profit.
Also, government regulation has taken away people’s ability to make good decisions on their own: they rely on someone else (government) to decide who’s honest and who’s not! The government needs to get out of our lives, Bottom Line.
Isn’t it common sense that if there is an affiliate link, the person is going to make a commission? Anyone with a brain will know that. And if they don’t, then it’s their loss. We need to use our common sense to be safe. Everything on the internet is about selling.

Thanks so much for sharing this Jim – it’s clarified things for me. As a UK based business with customers in the US I’d wondered how this would work but you’ve helped to make things much clearer. I’ll definitely be letting my subscribers know about this interview!

thank u jim. It is really informative and it leads me to a new horrission. Thanks

LMAO!!!

Well, first off, honesty is always the best policy anyway, and I’ve got no problem with a carefully worded disclosure. Gets to be a royal pain when you have to disclose for every link though. Good thing the government is both intellectually as well as financially bankrupt.

This was rather like listening to the USDA expound on how a microchip in a cow’s ear is going to protect someone from getting BSE. Its just not going to work on the ground, as Mr. Cleland clearly stated with his comment about being “delusional.” Those who want to hide are going to hide, and the rest of us will keep on keeping on.

It is interesting, though, that our government still feels the need (and is pressured by an overly willing public) to protect people from themselves.

It would be nice if they (any bureaucrat) told the truth half as often as marketers do!!! The world would indeed be a far better place.

Folks – guidelines are guidelines.

1. they are not laws
2. they are not enforceable
3. they will be debated from now till doomsday because these people need to keep “busy” in order to keep getting paid.

Be honest, be open and don’t worry.

Sue Diederich

This new legislation flies in the face of the American Spirit, and everything that MADE this country what it is.

We need to STOP catering to the lazy, lethargic, “wagon-riders” of the world, at the expense and detriment of the PIONEERS.

If you have a great product you still need to LIGHT A FIRE UNDER PEOPLE’S ***** to compel their own LAZY ‘human nature’ to give it a go.

Hence the selling “tools” we use (and have been used).. RIGHTFULLY so.

One final point: The new leg states Average “Users” of the product. So why the heck can’t that be the case? What a croc.

Important program. In the interview, there was an emphasis on health products, but what about information products, like websites, given away for free and shortly afterwards taken away unexpectedly through IP blocking? IP blocking can prevent web account owners from landing on their own web pages and from collecting funds in their own online accounts. IP Blocking should be a topic of concern to the FTC.

Thanks for doing this interview! It was a big help in understanding how the “regulations” will affect me. I’ve condensed the information in the latest post on my blog so my readers can benefit as well.

Thanks for going into the belly of the beast for us!

Thanks Jim and Andy said to say “Hey”, joe

Jim,
Thanks for the interview. It REALLY calmed me down. I was freaked out. Andy Jenkins forwarded this link to me. Basically, thank you a million times.
-DK

Thanks Jim, Andy Jenkins sent me.

Thanks for the info. Andy Said to say hi.

Jim, wow! You did a phenomenal job with this interview. It cleared SO many things up for me. I no longer feel (after all the scary hype out there) that “Big Brother watching” is an issue. These FTC Guidelines are curbing shysters, not the ethical online folk who want to make a living and a life.

The real-world examples you used were the best part in delivering this message. Great job! Thank you! Nuff said.

Verina Staven,
Communication Maven
(Life Coach)

Thank you very much, Jim, for putting this together and making it available to all of us for free. It has cleared up a lot of fuzzy stuff for me. I know what I need to do now.

PS: Andy Jenkins sent me!!

Jim, I truly appreciate the time and effort you took to get to the root of this information and share it with all of us. And Andy Jenkins is very sorry about burning down your… And, it was great that so many big internet marketers generously sent out the link to your interview. You did a good job of making it simple to understand and did a great interview. Thanks again.

Andy Jenkins sent me to this – thanks to you both! I feel a lot more comfortable now that I know what I can and cannot do, and I’m hoping that the outcome will be to reduce some of the hype that we’re all getting frustrated by!

Hi Jim, I don’t know you (sorry) but THANK YOu for not online doing this webinar but also for not just nodding.

Sellers & Affiliate Managers section around 11m 30s really BAFFLED ME

FTC guy: If you’re authorizing someone to go out and to create content, and put it up on the web, you should know where the content is

Jim: Hmnnn, you should but most times you wouldn’t…

FTC: Well, is there a reason why you couldn’t require them to tell you where that content is?

Jim: You coulddd… you could require it but then it comes back to the question of, will they?

—–

I think this shows the disconnect the FTC has sometimes with unreasonable requirements on the part of smaller affiliates / small businesses.

With that said though, I’m all for going after the big bad dogs and the acai, and the google money tree and teeth whitening scams.

Great interview, Jim:

I am always amazed at the knee-jerk reaction people have to any governmental/regulatory “interference” in their affairs. Obviously there will be a considerable effect on our business methods–but it seems that good business ethics should suffice to keep those of us who respect our customers out of hot water.

There, of course, will be a great many changes that will need to be made in many businesses and much effort in some cases to update current websites and practices, but the new interpretations seem unlikely to wreak any long-lasting devastation.

Thanks for making this information available to us.

Sincerely,

Les Leslie

Listening to the whole interview, I found that all the hype and fear that was originally circulating was simply unfounded. The regulations haven’t changed. The penalties haven’t changed. There is no massive fine that can be accessed. I think what we will find is that in the beginning there may be a disadvantage for those who walk the line, but over time, as buyers on the internet come to realize that the US has these rules in place, that they strengthen the credibility of US sites over their international competitors.

“Second, these regs will help clean up the scumbags that have ruined it in the first place! If it means taking away their weapons or mass confusion and BS ? well then I?m 110% cool with that!”

Sure, just like they cleaned up spam with their CAN-SPAM Act…

It was clear that the FTC guy in the webinar didn’t have any knowledge of online marketing whatsoever.

Here’s what I’m going to do and recommend others to do it too: Incorporate in a country outside the US and move your servers outside too. The FTC can kiss my behind…

By the way, I’m wondering why all those outside of the US keep asking the same question, “How do these guidelines apply to me?” Fact is, they don’t. FTC only has jurisdiction in the US. Only the laws of the country where your company is incorporated apply to it. Or wherever you reside, if haven’t incorporated yet…

I don’t care what Andy Jenkins said! You Tops in my book!
Thanks for the Video.
Regards
Ron

Hi Jim,

First time to your site… Great to see another person putting out someone great information for people. The interview I just watched about the new FTC laws were very clear and well done!

thanks so much for posting this. all clarifications are welcome. andy jenkins sent me here.

I watching so many interviews regarding this matter before , and I think this is the best from all.

Great interview (and interview technique) Took general concepts and drilled down with specific examples. Makes things much more clear.

Those of us selling real products obtained from manufacturers would seem to have fewer issues compared to those of you who sell information products which promise the world. It will be interesting to see how enforcement evolves.

Thanks Jim,

I can’t thank you enough for that interview.

Sheriff

Sent By the Jenkins! lol

Great Stuff Jim

Talk about Big Brother? ?discretionary enforcement?!? This is all so objective it will in essence give the FTC carte blanche to skewer anyone it wants to, and of course be able to protect anyone it wants to as well. Hey… does anyone out there remember McCarthy? What merchant (or service provider) in this country does not receive free merchandise, and then sell that company?s product to his clientele? Is a doctor now supposed to tell his patients he gets free product (and can get a cut as well in some instances), or is a hospital supposed to disclose that it derives profit from the prescriptions they fill for their ?affiliate? doctor?s who get the free samples? Why should someone who owns a blog or a website about bicycles for instance have to go through all these hoops, but someone who owns a physical bicycle store not have to? FTC regulations should apply equally to virtual and physical merchants, otherwise they are discriminatory (obviously in favor of property owners). And if you carry the FTC ?clarifications? to their logical extreme, the major offenders of all this are Google, network talk shows, and all of the Shopping Channels on TV. The ladies on the shopping channels for sure are nothing short of paid shills, and Google PPC by the FTC?s own definition is the biggest super affiliate of them all? not to mention that Google “slaps” affiliates and manipulates ad placement based on how much a company pays, not on how truthful their ads are. But in the infinite wisdom of the FTC?s discretionary power, I really doubt the FTC would even consider either of them as a threat to the general public, but in essence they are the biggest, most deceptive advertisers of all. This, like most other government regulations, is designed to “protect the wealth of the wealthy” by throttling competition.

This was a great resource!
I answered some questions, gave me some ideas and was more encouraging than I thought it would be.
Thanks!

Keith Copeland
startingmyownbusinessnow.com

Thanks so much for posting this info. I feel a bit concerned about this – not because I market very much but because I value free speech. I’m speaking specifically of the testimonials. Frankly, as a consumer I want to hear about the $61,000 payday. I KNOW it isn’t typical (no one is saying it is), but I like to hear that it’s POSSIBLE. I think it’s important to know specific results people can achieve, even if it’s preluded with – now here’s an extraordinary result…

Of course I know that if I don’t read and use the material according to plan, it won’t work for me. That ‘s just plain commonsense in my opinion and should have nothing to do with “typical”.

I do have one question. What is the difference between a client testimonial and a satisfaction testimonial? Is it just about the specifics?
Thanks.

Hi Jim, I think l have been in internet marketing for as long as you and appreciate your webinar with rich from the FTC, no one likes change but as with the spam laws, we will eventually find ways to promote out products without upsetting too many people.

For me JIM l would have bought back your dog puppet and had a real go at rich…..if they have a real beef with the internet why don’t they give clear and precise statements and tell us this what you have to put on your salepages…..

I do a lot of review websites and as many people do use the content from amazon with their full permission and my sites just interupt and slot into the buying process….so how do we stand there? will they come after me or amazon as its their content l am using?

Does this also mean that the psychology of copywriting will have to change?

regards Pete

Thanks for doing the interview. It was incredibly obvious that the letter of the law really don’t matter. If they don’t like you they will sue you. If they do like you they will give you a pass.

Case in point. Rich made it clear that if you are Subway than the FTC considers Jarrod obviously not typical and therefore there not breaking the guidelines. But he later said if you are selling diet stuff online and the claims are obviously not typical, we will go after you!!!

What!?!

Listen, I am all for stopping deception. But when you can’t tell the truth about what actual people results are – the FTC is going too far.

Jim has always stoop head and shoulders above virtually every guru I have ever met.

Both he and his wife and honest, down to earth, friendly, genuine ‘people-people’

I spoke alongside Jim at a pitch-fest (Described as a seminar once) and he and Yanik Silver and Mike Stewert stood out as having a focus on helping people first and letting the money follow.

I have never forgotten that!

Jim
A big thanks and blessing to you. i like so many others have been trying to find the truth on the new ftc guidelines.
you could have charged money for this so again thank you.

i learned so much and never did but now i will never use income or testimonials. it is not worth the hassle and throws up a red flag. also i need to make sure now everywhere the disclosure on i will receive a commision…even videos.
Now i have good direction on what they want
Mahalo from Maui
Jing

Very helpful interview!! It cleared up a lot of confusion and scariness.
I am still unclear about the responsibility of an affiliate when promoting a product that has stuff on its sales site (testimonials, claims, endorsements) that are in violation.???

Thanks again Jim!!

I am trying to get the transcript of this webinar but can’t connect when I try to send the info. I have signed up for your updates. Can you send the transcript. Everyone seems so impressed with the information and the clear way you presented it. I just don’t want to miss reading it. Thanks, I will be following your site from now on.

Jim:

Thanks for the useful interview. Will it change deceptive marketing claims? I hope so.

As Rich eluded, there are those who strive to do the right thing the honest and ethical way. Then there are those who unknowingly cross the line.

I assert there is a sub category of that. There are those who are taught to do things that may cross the line and may be misled by the advice of the expert they pay to teach them.

My true hope is that the experts teaching others, especially for how to market information products, will take your lead to look at their own practices and how they comply and then teach their students to to do the same. Of course, in some cases that would require REAL disclosure to tell the students that these are the deceptive practices I used to hook you that I learned myself.

What will be interesting is if other experts will follow your lead. That is going to be the way the deceptive practices will really stop and will ensure responsible ethical behavior on the internet.

Then there are those who don’t care and cross the line all the time and laugh all the way to the bank until they get caught. And that is why we need the FTC to go after them. But the first line of defense against them are those who are marketing and teaching advertising.

Lots of information and very well presented in an interesting way.
I’m based in the UK but as you point out, websites are national and international.

Key point seems to be “If you are going to benefit – let people know.”

Guess that it’s all about disclosure.

Thank you, Jim for sharing this information. Your interview was very informative with questions that made it easy to understand the guidelines. Like you said it is all common sense. Honest people won’t have a problem with the guidelines.

I don’t understand all the fuss. If you’re honest, then you don’t usually try to deceive your customers. If you are deliberately deceiving people, well, you must not be …. (you fill in the blanks,)
So, the big bad government would like you to not deceive people – even a little bit. What’s the problem with that?
I thought it was a great interview. We should hope for more government employee’s of his caliber.

As a graphic web designer , I’m extremely glad to see that someone thought to post this topic.

All too many people out there just don’t understand what all is required in our industry, and I think also we’re many times underrated
or taken for granted. Never the less I’m immensely glad to see that you may feel the same way I do , thanks so much for this post!

One thing you have to understand now that the FTC is going after mainly “health” claims is that they are not regulating drug company’s the same way. Drug company’s are breaking laws by promoting untested drugs and they self regulate themselves? Not true. This is getting ridiculous that the FTC is regulating small business and driving them into the ground while large corporations with big lobbyists buy favor for their swine flu vaccine for instance. Was this not the biggest hoax played on American consumers, driven by the hysterical media TV networks every night with false drug information? People did not have the facts, the vaccine was and still is untested? Why on earth is the FTC not enforcing the “new Rules” on drug companies?
Its called corruption.

One other thing that I think needs to be mentioned. I don’t disagree that the internet marketing field is as corrupt as all get out, but the new FTC regs that are going to be imposed are just not the answer to the problem.

How about instead of making a new law that catches everyone in the net (honest and dishonest marketers alike), the FTC just goes after the scammers that are breaking dozens of business laws already?

There are already laws on the book that address the problems that the FTC says needs to be corrected.

One excuse the FTC has is that this regulation is needed because the ‘results may very’ reg didn’t work. Well duh!! Could that be because the FTC really didn’t enforce that regulation on a regular basis?

Case in point. Big Wig guru marketer Frank Kern. He had a product called ‘internet empires’ or something like that. Excuse me if I can’t remember the exact title. Anyways, ole’ Mr. Kern caught quite a bit of flak for the claims that he made on what could be earned with his ‘empires’ product, and deservidly so.

I know a lot of gurus and guru wanna be’s still worship the guy (don’t ask me why), but the point is, there was already a law covering exaggerated claims, and people do get in trouble when the FTC decides to take action.

The point being that there are already laws dealing with deceptive advertsing practices.

This new FTC regulation give new meaning to the word ‘redundant’.

Misato K.

“This does nothing but hurt good honest marketers.
Honest marketers will comply and the scammers will not and continue to hide from the FTC.
I am telling you right now, I WILL be reporting all non compliant blogs and sites who do not comply with the FTC Rules.”

You said it! Ever since this new regulation went into effect, I have not seen even a handful of the dishonest gurus change anything about their marketing practices, and they keep right on thumbing their noses at the FTC and everyone else, all the way to the bank.

I know how you feel, it makes me feel like doing the exact same thing. The only thing is that the FTC seems more intent on putting the small ma and pa markers in a vice than they do about cracking down on the real culprits.

Case in point:
Just what I said above. The scammers aren’t changing a thing and the FTC isn’t coming down on them.

Not as if the measly (not measly to us average joes, but measly to the big names) $11,000.00 fine would actually do anything to cause these crooks to change the way the do business anyways, and that’s another reason why this new regulation will not work.

The $11,000.00 fine is a joke.

Misato K.

Here is a chance for internet marketers, especially for internet marketing beginners who have no product of their own.

There are like about a gazillion ebooks on affiliate marketing, and so it surprises me that some IM guru hasn’t taken advantage of the opportunity to write and promote an affiliate marketing course on how to market as an affiliate and satisfy the FTC all without the affiliate’s converion rating taking a giant plunge downward.

At the moment, this doesn’t look very likely, which is why anyone who might figure out such a way, would probably make a ton of sales if they made an ebook on this exact problem.

I know that personally, this whole FTC thing has really taken it’s toll on the converion rates of your’s truly, and it isn’t because I can’t get traffic to my site, or don’t have a very good sales letter, or word has gotten around that I am a crook (because for one thing, I am not), or anything like that.

I finally started makin some really good income with affiliate marketing since about the middle of last year.

I am positive that it’s this new FTC regulation that has caused my conversion rates to take giant nose dive. This is even despite the fact that I am as honest a marketer as you’ll find, and that I never recommend anything that I haven’t personally benefited from myself, and also feel that people in my targeted demographic would benefit just as much.

Those are perhaps the two most important criteria that a given product or service must meet before I’ll even consider promoting it. I also issue any and all refunds to those who are not satisfied with whatever I am promoting, if they choose to ask for a refund, and unlike a lot of gurus, I don’t get bent out of shape when a customer want a refund.

Now, out of the blue, comes the FTC, and suddenly, it’s no longer enough to be honest and do right by your customers, Oh no. Now you have to basically give your customers and prospective customers the implication that you are a crook, and that you are only recommending something just to make a quick buck.

None of us honest marketers need the FTC to tell us to ‘behave’ so to speak. That’s just plain dumb and idiotic. Does the honest consumer need to be told not to steal? I don’t think so! That reason alone shows just how dumb this new regulation is.

This is why I think that any ebook that solves that problem would be a really big seller.

It would be nice if some average Joe came up with a course or ebook that would address solve this particular problem, but if not, surely a guru somewhere should be able to make something like this pay off big, if they are half the expert on marketing as they let on.

They know what to do. Create a buzz. Use the ‘fear’ marketing strategy (I personally don’t use this tactic. I think it is not a very honorable marketing tactic, but it is an effect marketing tactic) to promote this course or ebook, and maybe even a bonus ebook describing how to set up an online business that satisfies all the legal requirements.

There are a lot of affiliates that are very concerned and worried about the new FTC regulation, and in my opion, they have good reason to be.

I would think some really sharp guru out there might not have any problem at all milking this for all it’s worth.

Well anyway, it’s just a thought.

Yeah, it might be interesting to see who picks up the ball, so to speak. Like I said before, it is kind of interesting that no one has dones this already.

I know a lot of marketers are probably just trying to stay positive and not be alarmists or anything, but maybe the reason this hasn’t been jumped on already is because there isn’t no obvious solution to this problem.

If I could think of a solution, I might be very tempted to take on this project myself. =)

This is insane!

We now live in a country where mega-corporations can spend gazillions of dollars to sway an election and control the government, but bloggers and Internet marketers, one of the few bright spots in our pathetic economy, have to quake in their boots for fear the Feds will break down their door and drag them away.

God help us all.

Have you ever heard this?

“Guns don’t kill people, criminals kill people.”

Try this on for size:

“Internet marketers don’t defraud people, criminals defraud people.”

The problem with bureaucrats like Mr. Cleland (who BTW never made any disclosures about how much money he gets paid or whether his opinions were his own or those of the people who pay him) is that they find it FAR easier to harass honest people than they do to actually go after the bad guys.

This is blowing my mind. First of all, the wealth of information you just provided is a lot to take in. Question… what about these sites that sell “compliance products”? Is that the way to go to equip your site with the proper disclaimers and privacy policies… etc? What resource do you recommend when someone is building a site from scratch?

Hello Jim,

Thank you very much for this information it really helped me a lot and clarified many questions I had as a U.K Marketer!

It also introduced me to you and your business. Thats a good thing.

I will be reposting this link on my blog! Thanks Sean.

Hi Jim

Your video was perfect; it both allayed so much nervousness and also informed for future reference. We live in Denmark and the thought of going through U.S. guidelines was daunting. Thank you for sharing this and informing us in ‘human-speak’. God Bless.

“Internet marketers don?t defraud people, criminals defraud people.?

Hey, I like that one Kelly. Just too appropriate. ;D

Misato K.

The more I hear, the scarier it gets, and the more it doesn’t seem like it’s really the people or companies who committ fraud who the FTC is after.

Case in point: Ebooks. Now what about these little gems that were suppose to help all of us beginning internet marketers? For years we have been told ‘make and distribute an ebook’.

Well, now that there are thousands of those things out there, with almost all of them having anything to do with internet marketing, having affiliate links in them.

And now I hear that we are suppose to correct the links in all of those of get rid of them. THe only thing I could think of to that was “huh???”

How is one suppose to collect every copy their ebook to do that? Even if they could, how are they then suppose to stop those that have a copy of their ebook from distributing it?. And that’s just the tip of the iceburg, and it’s impossible, and this is where the little guy is going to get stung and not the real scammers.

And part of my revalation is already panning out to be true. Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed that for the most part, the big wig interent marketers haven’t changed any of their sales pages to comply with the new FTC regs?

They still have no disclaimer, or disclaimer link for things they are earning affiliate commissions on.

For every 100 guru sites you visit, you might see a couple that have changed, but for the most part, it’s the same old, same old. I have to give them credit for one thing. They also seem to know who this is going to effect and who it isn’t going to effect. They sure show no signs of FTC fear or concern. They know who can thumb their nose at the FTC and who can’t.

Jim,

thank you so much for this informative and insightful interview!
this certainly clears up any questions that I had.

Thanks for the heads up on this matter. I am newbie in the field of marketing on the web and this is definitely good news.

Thank you Jim! This interview was really helpful. I especially loved the way you asked the ‘what if’ questions to get even more clarity. Thank you so much for providing this information! ~ Vicki

Thanks Jim. I am located in New Zealand and have been prety much disclosing as best i can hoping i comply. Your reording really sums up what the FTC regs are all about. Be honest and you will succeed and not get into trouble with FTC. It is all about honesty!! Well done matey. i love your website and it’s content. Cheers from down under