Internet Marketing, Blogging, And The FTC
So you want to start a blog to promote a product, recommend a service, or eventually attract advertisers who may want you to review their products and services.
Ladies and gents, say hello to big brother.
The FTC has announced that it will be watching blogs for “product reviews” and appropriate disclaimers. In other words, be very, VERY careful about what you write about and what you state.
For instance, if you write about a weight loss product, the standard “results not typical” MAY NOT WORK as a legitimate disclaimer. So if you write a story about someone losing 50 lbs, writing this:
“Results not typical. Individual results may vary.”
may not cut it. Nope….Big Brother takes it one step further. They want you to state what typical results are for anyone who purchases the product.
In fact, Frank Kern has a humorous post on what the FTC wants.
Now…I respect the intentions of what the FTC is trying to do. I mean, its really freakin’ easy to put up a website, a few false testimonials, and sell a product.
Real easy.
But…..
There are a lot of bloggers out there that build network marketing companies. Are they going to have to point to their companies earning disclaimers on every post?
What about traditional companies or the owners who use a blog to communicate great things about their company. What disclosures do they need?
The bottom line is, government control can be taken too far. This may be one of those great examples which causes an industry to have to rethink how it operates…..some for the good, some for the bad.
Which makes me write….results not typical when reading this post. Most who read my junk do absolutely nothing and wonder why they are not growing as Internet marketers, network marketers, or entrepreneurs.
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