FTC Guidance Dramatically Impacts Endorsements and Testimonials

The new FTC guidance regarding the use of endorsements and testimonials in your product and service promotions can profoundly impact your business model.  It will serve you well to look into this in depth.

Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer, and am in no way either endorsing nor providing a testimonial regarding the new FTC guidance, nor is this pretending to be in any way a legal interpretation of the guidance.  To insure your personal compliance, I strongly recommend that you consult with an attorney who is expert in the interpretation and application of FTC regulations regarding your particular business.

The new FTC guidance release is excerpted below.  You can read the entire 80 or so pages of the Text of The Federal Register Notice here.

The apparent bottom line implications for network, internet  and affiliate marketers are that we now must be far more careful about the use of claims in our review endorsements and the testimonials we employ.  The use of testimonials are especially problematic.

For example, the simple use of  a “Results not Typical” disclaimer for testimonials no longer provides a “safe harbor” as noted in the 3rd paragraph of the release.  Now, if we employ testimonials claiming ‘not typical’ results, we must apparently also include a verifiable disclosure of exactly what is typical.   How are we supposed to know that?   Are testimonials no longer a viable promotional tool?

The 4th paragraph summarizes the new guidance on revealing the “material connections” between endorsers and advertisers.  Basically, any blogger or internet marketer must clearly reveal what and how they stand to gain from any endorsement and/or review of a product.   If you are an affiliate marketer, you must evidently be totally up front with that fact, making it very clear that you stand to profit monetarily in whatever way from your endorsement of a product.

So, I recommend that you take action now to consult with your attorney, if need be, and to thoroughly review your “terms of sale” and “disclaimer notices” to insure compliance.  The FTC is clearly not an agency you want to have to deal with.

The really simple definition of eCommerce is “the electronic exchange of goods or services.”   Given some degree of experience in online marketing, you could actually make some money as a consultant to business owners by teaching them the fundamentals of e commerce.

For example, you could use a website that you have already set up for e-commerce to demonstrate the principles of e commerce.  There are likely to be number of small businesses in your area who do not yet have an Internet presence, and you could become a consultant to them.

Local Small Business Market

It would be relatively simple to make direct contact with the owners small businesses to discuss with them how they can benefit from a presence online.  Their presence could be as simple as offering information about their products or services to prospective customers, even if they don’t intend to sell the products through use of the Internet.

Most localized to small businesses have an established and routine customer base.  However, in order to survive over the long term, they knew need to continually bring in new customers.  Establishing a presence online, which is targeted at needs and people who are local to the business is a key way of establishing a greater local presence in the minds of consumers.

Use Your Knowledge

You can use what you know about search engine optimization and Internet marketing to put together an offer of services that adds value in several ways to these businesses for which you can charge a fee.  Basically, you could prepare an online marketing and business plan that would enable the business owner to establish a presence on the Internet.  That would attract new customers, your.

If you haven’t done this kind of thing before, it’s understandable you may be reluctant to do so or feel that you’re unqualified.  However, consider that there are literally hundreds of turnkey e-commerce packages available.

Affiliate Marketing Plus Consulting

A business owner can purchase an all-in-one package including Web hosting, ready-made advertising, along with all of the information about how to establish their website and achieve high search engine ranking.  These packages generally include extensive software packages that simplify the technology.  It would be relatively easy to serve as a consultant to help the business owner installed such as package.

Given a basic understanding of e-commerce, along with the ability to convey the benefits of e-commerce over regular commerce, you can play very valuable role as a consultant to small business owners who elect to require such e-commerce packages.

Many if not most of these all-in-one e-commerce packages are sold through affiliate marketing.  Basically, the developers of these packages make them available for promotion through a team of affiliates who are paid commissions for each sale.

The idea is simply to select one of these packages to learn, promote, and then teach its use and implementation.  You would then be able to profit from both the commission on the sale of the package, as well as any consulting fees that you may be able to charge your client.

A great ecommerce package to promote is described in detail at GVOCom.Org. This great all-in-one solution combines web hosting, email marketing, online video production, video conferencing, lead generation and all the training you’d ever need to become a consultant as well as a reseller online marketing services.

What is the Affiliate Commission Ritual?

This is an affiliate internet marketing tip on how to effectively make money online with web affiliate programs.

Here is a question for you:

“Who would you rather get advice from regarding something you are interested in purchasing…. a salesman, or an advisor?”

Imagine the typical fast talking used car salesman with the gaudy clothes. Does he inspire trust? Doesn’t this sound a little bit like the typical online product vendor with the slick sales letter rife with wild claims, questionable sales results, and often made up testimonials?

Would you rather buy from the car salesman who is trying to sell only one car, and doing his best to convince you that the one car he is offering is the absolute best one for your needs.

Alternatively, wouldn’t you rather purchase from someone who is a credible advisor and expert who is willing to equally review all brands and offer flexible solutions to your needs?

How to Win with Web Affiliate Programs

The first key to the affiliate commission ritual and establishing a true residual income affiliate program is to position yourself as a knowledgeable and respected advisor who:

• Has spent hundreds of hours becoming an expert
• Really has the interest of customer prospects at heart
• Is truly anxious to help people understand how best to fulfill their needs.

The second key is to differentiate yourself from your competition is by offering something of truly added value

The Fishing Worm Salesman Example

Let’s say a couple of young boys are trying to make summer spending money by selling fishing worms down by the river. Each of them is selling fishing worms and 3 dollars per can. There generally isn’t much difference between worms, so when they are both price the same, what would make one offer different from the other to compel your buying choice between vendors?

One could use the “local worm” tactic buy claiming that his worms were dug up nearby and that somehow the fish preferred and were much more familiar with local worms and would enable you to catch more fish. Does that sound particularly credible to you?

A great alternative strategy might be to produce and provide a no cost map that shows the top 10 best places to fish. As you can see, the free map positions the fishing worm supplier as a local expert who is truly offering something of value that may be 10x the actual price of the worms alone.

Add Value to the Vendor’s Offer in Three Ways

So, maybe it is becoming clear. To succeed in an affiliate online business, you need to position yourself as respected counselor that can add value to whatever the vendor is offering in three ways:

1. By helping the customer navigate through an ocean of choices and sales tactics
2. By providing more added value to the customer than if they were buying straight from the vendor, and
3. By doing both of the above better than your affiliate competitors.

Clearly, there is much money to be made online by working as an affiliate marketer for products offered by others. The idea is to establish a position for yourself with your clients the the trusted counselor and letting the product vendor do the hard selling. Many more affiliate internet marketing tips can be found at Commision Ritual Revealed.

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Category: Internet and Businesses Online: Affiliate Revenue

Tags: commission ritual,review,affiliate marketing,affiliate commission,internet marketing tip