Heard of the New FTC Rules? You Absolutely Need To Read This Right Now!
Yes, that title was a little long, but I wanted to make sure that I had your attention. As almost all of you may be aware ( or should be, at least ) yesterday new FTC laws came into effect concerning the use of testimonials and endorsements in advertising. Lots of the new laws directly affect internet-based marketers, so I determined to go directly to the source to see precisely what this would imply for me ( and for you, my readers ).
I went to http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2009/10/endortest.shtm and basically read through the entire 12 page guide especially the Fed. Trade Commission sixteen CFR Part 255 Guides Concerning the utilization of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising. Here are the highlights as they pertain to us online marketers :
first there’s the problem of endorsements. The FTC specifically states that endorsements must reflect the truthful viewpoints, discoveries, beliefs, or experience of the endorser. This part may seem pretty easy, but how they outline that ‘honesty’ has some big ramifications about how it’s possible for you to write your sales copy or other advertising or promotion pieces.
The massive term that the FTC is using is substantiation of representations conveyed. What this implies is that you need to be able to prove ( and back up ) any claims you make. Which I have always told you to do, but what’s modified is what they consider evidence. While Ihave always used real examples for my explanation, I ( and everyone else ) would naturally choose the best results out of the bunch to spotlight. It’s a natural thing to do.
But now, no longer can you say, about a weight loss product, for example, Lose 20 pounds in 2 weeks! just because one of your customers did. Now, any claims you make have to be representative of the average experience of the user, not the phenomenal ones. And you can’t just cover your butt with a results not typical disclaimer, either the FTC has deemed that disclaimers did not adequately scale back the communication the experiences outlined are usually representative. In English, that means that even if you assert that results aren’t classic in details, it does not change the incontrovertible fact that you’re giving the impression in the big giant title that everyone could lose 20 pounds in 2 weeks.
Keep reading the rest about New FTC Regulations…
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