My 2 cents on the new law…
October 10, 2009 by fladlien
Filed under Uncategorized
A certain three letter US agency has announced that on December 1st, new laws will go into place regarding using testimonials, claims and endorsements in advertisements.
Now, I’m not a lawyer, so don’t take the following as legal advice. Actually, when I was born God made me allergic to becoming a lawyer, so you don’t have to worry about that. Like anything, do your due diligence. I’m just offering my commentary on the matter.
From my understanding, the old law with testimonials is you could lead with the people who got great results, as long as you put a simple disclaimer under them that says ‘results not typical, yours may vary’ or something to that effect.
With the new law, any time you disclose a results based testimonial, you also have to disclose what the average person’s results were. Exactly how you go about determining average is, of course, wildly vague - so who knows?
Here’s how I plan to change my business to take these new laws into account.
First, when using testimonials I will be using “character based” testimonials, and completely get rid of “results based” testimonials. It sucks, but I think it’s necessary to do this.
So I’ll run testimonials that says “Jason is a caring, down to earth person…” or “Jason’s support is great…”, things of that nature.
I will be using more video. Why? Because the written word lacks certain abilities to use sarcasm, humor, and light-heartedness that you can do in video.
So if I explain in video “what the average user can expect” I can do so in a way that is so incongruent with the message, that when I disclose average, it will have little to no impact on my sales message.
I will use more hypnotic language patterns and NLP in my sales copy – focusing more on creating and anchoring certain emotional states in the reader, than on proof, testimonials, etc.
I will be using more $1 trials, so I don’t need as much copy to sell it, and focus more on the quality of product as the sales device.
I will up my customer support to another level. Here’s the thing about these government alphabet agencies – they only respond to the “squeaky wheel”. They have no time to go out and police everyone.
So the ones that get the most complaints are the ones they investigate.
What this means: I will be hiring a full time staff person just to call people on the phone after placing their orders to make sure everything is okay. I will have “live” IM chat support at least 8 hours a day during business hours.
While nothing you can do will completely eliminate complaints (there are a lot of unreasonable people out there!) hopefully it will cut back on them enough to “fly below the radar.”
The other thing I’m going to be doing is expanding more into tiny, little niches that only do $2,000 to $3,000 a month – that way, again I can make a good amount of money without becoming “famous” in any one niche.
These are just some of the things that I will be doing to best handle the new changes that loom on the horizon.
If you think that you’re an honest person with a quality product and run an ethical business, and that’s all you need to be safe – you’re dead wrong.
This law isn’t about honesty. Every testimonial I’ve ever used was honest. It’s about “typical”. There’s a difference. While it’s my not my responsibility beyond giving you what you need to guarantee your results (YOU have to apply it!) I am liable for you now under the new laws.
Think a high quality product will save you? Think again. High quality is subjective. Day in and day out I’ll get one person demanding a refund saying my product sucked, and 10 minutes letter someone will email me saying that same product was the best product they’ve ever purchased.
I’ve heard people criticize Mother Theresa, Martin Luther King, Gandhi, etc. If they find fault in them, surely it’s easy to find fault in us marketers.
Let’s call a spade or spade. You are in the direct marketing business. There are a lot of scam artists in this business. You’re guilty by association. The public looks down on you, even though you are the backbone of the economy.
You don’t get in this game to win rewards and gain respect. You do it because you know you can provide immense value to a large number of people, and in return you can be rewarded greatly for providing that value.
So you can’t wear rose colored glasses. You must learn to adapt with the times and the laws. Reagan used to say “trust, but cut the deck anyway” That’s how you run your business.
Deliver high quality products. Be honest. Run your business ethically. But also operate it as if someone has made it their sole duty to find a way to persecute you. Because they have.
Adapt to it – take your precautionary measures now, so you’ll be less likely to find yourself trying to win a battle in court while all your assests are frozen and the general public looks down on you like you’re a petty criminal.
There’s your cup of sunshine for the day! 
Please reply to this post with your comments and thoughts.
Thanks!
Jason “I’m not a lawyer nor do I play one on youtube” Fladlien
Jason I knew you would figure out a good way around these new laws, I’m interested to see your new sales pages…
The only good thing out of this is less over hyped sales pages, less scammers, and less competition(I’m not sure if that’s a good thing though)
All the best,
Jeff Bode
“But also operate it as if someone has made it their sole duty to find a way to persecute you. Because they have…..”
Had never thought about that as a fact – yep and they’ll be lots of them policing an ever growing global sea of affiliate marketers. Pretty depressing when you consider what some of the so-called regulated and un-regulated financial sectors have done to the world economy.
Hey ho – that’s life, live learn and evolve.
Jason,
Timely post! We’re all concerned about losing opportunity in our marketplace. But this isn’t about the government or bureaucrats, it’s about big businesss — big business that buys K Street lobbyiests. The governement doesn’t really have a dog in this fight; they don’t do marketing. The only role the government is supposed to play is advocacy for the consumer and in that they are to set up “fair and workable” rules. Big business on the other hand has plenty to lose when any of us has success. We are in direct competition in marketplaces that are already mature. They have large legal staffs that carefully posture their mass market advertisements. The finger prints of big business lobbying the FTC are all over these new rules. Big Business doesn’t have to use testimonials, they have already established brands in thier marketplaces that don’t require them to do anything more than hammer home thier messages with repetitive advertisemenst that either humor us or appeal to our sense of envy. Small business has to find traction in these same marketplaces, which of course large business doesn’t like. If you’ve read your Schumpeter, you know all about how small business eventuall inovate large businesses out of their market place control. So the real question here is which lobbyiests were involved and which large companies are paying for those lobbyiests? Remember, we are the enemy in every marketplace that we enter. We are at the cutting edge of new technology and thusly the rabble that big business would like to illiminate in order to protect their marketplace.
Obviously, I agree with William (Post #18) about responsibility versus the herd mentality that seems to be the path of least resistance that too many people take.
And I also agree with Vijay (Post #17) from a purely logical point of view. Though an honest and well respected marketer is more likely to produce or recommend a good product rather than a bad one, that in itself says nothing at all about the offered product’s suiability to any given buyer’s situation. Even the best executed product offered by the most scrupulous marketer can still fail to meet the actual needs of a particular customer who carefully follows the accompanying directions and makes every effort to use it properly. (Thus, a strong guarantee far outweighs the testimony of “character witnesses.”)
So, we still have to warn even the 6% who actually “open the box” as Michael Craig (Post #35) mentions. (The other 94% certainly should be warned, of course — but will they bother to read and truly understand the warning, no matter how well it is worded, wherever it is placed, and however large the font used to display it? Clearly, we cannot control that factor.)
The only real defense, then, is to comply with these new FTC rules (however flawed) while concentrating on delivering as much quality and value to the customer as possible relative to what we are asking in payment for our offering. In short, follow Frank Kern, Craig Garber, and others wise enough to put value first. That this principle works for them is quite evident in their success.
Then, as Jason suggests, be sure your customer service matches that high standard. If you cheerfully enough refund those who ask, they still might buy something else from you later. (You can always eventually ban the few habitual refunders, as such thieves are not your market.)
1. On the surface, the essence of the government agency’s message here is the same one that wise parents have been giving to their children for ages: “Just because all your friends want to jump off the cliff (go to Z, or do Y), does that mean you should also?”
The point is that no two people are the same (are facing truly identical circumstances with truly identical skills, strength, resolve, intellect, knowledge, perseverance, prior constraints, etc.). So, it matters not at all that X number of people reported good (or even bad) results, since you as a unique individual may well do far worse (or far better). In short, “social proof” is neither scientific proof nor logical proof — indeed is not “proof” at all, since it ignores myriad variables that could affect the outcome.
Virtually all failure occurs because some critical element is missing, and the probability of such a missing piece is far greater than the likelihood that every single necessary factor will be present — just because of the sheer number of variables involved. On the other hand, virtually all success occurs in those relatively few cases where all the key elements really do happen to coincide. That’s why the poor will always outnumber the rich, and very few of us will end up revered worldwide by future generations of strangers, as are, for example, Leonardo da Vinci or Benjamin Franklin (of course not intended as an exhaustive list).
While the new rules may seem to be “punishing” internet marketers, they are really intended to warn against (accidentally or otherwise) misleading the less educated and less mindful website visitors who, though it may well be their own fault, will fail and later cry “Foul!” In that sense, the new rules protect both marketers and those who buy their wares.
Modifying marketing behavior, as so well suggested in your post, Jason, certainly would be prudent, then.
2. Beneath the surface, however, there is something else afoot here — namely, just one more in a series of seemingly unimportant “baby steps” towards abridgement of free speech and press, fundamental freedoms set forth in the First Amendment to the U.S Constitution. Notice that the new rules are very specific in what they are banning (and what the penalties may be), yet completely (and likely deliberately) vague about how “typical” is to be defined and measured — because, of course, it simply cannot be measured in any practical way.
Here we have one more example of an already bloated and financially overextended government trying to make itself look needed by meddling in commerce under the guise of “protecting” the populace from evil marketers trying to sell them solutions to problems for which they’ve been asking (even begging) for help.
And why are so many (particularly American) people too dumb to separate hype from fact in total ignorance of “caveat emptor” (”let the buyer beware”)? Just look at what our government-run schools have become over the last few decades. Specifically, look at how our “history” books have degenerated into (increasingly socialist) opinion rather than documented fact, and how we are graduating wave after wave of students who couldn’t make change if the cash register at the convenience store where they work failed, and who can’t turn out anything with fully correct spelling — even with a spell-checker in operation — because no one knows how or even cares to proofread anymore — not even people with advanced college degrees who are writing papers in their professional fields.
Now, for those of you who think this is just an American problem, consider this. Who sets the standard when the once-revered standard setter ceases to do so? If freedom of speech is lost in the U.S., supposedly the strongest nation in the world, do you really believe it will not start slipping away where you are too (if it hasn’t already)?
Then ask yourself, what kind of human progress is possible where free communication — and ultimately thought itself — is curtailed? Is that the world you want for your children and theirs?
So, putting this (admitted rant) together with Jason’s well-considered new business strategy, do one more prudent thing: Don’t be the frog in the gradually heating pan until you’re scalded to death. Keep a watchful eye on your freedoms, lest your internet marketing career and all that you hope goes with it slowly slip out from under your feet until you have nowhere to stand.
yes, i agree with the video sarcasm and that we all, as professional marketers, should be policing each other.
the trouble is, we make friends, want to do jv’s and before too long, the money takes over our senses. this is what i think (partly) leads to all the “great” testimonies. I never really believed them anyway. Most of them are scripted, from what i’ve been told and read. If not scripted, then edited to say what is good for the creator of the product.
As far as our “smart’ government is concerned, i’m with Doug & Ron. The FDA, FTC, IRS, so on & so on…they will always do their best to take as much as they can from us “little’ folks so they can fund their own interests like the war and oil. Oops..did i say Oil? God knows ThAT’s Not why we’re STILL in IRAQ & Afghanistan. Are we still looking for WMD?
I think that this FTC ruling is covering up whats going on somewhere in our wonderfully run government. Take the focus off themselves, ya’ know. Any Government agency, despite trying to do what THEY think is right, will ALWAYS screw things up 10fold.
One of the reasons so many people have the “welfare’ mindset, is because we see our government, with all the polies having the money, screwing over anyone they want, whenever they want. Seeing this for one’s lifetime, can only set in our mind that we don’t ever want to be like them. Therefore, we don’t want all that money and power. It’s looked upon as evil. TV shows are just as responsible for this also.
Ultimately, we are responsible for ourselves..but only once we come to realize and accept that we are responsible for ourselves.
Anyone coming to the US to better their lives..think long and hard….
anything you make legally, our government will find a way to take as much of it as they can.
Thank you..
I’m done..
enjoy your weekend!
Jason, absolutely loved the post , however, . . . results not typical.
I also think that you hit it on the nose when you said “If you think that you’re an honest person with a quality product and run an ethical business, and that’s all you need to be safe – you’re dead wrong” Many people will rest an that fact alone and unfortunately will fall victim to the “new” law. . . results typical! I applaud you in your effort to conform to the changes and I appreciate you giving us some ideas that we can also implement these strategies in our online businesses as well . . . you got it, . . . results not typical!!!
I like what you say about the average results thing – the fact that you can inject an element of sarcasm if you use video. Nice idea!
Jason, you made some good points. Very similar to what Frank Kern had to say. Rightly or wrongly, many are guilty by association. I personally know some very large companies that do this all the time and they are big time scams. Check our Chris Malta’s scambuster road trip and you’ll see what I mean. The small print disclaimer gets overlooked when the hype is those rare few that have been inorditantely successfull. Cheers!
Thanks for the update, Jason. I hadn’t heard about this. It’s something that will affect everyone a little bit – some more than others. All we can do is go with the flow, like it or lump it. Thanks again. Deb
“Results” type testimonials can be so easily faked that many don’t believe them anyway. Since it is almost impossible in a subjective business such as ours to determine the “average” result, I think your approach of just giving the subjective feedback is best anyway. The guarantee that allows folks to return what they don’t like takes care of the rest of it.
Jason;
Great post by the way, I understand that there is room for improvement in this area. However, I really don’t know if it should be from the government, weather it be city, state, or country. I believe most of them are corrupted anyway. Case in point, Here in our nice little town of Medford, Oregon, We have a truck stop and this truck stop was established years ago (1940’s) and still is established and doing business, not as much. Now, you could get food, drink, showers, fuel and your truck worked on, if need be. This place was packed all the time, Thriving business, until 3 years ago.
So about 5 years ago someone in the City Department decided they wanted to re-build the overpass, The overpass was built right along side the truck stop with very good access. Easy in an out for the truckers, off the freeway. So they went to him and offered him some money to sell his business. He said no, he was fine the way he was. I can’t remember, if he took them to court or they took him to court. Anyway, they lost and he was able to keep his business, So he thought? Now, the guy in the City Department wasn’t very happy about the outcome. He had the overpass re-built, cutting off any easy access to the truck stop. So you could still see the traffic (rubbing it in his face, I guess) But, the only access to get to the truck stop now, is through a bunch of hoops, per say.
So now it takes to long for the truckers to just stop in and get what they need that they go down the road to a different stop. You go by there now and there is hardly anyone there. Now, What give the person in the City Department the right to Kill This Mans business just because, he didn’t get his way in the first place. If the shoes was on the other foot he sure would not be happy……..I see this everywhere, with people that have power. They don’t stop to think about the other person and their life. Because, they just don’t care…..They are Me….Me.. people………These are the people that need to be regulated and watched………
Sorry, for the long post. I hear these things and it’s like the old saying “People in glass houses should not through stones” . As far as I am concerned any government, be city, state, or country has as much, if not more glass then any of us.
Where the Heck is “We The People”"For The People”"By The People”
Thanks for sharing you views on this matter.
Ron Martin
Thanks for the heads-up Jason. “Typical results” is the most idiotic idea to come down the pipe. I guess if we are to be totally honest, we must say “The typical results of our customers is that 94% will never open the box (or book, etc), and therefore will get no benefits at all.” Sad but true. This would actually could framed in such a way where they get the message “Be one of the 6% who DO open the box!”
The whole point is that the people who think we are living in a free country need to think again. The law makers need to find ways to justify what keeps them in public office. This is over regulation at its best. The worst part is that in my years on this earth I have seen absolutely (0) good come of this kind of protectionism. This will be no different. The term sales is treated as a crime these days. And I am one who is sick and tired of this kind of interference with a so called free society that is acting like a dictatorship.
This law will be completely unenforceable for 99% of online marketers. It’s just another case of American lawmakers trying to throw their weight around the world, telling us that we need to listen to ‘them’ or else!
Frankly, it’s a load of piffle. Certain agencies, the key ones that matter these days have a lot more to worry about on a huge number of other key corporate regulations – than spending time on this utter ridiculousness.
I just don’t see the point putting the cat amongst the pigeons, trying to scare the general populace online with this kind of bunkum.
Just another American quango, pen pushers – who havn’t done a decent and honest days work in their lives — except to come up with utterly daft regulations that practically no-one will ever take notice of.
For the massive majority of online marketers, the chances of someone coming after you waving a big stick, getting their knickers in a twist, just because of a few testimonial boxes on your website, well for once, words fail me – how utterly absurd.
It’s a complete load of tripe, a complete load of codswallop.
There’s more chance of winning the national lottery than anything like this happening for real.
No offense Jason but it’s ok to promote yourself to appear like an authority figure, expert, but come now matey … do you honestly think that other countries, online marketers – are really honestly going to give a flying stuff about this?
It’s just a load of hot air, heads puffed up, trying to appear more important than one actually is.
Come back down to earth mate. Get your head out the clouds, you really aren’t THAT important.
The powers that be don’t give a flying stuff about you or anyone else – online marketing efforts, especially the use of testimonial boxes.
Don’t you think they have more important things to think about than this?
This kind of nanny state, policing of the whole world mentality by America to the rest of the world by majority, is just plain laughable.
Jason, how about changing testimonials to Case Studies? Can anyone outlaw case studies?
Cheers,
Mary Greene
Jason,
As always, you provide a sound approach to a subject that has the potential to cause fear that leads to inactivity. Thanks for talking about what you plan on doing. This post is worth $$$!
Warmly,
Theresa
Jason,
Great post as well as all the others. I like to quote Bill Mahr from a few years back, who stated ( maybe not EXACTLY in this way )
“America is NOT a free country. We Are FREE-ER than other countries, but we are NOT FREE.”
The FTC, FDA, are simply corrupt government agencies, as most of our government is, out to get the “little” guys so that their pockets can keep being filled by the huge corporations that I feel, actually run our government. ” By the people, for the people”..I think NOT.
I’m just calling, A spade, A Spade.
This is my opinion.
Jason,
Disclaimers aside (not being a lawyer etc.) this is a great piece of advice. One of the problems our wonderful internet brings up is that you just can’t please everyone all the time.
Even different countries will react differently to the same stuff. This does start to provide some good practical pointers for like-minded folks in the knowledge-product world.
Keep it up,
Martin
Jason,
I’ve never really been a big fan of testimonials on a sales page because of IMer’s using it as a marketing tactic for their own websites and getting traffic back to them. With that approach I’ve questioned many of the testimonials and have really started not reading or taking them into consideration on whether or not to purchase a product.
I think building a strong sales funnel with lower end products are going to be even more important to show the customer that you are legit and can deliver results to their problems they desperately are trying to solve. Then of course moving them up the ladder….etc.
Jason this a a”great” post. Thanks for sharing your insights to this crackdown and more importantly what action steps you plan to do! I think every action I have ever taken based on you advise has worked well. Of course, your results may vary, and the average person’s results suck cuz they watch too much boob-tube…
What you say makes a lot of sense. I’ll do further checking and get back to you later.
Nothing like the Gov to help us “idiots” regulate ourselves!
They stand as the highest moral compass for us to follow…
Give me liberty or give me wealth!
Hey Jason,
Great post. Actually I,ve been seeing this on several blogs this week. I haven’t actually seen the ***’s report, but it isn’t just about testimonials. To my understanding, anyone promoting an affiliate product will also have to disclose that on the page where they are advertising. IE: “Hey, this is someone else’s product, so click here so that I can make a quick 50 bucks off you”. So to those that think they won’t be affected in any way, if you are in affiliate marketing, you will be. Just my 2 cents worth. Oh, and I’m not a lawyer either! :0
Thanks for the heads up for everyone,
Robert
Jason,
Fabulous post!
Thanks for chiming in on this important topic. I understand that it’s human nature to “bury one’s head in the sand” and down-play the possible impact of a piece of news like this since it changes so much about the way we’ve done business.
At the same time, I have the point of view that it’s always better to be aware; when I minimize stuff that is uncomfortable to face, it usually comes back to bite me in the ass.
Thanks for sharing your personal strategies for how you plan to attend to your biz in relation to this new ruling.
You’re the best!
Weny
Hi Jason, I agree with you 100%! But then, it seems to be a rather obvious pattern lately doesn’t it? The government is putting more time and effort into governing over business (especially the lucrative industries!) than governing the people!
Anyway, I wanted to let you know that I have only been on the Internet for approximately 3 months and I have purchased ALOT of products and training courses and memberships. I find that the products you promoteare a VERY good deal, especially for the price! I mean seriously goo deals! Thanks again for the deals (I’m here today because I was checking your products!) from a total “newbie” AND new Internet Marketer,
SirBertram T. Heath Sr.
Thanks Jason. Quality info as always. I like the fact that you shared some of the things you will actually do. It helps get the wheels turning.
See ya!
In the warrior forum. when someone says why something won’t work just because he/she doesn’t like it. Paul Myers used to chime in and say ‘You are not the market’ nothing can be certain until you test.
Those who hath ears let them hear.
Recently on a training webinar someone mentioned Jason. The moderator (Pat O’Bryan( said that he hadn’t heard of him and I said (just in case the FTC is reading this, I actually typed my response because I was muted), “Jason is phenomenal.”
Now I’m certainly “not” a friend of Jason’s. I doubt that he’d give me the time of day.
But I have purchased his products (a lot of them) and I have dealt with Mary Jo, his support person, and based on this I feel that he is phenomenal.
As these are US agency regulations, I’m guessing (hoping) they don’t apply to those of us lucky enough to live in the free world
.
I think it all sounds a bit crazy. What are you supposed to publish on your sales page now?
“Although the content of this product gives you all the information you need to enable you to earn a substantial income, in reality, 95% of people that purchase it will never act on the information provided and therefore they will not earn a cent as a result of buying this product. Consequently, the average person will not profit from owning this product. For this reason, we strongly encourage you to strive to be above average!”
(Due to lack of video, you may not have noticed that this comment contains some intentional humor, sarcasm and light-heartedness)
Caveat emptor (let the buyer beware), it’s a libertarian thing to do. Reagan: “Trust, but verify”. To which, I agree. Having said that, let me ask you a question, Jason: what would you do if you were the FTC? You have outlined some steps you are taking yourself and recommending that others take, and those are good ideas (like a previous poster said, ones I haven’t seen in other places, and that’s what I like to see which makes me pay attention to your emails). Others like Frank Kern have done a similar type of statement, also good. In a business like direct marketing, where scams are prevelant, it’s in the best interest of ethical businesspeople to comply with voluntary standards that give consumers a way to “trust, but verify”. For example, opt-in email with unsubscribe links on every email sent out. It doesn’t stop spam, but it gives consumers a standard by which they can identify and choose to do business with ethical businesspeople and avoid the scams. In the absence of some way for consumers to verify the validity of testimonials, in an industry that is unable to self-police to prevent the con artists from scamming many people out of many dollars, then you should expect regulators to step in and impose rules. It would be refreshing to hear honest and intelligent direct marketers like yourself say as much, rather than the usual knee jerk reaction that the lawyers and regulators suck. Ignoring a real problem doesn’t make it go away. The best course of action is for ethical private businesspeople to come together and try to come up with ways to self-police and prevent the problems in a way that gives consumers a way to “trust, but verify” and take the legs out from under the lawyers and regulators who will inevitably show up and spend alot of taxpayers’ money with rules that usually create 5 new problems for every 1 problem they attempt to fix. Long post, sorry, but you struck a nerve in my libertarian brain that says “with freedom comes responsibility”.
As (I guess) the FTC is a US government body- how will this affect non US marketers?
Would appreciate some feedback if anybody knows!
The whole FTC move on this is a clarification, rather than new law, and personally I don’t find a problem with it. The testimonial aspect of marketing has been grossly abused in the recent past and it really was time to clear out the garbage.
As character testimonials are nice, but fairly superfluous (would any marketer ever put up a bad character testimonial!), I think we’ll see them die the death as well, and get back to good old copywriting and stating the benefits.
The really bad side in all of this though is that we’re rapidly moving to a point where it will become very difficult to give ANY performance statements in a sales piece without having to use a mass of small print results.
Thank heavens for blog comments (hint, hint…)
Great post Jason. One thing that’s not clear to me, as a non-US marketer, is exactly how this affects me? Does this apply to anyone selling to US residents, or do local laws still take precedence?
“Hi! We’re from the government, and we’re here to help!”
If you ever hear that for ANY reason – run for cover and make sure the 6 in thick steel door closes tightly!!!
Stay tuned – DC has been the grammy winning stupid opera for the last (several) decade(s), and will continue to create award winning performances in that area.
(HR 2749 + S 510 “Food Safety” – HR 3200 – healthcare “reform” – mandated squalene containing H1N1 Flying Pig Flu vaccines) – and they even created a Nobel Peace Prize category for rhetoric!!!)Check ‘em out on Thomas.gov
They don’t like OUR testimonials, cause their’s ain’t so swell…
In the meantime – comment places like this, your own forum or discussion board and such like are still off limits to the morons in Washington… So long as you do not lead your customers.
“GPT” sites have a “proof” page in their forums, and those have not been specifically addressed. People are encouraged to post (with identifying info blacked, of course!) actual payouts. And, their “current earnings” are available ON their referral banners, if requested. Since they are not testimonials as such, I wonder how Congress will react if we move in THAT direction?
Granted, this might be for insiders only, but its a simple tweak to the script to allow visitors to read instead of granting full access prior to joining/buying. It would also simultaneously boost customer service several notches, another plus for the business owner.
It would, however, make servicing 1000 mini-sites per owner a thing of the past in most cases.
The other thing they cannot touch is “tell a friend” and such like – it would be wise to change the script to use only the user’s own words instead of having them pre-written, though.
Govt agencies and Congress are starting to make a lying Pinnochio look more like a Raggedy Andy…
Sue
Jason –
You have marvelous way of getting to the practical heart of the matter! Thank you.
I’m pondering whether asking testimonial givers to tweak their language along the lines of “By using Linda’s XYZ process, I was able to ____________” which make it clear that they needed to take the actions and the responsibility, it addresses the matter? I reads differently to me than “as a result of Linda’s product I got ABC result”?
Linda -
Good post Jason…. I would like to know more about…
I will use more hypnotic language patterns and NLP in my sales copy – focusing more on creating and anchoring certain emotional states in the reader
Sounds interesting!
I’m still wondering how they are going to enforce this on the whole world of internet marketers. How can they tell some guy in another country to follow US laws? Who’s going to check all the millions of abandoned Blogger sites to make sure they comply? This is going to be a mess, for them, as well as for us.
Megan Mills
Hey Jase,
well I never read testimonail boxes anyway, theyre either fake or from friends, happy business associates,
ever see a nasty negative testamonial!…
The thing that concerns me more is how it applies to bloggers, and blog posts, review sites, any affiliate links you may promote!
Although the dreaded ABC aint gonna catch me, I’m based in Australia, they could shut down my websites which are hosted on U.S. servers, so I guess we are all concerned.
Personally I like your recomendations, Ive seen a lot of scaremongering but little action plans,
I Find it hard to see how it will apply to 2 optin list marketing,
However, having your own quality products in small niches sounds like a very wise in any situation Business move,
and I thank you for that insite, which I will endeavour to act on!!!
Cheers
swamiji!
Jason, that’s a mighty handy list of ways to adapt our businesses to conform to the new laws.
Havent seen such a list from anyone else, so… take a bow!
Gary Harvey
My web site (StopStateAbuse.com) says it all.
Here’s a testimonial disclaimer that should work:
“Average results for the average Joe or Jane who does nothing: Zero income. (Please don’t get mad, the FED’s made me say it!) If that describes you, save your hard-earned money, if you have any left after the FEDs take it all to pay themselves big raises while you work half your life away supporting their boondoggles.”
Well, if the measure is “typical”, I guess we can start to look forward to a bunch of metrics being published on what’s “typical” across bazillions of markets! Otherwise, we’ll have courts defining these metrics based on lawsuits.
Nonetheless, I really don’t think internet marketers are in their cross-hairs. I think they’re aiming at weight-loss products, penile and breast enlargement products, and all of the late-night hucksters selling expensive courses on how to make millions overnight through real estate flipping, tax lien auctions, and seized property auctions. And let’s not forget those “6-pack abs” ads!
(Does this mean that Jarod will no longer be a (silent) spokesman for Subway? OMG!)
Thanks for the heads-up and the tips Jason.
It seems that both sides of the Atlantic a “Nanny State” mentality now rules. Real criminals get away with repeat offences because no-one wants to affect their “human rights”, and moneyed figures have lawyers to get them out of tight spots, whilst hard-working small guys get pilloried just for trying to be straight and fair-dealing. If I ruled the world…….. it would be different of course – haha!!
John
Hey Jason,
Its been a while since I wrote anything on your blog. Been kinda busy.
Anyway, this whole “Internet witchhunt” has been gathering pace for years. Alphabet suites have hounded the average joe in so many ways its never been funny.
I agree that scams do exist, and testemonials are sometimes so unrealistic to be laughable. I get emails every day telling me how some grannie made $10,000 a day in her nightie for christ sake. So my take is simple, sell the product and be ethical. Refunds happen, I have asked myself once or twice even from you.
Tp freak out about a new law that MIGHT have suites looking my way, hell take a ticket and get in line with the Canadian revenue service, RCMP, CIRA et-al. Its just another day online.
But you are right in one respect, stay small and remain personal with your list and you should be just fine.
Until later.
Kevin “The lawyer slayer” Baker.
Hi there
What are results of antispam regulations ? Did they stop spammers ?
Same is going to happen here, the good ones are going to pay for the bad guys.
NICE.
I haven’t got to read the new rules yet, but lookin at this post – it doesn’t really seem like the new FTC rules are gonna apply to me anyhow. I have a lot of testimonials way back in my inbox, but have never used them on my pages – so guess I’m free and clear?
Hope so anyhow, but didn’t read the full “rules” yet.
Great post, nice outlook.
Thanks!
Michelle
Jason fantastic post. You’re a really great guy.
I’d give specifics but I wouldn’t want an alphabet agency to seize your ASSets on the account of my result’s orieted testimonial.
In any case you had some really great ideas I hadn’t read elsewhere on this important topic. Cool stuff and thank you.
Cheers,
Roger Haeske
The 42-Year-Old Teenager