Bloggers Beware: U.S. Federal Trade Commission Now Regulating Blogs, Social Media, Testimonials

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Permalink Reply by Roger Moore on October 7, 2009 at 7:07am

Thanks Kathleen!

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Permalink Reply by Chris Witherspoon on October 7, 2009 at 2:57pm

Here is some additional information you might find helpful.


http://masscontrolsite.com/blog/?p=59

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Permalink Reply by Michael Haifleigh on October 7, 2009 at 4:38pm

Kathleen,

Thanks for the information, I was not aware of this. My preliminary take - this is a good thing.

Michael

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Permalink Reply by William Mitchell on October 7, 2009 at 5:46pm

Thank you for the update. Where can we get the correct standards expected now when using testimonials.
Do we have to conduct statistical studies to feature testimonials and "the typical results" ? Not so sure this is a good thing! Most of my advertising is purely testimonial,but in my opinion, statistical results lead to real lying with numbers!
William Mitchell Mitchell.williamt@gmail.com
www.mitchellprogram.com

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Permalink Reply by Kathleen Hanover on October 7, 2009 at 6:40pm

Hi William,

Here's the FTC news release:

FTC Publishes Final Guides Governing Endorsements, Testimonials
Cha...

And here's a link to the PDF, "16 C.F.R. Part 255: Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and T..."

I am not a lawyer. However, it is my understanding that the FTC will assume that any testimonial reflects "typical results" that anyone may expect to get from using your product or service, unless you say something like "results not typical," and you may also be required to indicate what the "average" user's results are if the testimonial doesn't reflect average results (which is, of course, impossible, unless you're conducting a double-blind, scientifically designed and controlled experiment.)

Needless to say, this could be extremely problematic with something as personal and subjective as hypnotherapy (or marketing and PR services, for that matter.)

I'm writing copy for an executive coach's website tonight, and I've already changed the way I handle testimonials to reflect the new rules. It's a briar patch!

Good luck.

Kathleen
Client, HypnoFan, Hypnotic Marketer
@KathleenHanover on Twitter

Rev.William Mitchell M.Div.,BCH,CI said:

Thank you for the update. Where can we get the correct standards expected now when using testimonials.
Do we have to conduct statistical studies to feature testimonials and "the typical results" ? Not so sure this is a good thing! Most of my advertising is purely testimonial,but in my opinion, statistical results lead to real lying with numbers!
William Mitchell Mitchell.williamt@gmail.com
www.mitchellprogram.com

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Permalink Reply by Roger Moore on October 8, 2009 at 7:26am

I was just reading an internet marketing site that I loosely follow and I noticed something that I think is new, or at least I have not seen previously. It seems appropriate to share.

*Note: These income examples and testimonials are representative of our top active participants in IM Leadership. Some members may make little or no money with this program. Why? It does take effort to make money (in any system) and it just won't happen if you do not learn and apply the system. Worse, some people never even complete the training and therefore never see any results. Theses claims are not a guarantee of your income, and may not be average of participants. Individual results will vary greatly and in accordance to your effort, determination, hard work, and ability to follow directions. Summary: As in any training program and with everything in life - you get out what you put in.

It occurs to me that I could almost use this word for word and substitute "make money" for weight loss or any other issue.

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Permalink Reply by Craig Eubanks on October 8, 2009 at 11:58am

I highly recommend you all read the below blog post by Frank Kern. It's the best article I've seen on the impact of the new regulations. It's not legal advice, but he does share legal advice from his attorney.

Frank is a high profile target for organizations like the FTC so you can bet he's done his homework. I found his no-nonsense thoughts on the new rules to be the most common sense I've read. Most of the Internet Marketing forums are filled with people panicking like Chicken Little.

THE FTC THING IS BIGGER THAN YOU THINK by Frank Kern


Cheers,

Craig Eubanks

--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Internet's #1 Marketing Resource
exclusively for Hypnosis Professionals!

HypnosisMarketingTips.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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Permalink Reply by Craig Eubanks on October 8, 2009 at 12:03pm

One more thing... You can still use testimonials where people say how great their experience was, how much they love you or your product or service, etc.

The grey area is results testimonials. Seek legal counsel on those.

And I predict a lot of lawsuits over this in the very near future. This change was designed to go after the 'fake' blogs being setup to promote CPA advertising offers. Of course, politicians who do knee-jerk legislation never think about the impact on legitimate businesses.

Cheers,

Craig Eubanks

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Internet's #1 Marketing Resource
exclusively for Hypnosis Professionals!

HypnosisMarketingTips.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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Permalink Reply by Roger Moore on October 8, 2009 at 1:43pm

Thanks Craig - this is really helpful.

Craig Eubanks said:

I highly recommend you all read the below blog post by Frank Kern. It's the best article I've seen on the impact of the new regulations. It's not legal advice, but he does share legal advice from his attorney.

Frank is a high profile target for organizations like the FTC so you can bet he's done his homework. I found his no-nonsense thoughts on the new rules to be the most common sense I've read. Most of the Internet Marketing forums are filled with people panicking like Chicken Little.

THE FTC THING IS BIGGER THAN YOU THINK by Frank Kern


Cheers,

Craig Eubanks

--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Internet's #1 Marketing Resource
exclusively for Hypnosis Professionals!

HypnosisMarketingTips.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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Permalink Reply by Kathleen Hanover on October 9, 2009 at 11:39am

Here's another good blog post about the new guidelines. It also includes example scenarios straight from the FTC's mouth:

New FTC Rules on Marketing Testimonials and Endorsements

A quote:

Perhaps one of the most surprising refinements to the rules is the crystalizing of the fact that both the advertiser and the endorser can be held liable for false, misleading, or unsubstantiated claims made in an endorsement. And both the endorser and the advertiser can be held liable for the failure of the endorser to disclose any relationship with the advertiser (again, meaning the entity which benefits commercially from endorser’s endorsement or testimonial regarding the item or service).

Bottom line:

1. If you stand to benefit in any way from anything you say on the Internet about any product or service, you'd better disclose it.

2. Be prepared to write disclaimers about any testimonials that include results.

Kathleen
Client, HypnoFan, Hypnotic Marketer
@KathleenHanover on Twitter

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Permalink Reply by Kathleen Hanover on October 9, 2009 at 12:46pm

Not exactly, James...I just won't be able to casually mention in my blog that I bought James Szeles' Magical Hypnotic Hairy Penis CD and it worked like crazy without revealing the fact that you paid me to do so, and that my results were not typical, as I am female and don't have a penis. ;)

Hope that helps!

Kathleen
Client, HypnoFan, Hypnotic Marketer
@KathleenHanover on Twitter

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Permalink Reply by Brian David Phillips on October 9, 2009 at 3:04pm

Kathleen Hanover said:

I bought James Szeles' Magical Hypnotic Hairy Penis CD and it worked like crazy without revealing the fact that you paid me to do so, and that my results were not typical, as I am female and don't have a penis. ;)

Well . . . at least until you started listening to that CD. "-) I am however wondering why in the world anyone would want hair on their penis . . . but then, there's pretty much a market for just about anything. Thanks for the bit of humor, Kathleen. Nicely played. Thanks also to all the folks who have taken time out of clicking on the BUY NOW button to get this exciting new product from James Szeles in order to provide some very worthwhile and useful information.

All the best,
Brian David Phillips
http://www.briandavidphillips.com

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