Now is the time to get your website FTC Compliant, Go here for more critical information

For all of you that blog or have websites that sell something, then you will want to read this article. The FTC laws have changed and they are focusing on bloggers, online advertisers and website owners. The way we have done business in the past is changing and it is changing drastically. Being able to just through up a website/blog, review a product and then try to sell that product are long gone. We are now being held responsible for the claims made from the product owners. It is not enough to read about a product and then review it. You must have data to back up your review.

Now it is more important to own the product, use it and then give a review that is truthful, transparent, and accurately backs up your claims. On top of that if you are using endorsements, those will also have to be backed up with proper results and data. Your own results that you experienced are enough to be called true data.

Is online marketing dead?

No absolutely not. It will just change and adjust to standards we have never had in the past. If you are into internet marketing, it will be rough going for a year or so, but in the end things will start to work themselves out and a new era of Internet marketing will start to take shape. Those that comply with the FTC will find themselves doing well. Those that resist will find themselves paying thousands of dollars in fines.

It only takes a few complaints to the FTC to start an investigation on you. It is better to start making changes to your websites now. If you don’t have legal disclosure and privacy policies on your websites, then it is time to get them on there. If you don’t know what to do, there are a number of legal options right on the Internet that can help you get FTC compliant within a day.

Currently, not even the attorneys are 100% sure what will happen after the new laws have fully taken effect. They will learn from the many court findings that will be given in 2010. The FTC knows that the laws are very vague. They also are using this vagueness to their advantage. Keep yourself out of their sights. When the FTC comes calling, you are going to want to have everything in place. This includes all your legal wording, reviews and affiliate disclosures. When they see what you have on your website, it will be very diffcult for them to find reason to investigate.

Below are the particulars of the laws. Make notes as you go. I also suggest reading more on the FTC site about the changes in the laws. The more you know the better off you will be.

1. Endorsements have to reflect the honest truthful opinions, findings, beliefs, or experience of the endorser. An endorsement may not convey any express or implied representation that would be false or cause the buyer to feel deceived if made directly by the advertiser. This is in regard to the representation conveyed by the consumer endorsements. The legal wording on your blog or website needs to convey this to the viewer or possible customer.

2. The message of the endorsement cannot be phrased in the exact same words of the endorser, unless the advertisement accurately so represents. The endorsement cannot be presented in a way that that makes it out of context. It cannot be reworded to distort the endorser’s true opinion or experience with the service or product. The advertiser may only use the endorsement of an expert only as long as the advertiser has reason to believe the endorser continues to be a subscriber to the views presented. It is up to the advertiser to always check up on the endorsers and ensure their views have not changed. Best way to ensure this is to have quarterly meetings with the endorser to ensure compliance.

3. When the advertisement uses an endorsement of a product or service, the advertiser must ensure the endorser was using the product or service at the time. If not then the endorsement cannot be used. If you have an affiliate program and your affiliates are part of your endorsement, then it would be safe to say your affiliates should own your product. It will be hard for a advertiser or marketer to ensure complete compliance with their affiliates if the affiliate does not own the products. Keep in mind product reviews are an endorsement of what you sell and could be used against you in a court of law. Once again the legal contracts, policies and agreement should be present on your website.

4. Have you ever read a blog or website that makes a claim and then in small print it says, “Results not typical” or “These testimonials are based on the experiences of a few people and you are not likely to have similar results.” Well guess what? This wording is no longer valid and will not hold up in an FTC investigation. You as the marketer and the blog owner selling your product must be transparent. Honesty is not enough anymore. If the blogger were to write a review on their own personal experience with your product, then wrote the review based on their own results the blogger would be in compliance with the FTC. Hence the review would be from a real experience and the results can be verified. On the other hand if the blogger took the an endorsement or review provided by the owner and used it as their own to sell a product as an affiliate, the blogger could be held liable as well as the product owner if the blogger cannot prove the  endorsement or review as being factual.

It will take a lot of effort to keep a website in FTC compliance. Best thing to do is speak to an attorney or use legal software forms found on the internet. Create a checklist to go over all your websites and make corrections immediately if you find issues. The better you are prepared for the initial changes in the law, the easier it will be to update and maintenance your website when further corrections come down from the FTC. This is just the first pass of a number of major changes. Others are on the way. It takes a few years and court findings for laws to mature. In the beginning, the laws will be very broad, but in a few years they will start to tighten up and it will become easier to understand what the FTC really wants from it advertisers, marketers and bloggers.

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