Follow These Simple Guidelines To Avoid This.
Everyone’s freaking out…
The alphabet agencies are coming down with new regulations, and people are scared.
On the one hand, I’m not a huge fan of government regulation and policing small businesses… On the other hand sometimes we need to be policed, and I think that these new guidelines are going to separate the boys from the men.
Liars Have An Unfair Advantage…
If I were allowed to say that “I make $476,038 a month using this system, working only 1 hour per day, and everyone who buys my $97 course does too!”…
And then I was allowed to either write fake testimonials, or pay people to write testimonials saying what I wanted them to say, I’d be rich…
I also couldn’t sleep at night. That’s not sales. That’s fraud.
The FTC is targeting flogs with fake stories, fake testimonials, and products specifically designed to dupe customers into crazy rebills…
They also want full disclosure from bloggers and affiliates that they are being compensated to endorse certain products.
Guess what?
Honesty Increases Credibility…
Let’s say I was creating a copywriting product (not that I would ever think of doing such a thing)…
I could say something like…
I made $x during my first 6 months as a freelance copywriter… And a lot of guys I know made a lot more than that…
But that doesn’t mean that you will too… You don’t just slap up a website, call yourself a copywriter and expect the checks to start rolling in…
It takes a lot of hard work. You have to be talented… And if you can’t deliver results for your clients you’ve either got to improve your skills or find a new career…
Finding that first set of clients when you’re brand new and have no track record can be VERY difficult…
I’ll show you some shortcuts to get started… And I’ll teach you some things about closing deals and commanding the fees that you want that I had to learn the hard way…
But I don’t want you to think for a second that this is an easy way to get rich… Because it’s not.
In my mind copywriting is one of the most powerful and profitable skills that you can learn… But if you’re not willing to put in the work…
…If you’re not willing to hone your chops and get out there and market yourself, you’re only wasting your time and setting yourself up for disappointment.
IF you think you’ve got what it takes to blow controls out of the water… If you think you’re capable of writing a million dollar advertisement and you just need the right clients to prove yourself, then I CAN help…
But it’s not a magic pill and ultimately, it’s YOU who is responsible for your income…
No one is going to walk away from an ad like that thinking that I’m saying “typical results” are that everyone who buys the course will automatically become a six figure copywriter…
As for testimonials, I could say…
Here are some testimonials… Some are from fellow copywriters, others are unsolicited from satisfied customers… But not everyone who’s taken this course follows up with me to tell me about their progress…
Some people probably file it away for future use when they “get around to it”… Most people probably don’t even put all of the advice into practice.
So these testimonials aren’t speaking for everyone who’s purchased this product, it’s only people who have found the course good enough to go out of their way and send me a comment about it…
Easy.
What About Affiliates?
Use common sense…
Don’t make claims about products that you can’t back up.
Don’t make up testimonials… If you’re a blogger do what Michel Fortin did and post a full disclosure on your blog…
If you have advertisements in the side bar say “Sponsored Links”…
In you emails, it’ll vary by niche… But you can put a disclaimer at the bottom of the emails, or you can come right out and say “Yes, I’m being compensated for telling you about this… BUT I wouldn’t waste your time or put my reputation on the line by recommending this if it wasn’t going to dramatically help you (insert benefit here)…”
In The Long Run, This Is A Good Thing.
Fake testimonials, hyped up lies… Broken products that don’t deliver as promised. They’re all a giant black eye in this industry…
Honest marketers have to compete with these guys, and they give us ALL a bad name.
One of the BIGGEST obstacles when selling online is being believed… And by being open and honest in your marketing, if you do it the RIGHT way, it will help build trust and credibility and ultimately help conversion rates, not the other way around.
So what’s the easy answer?
Only sell products that actually help people, and that have enough positive benefits WITHOUT hype or lies that will still make people want to buy them.
If you have to use fake testimonials, if you have to make outlandish claims in your sales copy… If you can’t figure out how to overcome these new regulations you either need new products to sell or you need to find another line of work.
That’s my take on the information I have so far… There’s still a lot of ambiguity in the new regulations, but I’ve got a pretty good feeling that when everything is cleared up that the advice I laid out in this post will still be exactly what you need to be doing.
Peace,
-Scott Murdaugh
P.S. I’m not a lawyer and there are still a lot of unknown factors at play here, so take this advice with a grain of salt.
P.P.S. If you want a copywriter who can sell your product without having to lie to your customers and sell your soul in the process, check out ResultsCopywriting.com.
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Great post, Scott,
You and Michel Fortin seem to be leading the way on this. All marketers, both on and offline need to pay attention to what you are saying, of course.
Thanks Anne.
In my mind it’s common sense…
Find a product that solves a real problem. Educate customers on why they need a solution, and why your solution is the best one for their needs…
If a marketer has to blatantly lie about the benefits or testimonials… Or if they can’t be transparent about WHY they’re recommending a certain product, the product is most likely snake oil anyway.
I think this will level the playing field… I don’t use fake testimonials, and I don’t want to be competing with people who do.
Thanks for the comment.
-Scott
Very detailed blog post and I hope this means for more ethical marketing practices to be the standard rather than sub standard.
Very level headed take on this subject Scott and good to see your blog here, which I’m just about to start enjoying reading.
As far as this FTC thing is concerned, it’s my understanding that this hasn’t yet come into full effect anyway.
Since I never enjoy completely over the top, hyped up copywriting anyway, much preferring a more down to earth and honest approach I don’t honestly think that I’ve got too much to worry about on this particular issue.
Wishing you every success and my kindest regards.
Keep up the good work.
Mark Andrews
Thanks Mark…
I appreciate you stopping by and taking the time to comment.
Thanks,
- Scott
Ultimately it should be about integrity. It’s really too bad that the government has to step in to stop people from doing what they should know not to do in the first place. Greed is a funny animal..makes people do funny things. Try coming from and abundance mind-set rather than a scarcity mind-set and watch all the positive things that start to happen.
Peace and Abundance,
Deborah Tutnauer, LCSW