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Are you afraid of the new guidelines on Testimonials and Endorsements? I'm sure you are already familiar with the meaning and importance of “testimonials”; and I guess that’s why you are here too... you want them, or more of them. Things have now changed... This new revisions will have a significant impact in the way you use Testimonials and Endorsements on your website... and yes it is something you need to be concerned about and you need to take action. I won't attempt to decipher or interpret the new changes here, as many good people have done so online already... apart from that, if you want the most accurate answers, it is best you speak with a professional internet lawyer about your unique situation.
This doesn't make me the expert, just that I have been able to answer many of the questions, regarding the gathering and use of Testimonials and endorsements... ... and now I am going to share with you now, how Testimonial Genie can still help when things have become so delicate. How can Testimonial Genie Help? Out of all the revisions in the guidelines, the one that has made a significant impact and has caused a mass hysteria in the internet world in relation to using Testimonials and Endorsements, I believe is this this one:
What this means in essence is that, if you have a client who claims to have made $10,000 as a result of using your product or services, even if this was true, but it is not the generally expected performance metric for everyone using the same product or service under the same circumstances, then you are required to disclose what the general expected performance is.... and you have to do so in a clear and visible way, in the same font style and size as the testimonial itself. Further to this... Even if the testimony was true and you do have the data that shows what the generally expected performance is, the testimonial should also include if there was any special variable or factor that contributed to this result, the absence of which, would have an impact on the outcome. For example, if your clients's location made an impact on the results, or whether the client had to invest a certain amount of money to make such returns, and if indeed those returns are profit or just revenue. Other influencing factors can be a huge email list, JV partners contribution, or simply the user had some certain skill that made a difference, and if other clients do not posses those skills they will not be able to achieve those results. In general what the FTC wants to see is that you give your clients enough information to make better informed buying decisions from you. Hence the full disclosure. Another... Another area that will concern you in relation to testimonials/Endorsements as per the guideline above, is that you will now need to disclose your relationship with the person giving you the testimonial. For example, You gave away your product or offer your services for free to your clients, in exchange for an unbiased review, although you didn't pay that person to give you that review, but the fact that they received the product for free, can influence the review for your products or service, as a result, this will be considered an Endorsement no longer a Testimonial, and you would need to also disclose this information, not just in general on your website, but under or next to every such Endorsement you have on your website. However, this brings me to another issue.. As you can see, things have changed quite a bit from the old ways where you could just hide behind a disclaimer or use the "Results Not Typical" phrase as a safe harbor. You now need to have full disclosure.. Apart from having full disclosure, or stating the average expected result from using your product or service, you may be held liable for any false claims made by your endorser or reviewer. So before you publish anything, whether now or before this new revision, you had better get the proof of this claim. I was afraid when I first read it, but after further investigation, I see it's not that bad, and the FULL Testimonial Genie does prepare you for the change. — People do panic, and I've even seen some who advice that it is best to stay away from using testimonials all together —You know that's not correct? ... and no one put it better than the famous John Carlton on his blog, and he gave me permission to quote him on this...
The Good News... When this new guidelines came out, Testimonial Genie was already 90% completed and I had already created and written quite a bit. So when this new guideline was released, I was a bit scared myself... I thought to myself —"is this the end of testimonials?" After spending hours and hours reading through what lawyers had to say on their blogs, along with what other marketers who had consulted with their own lawyers had to say and from the webinar session with an Internet lawyer where I gathered some good feedback. I discovered that Testimonial Genie was already in sync with most of the guidelines. Here's what I mean... Apart from the testimonials that claim X amount or X result, there are many other forms of testimonials you can use without having to pass through all that scrutiny, and we have covered them in great detail already inside the package... What this means is that even if you don't want to use testimonials that claim a specific result, you can still use Testimonial Genie to easily get testimonials that will help you sell your product or service effectively because the methods we teach you are not in anyway tricks or sneaky marketing strategies.
... Also we are a firm believers of leaving your testimonials as raw as possible on your website, as a result, we show you ways how you can gather those smashing testimonials without having to rewrite them yourself. There is even more... Testimonials are for sure, and will always be an important part of your business, and as feedback from clients, they can do a lot more than help you sell products or tell you how happy your clients are; the right testimonials can help you identify areas in your business that needs improvement, and this is worth more than any type of testimonial you will ever get.
This is very true, because words from another person about their experience with a product or service usually is more credible than that of the seller. Apart from using testimonials for selling purposes, it is your duty to collect them in order for you to know exactly how your product and services is doing, what you need to improve, and overall using the feedback as a way to retain better proud and loyal employees in the long run, since they will be associated with a company that has a great success story.
This is true, and you'll find out how you too can apply testimonials in many other ways in your business apart from displaying them on your website for the sole purpose of marketing... The reason I show you the these phrases is that I don't want you to take my word for it about how critical it is for you to continue to gather testimonials... Testimonials have many more uses which are as important as bringing sales. So can I use testimonials that carry a claim? From what I gather so far, what the FTC wants you to do is to be transparent about your claims... as a result, if you wanted to use such claims because of course they are too valuable to dump ... and because they are true, you'll need to carry out a research to find out what is the generally expected result from using your product or service, substantiated proof of the claims, as well as to have full disclosure of the testimony in regards to other contributing factors that could have influenced that claim Here's the problem:
... and here's the solution
Once you are able to do your research in this way, then I believe you can safely use your amazing testimonials without the fear of the law.... I asked a lawyer about this and they said it was ok, as far as you disclose how you carried out the research and for sure the information you gather matters as well. One problem still remains... Even if you are able to achieve all of the above as we have described it, you need to do it in such away that it does not eat up all your time... Although we have laid out the foundation for you in the guide called "Awesome Testimonials", along with the guidelines you need to take action, as well provided you with examples and tools, doing it consistently may still be a problem for you if you don’t have an automated system.
But it doesn't have to be that way any more, as we have a better solution for this too. It is called “Testimonial Automania” — Which is beyond the scope of the Testimonial Genie Package as described on the index page and it was to be your upsell, however I felt it is best I place it here for those who are ready to take action right away. What “Testimonial Automania” does is help you step by step, (With example letters, templates videos and software) to put your testimonial and general feedback gathering process in autopilot. How to automate everything... All you need to do is to set up the system using "Testimonial Automania", and just wait for time to go by in order to get your results. You can read more about it in the member area. To conclude... The reason you cannot use testimonials claiming $X or X result under the new guidelines, is because they do not tell the full story to your potential client so that they do make an informed decision without being influenced by that testimony. On the other hand, you know it was true and you do want to let go of using them on your marketing materials, then your only choice is to comply with the new guideline, and provide more information to your reader about what is generally expected, based on research data.
It's a no brainer... Bottom line if you can set up an automated system to help you gather testimonials and feedback on a consistent basis by asking the right questions, collecting the right data and documenting everything as you go along, you are well on your way to building a database of relevant feedback you can use to grow your business, and present as proof of the generally expected results... in essence you can use any type of testimonial you want without getting into trouble with the law. ... and Testimonial Genie Platinum package which includes Testimonial Automania is what you need right now. See the comparisim table below:
What should I do next? This is a bargain for sure ... Price Goes Up!Thinking of getting it later?... I advice you don't risk it. I could have easily charge $1,700 for this package alone, just as you will see with BIG TICKET products, and I'm very confident that it will still sell out very well too... But I didn't... and that's not because I'm just a nice guy and I don't want to make money, but because I'm actually doing a price test... What this means is that this is the lowest it can go, we already did $47 and you missed it... we plan to try out The same thing applies to the PLATINUM PLUS, It we plan to settle at $47/month which in itself is a steal, considering the reserch and testing we have to do. right now you get to lock in the price at $27/month only.
<— This new test price is only guaranteed till midnight —— Come back later, and don't be surprised that the price is higher - you missed it. So now you have two important choices:
All you have to do is stand up and say ... YES Just click the button below to start taking charge of your business right now!... Take it as an investment... that's what it is. OR
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