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Frank Kern Demonstrates Disclosure (hilarious!)

October 24, 2009 By

(Reading time: 2 – 2 minutes)

Frank Kern is one of my favorite characters in the MMO scene. This is partly because he’s technically very sharp, partly because he’s funny as hell, but mostly because he plays the game and the metagame openly.

He’ll tell you exactly what he does to sell his stuff…


…then you buy it.

And be happy you bought it.

Here’s a recent email from Mr Kern. This came out closely following the whole FTC brouhaha:

Warning #1: The results in this new video are NOT typical, but they are still cool.

Warning #2: You have to opt in to watch it (the horror!).

Warning #3: If you buy something as a result of watching this, I’ll get paid money and I will almost certainly squander it on shiny things (or candy, or something equally stupid).

With that said, this is an awesome video about a NEW and exciting way to make some serious dinero.

Here is my cleverly disguised affiliate link: http://www.productlaunchformula.com/plmdr.php?1715

Talk soon,
Frank

As usual, here’s my disclaimer: I am not affiliated with Frank Kern, but if I were I would certainly recommend you pay attention to his salesmanship. And buy his stuff.

In the end, it looks the like new FTC rules are going benefit everyone. People in business are in business to (Surprise!) make money. Everyone knows this at some level, so having a government regulation to that effect renders disclaimers innocuous for sales. Think about the ingredients list on the side of a typical sugary cereal box. Long as my left arm. Doesn’t seem to affect sales in the least.

It’s been about two weeks since the big FTC ruling blowup. What do you think?

Filed Under: Making Money Tagged With: , ,

Testimonials, Disclaimers, Disclosure and the Federal Trade Commission

October 7, 2009 By

(Reading time: 3 – 5 minutes)

The Federal Trade Commission has issued new guidelines for bloggers governing how testimonials and disclosures are handled. For the most part, it’s a non-issue.

However, because I am an affiliate of several companies, I’m going to make some disclosures, right here and now:


Assume that every link on Website In A Weekend benefits me financially. This means that if I review a book, music, a service, or a product of any kind that I am going to be financially compensated.

The way the FTC guidelines are written, the actual truth is pretty much irrelevant. Consider me paid for everything I do, make your decision accordingly.

Even more, your visiting Website In A Weekend benefits me financially.

In fact, here on Website In A Weekend, everything I do, and everything you do, is expressly designed to funnel as much money into my pocket, as fast as possible.

This means that if you click on a link, any link, assume that I get paid for it.
If you click on an image, any image, assume I get paid for it.

If you buy something from me, there will be no testimonials concerning how effective that product may be. This part of the FTC ruling effectively destroys testimonials. It renders all testimonials suspect, even if they’re true.

If you send me a testimonial, the most I can accept is something like “Dave is a fun guy to work with. He makes me feel good, etc.” Publishing testimonials with claims for specific results puts me at odds with the FTC, as best as I can figure out.

Actually, this good news for me, because I now have even less reason to attempt to acquire testimonials.

Instead, I’m going to continue to give away even more really good free tutorials, and let people sort it out in the comments. It’s taken 9 months, and over 100 tutorials, but Website In A Weekend is now starting to get traction.

For the new version of my upcoming ebook, I’ll simply ask whether you liked reading it or not. Sure, it’s useful, and it might get you long term traffic results, but these guidelines really take the heat off of me. Due to guidelines from FTC, I’m not really allowed to report any specific results, so if you had fun reading it, let me know. If it’s no fun to read, ask for your full refund.

In the end, I don’t think these guidelines are going to change anything at all. Gullible and greedy people will still find a way to get ripped off, then complain about their stupidity.


You can’t con an honest man.

Lest you think this is totally tongue in cheek, please read the following links as well:

  1. Michael Fortin weighs in.
  2. Some questions from Ron Hogan.
  3. In depth examples from The Internet Patrol.
    Some of these examples are amazing. If the FTC is serious, these guidelines will change all of advertising, at least for companies too small to lobby for exemption!
  4. Here’s a spiffy disclosure generator.
  5. [November 7 2009]: John Chow states his (sponsored) disclosure policy. I love this guy! He’s got brass.

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Filed Under: Making Money Tagged With: , , , ,