Well the whole affiliate marketing world and blogging world is abuzz about the FTC's recent statement and what it means to the average affiliate marketer, blogger, internet marketer and how we can protect ourselves.

If you haven't heard the buzz, basically any time we receive a product for free or receive anything in compensation (like as part of an affiliate promotion) – we need to make sure our readers know that.

We also have to be careful in expressing our results from certain programs. Even if you read my Blog Tour Guide, follow it to the “t” and get fantastic results, and send me a testimonial about it, I have to be VERY careful about putting it on my sales page.

Here's the official statement:

http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2009/10/endortest.shtm

The FTC rules are pretty tricky to decipher and I'm not going to try beyond that. 🙂 I'm not a lawyer, nor will I ever be.

I have a disclaimer on my blog. Actually I posted it quite awhile ago, and I realized that not everyone knows about the free service that I used to create it.

So, here it is:

My disclosure (so you can see a sample — but don't use mine, as I'm going to update it) –
http://nicoleonthenet.com/disclosure/

How you can generate your own, free:
http://disclosurepolicy.org/

Plus, I've found some videos that better explain how we can protect ourselves.
http://blog.disclosurepolicy.org/

Update: ** Of course,  if you use the free software, I DO recommend that you run the disclosure that you generate past your Attorney.

ALSO – I found this site by an Attorney that is selling customized legal documents. I have not purchased it but may. If I do, I'll give an update at that time: http://legalformsgenerator.com/affiliate-ebooks.html

Have a fantastic weekend.

Warmly,
Nicole

PS. Here's a fantastic discussion on this topic if you want to read more: Lynn Terry Explains the FTC Decision and It's Effects on Affiliate Marketing.