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Monthly Archives: July 2011

FTC Guidelines for Affiliate Advertising on Twitter

The Federal Trade CommissionMore often than not, when you begin to get thousands of followers on Twitter, you start to see recommendations for specific products or services (especially TweetAdder) from other people who you follow in your timeline.  Did you know more often than not, the person who is tweeting the link is an affiliate for the software or service, and will be financially compensated if you signup?

That’s right!  They receive money because you clicked on their link!  However, here’s something you may not know.  The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) requires “that any affiliate who uses reviews, rankings or testimonials to promote products must clearly disclose the fact that they receive compensation for doing so”.

How many times do you see that law broken on your timeline in a given day?

This is not to say that you can’t advertise on Twitter, only that you must let people know you are a paid affiliate.  So, the ultimate question becomes:  How do I tweet my recommendation, and include the proper disclosure all in 140 characters or less? 

The FTC has a document called:  The FTC’s Revised Endorsement Guides: What People are Asking and on page 5, they have clearly defined how to recommend/advertise on Twitter.

Here’s the excerpt:

Q:  What about a platform like Twitter? How can I make a disclosure when my message is limited to 140 characters?

A:  The FTC isn’t mandating the specific wording of disclosures. However, the same general principle – that people have the information they need to evaluate sponsored statements – applies across the board, regardless of the advertising medium. A hashtag like “#paid ad” uses only 8 characters.   Shorter hashtags – like “#paid” and “#ad” – also might be effective.

It really is that simple to be compliant!  Being upfront with people is a good way to build trust, and in the end they may click your link and buy the product for that very reason.

Unfortunately, many people on twitter do not know or care about these guidelines.  If you are unsure whether or not you are being conned into a paid link, here are some steps to check:

  1. Hover over the shortened URL in Twitter.
  2. If it contains a unique ID (id=1234) or “aff” or”affiliate” it is an affiliate link.

Please help us spread the word!

Most people aren’t even aware about this rule, and these guidelines only take a minute to execute.  The FTC takes these guidelines very seriously, and the Advertiser you publish for could end up in some serious “hot water”.

Google New URL Shortener, G.CO

Google New URL Shrtener G.COToday, July 18, 2011, Google has announced on their blog that they have released their new URL shortener, G.CO, a new URL shortcut that will only link to official Google products and services. “We’ll only use g.co to send you to webpages that are owned by Google, and only we can create g.co shortcuts,” Google VP of Consumer Marketing Gary Briggs said on Google’s Official Blog.

In 2009, they had released goo.gl, which can be used for any webpage URL on the internet. Having official Google links separated from others, will help eliminate confusion for loyal Google followers.

However, Google is not the first large company to use .co for their official short URLs.  Twitter owns t.co, and has been using it since last year.

Who do you think should buy the next letter in the .CO alphabet?  Let us know your thoughts…

What is Spotify?

SpotifyWell, imagine all your music in iTunes PLUS all the other music in the world… well, almost all of the other music in the world… all in ONE location.  That’s right!  All in one location!

So, of course, I had to try it out!  I signed up (sign-up here), got in, and am now one of the beta users for Spotify-US. You see, Spotify has been available in parts of Europe since 2008. As of September 15, 2010, Spotify had approximately ten million users, of which one million of them were paid users.  People who travel back and forth between the USA and Europe have been clamoring for the service to be come available in the USA for quite a while. As of this July, Spotify is ONLY in Finland, France, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. Now, as of July 14, 2011, Spotify is here in the USA! Continue reading

Twitter For Android Receives Major Update

Twitter for Android 2.1.0Any Twitter for android users will be happy to hear that today, July 13, 2011, Twitter officially released the Twitter for Android app version 2.1.0, which allows multiple accounts and push notifications.

The Official Twitter accounted tweeted about 5 hrs ago as I write this, that the new release was available.

According to the Twitter blog, they say: “It includes some of the most commonly requested features from our users.”   Continue reading

Driving Traffic to Your Website or Blog for Free

Driving Traffic to your website!Driving traffic to your website or blog is still the hardest part of making money online.  There are many factors to consider after you build the site, but also what tools you have integrated into your site as well.  The idea of driving traffic to your website, and not having the process cost you a cent has never been more achievable than it is right now!  So don’t wait! Follow these pieces of advice and start your marketing campaign today!

Social Media

Social Media is vitally important when it comes to driving traffic to your website.  There are several places that you absolutely must have a presence on the internet before you can even think of competing with today’s competition.  They breakdown into the 2 following groups: Social Networking & Social Bookmarking. Continue reading

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