Nomad Internet Marketing March 2017 Issue 03 | Page 18

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6. It’s okay – and even a most excellent idea
– to let people know that many will make
absolutely nothing with your system. After
all, there is work involved, and if someone
doesn’t consume your product and put it
to work, they’re not going to make
anything. This is common sense and yes,
your reader already knows this.
Expressing this demonstrates your
honesty and makes everything else you
say more believable. Plus, it’s true. And
near as I can tell, the FTC likes truth in
advertising. A lot.
7. If there are expenses related to making
this money, clearly state what those are.
For example, did you earn $10,000 but you
paid affiliates $5,000? Then don’t say you
earned $10,000 without immediately
revealing you paid half of that to affiliates.
Or simply say you cleared $5000 after
paying affiliates.
8. Reassure your prospects that your money
making method takes WORK. Believe it or
not, this will usually increase your
conversion rate, because people believe it
takes work to make money. If you make it
sound too easy (even if it is easy) they
won’t believe you. And if they do believe
you and buy the product, and then realize
it’s not as easy as you made it sound, there
will be complaints – some of them straight
to the FTC.
3. Be brutally honest about how long it took you
to achieve your results. Oddly enough, this not
only keeps you honest, but it can also be a
great selling point. “I had to try 27 different
techniques before I got it right and I made my
first dollar. Fortunately, I’ll teach you only the
27 th method, the one that works for me.
Because you won’t be wasting your time with
the other 26 methods that didn’t work, your
learning curve should be far shorter and less
bumpy than mine was.
4. With everything you write or say, ask yourself
if you are telling the whole story, because a
half-truth is in fact a LIE. From the FTC website
(bolding is mine): The Federal Trade
Commission Act allows the FTC to act in the
interest of all consumers to prevent deceptive
and unfair acts or practices. In interpreting
Section 5 of the Act, the Commission has
determined that a representation, omission or
practice is deceptive if it is likely to: mislead
consumers and affect consumers' behavior or
decisions about the product or service.
5. Whenever possible, don’t make an income
claim your primary benefit. Let’s say you teach
a course on how to do marketing for offline
businesses. Hopefully that is your BIG benefit
– teaching offline marketing. Any income
claims should be secondary to that benefit.