Tim's Wee Part of the World » Business advice http://www.timbrownlaw.com/blog Come along and join in. Thu, 02 Feb 2012 07:20:01 +0000 en hourly 1 Rich Schefren and Strategic Profits http://www.timbrownlaw.com/blog/rich-schefren-and-strategic-profits http://www.timbrownlaw.com/blog/rich-schefren-and-strategic-profits#comments Fri, 24 Dec 2010 14:11:06 +0000 Tim Brownlaw http://www.timbrownlaw.com/blog/?p=514

Way back in late 2009, I got wind of an interesting offer, called the League Of Extraordinary Minds. This was a set of 9 Panel discussions from the world leaders in the offline and online business world discussing a range of topics pertinent to being a successful person in business. We all want to be one of those! Don’t we?

This program and the panel discussions were being run by Rich Schefen and Jay Abraham.

I’d written some past posts on this at A League of Extraordinary minds and A League of Extraordinary minds – 2nd Session

I’d upgraded and…

The original taped discussions were free, but you could get the transcripts and also one of Jays big priced tagged courses as part of the upgrade fee and then there was a smaller monthly fee afterwards. So after getting the initial audios and transcripts and the course… Hmm dunno what happened to that course… Like most things you get, you tend to look at them and they are in one eye ball ( or ear as the case may be) and out the other…

I’ve been receiving a thick A4 Report in the mail from Rich (and Jay on occasion and not forgetting Todd Brown) which I always enjoyed reading. Both Rich and Jay know their stuff and , well, it can be a bit confronting. So again while it was a great read, I obviously absorbed every word and implemented the actions to take… Or did I? Old habits are very easy to slip back into!

About Rich Schefren

Just a quick intercession here in case you’ve no idea who which Rich Schefren is…

Pick a high profile, successful Internet marketer out of the hat and the chances are, they’ve been guided in some form or manner by Rich. Rich is one of those guys that can stand outside of the small worlds we get ourselves into and see the big picture. Then he can show you the path out of your “small world” and move you out in the universe! In other words, he’s a very savvy marketer Offline as well as Online. I can say that because of his latest report, which he described me to a Tee and showed me a way out of my crippling thoughts and habits . But more on that later.

I’ve heard snippets of what Rich teaches from others, but they’ve been in isolation. Rich brings it all together!

If you go to any of Rich’s sites you’ll see who his success stories are, both individuals and corporations. If you get to read or listen to any of Rich’s material you’ll see for yourself.

So the latest report shows up in my letter box.

That familiar A4 Envelope made another appearance, and they seem to do that more often than actually they do! It felt like I’d only just got one the other day… Anyway , this one was thick and heavy. Which made me wonder – oh boy what’s he written this time.

Now I must just re-iterate, that like the majority of people that subscribes to a magazine or newsletter or whatever, you end up looking at it, putting it down, and acting like it never happened. Or is that old age kicking in… Well this report kind of explains why that happens and more importantly, how to stop it…

So I opened it up – 100 pages full of stuff. Has Rich gone Mad? Now with this report, Rich took the time to sit down and write this masterpiece, and I have to note that he hadn’t planned this. It was a “I woke up at 3am with an urge to write about….” instead of completing the report he had already started. Luckily for us he woke up at 3am!

This was the wake up call I badly needed!

In a nutshell, this report is about all the things he’s picked up from working with his personal clients. That includes those things that cause people to fight and resist improving their business, to those that simply take the given advice on board and make huge leaps forwards. I raised a smile when he stated that all his new potential clients had to read and do the exercises in this report before he’d work with them. I can see why!

Now I’m a typical hater of doing the exercises when asked to. But I have to take my hat off to Rich because one of his examples was about someone who spent time reading “self improvement” books and not doing anything with them. Instead he just got the warm fuzzy feeling that he’d read them. Sound familiar?

Well it did to me and plus the fact “hey this is Rich Schefren taking time out of his business to write this amazing report and I’m paying pennies for it.” So I gritted my teeth and did the soul searching and answered the questions. Ok they might not be quite right, and Rich guides you on how to best tackle them, but the thing is – I did them! One up for me! And I know for fact, well I feel it in my gut, that Rich deliberately and I should add – expertly planned it that way so I would!

So I’ve gone back into my Founders Club Members Area.

What’s it now, nearly 14 months worth of content in my Founders Club Members Area and I hardly ever went there. Well now I’m playing catch up. Now that it’s finally hit me that I’ve been bypassing a wealth of information, I’m devouring the stuff. My thinking has changed – finally! And I can start moving forwards with the right thinking instead of all the gobbledygook you get fed and conditioned by these other so called Gurus. They give you small chunks of the big picture which makes it nearly impossible to find true success.

When you have the ear of one of the worlds most successful and I have to add one of the worlds best teachers who holds nothing back and makes you cringe cause he knows what bad habits and bad thinking you have, then you’ve got to listen. If you don’t you are going to get stuck in your “small world” and never get to play in the universe and be a success! Period.

This is your opportunity to find out.

This is your opportunity to let Rich get inside your head and steer you on the right course. He’s got a special introductory offer where you can access a number of the modules available to any Founder Club Member.

I’d really take a look at this, because you are getting some of the best marketing advice and strategies available today.

So you can Start Learning from Rich Schefren Right Now!

It’s amazing what you can miss when it’s right under your nose. Luckily for me and the other Founder Club Members, that Rich wrote this report for us. It should be compulsory reading for anyone considering starting and continuing to run a successful business, Online of Offline!

There are No more excuses!

All the best

Tim Brownlaw

And seeing as it’s now become Christmas Day here- a very Merry Christmas to you and yours from myself and my family. 2011 is going to be the big year, last year should have been! Now I can confidently say, if it isn’t, we’ve not been doing the right things. If you want to know what the “right things are” go here and take up the special offer – right now.

I hear slaybells – I had best go before Santa breaks in! Does Santa know whose birthday it is, I wonder!

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]]> http://www.timbrownlaw.com/blog/rich-schefren-and-strategic-profits/feed 2 What Do You Recommend to People who are Struggling Online? http://www.timbrownlaw.com/blog/what-do-you-recommend-to-people-who-are-struggling-online http://www.timbrownlaw.com/blog/what-do-you-recommend-to-people-who-are-struggling-online#comments Thu, 25 Nov 2010 10:06:26 +0000 Tim Brownlaw http://www.timbrownlaw.com/blog/?p=499

The problem with the Internet is that there is way too much Information out there.

Why is that a Problem?

Well mainly because, you have to know what information you are looking for and it’s also very disorganized and can be really hard to find.

Plus there is that, huge, possible distraction of finding that “something else” that’s interesting and there’s a few hours down the drain.

“Well I am a little stuck”

So when you meet or catch up with someone on Skype, Facebook, Twitter or Sokule…. etc and you ask them what they are doing and how they are going, you may, more often than not, get the answer, “Well I’m a little stuck” or “I’m not sure what I am doing”…

So you have two choices.

  1. Sit down with them ( face to face or in Virtual Internet Land ) and explain what you can to them OR
  2. Offer them a resource they can find the answers and Still Stay in touch with you so you can  help them and others out with what you know at the same time!

Point 1.

Now I do a lot of “one on one” and while I don’t mind doing that, it does take time away from doing those “other things” I need to do.  I’m also more of a techie head and can bore you to death about that till the cows come home. While I know about marketing, I’m probably not the best teacher when it comes to that side of things.

Point 2.

Well I’ve had a few things to offer in regards to that, and while they are great, they may not be suitable as a starting place for someone starting out.

I’m always on the lookout for Quality Training Programs.

Now it would be very silly of me to make any claims of having found the Ultimate Training Program that you can have someone join and they’ll run off and start doing great things.

This is pretty close to that!

The Criteria

Criteria 1.

Advice via Ebooks and Videos on their own have some merit. But if there is No Way to ask questions and get answers to any issues that may arise… like “Yeah but FTP – I saw you doing that but it isn’t working for me…. What do I do”… You are Sunk!

  • Have access to as many Training Videos, guides, ebooks as possible AND be able to ask questions and get answers quickly!

Criteria 2.

Websites are essential when you are operating on the internet and this is probably the biggest sticking point that brings people to a screaming halt.

  • Clearly show, step by step,  how to create a website using Free Tools like Kompozer and also have the ability to quickly install a WordPress Website.

Criteria 3.

Websites need Hosting and that’s another sticking point.

  • Have a Simple Hosting Account creation facility included, which just requires you entering in the domain name and clicking the  “Create Account” button.
  • Simple One Click access to your websites Cpanel.

Criteria 4.

A Website needs to have a Domain Name and that has to be registered with a domain name registrar.

  • Show step by step how to register a Domain Name and where to get the best deals.

Criteria 5.

Now Building a website in itself can be pretty useless. You really need to have a purpose and know how to monetize it and have it setup to drag in the traffic.

  • Show, step by step how to Research an Idea, Find Keywords, Find related affiliate products, Create Content and Create the actual Website From Scratch to produce a profitable website.

Criteria 6.

There are many different Marketing Models you can implement so knowing what they are and the Wheres and Whys to use them, is very important.

  • Clearly explain all the various Marketing Methods along with the Pros and Cons of each. Also discuss the possibilities of combining various aspects of each.

Criteria 7.

All this Making Money Online is really no different to running a Business. It is a Job where you are the Boss and this is something the majority, never quite get!

  • Make it abundantly clear what the Big Picture is and how you should be thinking about what you are trying to achieve. This is probably the most important, misunderstood aspects of Making Money.

Criteria 8.

There is no question, Social Marketing, in regards to allowing people to easily communicate with each other, is paramount to producing a thriving community where people can easily network and share Ideas and services.

  • Have a system which allows people to easily interact with each other.

Criteria 9.

Forums are a great way to allow the sharing of Ideas and have ongoing Discussions

  • Have a Forum thats active.

Criteria 10.

With so many tools and resources, the actual website has to be intuitive and easy to navigate. There is nothing more frustrating than trying to Find Things.

  • Make the Website intuitive to use and easy to navigate.

I think I’ll stop there at 10.

On their own, these are just tools.

Having a swag of tools is just like having a well decked out Cruise Ship, with all the toys. You can have lots of fun on it, but without a Captain that knows what he’s doing, that ship aint going to go anywhere exciting!

Plus you need a superb crew specialized in looking after the guests on that Cruise ship.

Criteria 11.

Have an experienced Captain at the Helm and an exceptional crew.

This is where Curtis Andrew (Captain), Ryan Allaire and the IIA Team ( the crew) make the difference.

Curtis shares everything he’s learned, from how to focus, plan and execute. To say this another way, it’s the quality Mentoring Curtis provides that sets this apart.

How Much is it to get a Ride on this “Cruise Ship”?

Read the pricing on the website and be sitting down when you do!

But PLEASE do not think for one moment that the Price is so low, that there will be any other charges.  There are no other charges to be a member!

Yes, you may need an Autoresponder Service and you will need to pay for your Domain Names registrations, but thats it.

There are NO OTO’s, upsells or sidesells. What you pay gets you all of the above and more. (Note:  When I joined I was expecting an OTO and was pleasantly surprised ).

So Why Recommend This?

A site like this has a ton of stuff and like similar sites, its easy to get lost… So there is a Step by Step Guide to follow to get you up and running on the Forum and get you using the Social System. Then you move on to the other training courses.

In the Training Modules the same applies. You are taken step by step and what you have done and where you are up to is recorded so you can continue on where you left off.

So a new member isn’t going to be scratching their head wondering what to do.

And remember, you can always ask. The Forum is very active and the owner ( Curtis Andrew ) is always around to answer any questions.

There are very regular updates…

One Last Thing to Consider.

Who runs this thing and why listen to them?

Curtis Andrew and Ryan Allaire are the creators and owners of InternetIncomeAcademy.

Curtis has over 10 years experience, has created Several 7 Figure Businesses. He loves making profitable websites and doesn’t stop working on one till its earning at least $100 / day. Which he does a whole lot quicker than you think…

Ryan Allaire is a more “behind the scenes” kind of guy involved in a number of marketing Launches.

Curtis does the Videos, and I personally love his teaching style.

Very easy to listen to and he explains things in a very simple fashion, which I have an ear for cause thats what I do or try to.

So for someone that this is completely new to any of this, will have very little problems in getting a grasp on whats going on.

Curtis is also astoundingly active on the Forum and he’s been answering my questions before the “ink gets dry” on the posting and hes a man of action too.

Conclusion.

Support, training, Guidance, Social Interaction and Automation of those annoying tasks many don’t have time to learn, On going training, a very knowledgeable and active and knowledgeable owner and a Price that you’d be paying for the kind of Hosting that is provided, makes this a really great place for someone starting out, someone wanting to network or someone wanting to have available, a service like this they can direct people to and earn a commission for their troubles.

It’s a win- win situation in my opinion and you are welcome to comment, agree or disagree, it doesn’t matter.

What does matter is that you check out the website at http://www.timbrownlaw.com/recommends/InternetIncomeAcademy

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]]> http://www.timbrownlaw.com/blog/what-do-you-recommend-to-people-who-are-struggling-online/feed 1 More on Problem Solving. http://www.timbrownlaw.com/blog/more-on-problem-solving http://www.timbrownlaw.com/blog/more-on-problem-solving#comments Sat, 27 Mar 2010 11:45:53 +0000 Tim Brownlaw http://www.timbrownlaw.com/blog/?p=360

This post has come about – again – due to being in the middle of  creating a brand new Website using CodeIgniter ( A PHP Framework) , MySQL and Stored Procedures.

Don’t worry about what they are, but what happened is I went out on a limb and started delving into Stored Procedures that return multiple DataSets. Something I’ve not had to deal with up till now. And a long story Short – CodeIgniter was a bit short on letting me do that. I like CodeIgniter and once you get your head around it, it does let you create your wonderful masterpiece of a Script without having to worry about all the housekeeping code.

Anyway, retrieving the multiple Datasets just wasn’t happening. A shortfall of CodeIgniter.

So I had a problem on my hands.

What did I do to solve it?

Simple, I opened up my trusty Open Office Writer – created a new document called – “Using MySQL Stored Procedures -A .odt” and started writing out the problem.

It’s very  important to actually State the problem. Then you can start writing out what isn’t happening. What you think should happen and you’ll eventually get somewhere. The reason being you are writing down what you need to do and you’ll be writing down what you have done… That’s where this works wonderfully well.

Yes, it takes a little bit longer to do than just blast away. But guess what! Taking your time actually helps. Plus you’ll more than likely create yourself a guide on the problem and how you solved it.

Any light bulbs going off yet? If you know of others who might be having the same problem….you’ve just written an Ebook about it, or the makings of one.

Actually with my particular problem, I noted that it would be beneficial to go back to basics and I documented everything… The PHP Code I created. That Database Tables, The Stored procedures. I even came up with a way to automatically install my Database from a Script loaded with all my SQL statements. That got included so I don’t forget….

So I got the main script working and tinkered till I got it right and wrote it all down.

Guess What?

I ended up discovering all the right ways to do what I wanted then I got into the guts of the CodeIgniter Framework and after a bit of headscratching I got it all working.

So now I have sample Scripts, The Ebook on what I did, and a working CodeIgniter Framework that has come up pretty swish ( which means Fantastic ). Now I can get back onto my project and keep going…

The whole point of this is to remember. When you have a problem. Write it out!!!!

I’ve still got a little tidying up of the Ebook before I unleash it upon the world. But for now – it’s a good guide for me for tomorrow. Hmm yes, that’s about how long my whatever that kind of memory is called… I forget..But at least I know where to find the info I’ve written down.

Find or create the problem, Solve it Once, Write it down Once and if it pops up again – you just re-read what you did last time. Absolutely Brilliant!

It does take some commitment to do this. But ask yourself, how important is it to you – to solve the problem you have.

If you do have any Techy Website or other kind of problems. Give me a shout. I’ll work it out – write it out and send you the result. I’ve done it before for others and I’ll do it again.

Are you thinking….”This is a great way to create Content”? You should be!

Ok well I had best get into documenting up the CI changes in another document…. That’s a bit too much for any poor soul to have to read through in the one book and it’s another problem.

Happy Problem Solving.

“If you aint having any problems with anything, you aint doing anything new OR you forgot how you solved it last time”

Till next time

Cheers

Tim Brownlaw… Now where did  I put those files………

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]]> http://www.timbrownlaw.com/blog/more-on-problem-solving/feed 0 Traffic Leads To Income http://www.timbrownlaw.com/blog/traffic-leads-to-income http://www.timbrownlaw.com/blog/traffic-leads-to-income#comments Mon, 08 Mar 2010 12:10:59 +0000 Tim Brownlaw http://www.timbrownlaw.com/blog/?p=356

I’m sure that’s a statement that you’d have to agree on!

I was approached by a Mr Rob Gehring ( formerly of 10KHits4U.com – a traffic exchange ) to become part of the development team and assist in his new program with my various skills. Of course I accepted as I’ve known Rob for a wee while now and his concept for his new site was rather interesting and unique.

Now Rob loves to get in front of people and mentor them. When I met Rob those many years ago, that’s exactly what he was doing then and that’s what impressed me. I should say Rob loves to talk but what he says is invaluable to the newbie and to the seasoned pro. In fact a few of those individuals have jumped on this system with great enthusiasm.

What is it?

Well Rob has taken  mentoring and list building to the next level. His new program TrafficLeads2Income.com gives you the means to create your own list. Even if you don’t have an Autoresponder, as one is included. But of course many of the other popular ones like Aweber, GetResponse, TrafficWave, EasySponder are supported in this system.

What you can do is, join up for free, go through the steps and get yourself a Lead Capture Page created in minutes. But that’s only a small part of the system.

You get to join the Forum, and of course attend the Live Conference calls being held on a regular basis where Rob gives away some pretty neat stuff plus you’ll get mentored to death! In a nice way of course.

There is also a downline builder included which has a large number of participating Traffic Exchanges and other programs participating. But you don’t have to join them all and those you don’t , you can deselect so that your Downline members only get to join those programs that You Choose. Most other systems that do this end up getting signups for your sponsor on those programs you don’t join. So that’s a pretty good feature to have.

All the affiliate material is provided so you won’t be left out to dry in ways to promote this.

The idea is simple. Create your Lead Capture page, promote it how it ever you like, but remember that Traffic Exchanges are a very good source of leads.

Rob will tell you about all the “other ways” just to put him on the spot.

The Steps that are included are there to guide anyone through the whole setup. So you won’t be left scratching your head plus you can ask for help in the Forum and also in the conference calls. There is a support room, that at the moment, isn’t open 24/7 but that’s something that’s being worked on, so you’ll always be able to get live support.

If you upgrade and it’s not expensive to do so, you’ll get higher commissions than Free members and also a few extra benefits thrown in.

So if you want to learn from someone that ” Walks the walk” then Rob’s your man. Plus you get the system to get your list building up and running and you may “unfortunately” encounter me at some stage. I try to attend as many meetings as I can and when I get time I’ll be in the support room lending a hand!

It’s all about getting your list built, getting others into some of your programs and mentoring them with the services provided.

Come along to one of the calls  – They are run on a regular basis – usually at 9pm Sundays EST ( USA Time ).

Click here and find the “Support Room” link at the bottom of the page. This will take you to the page that will get you into the conferences.

The conference software is HotConference which runs in your browser so it’s not dependent on your operating system. Most conferencing programs only run on Windows so this is a great system.

Come along, say Hi and tell Rob that I sent you and he’ll look after you!

TrafficLeads2Income is definitely a great system to use and a great community to be a part of and by it’s very nature a great program to promote where you gain all the benefits.

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]]> http://www.timbrownlaw.com/blog/traffic-leads-to-income/feed 4 5 Ways to get the best result from an online Support system http://www.timbrownlaw.com/blog/5-ways-to-get-the-best-result-from-an-online-support-system http://www.timbrownlaw.com/blog/5-ways-to-get-the-best-result-from-an-online-support-system#comments Sun, 21 Feb 2010 10:41:34 +0000 Tim Brownlaw http://www.timbrownlaw.com/blog/?p=343

Or

What to do when things go wrong

You’ve joined a program or service and something isn’t quite right, so you go hunting for a way to let the site owner or company know.  The good ones will either have a Support Ticket System, a contact form or an email address where you can let them know what your “problem” is.

I’m taking the time to give my thoughts on the proper use of these kinds of systems because I’ve sat on both sides of the fence – meaning I’ve submitted my fair share of support tickets and I’ve also had to handle some myself for various things.

So here are the 5 Ways to get the best results from any support system.

Number 1.

Do Not Write in the heat of the moment!

This happens when something goes wrong. You’ve made a payment and it hasn’t regsitered and you can’t get your download.  Or you have tried creating a web host account and you cannot log into your Hosting Account Manager or your website won’t show up. These are the kinds of things that can very understandably get you a little angry. Been there, done that myself on a few occasions.

Then it’s straight into the support system and telling them how upset you are.

I’d recommend that you take a deep breath and explain exactly what happened and try not to get personal or vent your anger too strongly.  Sure , say you are upset but keep the threats and other choice words in your head and don’t go writing them.

Keep in mind, someone on the other end whose job it is to help you isn’t going to feel too wonderful from reading something abusive.

Number 2.

Give as much information as you can!

Remember that the person at the “other end” needs to know what it is that is happening. So keep it simple and be as specific as you can.  Try to put yourself in their shoes.

Refrain from saying – “It doesn’t work. Please Fix it!” Instead explain what doesn’t work, what you did when it didn’t work and any error messages or whatever other information you can see. That will greatly speed things up to help the “support” person resolve your issue.

Number 3.

Respond quickly to any requests for more information or to let them know that your problem has been fixed or still has issues.

The individuals manning the support systems may want to know a little more. Even though you’ve followed point “Number 2″. It’s easy to forget something so again, respond with the information requested.

Number 4.

On the very rare occasions you may get a response saying “We didn’t find anything wrong it must be you……”. Remember point Number 1 and restate your issue. It’s possible you didn’t supply enough information or clearly enough.

Try to keep the language simple… I’m from Australia and I could probably write something that could have you “scratching your head”. See I just used one there and someone in another country might reply like this – “Dear Mr Brownlaw, I’m unsure of what you mean and my head isn’t itchy…”

Kind of boring, I know, but there will be times when there is a language barrier in just the terms and phrases you might choose to use.

So be boring, keep it plain and explain again.

Number 5.

You may still be unsatisfied and your problem still exists or you are just simply annoyed. Especially if it’s something that reoccurs…

I can only suggest then that you demand to contact the site owner or someone higher up in the chain.

If all else fails.

If all else fails, then you are probably working with someone whose interest is not to keep their customers happy.

Write about your experience in your blog/website but keep it tame.  Stick to the facts and “try” to keep the emotion out of it. Getting abusive will generally turn others off and they may not want to contact you and say ” Hey me too… but I did this…”

Post on a Forum and ask if anyone else is having the same issues…

If this all sounds a bit optimistic well so be it. The majority of companies/service providers etc take great pride in helping their customers. It’s the few that don’t that can lead to major frustration.

Now I’m not going to state that I’ve always stuck to these “guidelines” all the time. But I’m very conscious of them and if I do catch myself  “flying off the handle” (getting angry) I quickly take a few breaths and remember some person on the other end has to read this…. On the odd occasion the send button has been hit and “Whoops”, but I do give thanks and apologize.  Sometime when I read back my tickets they may sound a little heated.

I’ve also hit brick walls with one or two programs I’ve been in and I’m still trying to get a satisfactory outcome…But I’ll stick at it.

So remember, yes we’ll always encounter problems of some kind, but the best way to get help is to be polite and state the facts.

If you really want, you can offer to help them out! I’ve done that before.

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]]> http://www.timbrownlaw.com/blog/5-ways-to-get-the-best-result-from-an-online-support-system/feed 0 New FTC laws in force from Dec 1 2009 http://www.timbrownlaw.com/blog/new-ftc-laws-in-force-from-dec-1-2009 http://www.timbrownlaw.com/blog/new-ftc-laws-in-force-from-dec-1-2009#comments Tue, 01 Dec 2009 05:39:24 +0000 Tim Brownlaw http://www.timbrownlaw.com/blog/?p=296

New FTC laws will be in force from Dec 1st 2009. Now I am not a legal eagle so this is my own personal summary of what I understand these new laws to be.

They are regarding the requirement to disclose any financial gain that will be made by any person making a product or service review/endorsement. In our case, on a website platform. Again, that’s my gist of the situation and I hope it’s close to the mark.

Is it Fair?

I think so…

For one thing, it gives the “would be purchaser” something to ponder before splashing their cash on something based upon someones recommendation. ie If this person is going to make a commission from this review, is it the truth or are they just wanting to make a quick buck?

Personally, I only review things I would and do use myself. It’s only those things that are worthy of the words I spend time writing about it. I do know there are those who will write anything to make a quick buck. Well I’ve got my name and contact details out in front here, so if I’m giving glowing reviews on anything that is going to end up with someone making a purchase and being pissed off… then I aint going to be very popular. And I don’t like pissing anyone off. It’s just bad business. I’ve also been at the other end, having had both good and bad experiences.

So again, these new laws will help increase the protection of the buyer, by having any reviewer give a really honest review, dirt and all, so the potential buyer can make an informed purchase.

Well that’s the idea anyway, as to whether some dishonest people find a way to work this to their favor, only time will tell.

As long as the FTC doesn’t go too crazy and start turning peoples worlds upside down unfairly…. The word’s still getting out guys and we’re doing our best!

Who does this affect?

Anyone that has a website, blog etc that talks about other peoples stuff and has an affiliate link. So if you have an affiliate link, you stand to make a commission and you need to have this stated on your website to that effect. That’s in my own simple terms… Remember I’m not able to give legal advice and this is just my own opinion.

What can you do to implement this?

I did find this website…http://disclosurepolicy.org ( I will not make any financial gain if you click on that link and use the service! After all its FREE! )

While it’s probably a good start and better than nothing, I can’t say for sure that this will “please” the FTC but hey, we are trying!

Now how do I put this on a WordPress Site.

This is something I’m a little more qualified to talk about. But I must state that there will be other, maybe better, ways to do this. ( I love disclaimers too).

So I’ve already gone to http://disclosurepolicy.org and checked the boxes and answered the questions and generated the resulting disclosure statements…Now I have to  put it somewhere! Well that’s what you are wanting to know.. where do you put it?

I created a New Page, ( not a post ) but a New Page. Called it disclaimer – all lower case – and saved the generated text in it…

Beware of having Your Email Addresses on Your Websites!

One thing and this is a major peeve I have with Email Addresses on anything out there that can be scanned by the “aholes that use our emails addresses for evil“. Never Ever have your email address written in it’s natural form. Now at the site http://disclosurepolicy.org, you will be asked to enter your address to add into the disclosure statement. This is solely up to you, but personally, I put mine in BUT I altered it a wee bit…

Never put your HTML Email Address on Your Site

Here’s what you DONT DO – Never Write your email address in it’s Pure HTML Form.

For Example ( and I hope this is a really bogus email address… ) thorax1099@theweebitinthemiddleofinsects1099.com

That’s a No No! You could use thorax1099 ‘AT’ theweebitinthemiddleofinsects1099 ‘DOT’ com with a note ( replace the words in ” with their symbols ). For one thing, this kind of email address has to be typed in… If it’s read ( scanned ) the “aholes that use our emails addresses for evil” software has to do some work… I’m not saying that their software does or doesn’t but it if it hinders them, I’m all for it…

There is way number 2 which looks more appealing. In the actual HTML – you can replace the ‘@’ with the characters ;#064 so you’d write thorax1099;#064theweebitinthemiddleofinsects1099.com

There are also javascript type solutions, but if your visitor has javascript disabled, well it’s not going to show up correctly at all!

I’ll just step off my High Horse on email addresses…..

Next…

Ok, so we have our disclosure statement, we’ve put it in a new page called disclosure ( you can call it what you like but I’m guessing it’s more search engine friendly ) and what about Where will this page live… Well I made my about me page the “parent” to the disclosure page. For no real reason but to tie it to something… I’m also going to be adding a “privacy” and “terms and conditions” pages as well. So they’ll be hanging off the about me page…. Which means – the “about me” page is the Parent. You’ll see this in your WordPress Admin area when you create this new disclosure page.

I Want it in the Footer!

Well it’s where all this kind of stuff should live! Isn’t it? Now this involves a bit of “tinkering” with your worpdress files. While not for the feint hearted, hopefully I’ll explain this well enough that you won’t be too scared to attempt this if you are a bit hesitant to start altering things… Hey, this was made for changing…So let’s change it…

Now this depends upon the theme you are using ( I’ll write more on the details later, I’m thinking a video is required… Have you joined my news letter yet? ) Most Themes have a footer.php file. You can access this in your WordPress Admin section and if you go to…

Appearance -> Edit  and select the footer.php file. ( yep this needs some pictures at least <insert images here…> ) and I added in this line…

Now my Footer looks like this….

<div id="footer">
<?php wp_footer();?>
</div><!-- footer -->
<div style="clear:both;"></div>
<div><p>Copyright &copy; 2009 <a href="<?php bloginfo("url"); ?>"><?php bloginfo("title");?> </a>| Powered by <a href="http://www.wordpress.org">Wordpress</a> | Designed by <a href="http://www.bingowebdesign.info">Bingo</a> - The Web Design Experts</p>
</div>

and I added in this line…

<br /><a href="<?php $page = get_page_by_path('/about/disclosure');echo $page->URL?>" title="disclosure">Disclosure</a>

For some reason the above wasn’t working….So to keep it simple (KISS)

<br /><a href="/blog/about/disclosure" title="disclosure">Disclosure</a>

Which I’m showing in the next section in Bold, so you can see where I placed it.

<div id="footer">
<?php wp_footer();?>
</div><!-- footer -->
<div style="clear:both;"></div>
<div><p>Copyright &copy; 2009 <a href="<?php bloginfo("url"); ?>"><?php bloginfo("title");?> </a>| Powered by <a href="http://www.wordpress.org">Wordpress</a> | Designed by <a href="http://www.bingowebdesign.info">Bingo</a> - The Web Design Experts</p>

<br /><a href="/blog/about/disclosure" title="disclosure">Disclosure</a>

<br /><a href="<?php $page = get_page_by_path('/about/disclosure');echo $page->URL?>" title="disclosure">Disclosure</a>
</div>

The WordPress Function get_page_by_path(‘/about/disclosure’) gives us the advantage of not needing to know anything more than where the pages lives. Remembering that I created the disclosure page with the about page being the parent. So there is no need to worry about the websites URL and under what path the blog is located. On this site, wordpress is installed under http://www.timbrownlaw.com/blog and I don’t need to worry about that as the function get’s than information internally when wordpress was installed.

I’ve had to put in the path msyelf. Now my wordpress installation hangs of the folder called blog ( yours might be different.) It may even be straight from the public_html folder in which case you will only need “/about/disclosure”.

Try it and see. It’ll get you going.

Just note that the disclosure page will be a menu item under your about page menu item if you have that functionality on your menus. That’s not a bad thing! We had set the about page to be the parent to the disclosure page. You can use the very same methods to add in any other pages you wish… for example a “privacy” and “terms and conditions” page. I would recommend you name the “terms and conditions page” with hyphens between the words – never use spaces ( although WordPress will fix it if you do use spaces ) . So you’ll end up with terms-and-condtions.

If you have any questions or it’s just not clear, please leave a comment!

See the result!

And don’t forget to Check out my Disclosure page – see the link at the end of the page…..

[UPDATE] – Here is something I’ve seen on some sites that sits bold and proud at the end of every page…

Disclosure Note: We are affiliates of the products discussed on this website and we will earn a commission if you proceed to purchase via the links on this website.

All results posted here are ‘not typical’ and does not reflect that you will achieve the same results. This is because we cannot control how you use the information.

All opinions on this website are our own and not influenced by anyone else. The products (mostly) reviewed are complimentary from the merchants.

We hope you’ll enjoy your stay and we look forward to continue to bring you the best and unbiased reviews

[This hasn't been fully proof read yet - it's more important to get the message out there than worry about getting bad marks for Grammer and Spelling..But it will get fixed up...]

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]]> http://www.timbrownlaw.com/blog/new-ftc-laws-in-force-from-dec-1-2009/feed 3 The League of Extraordinary minds – 2nd session http://www.timbrownlaw.com/blog/the-league-of-extraordinary-minds-2nd-session http://www.timbrownlaw.com/blog/the-league-of-extraordinary-minds-2nd-session#comments Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:01:50 +0000 Tim Brownlaw http://www.timbrownlaw.com/blog/?p=231

The second seminar in the series of 9 just finished up and I have to say that those panelists are pretty switched on.

They should be – it’s the job of some of those on tonight, to study the pshycology of what makes a customer, a customer.

The remaining calls are still free so it’s best that you go here to register , so that you can be informed when the next one is on!

I strongly suggest that you mark the time and date on your Calendar. Also I strongly suggest that if you know anyone in an offline business. or more affecctionately known as a “Brick and Mortar” business, that you let them know about these calls.

This isn’t a bunch of internet marketing mates having a friendly  chat. These are published authors in marketing and advisors to the big boys. That’s their livelihood.You can find out on the website, who the panelists are.

So, to be able to listen in on these calls while they answer a number of questions, relating to a specific topic ( See the list of topics )

The next one is marked on my Calendar.

Cheers

Tim

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