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FTC: What Did YOU Do With Testimonials That Tell How Much $ Your Customers Made From Your Product?

by magentawave
8 replies
I'm sure everyone is burned out on reading about the FTC stuff but this is a question I have yet to get an answer for...

I have many real testimonials on one of my sites where my customers tell about how much money they made from what they learned from my ebooks.

Obviously I can't prove or disprove that their results are "typical" but the question I have for those in a similar situation is...

What did YOU do with your testimonials that mention money made? Did you remove them from your site?

Thanks
Steve
#customers #ftc #made #product #testimonials
  • Profile picture of the author magentawave
    How were you able to show that your testimonials were representative?

    My niche is a NON-internet marketing niche but many of my customers have clearly stated how much money they made selling a certain thing based on what they learned in my ebooks. They aren't ridiculous amounts of either. More like: "I made $1500.00 from selling an X and another $600.00 when I sold the blah, blah, blah. Thanks Steve!"

    Thanks for replying.

    Steve

    Originally Posted by ProductCreator View Post

    If you watch the Jim Edward interview with the FTC guy, the latter says it is acceptable to edit out (obviously not wholesale changes, just deletions of sections) the results specific portions of the testimonials.

    The other option is to leave as is but show proof that the testimonials are representative.

    The latter would take me a long time and might not even be possible to gather data from my customer base - would depend on them being cooperative for no payment which is unlikely.

    So I opted for the former and so far conversions appear to be unaffected.

    btw I am talking about non-IM niches. I have one product in the IM niche and I never used results in my testimonials anyway. I have more respect for my customer base than most IM-niche marketers than to patronise them with "make $64,759 in 24 hours". The headlines in the WSO section are frankly a joke and always have been!
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  • Profile picture of the author Steven Wagenheim
    There are 4 ways you can handle this.

    1. Leave them as is and have a disclaimer saying what the typical results are.
    In the case of a money making product, a disclaimer such as...

    "Typical results are that the person gets this product, does nothing with it
    and makes no money at all. If you are not prepared to put in the time and
    effort into this, you will probably make no money as well and should
    therefore not get this product."

    I am not a lawyer, but I would bet dollars to donuts that the FTC would have
    no problem with that disclaimer.

    2. Use the testimonial as is and detail exactly what the person did to
    get those results. May be time consuming and ultimately turn off your
    buyers anyway when they see how much work is involved.

    3. Edit out the results specific portion of the testimonial.

    4. Don't use the testimonial.

    That's it. Those are your options.

    Choose your poison.
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  • Profile picture of the author Steven Carl Kelly
    Originally Posted by magentawave View Post

    What did YOU do with your testimonials that mention money made? Did you remove them from your site?
    Nothing, I've never used those sorts of testimonials. Just because the FTC issued new guides recently doesn't mean lawsuits weren't being filed for years over testimonials with specific earnings information.
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    • Profile picture of the author magentawave
      Even though my Earnings Disclaimer has always said pretty much what Steve Wagenheim's example for number 1 says (i.e. "most humans won't do squat with this..."), I think I will add a specific notice like that to my home page and my testimonials page.

      Thanks for taking the time to post your opinions! It really helps.

      Steve
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      • Profile picture of the author Sylonious
        Originally Posted by magentawave View Post

        Even though my Earnings Disclaimer has always said pretty much what Steve Wagenheim's example for number 1 says (i.e. "most humans won't do squat with this..."), I think I will add a specific notice like that to my home page and my testimonials page.

        Thanks for taking the time to post your opinions! It really helps.

        Steve
        Just be careful. I've heard others talk about doing something similar, but no one ever confirmed that it was accepted by the FTC.
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        • Profile picture of the author magentawave
          Originally Posted by Sylonious View Post

          Just be careful. I've heard others talk about doing something similar, but no one ever confirmed that it was accepted by the FTC.
          Yes, and therein lies the problem with rulings like this where there are so many "what if" variables from site to site and a certain degree arbitrariness in the ruling itself.

          Steve
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