Disclaim Your Way To Success

August 26, 2010 by Brian Bourn | 16 Comments

FTC disclosure examplesIncluding marketing and advertising legal disclaimers, with your online and traditional marketing campaigns, is not only a good practice but in many cases are also legally required by the Federal Trade Commission.

All legal disclaimers for products, programs, or services that you are marketing should be clearly visible on the same webpage or printed marketing piece that your items are described.

I have gathered the following marketing disclaimers as examples to consult when crafting your disclosures with a professional legal advisor.

General Website Marketing Disclaimer

“The income statements, testimonials, and examples on this website are exceptional results, and are not intended to represent or guarantee that anyone will achieve the same or similar results. Each individual’s success depends on his or her desire, dedication, marketing background, market place, product, service, effort and motivation to work and follow programs and advice. There is no guarantee you will duplicate the results stated here. You recognize any business endeavor has inherent risk for loss of capital.”

Membership Disclaimer

“Per the current FTC guidelines, we are in the process of collecting results data from Company X members in order to be able define the “typical” or “average” experience of our members. While we collect that data, we are sharing unique stories of individual Company X members. None of these stories in any way represent the “average” or “typical” Company X member experience. In fact, as with any product or service, we know that some members purchase our system but never use it, and therefore get no results from their membership whatsoever. Therefore, the member stories we are sharing can neither represent nor guarantee the current or future experience of other past, current or future Company X members. Rather, these member stories represent what is possible with our system. Each of these unique stories, and any and all results reported in these stories by individual members, are the culmination of numerous variables, many of which Company X cannot control, including pricing, target market conditions, product/service quality, offer, customer service, personal initiative, and countless other tangible and intangible factors.”

Coaching/Educational Program Disclaimer

“Every effort has been made to accurately represent our program and its potential. Any claims made of actual earnings or examples of actual results can be verified upon request. Testimonials and examples used are exceptional results, don’t apply to the average purchaser, and are not intended to represent or guarantee that anyone will achieve the same or similar results. Each individual’s success depends on his or her background, dedication, desire and motivation. As with any business endeavor, there is an inherent risk of loss of capital and there is no guarantee that you will earn any money.”

Affiliate Marketing Disclosure

The FTC clearly states that all products and services sold through affiliate marketing programs must have a clear disclaimer notifying the consumer that you may receive a commission or fee if someone purchases through your link.

“From time to time, we will promote, endorse, or suggest products and/or services for sale. These recommendations are ALWAYS based on a belief that the product and it’s author will provide excellent and valuable information or service based on a review of that product, our relationship with that person, and or previous positive experience with the person or company who’s product we are recommending. In some cases, we will be compensated if you decide to purchase that product based on our recommendation. We may also receive the product for free for review purposes. Always do your OWN due-diligence before making any purchases and never purchase anything that you cannot afford.”

My Personal Disclaimer…You Knew This Was Coming

“The contents of this post are intended to be purely educational in nature, and are not intended to be used as legal advice. As with all legal matters, consult a proper attorney before using any of these disclaimers in your marketing materials, advertising, or on your website. Use of these examples without due diligence is at your own risk.”

FILED UNDER: Email Marketing & List Building, Marketing Tips & Marketing Strategy, Website Design Tips & Strategy
TAGGED WITH: , , , ,
  • Want to use this article in your newsletter or on your website or blog?
    No problem! Simply include the citation and link below at the end of the article!

    About the Authors: Jennifer and Brian Bourn owners of Bourn Creative, a Sacramento web design company, help established businesses build beautiful, feature-rich, custom WordPress websites and blogs, design powerful, personal brands, and help their clients learn to leverage their website and blog to attract more clients than they ever thought possible.


    • Subscribe By Email!

    If you think this article is awesome, you should subscribe to our blog and can get our articles delivered to your inbox! Enter your email below to subscribe!

    Feedback and Comments:

    1. - International AuPair Finder

      Aug 30, 2010 at 08:37

      Very interesting post and I shall have to have a think about how that works for me as a 1099 contractor finding host families to host AuPairs as their form of live in childcare. The affiliate one is most interesting to me though as I have signed up as an affiliate for Ann Evanston’s social networking coaching club. Thanks

      louiseedington.com
      ledington.aupairnews.com

      Reply

    2. Hope Desroches

      Aug 30, 2010 at 09:06

      Awesome, great advice. Thank you!

      Reply

    3. Darcie Newton

      Aug 30, 2010 at 10:24

      Thanks for posting these in one place. It is sad that disclaimers like this are necessary.

      Reply

    4. Peggy Maffeo

      Aug 30, 2010 at 10:39

      Thanks Jen, this is great advise and I love your website!

      Peggy

      Reply

    5. Jean Bentley

      Aug 30, 2010 at 11:47

      Great information to know for when I get my new website up and running. Thanks!

      Reply

      • Brian Bourn

        Aug 30, 2010 at 06:11

        Thanks for the comment, I have been collecting these disclaimers for a while from around the web and thought this would be a useful post. Good luck with your new site.

        Reply

    6. Donna McCord

      Aug 30, 2010 at 05:03

      This is so important for people to know; thank you for sharing this information and making everyone aware that the more exposure we get, the more we need to protect ourselves.

      Reply

    7. Judy Stone-Goldman

      Aug 30, 2010 at 05:48

      Very eye opening, indeed! I have seen some of these disclaimers on others sites and they do catch one’s attention. Thank you so much for this information–it’s what you don’t know you don’t know!!

      Reply

    8. Julia M Lindsey

      Aug 31, 2010 at 03:35

      This is a timely post. We are considering adding affiliates to our site. The wording is great on your disclaimer. I have not seen too many disclaimers on e-books. Do you recommend having a disclaimer for everything you sell on your site? Where do you put the disclaimer?

      Reply

      • Brian Bourn

        Sep 01, 2010 at 08:23

        Hi Julia. Thanks for stopping by our blog, and yes we do recommend having disclaimers for things you sell, especially if the sales copy makes any claims of results, or if you are including testimonials from past clients. The FTC is pretty clear about their truth in advertising requirements. I would put the disclaimer at the bottom of the sales page, and depending on what you are selling, maybe along with the copyright/trademark notice on the first page of your ebooks.

        Reply

    9. Heidi Alberti and Atticus

      Sep 02, 2010 at 07:32

      I think I’ll have to add this disclaimer to my blog: “The content of this blog is created by a canine. Don’t bark if you don’t agree…I’m just a dog!”

      Reply

    10. Michael Cavitt

      Sep 02, 2010 at 07:58

      Jennifer, thanks for the post by Brian. I included a disclaimer in a recent post. As a former financial adviser, I know that it is easy to express an opinion that could be construed as legal advice. Good examples.

      Reply

    11. Jennifer Duchene

      Sep 02, 2010 at 11:35

      Wonderful reality bite. The legalese that we must all consider with a business. Thanks for this excellent reminder.

      Reply

    12. Candace C. Davenport

      Sep 03, 2010 at 03:48

      Great information Brian. I actually did research on this when the FTC came out with the clarification on the affiliates and have several articles started. But like lots of things, life got in the way, and I never finished them. Nice to have it all in one place.

      That is very helpful for people. I can’t believe how many sales letters and requests to buy things I receive from people that do not have these attached. It’s just so smart in today’s litigious society to CYA. Thanks for giving the examples.

      Candace C. Davenport
      http://www.ourlittlebooks.com ~ Little Books with a Big Message

      Reply

    13. Pat Zahn

      Sep 04, 2010 at 10:41

      Thanks for this “food for thought”. At first, I thought it didn’t really apply to me since I don’t think I’m selling anything on my blog site. However, it occurred to me that I do have a service on one of my pages and though I don’t see any specific claims, I thought, why not just put a disclaimer in the footer to be safe – done and done.

      Reply

    Leave a Comment:



    Website