Recently there has been a lot of fear about the FTC regulation changes – maybe you’ve seen emails saying ‘Internet Marketing is Dead’ going around.
To put this latest scare in perspective, back in 2003 many said ‘Email Marketing is Dead’ when the Canspam law was passed, imposing Federal regulations that many feared would falsely paint all email marketers as spammers.
Well, the fact is that savvy marketers adapted to the new rules (which were no big deal). Fortunes continue to be made with email promotions to this day.
Who were the losers in that whole thing?
The ‘losers’ were those who believed the scare and stopped building lists and working to perfect their email marketing strategies. They got sucked into other truly dead ideas, like ‘Google Adsense’, more about that in a minute.
My point today is that you don’t lose by ignoring the alarmist’s warnings – you win by getting informed about what the facts are and take action.
Now, when I say ‘get informed’, I mean get the real facts from a source who is NOT trying to scare you.
For example, regarding this FTC thing, I looked around and found an attorney who understands ‘internet stuff’ and wasn’t trying to scare anyone. I checked around, folks I respect spoke highly of him. I’ve read his blog and I like what I see. His name is Mike Young and you can read a great post here that will help put the ’scare’ about the FTC in perspective. I’ll let you read Mike’s post for the details.
The best way I can help you today is to show you how to spot these ’scare scams’ any time they crop up and to give you the big picture perspective based on my ten years in this ‘internet marketing’ business.
Let’s talk about how to avoid getting sucked into the ’scare tactics’.
1) Be a Maverick, think independently, for yourself. If everyone is freaking out, be calm. And, if everyone thinks things are perfect, keep your eyes open for danger.
2) When someone is trying to scare you, watch your wallet. Most likely, they want you to buy something (likely that you don’t really need).
3) Don’t fear change, adapt and embrace it. If you need to make changes to comply with the FTC regulations, no worries. Educate yourself with experts like Mike Young, and take action on what you learn.
The big red flag is when you hear the phrase that something you really want is suddenly ‘dead”.
The scare tactic works because the marketers who do this know if they tell you something you really want is ‘dead’ that you’ll jump to whatever solution they offer.
Here’s the ugly truth…
The stuff that is truly dead that can cost you a ton of money and time is most often the stuff that is being ‘hyped’.
You may remember that ‘Adsense’ was a big deal a few years back right when people thought email marketing was ‘DEAD’.
The hype was that everywhere you turned it seemed that folks were making six figures a month on ‘auto pilot’ with this Google Adsense program.
Right about when that strategy was being pimped just about from every street corner, I knew to be ‘afraid’ and not buy into it. Sure enough, the game collapsed, people had lost a LOT of time and money trying to get rich with Adsense. You know what? No body warned ‘Adsense is Dead’ until long after it was already dead.
The truth is that people did make a lot of money with Adsense, many of my friends did. But, they were already doing that long before everyone ‘knew’ about it. By the time it was ‘hyped’, the best days were already over. Fact is, you can still make money with Adsense – but the hype has moved on (I still don’t think that strategy by itself is a ‘business’, though).
What’s funny is that the whole time people thought ‘email’ was dead, savvy marketers used ‘email’ to promote ‘Adsense’ and made a ton of money. That’s why you want to think like a Maverick!
By my way of thinking, email marketing will be alive and well until ‘everyone’ is pimping it.
Your best bet is to beware following what ‘everyone’ is doing. When those around you are panicking, it’s time to think like a maverick and find a the truth. When everyone is euphoric and without fear of any risk – be alert, real danger is right around the corner! With all the fear peddlers out there right now, being the Maverick I am, I had to say something.
Remember: Don’t let anyone scare you! That only makes them money.
If you want to profit, get the facts from credible sources who are NOT trying to scare you and get to work!
Stay cool!
Craig
P.S. I could have a field day making fun of the folks who believe the world is going to end in December of 2012, but I’ll save that post for January of 2013 
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
I was just telling a business partner this. The biggest people doing the scaring are selling something. There will be a small change and life will move on.
Craig
Thanks for some great comments about the FTC rulings.
Whenever the government gets involved the usual outcome is not what they wanted. In fact, at a bad time in the economy, by telling business owners what they can say in their marketing will only reduce the sales of those who need to increase their results.
The biggest thing that bothered me about the FTC ruling was that “honesty” of the testimonials had nothing to do with it.
It did make me think about what I was saying and what I actually sell however.
As a small business marketing coach, what I sell is the potential for great success. Some will pick it up, some will make an excuse and not pick it up. I’ve seen those that do pick it up achieve results WAY above average. Yet, honesty has nothing to do with it according to the government’s new rules. They don’t want us using testimonials that indicate what’s possible.
I agree craig.
I talked to my internet attorney when this all came about and he said not to worry.
The FTC doesn’t even know what they are doing on this subject yet.
Just dot your i’s and cross your t’s and all will be good.
If you aren’t doing anything shady then you will be fine.
The main point is, if you think it is shady then it probably is and you probably shouldn’t be doing it anyway.
Great post.
Justin
Thanks for the maverick post! Craig keep your maverick up for 2010….
interesting! hope i am here in 2012. if it happens-so what.