FTC regulations — MomStart

I have gone up and down with my opinion on the FTC regulating review bloggers. I’ve kept it to myself over the course of the past six months while they were deciding what to do and how to do it. I am right smack in the middle of this if I want to be or not. Well I suppose if I didn’t want to be then I should just hang up my hat and say good bye, but it’s too late. I’m addicted and staying come hell and high waters.

Why did they get involved?

"Given that social media has become such a significant player in the advertising area, we thought it was necessary to address social media as well," said Richard Cleland, assistant director for the division of advertising practices at the FTC

In a Mom Blogger’s words:

We are a force, a strength, something that cannot be stopped, and we should be proud that from nothing, bloggers have created a true new medium where none existed before. Wear the badge not as a hindrance, but as a validation. Trisha Haas from Mom Dot

What is a bloggers responsibility?

When writing about something that you have received from a company or someone that represents a company you should mention if you received that product for free. I have always said in my posts “I received this product” ok, that means Company X sent me product A that you are reading about. Do you think this is clear enough? I mean, I don’t want to get in trouble. Also, lets say I went on a blogging trip for a company like Sara Lee. They wanted me to fully disclose everything. I did, once, but I’m continuing to work with them; without further compensation. I just really liked what I learned from them. Do I need to disclose every detail of that one trip (I’m not sure I even disclosed EVERY single detail of the trip the first time around), every time I write about Sara Lee, because what if you are a new reader and you didn’t read about my trip. The same thing goes for Marshalls and Sears. Does this mean that they bought me and own me now in the eyes of the FTC?

I read the rules, I’ve read opinions from bloggers and journalists (a lot of journalists don’t like bloggers), I will admit, some of it still doesn’t make sense to me.

I think expecting review bloggers to be honest about when and where they are making money is the right thing to do.

Bloggers should be expected to have integrity. We should follow these basic guidelines that I got from Susan Getgood at Marketing Roadmaps. She understand law and broke down the official documentation (pdf) from the FTC.

1. Liability for false statements in a sponsored post
2. Disclosure of receipt of free product
3. Anti-astroturfing. Requires disclosure of material interest when making an endorsement.

She thinks that Mom Bloggers are over reacting. Some of us probably are.

Is the Blogging Community Over Reacting?

Yes, and no. For a Mom or Dad that is already blogging ethically see that the government has just declared they have the right to slap you with a 11,000 dollar fine for writing your opinion on a product; they have a right to be upset. My cousin wrote to me this morning because he was worried for me. He isn’t even a blogger, just a family member that wants to make sure I don’t get into trouble.

Some bloggers are afraid of the need to go back and edit all their older posts. Bloggers like me that already disclose when something is free probably have nothing to worry about. It’s just alarming and there is a fear of “am I doing it right?”.

Some bloggers are complaining about free speech and the right to say what I want to say. I think those are the ones that are over reacting. And maybe also the ones that aren’t following the rules already. You have the right to say what you want to say. Consumers just want to know if you were influenced to say that. I mean, is it an opinion you would defend in court. And you have to remember that an opinion is different from a “claim”

For example, when a review blogger is writing about a product that made something like eczema go away. It worked for them. They can’t claim “it cures eczema”. You can’t make medical claims unless you want your butt sued. (summary from marketing roadmaps)

Some bloggers, myself included want to know where the disclosure is supposed to end

As mom bloggers, with affiliations to advertisers and PR, do our relationships stop at our written word or do they go with us throughout our daily lives?

The line is so blurry that its barely existent.

Trisha Haas (Mom Dot)

And there was a comment from her post that I certainly agree with.

I want to make sure I do it right. None of his “case by case” nonsense. Tell us how you want us to do it and then all will be well.

From Marianna at Green Mamma’s Pad

What is considered Enough?

I’m almost inline with a comment I read about creating a blanket disclosure about reading anything on my PERSONAL Mom blog.

How about if all bloggers put a disclaimer on their sites that says something like this, would that meet the FTC guidelines?

DISCLAIMER
Anything you read on this site, see on this site, smell on this site or consume in any manner from this site, whatsoever, quite possibly resulted in my being paid or getting a free product from somebody somewhere, somehow.

The opinions expressed here may be my own opinions or opinions written on behalf of someone else in exchange for some type of renumeration to me.

For your own protection you should assume that whatever I wrote, posted or conveyed to you in any manner whatsoever probably resulted in some type of renumeration to me so take everything you see or read here with a grain of salt as I may not really know what I am blogging about; then again, maybe I do. It is up to you to make that determination I don’t have the time or inclination to take you by the hand, I am too busy blogging about whatever it is I blog about.

For all you know this entire site could be a shame, a ruse, and/or a cover up. Enter at your own risk.

If you even remotely suspect that I got paid somehow for what I have posted than it would be best to assume I have been or will be, so believing anything you read here is totally up to you as I have no control over your mind. The author of this comment is from the blog FOXBARON

Since the FTC says they are going to be going on a case by case basis, perhaps that’s where I’ll stay for now too. Every post will have something in it saying “I received this” or “I paid for this”. But still people, you can’t believe everything you read on-line. My site represents my opinion. I am an honest person, but even when I don’t like something it comes across as it’s still a good product. My opinion is a half glass full. The key word is my blog is my venue to express my opinion. We’ll see how this all unfolds.

You can make some money blogging but I’m not in it for the money nor am I making much. Most of what I do I do as a hobby but with encouragement from friends and the fact that I do receive stuff almost on a daily basis, I feel I’m becoming a business if I want to or not.

Bloggers can also make money using sites like Pay Per Post or Sponsored Reviews. However when using these you must be careful if you feel any importance in your page rank. Google will strip you of your Page Rank with out any warning and re-submitting your blog is a pain in the butt or so I have heard.

You can also make money just writing for other sites. I’ve tried a few out but I never stick with it to find out if I could make money with it. The reason being is that I just love my blog too much. So I decided it’s all or nothing for Mom Start and here I am. Blogging away. However, I do want to share a few sites with you.

I know some moms have success with gather.com. One of the mom bloggers that I used to read, if I remembered who it was I would link to her. I’m so sorry, but I did join by clicking on your link loves gather and makes a lot of money with it and gets a lot of gift cards for shopping though gather. I had a lot of trouble figuring out how the points worked on gather, but when you only spend 10 minutes at night when you’re exhausted from chasing children all day things just don’t add up. Here is a blurb from a mom I know over the internet:

Gather, the leading social network to make new friends and form new social circles, today announced that its members have exceeded $500,000 in total earnings by redeeming Gather Points™. Since the beginning, the Gather Points program has been a popular site feature that rewards members for creating great experiences for the community. With the economic downturn, Gather Points has become an even more important member benefit. Since the start of 2009, members have redeemed over $85,000 in points they have put towards everything from home improvement projects and family vacations to summer fun for the kids.

“Gather Points have helped me buy the extra things that my kids have asked for without having to break the bank!” said Bridget A., a Gather Member who has earned $2,460 since joining the site in 2007. (http://cheekymommaof2.gather.com/) “I used my earnings from Gather Points to entirely fund our 2008 summer vacation to the Oregon Coast, where I also got to meet a fellow Gather member.”

“I have been a cash earner since Gather rolled out points spending in 2006,” said Monica Kennedy of Tennessee (http://crochetbymonica.gather.com), who has earned over $2,800 sharing her crochet expertise with the community. “The money I have earned at Gather — doing what I love and had done elsewhere for free — has become more than extra cash for family fun. It has turned into a real, viable business for me.”

Another site moms are making money on is Helium. I have not tried Helium yet but I looked over it. It looks like a very professional site, this is what I was told:

Helium (www.Helium.com), which has quickly become the world’s largest writing community and a favorite destination for thousands of stay-at-home moms.

Helium recently announced that its writers have exceeded $1 million in total earnings. The amount — more than half of which was generated over the last six months — is a significant validation of the Helium publishing model.
At present, over one thousand Helium writers have earned more than $100, and top earners have made over $5,000 in a matter of months. Because of its flexibility, Helium is a natural fit for many stay-at-home moms who enjoy writing and have an interest in supplementing their household income.

One stay-at-home mom in Rhode Island, Trudi Buck, has earned over $3,200 over the last year by writing articles such as “How to Avoid the Holiday Bulge” for Helium. A divorced mother of three small children, Trudi depends on the supplemental income she earns from Helium to cover special or unexpected expenses. “It is important for me to be home right now, at least until we get my daughter’s epilepsy under control,” says Trudi.

Another stay-at-home mom, Adina Allen, has made nearly $900 over the last year by writing about various parenting topics. A mother of three young children who lives in southern New Jersey, Adina spends about one hour each day on Helium, writing articles on a range of topics, such as “Simple Tips for Preparing Your House for Sale,” “Hottest Toys for 5-7 year old boys," and "Pros and Cons of the Walmart Credit Card."

Although it’s not “quit your day job money,” says Adina, the extra income generated from Helium is no small change either, especially in these tough times.

“I use my Helium earnings for simple household things like lunch money for my son, diapers for my twins, and my coffee addiction at Dunkin Donuts,” she says.

Recently named by Writer’s Digest as one of the “101 Best Websites for Writers,” Helium rewards its writers based on merit, including the number of articles purchased through the site’s Freelance Writing Marketplace, winning writing contests and achieving high ratings from fellow writers.

Helium is free for anyone to join and the community includes a variety of writers, including professional journalists, college students, stay-at-home moms, and medical and legal industry professionals.

Mom Bloggers Club has a few opportunities every now and then that come up. I did a post for compensation and you could think of a lot of my posts as for compensation. We’ll give you this product and 15.00 to go along with it, but it’s not much and considering how much I would charge per house I’m losing money. That’s why I don’t consider my blog writing for money, it’s more of writing to help my family save some money.

Twitter Moms has some opportunities as well. Most of them are way more work than I want to do and you only get a chance at getting something. I really like to have all of the details worked out before I do any of the work. That’s just smart right?

Mom Central pays you to blog or they provide gift cards or other opportunities.

Mom Select also provides opportunities. I’m working on the All program with them and they sent a Hayden Harnett bag worth 198.00. I was in shock when I read the value on someone else’s blog.

When it comes to getting paid though, you have to watch out for other concerns, which is another reason why I shy away from getting paid. People will not believe your posts if you were paid to write it. I want people to believe me so if I don’t like a product or find a flaw I will write about it. I just feel that showing that I’m going to write what I honestly think about something is important. More important than making the sponsor or company that provided the review item happy. I agree with Stephanie Azzarone’s article Should Mommy bloggers be paid? I also feel that we should be held accountable for our relationships with companies. We need to be paying attention to how the FTC regulations come out. I’ve kept quite for a while about how I feel because yes I do feel like I work hard on my blog, but I’m not sure I want to be paid.

I suppose this is how I feel, If I was writing for someone else’s website like Helium or gather, I would want to be paid. If what I was writing about a company or if I’m providing links and advertisements I want to be paid, but if I’m writing a review, my honest opinion, I do not want to be paid. I want the freedom to say yes I like it or this is a piece of crap. So to all of you mommies that want to make money while staying home good luck, get organized, find your niche and remember, it’s still work. It takes dedication.