The following is a list of the most important revisions made in the Guides:

• Endorsements must reflect the honest opinions and true experience of the endorser. If paid actors are used, this fact must be disclosed.
• Endorsements may not contain any representations which would be deceptive, or could not be substantiated, if made directly by the advertiser.
• Endorsements must be representative of what consumers can reasonably expect to achieve. Any claim made by the endorser must reflect the opinion or experience of a significant proportion of consumers. Disclaimers like “results not typical” are no longer sufficient.
• All material connections between the advertiser and the endorser (including research or medical organizations) that consumers would not expect must be disclosed, including free products or monetary compensation.

The full text of the guidelines is available here:
http://www.ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005endorsementguidesfnnotice.pdf

Penalties of up to $11,000 per violation are possible, but the FTC did not disclose just how the disclosures were to be made! Duh!

I’ve been trying to find out what it means to be “paid” under this ruling.

Here’s the response to that from the Reason Foundation at the prospect of this ruling from which I quote a segment:

Bloggers who test and review products, get freebies from companies, or make money from clients have been warned: the government is watching you.

In a move that would mark a major step into regulating online speech, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is planning to issue guidelines for individuals who write, review or comment about commercial products and services on their own blogs or in the comments sections of websites.

The FTC rules would require bloggers and commenters to back up any claims they make and disclose whether they received any pay or benefits from the companies they cover. Some of the things bloggers might have to disclose to the feds include any gifts or direct payments, companies who buy advertising on the blog or site, and commissions on “clickthroughs” they receive from website ads. Failure to disclose such arrangements could mean substantial fines and potentially staggering legal costs.

Here’s another vague article trying to discern what’s going on from Tampabay.com.

So far, everything is “as clear as mud”.

What’s “payment”? Free samples? Cash? The use of a product for testing purposes? Google Adsense click throughs? Affiliate links?

But keep on top of the issue and every blogger must develop a strategy for this new encroachment on their speech.

Some legal types went on record as telling the Arizona Republic that:

Anyone using digital media such as Twitter, Facebook or a personal blog to write about a product or service could be held liable for making false or unsubstantiated claims, Bayton said.

They also could be sued successfully for lying about their opinion or use of a product or service, she said.

In addition, they would have to let readers know if they had been paid to write a review or endorsement, received free products or services, or had a relationship with the company.

He knows he “SHOULD” be able to create a stream of relatively passive income from articles generating adsense clicks and affiliate commissions. But to date that hadn’t happened for him. His latest project to make that happen is documented on this new blog. Now I’ll warn you up front, this is an affiliate link in case you want to purchase anything Markus sells. But you can read all his articles without buying anything. Here’s the link: Article Marketing Secrets

Now Markus’ goals are ambitious. He wants to generate $5,000 per month from Article Marketing. Hey, I’d love an extra $5,000 per month I didn’t have to claw and scrape for all the time – wouldn’t you?

But I also love it when someone works to document what they’re working on in this manner so I can SEE what’s going on. I’m sure they won’t tell me ALL their secrets (maybe Markus will) but I’ve learned to read between the lines.

So I look forward to following this with great interest!

Here are the topics Markus has posted to date:

Day #1:
Article Marketing Domination
How to make $5,000 a month writing articles.

Day #2:
Article Marketing Handbook
Secrets revealed on how to make more money with content marketing.

Day #3:
Article Marketing Strategies
Inside secret strategies of a professional content publisher.

Day #4:
Article Marketing Course
Article promotion the fast & easy way.

Day #5:
How to Make Money with AdSense
Tweak AdSense for higher profits.

Day #6:
Internet Marketing Article Directory
The best place to submit an article.

Day #7:
Article Marketing Trends
How to use trends data to find what to write about.

Day #8:
Keyword Marketing Research
Does this Keyword Bible deliver the goods?

Day #9:
Niche Finder
How to find the best niche markets.

Day #10:
Link Juice
The best way to go about getting page juice.

Day #11:
SEO Link Building
How to link build the fast and easy way.

Day #12:
Affiliate Marketing Disclosure
Bank more money being honest about your affiliate links.

Day #13:
Online Business Building -
Weekly talkcast reveals how to build your business.

Day #14:
Article Marketing System
Introducing a nifty checklist to make your content marketing pay off.

Day #15:
Link Building Forum
My secrets to create valuable backlinks from your favorite forum.

Day #16:
Article Marketing Benefits
3 reasons to be excited about publishing your articles on the Internet.

Day #17:
Auto Content Generator -
How to put your article marketing on auto pilot.

I love to write as I have the time, so this interests me because I too would like to have extra income coming in without extra additional work. I personally found his post on auto content generation very helpful. While we all love to write if we’re into blogging, legitimately syndicating content from other writers can help you build a niche blog more easily to be sure!

Again, here’s the link: Article Marketing Secrets

SPECIAL OFFER: Want to know some fabulous tips I learned on keyword research the other day for free? You can get them FREE by joining my email update list – I won’t bore you with all the other trash you get in the normal “joint venture” emails, I hate those things too! These are just resources I create for my friends who subscribe!

If that’s such a crucial issue to the safety of the American populace, where is the FTC when it comes to cracking down on the TV networks, radio networks, and newspaper chains who report on the “Cash for Clunkers” program without disclosing the millions of dollars of advertising revenue they receive from car dealerships who are promoting the “Cash for Clunkers” program wildly? Media watchdogs note that the major TV networks routinely praise the “Cash for Clunkers” program without mentioning it’s downsides.

What’s the difference between a compensated blogger making $5000 and media conglomerates making untold millions? Lawyers and lobbyists – that’s all.

If bloggers should disclose even the remotest compensation, under this same logic, the Federal Trade Commission should immediately SHUT DOWN and impose crippling fines on every media outlet that has taken advertising revenue in any fashion from the auto industry and reported on the “Cash for Clunkers” program without disclosing this financial interest in the program.

It’s that simple.

Here’s 9 more tips! 10 Ways To Speed Up Your Wordpress Blog!

I considered the most helpful one to be the lead on the database optimizing plugin!

That is, until I got the down to some of the other hints.

Awesome article on speeding up Word press!

The recession is clearly fueling the popularity of mother-oriented blogs that focus on penny pinching. But it’s difficult to estimate how many there are because many female bloggers who used to limit themselves to such areas as gardening and weddings now include money-saving tips.

They list the top 5 based, in part on Twitter chatter!

This is important to you if you’ve ever wanted to BE a “Frugal Mommy Blogger” because as this AP Story shows: Stores are tapping into the power of Frugal Mommy Bloggers!

What started out as tips to save money are helping some bloggers earn revenue from a variety of sources.

But it also shows that corporations are actively researching the brands’ standing with consumers based on comments on Twitter and forums and other social media.

Related Link: Create Video Blogs Instantly

PayPerPost recently sent me an invite asking me to blog about their new platform linking bloggers to advertisers. So, yes, they’re actually paying me a whopping $11 to tell people what “like and what you don’t like about PPP v4.0″ about it. (They’ve got that solved. You can’t cash out till you get $50 in earnings. I may never get there again. We’ll see.)

By the time I’m done, I hope I still get paid. At least I”ll ahve the therapeutic value of venting because I have had a disappointing time with PayPerPost in the past and simply stopped bothered dealing with them. When I complained, I got absolutely no response.

So here’s my chance. Someone will read this even if only to see if it’s a live link.

From what I can see of PayPerPost v4.0 it looks sharp, well designed, and like a viable way for some bloggers to make money. The key is to take posts you can write about honestly and still have the advertiser not cheat you out of your money which has happened to me in the past and PayPerPost did absolutely NOTHING to fix it.

In past incarnations, bloggers were at times paid hundreds of dollars for a single Post. It was ridiculous at times, but as with most “Wild West” markets, markets mature and prices settle with profit margins decreasing but hopefully still “livable”.

PayPerPost has always tried to be fair. While some blog networks offered $5 per post for all sorts of junkie “opportunities” PayPerPost had a history in me estimate of offering some decent opportunities. Depending on what you value your time at, $10 for a 200 word post could be great … if you have enough activity.

PayPerPost likewise has been on the forefront of “disclosure” … letting people know you’re getting paid to write about something.

This post required me to write Please note: “This post sponsored by PayPerPost” . Fair enough.

But what became insane was that they had a variety of disclosure options and different reviewers deciding if you had ‘Complied’.

These reviewers often seem to have the power to deny posts rush to their heads and they can make life extremely miserable for you.

Your blog can be approved by the system, but depending on the reviewer, your post and entire blog can be disqualified by the Faceless Agony Gnome.

My worst experience was with a criminal advertiser who didn’t like what I wrote. I thought it was brilliant of course. Instead of asking me to rewrite it or anything, my work was penalized, no payment was made, and this retard’s comments were publicly available to other potential advertisers. I guess he wanted me to say his bodily effluent didn’t smell – I can’t tell. PayPerPost was singularly unresponsive and unhelpful in the matter. At that point I just decided to stop wasting my time until some changes were made.

I accepted this post in the belief that some changes at PayPerPost HAVE been made so if you suffered these indignities, aggravations, and pains in the past, hopefully they have been resolved.

I’ll also let you know if they accept this post since “they asked for it.” I’ll know within three days.

If you’re new to blogging – check the new PayPerPost v4.0 out for yourself.

That means that if your weblog has readers who love your work enough to pay for the content so they can read it anywhere they carry their Kindle, you could be making some money.

You’[ll need to spend a few seconds creating a special account for your blog, but once it’s uploaded to Kindle you can promote it so people know where to find it on the Kindle store. And, of course, Amazon may bring you new readers too.

Right now, only people with US Bank Accounts need apply. You’ll need to have your bank account information with you to complete your sign up, but once you’ve created your account you can add multiple blogs.

If you love to write anyway and you can keep your readers’ attention so they subscribe, this may be a way to monetize your content.

How much money will you make? I don’t know. Undoubtedly Amazon keeps most of it. Amazon keeps 65% of the revenue from digital book sales leaving 35% for the publisher. But if you’re writing for the love of it anyway or generating revenue from other sources, whatever you make is 100% profit and Amazon is doing some major marketing for you. If that fits, you may want to CREATE a blog to publish your articles.

What have you got to lose?

If you are currently a Kindle Book Publisher, you’ll still need to create a new account.

Here’s how they describe Buddypress:

BuddyPress is a suite of WordPress plugins and themes, each adding a distinct new feature. BuddyPress contains all the features you’d expect from WordPress but aims to let members socially interact.

You can read more about that at the “about” page.

But there’s no way to learn it better than USING It.

So if you’re wanting to see what the early release is all about you can sign up for a free account at postnonstop.com

The Associated Press is in a huff trying to blame the internet for their poor fortunes. To get back in the catbird seat, they are trying to bluff and bluster their way into profitability.

Then the idiots at AP create You Tube channel where every video has embedding codes and then forces an AP AFFILIATE not to use those embedding codes!

How crazy!

I mention this because bloggers who have quoted a AP article have often gotten nasty emails. They’re not alone now… even AP affiliates can’t benefit!

They really should talk to You Tube about not making the codes available DUH!