If you’re thinking about joining a direct sales company, you’ll want to listen to this week’s WAHM Talk Radio show. The show’s host and my friend and online colleague, Kelly McCausey and I talk about the industry in general and some of the things to look at and question when choosing a company.

Click here to listen to the show and please comment here or there. I’d love to know whether you agree or disagree and if you have questions on the topic, ask here or contact me.

Proposed FTC Guidelines
This week many bloggers are discussing new FTC guidelines that may go into effect later this summer. Guidelines designed to require that bloggers disclose when they are compensated for reviewing or recommending products or services, as well as giving the FTC more power to go after those who make false claims about recommended products. It’s currently unclear, but many believe these guidelines will apply to affiliate links as well.

My Reaction
My first reaction to the news was one of disbelief that people don’t already know that many bloggers and review sites are compensated in some way. But I have to remember that there’s a whole world separate from the Internet Marketing and work at home community I’ve been a part of for so long. Many people coming online for information don’t know what an affiliate program so how could they realize that many of the links they click are affiliate links? I myself have occasionally wondered whether a frequently recommended and praised product or service is really all that good or just heavily endorsed because of it’s generous affiliate program.

Other Questions
Some question whether additional guidelines are needed, saying that there are already laws regarding deceptive marketing. Additionally, many think we should be able to police ourselves and that disclosure is simply good business. And there are those who think the guidelines will be of benefit to both consumers and bloggers and help instill trust.

For me, there’s still the huge question of how on earth can the millions of blogs in existence be monitored. My guess is that it’s the companies who pay for endorsements that will end up being monitored and in turn, they’ll require disclosure in order to participate in their programs. Others have asked how it will effect the blogger who is in the habit of casually recommending a product or service they’ve used. Will they be under scrutiny even when they aren’t being compensated?

My New Disclosure
In the interest of complete transparency and compliance there is now a link at the top of this page to my new disclosures section. There’s always been a statement in my website terms of use indicating that I use affiliate links, but now the information is front and center. I don’t think I’ll change anything about how I choose and recommend products and services, it will just be more clear when I may be compensated as a result.

What do you think?
Are you making any changes in the way you blog or link to products? Please comment.

As the New Media Marketing Specialist, Ben Johnson looks after the marketing and business development activities for Logoinn, a design company based in Leicester, UK. He’s been working as their Marketing Manager for two years, and with his more than five years experience in the industry, he has gained a good understanding of the logo design process and the different types of business logos.

Ben kindly took the time to answer my questions about the benefits of a logo for a small home business.

  Does someone who runs a home business marketing other people’s products (direct sales consultants or affiliate marketers, for example) need their own logo?

  In contemporary times, branding is fundamental whether you run a large organization or home based business. You need to differentiate yourself from your competitors. For that reason, you will most likely need to have a brand identity, and of course, a logo plays a vital role in creating a unique brand identity.

Moreover, a business logo makes you recognizable for customers. People instantly recognize all about your business when they see your logo on any type of marketing collateral.

  How soon should a new business start using a logo? Continue Reading

Whether you write your own special reports or use private label rights (PLR) reports, transforming them into something different increases their earning potential. If you use PLR special reports, changing them is even more important, because making them unique will make them more salable and more valuable.

Here are a few ways to turn a special report into a totally different type of product. Continue Reading

Special reports are popular with Internet marketers. They are quick to make and easy to sell, which means they’re a great way to gather a bit of fast profit to fund a project or handle an emergency bill.

The most obvious way of making money money with special reports is to sell them and keep all the profit. But there are many more ways to earn with special reports.

But first, if you think you can’t possibly make your very own special reports, check out the Special Report Club – and use the code “save10” (without the quotes) to get $10 off your first month.

Now that you have a source for special reports, here are some of the ways you can use them: Continue Reading

Choose a free graphic from Twitter Signature Styles and gather Twitter followers from your message board signatures, blog, or website.

Here’s my favorite

Claim yours at Twitter Signature Styles

Updated June, 2009 because things change. Comments posted before June, 2, 2009 refer to the original version posted last July.

I just finished going through a stack of email notifications for my new Twitter followers and it prompted me to let followers know how I decide whether or not to follow in return.

Some Twitter users believe that etiquette dictates that one return the favor by following anyone who follows you. As much as I’d like to always return the favor of following, I just can’t. I can only read so many tweets so I just can’t follow everyone.

At least once a week I go through my Twitter notifications and look at the profiles of everyone who is following me. Here’s how I decide whether or not to follow you:

• If I know you personally or have developed an online relationship with you through some other online venue, I’ll follow you.
• If I don’t know you, but your profile and tweets reveal who you are, and you are someone I think I can relate to either personally or professionally, I’ll follow you.
• If you interact regularly with someone I already follow, I’ll probably follow you.

NOTE: Post edited in early June, 2009 to add:

• If it seems like you use programs to automatically follow anyone and everyone you possibly can, I won’t follow you. It’s my preference to use Twitter in a more personal manner and therefore I do all my following and unfollowing manually.
• I don’t mind if you personally recommend products and use affiliate links. I do mind if you allow a service to send ads through your Twitter account. I try not to follow anyone who participates in some sort of auto advertising program for Twitter.
• If I follow you but you don’t follow back, it’s okay. I understand and I won’t automatically unfollow you.

If I don’t follow you, please don’t hesitate to ask me to reconsider after you update your profile or when you start tweeting more. Or if you think I overlooked the notification or made a mistake because you meet one of my decision criteria above drop me a line. I can be persuaded to change my mind.

If you are following me, thank you. I appreciate it.

If you aren’t following me and you’d like to see what I tweet about, you can click here to find and follow me on twitter.. If I don’t meet your expectations, you can always stop following me. (Don’t worry, I won’t feel bad about it.)

How do you decide who to follow on Twitter?