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Judge Zaps FTC for ‘Unnecessary Overreaching’ Against POM Wonderful
7 Quick And Simple Ways To Get Started With Online Marketing…
Diablo 3 Real Money Auction House RMAH – How you can make real money?

Posted: 12 Jun 2012 12:48 PM PDT

Hey everyone! Jennifer Sheahan, of FB Ads Lab, is my guest today on the ShoeMoney.TV show today!

TUNE IN at 2:30 PM CST– It should be a great show, as I’m hosting solo today. Don’t miss it!

BTW you only have a few more days to grab my latest video series – The Local Internet Marketing Blueprint for only $49!!

Judge Zaps FTC for ‘Unnecessary Overreaching’ Against POM Wonderful

Posted: 12 Jun 2012 06:54 AM PDT

As previously noted in this space, the current, hyper-aggressive Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has been flexing its muscles and testing the limits of its power in ways that have heightened regulatory risk for the online and direct response marketer. This has included fundamental changes in settlement policy, abandoning an historical willingness to negotiate money judgments in favor of uncompromising demands for all assets (or "see you at trial"), and affiliate marketing consent orders that impose monitoring requirements so severe as to amount to a de facto ban on the practice.

It also has included jettisoning the traditional "competent and reliable evidence" substantiation standard in dietary supplement consent orders (i.e., the recent Iovate case) in favor of a rigid, controlled human clinical study requirement for weight loss claims and an "FDA approval" requirement for disease treatment claims.

The FTC has largely had its way with these major policy shifts – until now.

On May 17, in an "Initial Decision" in an FTC administrative action brought against POM Wonderful, the pomegranate juice and supplement maker, the trial judge, while finding that some of POM's heart disease, prostate and erectile dysfunction claims were deceptive, rejected the FTC staff's contention that "competent and reliable evidence" must include, as a matter of law, "well-designed, well-conducted, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled human clinical trials" (RCTs) not only for "establishment" (i.e., "clinically proven") health claims but for all health claims. The judge ruled that "neither the FTC Act nor applicable case law imposes a requirement of RCTs to substantiate all 'health-related efficacy claims…' and that the appropriate level of substantiation is a "question of fact" to be determined by expert testimony. He also rejected the FTC lawyers' request for an FDA pre-approval requirement for future "unqualified" disease treatment claims.

The judge held RCTs weren't necessary, and that other forms of evidence could suffice, because the POM products were safe and were not offered as an alternative to medical care. Noting that RCTs are "prohibitively expensive" and "not feasible" in a "nutritional context" (vs. drug testing), and that an RCT requirement for all health claims could suppress valuable consumer information, the judge said the law and the First Amendment favored "disclosure," especially where the product is safe and is not recommended as a medical substitute. Similarly, he described the FTC's proposed "FDA pre-approval" requirement for disease treatment claims as "unnecessary overreaching," since it was not supported in the case law and exceeded the "established precedent" of the "competent and reliable evidence" standard.

While the judge rejected RCTs as a mandatory substantiation standard, he said the POM disease claims did require "clinical studies," just not the very costly form used in drug trials. This is potentially welcome news for DR marketers of weight-loss and other supplements, as it could give them some new "ammo" with which to argue to the FTC that less rigorous clinical studies, not only on their products but on the active ingredients found in them, satisfy the "competent and reliable evidence" test.

Or will it? The Initial Decision can be appealed to – who else? – the full FTC, by either POM or the FTC staff, or on the Commission's own motion. Assuming an appeal is heard, it will be fascinating to see whether a majority of the commissioners uphold the judge or, junking "established precedent," build on the non-binding Iovate consent order with a final adjudicated decision that imposes a controlled human clinical study requirement for all health claims. Should that occur, the story won't end there. You can be sure POM, and its billionaire owners, will appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals and, from there if necessary, to the Supreme Court.

Will the FTC have its way in the end or not? Will nutritional supplements remain a product that DR marketers can afford to sell? Stay tuned.

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7 Quick And Simple Ways To Get Started With Online Marketing…

Posted: 12 Jun 2012 05:00 AM PDT

If you want to get started with online marketing, here are a few of the easiest and simplest ways to start making money.

1. Setup an optin squeeze page and give away really GOOD free content.

2. Write 5 blog posts or articles every single day for different keywords. Optimize your articles with affiliate links.

3. Create a product or service in your niche that is a perfect compliment to all of the big players in your niche. For example in the fitness niche, if someone came up with a “food service to your door” for healthy foods, most of the big affiliates would promote it to their lists. Find a way to fill a need without competing directly with the big affiliates in your niche.

4. Interview all of the experts in a specific niche (podcasts work well for this). This will get your name out there, and you’ll also have an “in” with the majority of them. I did this with my Marketing.Mayhem.Money podcast

5. Make Youtube video reviews of products and services, and then rank the videos with your affiliate links in them. You can shoot videos with a simple Flipcam, or you can do screencast software. Both of them are cheap and easy to use.

6. Offer to work for free as an intern for someone who is already successful. I’m not sure why more people don’t do this, but it’s probably the easiest & fastest way to learn everything you need.

7. Pick up freelance gigs doing whatever you are good at. This could be programming, copywriting, design etc… Just getting started is one of the biggest keys to success. You can pick up freelance gigs on sites like 99designs, The Warrior Forum and many others.

Getting started is the hardest part.

If you haven’t started yet with online marketing, these 7 ideas are a great place to start. Pick one and stick with it.

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Diablo 3 Real Money Auction House RMAH – How you can make real money?

Posted: 11 Jun 2012 06:54 PM PDT

For those who don’t play online games… Diablo is one of the best selling games of all time. So far their has been the original Diablo, Diablo 2, and last May, Diablo 3 was released.

The game is like a mini MMORPG (Massive Multi Online Role Playing Game). I say Mini cause you don’t have to spend your life playing. I bought the game when it came out and within 6 days of casual playing I was able to get the highest level (60).

Diablo has always had this demonic theme to it… battling Diablo and the evil forces.. blah blah.

With all MMORPG games if you don’t want to play 24/7, you can hit eBay or other marketplaces and buy stuff with real money.

Game makers have always attempted to combat this saying if you were caught, you would be banned… or whatever.

Back in the day, I used to sell items and characters and make decent money (for the time).

I remember Forbes or someone came out with a report one time that said that if Norrath (everquest mmorpg game) was a real world it would be the 10th largest exporter of goods IN THE WORLD! How crazy is that?

Well Blizzard, the makers of the new Diablo 3, are pioneering something new. They are going to let you buy real items in game for money, like in app purchases. Why the hell didn’t someone do this before?

So today, June 6th, 2012, the real money auction house is supposed to debut in the game.

Right now… and I mean right now being its 12 hours until the RMAH opens for biz I am wondering if there is a large arbitrage opportunity.

When this puppy launches I predict the market will be flooded with gold and items people have been saving up waiting until the real money auction house launches. They have pipe dreams of riches.

A.D.D. Moment – damnit why didn’t I have this idea?!?!? (Diablo3billionaire).

Ok, back on topic.

I think it will be a good investment to purchase items with real money when it launches and the prices dive….. then put them back on the market in 4-5 months and make 10x your money. That is what I am thinking anyway.

Right now 100,000 (one hundred thousand) Diablo 3 gold is selling for $2. I know a *cough* friend who has been buying a bit.

If I HAD to guess, I would say that the market on Diablo 3 Gold vs the Dollar is about to hit the bottom.

I think you will be able to buy Diablo 3 gold for 10 cents per 100,000 for the next couple weeks…. Again, all of these people have been waiting forever to sell and they are going to FLOOD the market.

There could be another opportunity to buy when it comes out at a very undervalued price… hold it a bit… and sell for 10-25x.

How interesting is it to be doing FOREX with virtual currency ?

People have tried to make a huge deal about the Chinese using prisoners to play video games and how you can’t compete.

Well you can’t compete with slave labor.

But just like the stock market you don’t have to own the company to buy and sell it!

GLHF!

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