Disclosure -the whole enchilada
This blog is not primarily financially driven. It started out as just a means to communicate information and help out runners. Along the way, I’ve found a community of awesome runners and triathletes 🙂
That being said, beginning December 1, 2009, the FTC requires bloggers to provide disclosures whenever there could be hidden interests or unspoken biases related to recommendations.
First, the obvious: I help authors publish books, write marketing plans, and make sales. I charge for my coaching servicesand make recommendations for products I personally use.
Second: Most of the time, I don’t receive anything for the products I recommend, videos I make, or blogs I write. However, the FTC requires a disclosure if I use an Amazon link that gets me 8 cents instead of an Amazon link that gets me 0 cents.
Third: my wife (writes romance novels as Jenna Petersen & Jess Michaels, and zombie/monster books as Jesse Petersen) is a writer – the best one in the whole world. OK, maybe I am a little biased here, but that’s what this disclosure is for. She is my wife and is awesome at what she does. I’m also a fan and get excited when she posts a new book cover, has a release date, or has a book launch from a publisher.
Also: Per the FTC rules, if I interview someone and they grab the bill for lunch, I would need to specify this. Ditto if I use an Amazon link that gets me 3 cents on a sale. If someone gives me a comfy t-shirt with a logo and I wear it in a photo, same deal. Let me repeat – a free shirt from a local 5k that I am wearing in a random Facebook photo must be disclosed…. Disclaimers all over the place.
To cover my ass and preserve your reading experience, please assume that, for every recommendation, link, and product I use, the following all hold true:
Please feel free to use the text and images on this page with proper attribution. There is no reason why each blogger should have to reinvent the wheel.
(Illustrations courtesy of Louis Gray and Jeannine Schafer)