LOS ANGELES: A blogger who reviews a product - but leaves out whether he got a payment, high-value gift or free vacation to write the review - could run afoul of new United States federal regulations on advertising.

The blogger rules, announced on Monday by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), are part of revisions to the agency’s Guides Concerning The Use Of Endorsements And Testimonials In Advertising. The last time these guides were revised was in 1980. At that time, there was no such thing as a blogger or social media.

‘The post of a blogger who receives cash or in-kind payment to review a product is considered an endorsement,’ said the agency in a news release. ‘Thus, bloggers who make an endorsement must disclose the material connections they share with the seller of the product or service.’

There is nothing in the rules, which go into effect on Dec 1, that specifies how the disclosure must be made.

‘That’s left up to the endorser,’ said Mr Richard Cleland, assistant director of the FTC’s division of advertising practices. ‘It can be a banner, part of the review. The only requirement is that it be clear and conspicuous.’

The new rules also take aim at celebrities, who will now need to disclose any ties to companies, should they promote products on a talk show or on Twitter.

The move suggests that the government is intent on bringing to bear on the Internet the same sorts of regulations that have governed other forms of media, like television or print.

Sites like Twitter and Facebook, as well as blogs, have offered companies new opportunities to pitch products with endorsements that carry a veneer of authenticity because they seem to be straight from the mouth of an individual consumer.

A spokesman for Singapore’s Media Development Authority said the agency would ‘take into consideration the requirement for disclosure rules for bloggers’, but declined to elaborate further.

Popular food blogger Leslie Tay ‘fully endorses’ the FTC regulation.

‘Honesty is the best policy. Bloggers should always declare any conflicts of interest upfront,’ said Dr Tay, who already declares that the food is sponsored by a restaurant as part of his review.

LOS ANGELES TIMES, WASHINGTON POST, NEW YORK TIMES

Source: Straits TImes (subscribers only)

Dear readers,

A good friend of mine in the Secondary school days have opened a new milkshake palour in the CBD area. Words cannot describe how good his milkshakes are, so check out these two video reviews from RAZOR.TV.

Feeling the sugar craving in you on the rise? Try out for Once Upon A Milkshake’s creamy milkshakes and let me know what you think!

The outlet is located at Maxwell Chambers, 32 Maxwell Road, #01-08 (Mon-Sun: 11am to 11pm).

Dear readers,

Barack Obama is officially elected the 44th president of United States!

When two political powers clash in a contest to be the most powerful man in the nation, it takes a huge amount of effort to come up top.

Marketers around the world has got to give credit to Obama and his team for the brilliant use of the Internet to give themselves to promote their campaign. This is probably the best case study ever, demostrating the power of the Internet in international marketing.

Here are some examples of how Obama used the Internet to propel himself into presidency, reinventing the way campaigns are run with modern tools.

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Dear readers,

Let’s face it. Nobody is indispensible to companies!

In such times of uncertainty where even giant corporations suffer in a sea of red in the stock market and dark clouds cover the economy, one has to make contingency plans and create escape routes.

So what are you going to do, should your company collapse or if the top management decides that you are redundant and gives you the sack?

Instead of looking at making money for the short-term, I always advocate to aim at sustainability. That is, having long-term money making plans.

Here’s what I may do for the next three months if I get retrenched.

Expanding clientel in my Webhosting Business
I’ve been running a webhosting business for the past two years and revenue has been consistent. It’s high time that I focus on expanding my clientel to generate more revenue for the business.

Make more money online
My approach to internet marketing has always been passive. Build well-designed websites with good ad placements, that are more or less self-generating in terms of content and visitors. With little or no work needed, passive amounts of income would pay for my bills. With more time in, I could take on a more active approach.

Turn my hobbies into cash cows
Having always been interested in photography, I’ve always been thinking of taking up a full-time photographer role. Having little flair for designing, I’ve also been accepting long-term content management jobs for both static and flash websites.

Yup, so that’s pretty much me. What are your plans?

 
(Photo: moe_de_ho)

Dear readers,

Nowadays, people are working hard to earn as much money as possible. To most people, time and money is probably on two ends of the scale whereby the more money you earn, the lesser time you have. The same for vice versa. My friend who’s a private equities investor is constantly monitoring the markets and the poor guy has less than two hours each day to spend with his family, let alone the shiny, expensive BMW Roadster he has in his garage.

Well that is not always the case. Here are a few tips to increase your income or work productivity without spending more time:
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Dear readers,

Check out this video before you read the rest of this post.

Dear readers,

Earlier this month, the guys from JPMorgan, Imran Khan and the JPMorgan Internet, Media and Entertainment team released an Internet Investment Guide called “Nothing But Net” that reports on the key investment themes for 2008.

Reading through the 312-page report, here’s a summary of interesting points from the report that you should take note of:

The eCommerce action in U.S has grown hand-in-hand with Broadband penetration rate. The Broadband penetration rate is also relatively high in comparison, and can only go higher in time to come. I would bang on the fact that eCommerce in Singapore will be a very common thing in future as the population gets more eCommerce-friendly.
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Dear readers,

When is a good time to start a business?

Actually, yesterday sounds pretty darn good. When Google was launched, have you heard from people around you that they have already thought of this idea before? Same thing happened when YouTube came into the picture. The idea that you thought of yesterday, could be happening today!

So what should you do when you come across an idea that you think has the potential to make you rich?

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Dear readers,

Sometimes when entrepreneurs come up with fantastic ideas, what usually holds them back from seizing the opportunity is capital funding. Most traditional businesses are capital intensive and require loans to begin the venture.

If you were to apply for a bank loan, they would require you to place some collaterals to process the loan. They do not care about how great your idea is, or how much money you are going to make. Banks simply want to ensure that they are getting the best returns for their money at the lowest risk possible.

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Dear readers,

Mindmapping is a very powerful technique which unlocks the potential of the brain. Invented by Tony Buzan, mindmapping harnesses the full range of cortical skills - word, image, number, logic, rhythm, colour and spatial awareness. By doing so, it gives you the freedom to roam the infinite expanses of your brain.

Sounds deep doesn’t it? Mind mapping (sometimes termed as concept mapping) involves writing down a central idea and thinking up new and related ideas which radiate out from the centre. By focusing on key ideas written down in your own words, and then looking for branches out and connections between the ideas, you are mapping knowledge in a systematic manner. By using colours, arrows and graphical images, mindmapping helps you to understand and remember new information better.

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