Unfortunately I also had to sever a relationship because of this same issue. This person even asked me to work for free, not even offering anything in return for my work. The thing they would not listen to me and the advice I gave as to what they needed to do. And after 6 trips to their office, I got a whopping $300 for work on a new project. Obviously it was not an economical relationship, well maybe it was for them!

Anyway, the thing to remember is that everyone suffers when the economy is down. I have seen some mighty big companies go under in the internet marketing world and we all just have to keep our heads held high and have faith in the future.

And PLEASE vote out that bunch of idiots in Washington who are determined to destroy our constitution at all costs! The economy can easily be fixed by following the rules of economics: make it profitable to be in business! Its that simple.

OK, Kelly, back on track. Get back to the business at hand-internet marketing. Please enjoy the post below from a very frustrated and passionate individual. I’m sorry but I don’t even know his name. (I didn’t bother with a link because it won’t be there in a few weeks anyway.)

Yep, I hear you! All these people who can’t develop themselves, apparently, never stop to realize that developers are CAPABLE of building the “next big thing” on their own and earn all the profits. Problem is, we’re too busy trying to find REAL WORK from people who will INVEST in the MONTHS involved in developing a social networking site for them.

If I had a dime for every low-life cheapskate who offered “profit” sharing when their “idea” is developed in the MONTHS it takes, I’d actually be quite financially stable.

I don’t get it. These people don’t care enough about their “ideas” to see the person developing it FOR THEM live and work comfortably. How exactly does one do that when their time is expended, kids are hungry and bills are piling up?

I, too, and sick of these people. They either need to learn how to develop their ideas and reap ALL the “rewards” when it becomes bigger than all the other ideas people had and couldn’t make it work, or PAY for the time of a developer.

These morons see the end result of something like Facebook and have absolutely NO IDEA that developers don’t just wave a magic wand to create something similar, and POOF, in a couple of “weeks”, it’s miraculously done!

Hey, dreamers and “idea-weavers”: If your ideas are so great, write a business plan, get an investor to invest in YOUR IDEA, then INVEST in THE VERY DEVELOPERS who will make your “idea” come to life!

In 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…

Some “know it all” NON-Developer will contact me privately to tell me how “egotistical” I am because I expect to be paid for my time, put food on table and cover the very electric bill that keeps my PC powered. Happens all the time! These people are slave-drivers who go through life thinking we “OWE” our skills and time to them.

To the person seeking a “non-paid, passionate web designer and marketer”.

Let me get this straight: You want a “designer” to DEVELOP a social networking website for you, plus have knowledge of internet marketing, meaning, you not only want your “designer” to DEVELOP the site for you, but also market it when it’s completed, so that you can grant part ownership in a site that has the “potential” to get millions of members?

Let me ask you, something: What exactly is it that YOU plan to do for YOUR “idea” to ensure its a success? Having someone perform slave labor for you for the next SEVERAL MONTHS to DEVELOP something GREAT on a domain you’ve invested $7.99 into registering, means, among other things, you have no conception of reality. Furthermore, what you’re describing indicates that you need THREE separate professionals to rip off:

1. A WEB DEVELOPER. 2. A WEB DESIGNER. 3. AN SEO and SEM EXPERT.

How’s that for “passionate”?

This first video discusses the fact that many of these rules have been in place since 1980 but now they’re applying them to the latest social media programs. Endorsers must always reveal their relationship with advertisers because in the world of social media you cannot always tell what is an advertisement and what isn’t.

The second video discusses the fact that the FTC is interested in protecting consumers. Consumers want information about a product or service and often go online to do research. The FTC feels that we should want to know whether the person who’s getting the endorsement was paid for the endorsement or not, whether in actual money or a steady stream of free products.

The third video asks “What does the new FTC guide mean for bloggers?” For most, not very much. Most are just out there talking about their daily lives in such and it won’t mean much to them. But if you’re one of those bloggers involved in the marketing program with an advertiser and are being paid to blog about a product they need to disclose that relationship with the company.

The fourth video asks “How do bloggers follow the Endorsement Guides?” It’s quite simple. If the blogger does have a relationship with the company that needs to be revealed. For example they could say “ABC Company gave me samples of this product a try. Or, XYZ Company gave me free passes to their theme park to try it out for a day.” It’s not too complicated and it should be just straight forward and up front.

The fifth video asks the question “Is the FTC planning to sue Bloggers?”. They state that that is not why this guidance was created. Everybody needs to be playing by the same rules with other professional reviewer or an amateur reviewer. Just be upfront about the connections you have with the company and what conflict of interest you might have with them.

It seems that we need to be careful of using “sales phrases” in your endorsements. This is the thing they are most concerned about. Make things factual and real. You can’t put across that you are Betty Boop when you are really Steve Jones saying how much you love this eye-liner.

I personally feel that there is too much concern over this issue even though there are several big-time bloggers and marketers that are going to have to change their websites. This is all probably a good thing even I actually don’t want them involved in everything we as marketers do. I know that the FTC is just trying to protect people but 2 things need to happen: Marketers need to be honest in their dealings (I know that is asking a lot from some!) and secondly, people need to take responsibility for their actions.