In December 2009, the FTC released Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising. The guidelines require that any affiliate who uses reviews, rankings or testimonials to promote products must clearly disclose the fact that they receive compensation for doing so.

In order to comply with these guidelines your disclosures must meet four basic requirements. They must be frequent, clear, conspicuous, and require no scrolling or other type of user action to locate the disclosure.

1. Frequent: Your disclosure must appear on any page that has a review, recommendation, comment or article that promotes a product or service for which you receive compensation.
2. Clear: It must be immediately clear that you may receive compensation for your review or rating.
   • Example of a clear disclosure:
     • Disclosure: We are a professional review site that receives compensation from the companies whose products we review. We test each product thoroughly and give high marks to only the very best. We are independently owned and the opinions expressed here are our own.
   • Example of an unclear disclosure:
     • Disclosure: We are a website that needs compensation to operate like any other website on the internet. We may receive consideration for our reviews but we are totally unbiased and do not accept paid reviews or fake reviews claiming to be something they are not.
   • You cannot claim that you do not receive compensation if you receive payment through an affiliate program!
3. Conspicuous: The disclosure must be clear and easy to see. It should begin with the word “disclosure”
   • For the disclosure to be considered clear, the font should be:
     • At least as large as the main text on the page
     • In a color other than black or gray
     • In contrast with both with its background and the main text
     • Darker than its background or the main text
   • Example of a conspicuous disclosure:
     • Welcome to Our Review Site!
       Disclosure: We are a professional review site that receives compensation from the companies whose products we review. We tested and reviewed the web hosting sites ranked here. We are independently owned and the opinions expressed here are our own.
4. Require No Action: Your disclosure must be immediately evident to a typical visitor to your site who views a review, ranking or endorsement on a PC or Mac monitor. A visitor should not need to scroll, click or hover to learn that you receive compensation.
   • If you do include a clickable link or additional information when a visitor hovers over text, the language of the link itself should reveal the fact that you receive compensation.
   • Example of a link that requires no action:
     • Disclosure: We are compensated for our reviews. Click here for details.
   • Keep this in mind: Simply telling the visitor that they can “Click/hover here to read our FTC disclosure” is not adequate. You need to use the word “disclosure” and present the nature of the disclosure.

More information about the FTC Disclosure requirements is available at:

• Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising:
  • http://ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005endorsementguidesfnnotice.pdf
• The FTC’s Revised Endorsement Guides: What People are Asking:
  • http://business.ftc.gov/documents/bus71-ftcs-revised-endorsement-guideswhat-people-are-asking
• Dot Com Disclosures: Information About Online Advertising:
  • http://business.ftc.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/bus41-dot-com-disclosures-information-about-online-advertising.pdf

Trend #1 - pat hanlon’s Photo | Lockerz - http://lockerz.com/s/177009205

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Trend #2 - Chinese New Year 2012! | The Chef’s Cookbook - http://www.thechefscookbook.com/chinese-year-2012/

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Trend #3 - Chinese New Year 2012 rings in the Year of the Dragon | Human World | EarthSky -http://earthsky.org/human-world/chinese-new-year-2012-rings-in-year-of-the-dragon

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Trend #4 - These guys are shooting for the Super Bowl | StarTribune.com - http://www.startribune.com/business/137797803.html

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Trend #5 - Unions Threaten To Occupy Super Bowl Over Right To Work – Investors.com - http://news.investors.com/Article.aspx?id=598470&p=1&ibdbot=1

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Trend #6 - MIDUFINGA AMERICA: 49ers Michael Crabtree – Kyle Williams - http://www.midufinga.us/2012/01/49ers-michael-crabtree-kyle-williams.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

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Trend #7 - Idiot fans threaten life of 49ers rookie Kyle Williams · joeykulkin · Storify - http://storify.com/joeykulkin/idiot-fans-threaten-life-of-49ers-rookie-kyle-will

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Trend #8 - Super Bowl: New England Patriots vs. New York Giants: Who will win and by how mu… -http://www.cleveland.com/ohio-sports-blog/index.ssf/2012/01/super_bowl_new_england_patriot.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

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Trend #9 - Ravens-Patriots Preview: Point Spread, Prediction, TV Time – Baltimore at New En… -http://www.midwestsportsfans.com/2012/01/afc-championship-game-baltimore-ravens-at-new-england-patriots-preview-prediction-point-spread-tv-time/

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Trend #10 - Kung hei fat choi! – AS A MATTER OF FACT By Sara Soliven De Guzman – The Philipp… -http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=770457&publicationSubCategoryId=64

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Trend #11 - Year of the Water Dragon: 2012 a transformative year | A Filipina Mom Blogger -http://aboutmyrecovery.com/year-of-the-water-dragon-2012-a-transformative-year/

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Trend #12 - BlackBerry Burst: RIM’s Co-CEOs Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie Step Down -http://gizmodo.com/5878320/

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Trend #13 - RIM Co-CEOs Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis to step down (Update) - http://www.intomobile.com/2012/01/22/rim-coceos-jim-balsillie-and-mike-lazaridis-step-down/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+IntoMobile+(IntoMobile)

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Trend #14 - RIM Co-CEOs Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis to step down (Update) - http://www.intomobile.com/2012/01/22/rim-coceos-jim-balsillie-and-mike-lazaridis-step-down/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+IntoMobile+(IntoMobile)

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Trend #15 - BlackBerry Burst: RIM’s Co-CEOs Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie Step Down -http://gizmodo.com/5878320/rims-ceos-finally-step-down

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Trend #16 - New York Giants at San Francisco 49ers: NFC Championship Game Preview | Giants 1… -http://www.giants101.com/2012/01/20/new-york-giants-at-san-francisco-49ers-nfc-championship-game-preview/

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Trend #17 - Watch NFL Football Playoffs Online Live – Streaming AFC/NFC Championship TV Game… -http://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=151818

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Trend #18 - NFL Game Center: New York Giants at San Francisco 49ers – 2011 Conference Champi… -http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/2012012201/2011/POST20/giants@49ers?module=HP11_cp#menu=drivechart&tab=track?campaign=Twitter_gamecenter

To add our blog to your iPhone/iPad or Android device, follow these steps:

Download your iPhone and Android apps in the following locations.

1) iPhone app: http://itunes.apple.com/my/app/bloapp/id436962200?mt=8
2) Android app: https://market.android.com/details?id=com.infindo.bloapp.activities

To add our blog to your iPhone/iPad or Android device, simply snap our QR code with Bloapp. Alternatively you can search for our blog’s name (Niche Blog Pro) using the search function as well.

See the QR code below:

I came across Unhappy Franchisee when I was looking at the referrals in my Awstats for one my domains. It has a catchy name so I decided to check it out.

Unhappy Franchisee, which runs on WordPress, contains articles that discuss problems with franchises and has a lot of information on buying a franchise. Its Franchise Issue sections gives us a glimpse of the core topics of the niche blog: Franchise horror stories, franchise myths, franchise encroachment and franchise lawsuit.

Hoping to get more information about the blog, I tried to contact the blog owner but their contact form was not working at the time this was written.

Check it out: Unhappy Franchisee

By Graham Jones

There are plenty of people offering their “secrets” to help you make more money online. The only problem is that as you trawl around the web searching out these secrets you soon discover they aren’t secrets after all.

What you will learn is good, old-fashioned business common sense. These “secrets” will teach that some kind of a promotion is necessary to attract people to your web site. Once attracted, you need to entice people further with more offerings in exchange for their contact information (email address). As the saying goes, the money is in the list. You cannot run any kind of business online, or offline unless you have a list of potential customers.

So, the “secrets” that you are searching for online have been there ever since business began. Find something people want, entice them to connect with you, get their details and sell, sell, sell to them over a period of time to convert them from interested parties to confirmed customers.

But the one secret that is often missing from much of the information online has been around offline for centuries as well – be different. Don’t try to be the same as your competitors. Stand out from the crowd. Do something different that gets you remembered.

For example, take the cab driver who gets the name and address of every passenger. Each Christmas they get a card from him. And guess what, people remember him and recommend him. He gets most of his fares from referral business, rather than having to wait around. Have you ever met a cab driver who sends all his passengers cards at Christmas?

Yet online, everyone seems to be the same. New online businesses follow the “rules” set by the experts and gurus. The result is that almost all web sites trying to sell something are starting to look the same. They all do the same thing – have a great offer and a box to fill in your details. Many of them even use the same templates. If you follow the “rules” that are part of the “secrets” you will end up following the pack and you won’t be noticed. If you truly want to make it online, you have to be different.

So stand out from the crowd by being different – not just visually, but in the way you approach your reader

Google Adsense is only one of the few passive sources of income online. Listen to the audio tutorial below:

If you are using WordPress for your niche blogs, I would guessthat just like the most of us, you are using WordPress “posts” for your main content.

There is nothing wrong with that. A majorityof bloggers use posts all the time, and they use pages for thingslike the about page, privacy policy, disclaimer and other “static”content on other WordPress blogs.

But I’ve been using a different strategy lately and that is usingWordpress pages for my main content, including my home page, andusing blog posts to support those pages and keep the siteupdated on a regular basis.

I got this technique from Mike Liebner of Blogging Underground and it has worked for me on  number of authority blogs I have started. One blog was ranking high for its main keyword and long-tail keywords in Google, only days after I launched it, and I used pages as its main content to target specific keywords. Then I blogged about those pages using posts.

I then go to my Blogging Underground account and posts shortblurbs linking to my pages, using my keywords as anchor text, onother WordPress sites in the network.

The BU posting utility allows you to post short blog posts to link to your main site, and gives you choices on where to publish these posts. There are blogs on the BU network that are targeted for specific niches so that helps a lot in terms of contextual links.

In a gist, the strategy is:

1) Create a relevant page for your target keyword

2) Get links pointing to your page from relevant websites

Simple as it may sound, there is really a special technique…to give what Google wants.

If you would like to learn more about Mike’s techniques, check out the video at Blogging Underground

CHICAGO TRIBUNE DETAILS NICHE SELLING Marketing exec tells how three target audiences were wooed, and some won over.(director of consumer marketing Carrie … techniques ): An article from: NewsInc

This digital document is an article from NewsInc, published by The Cole Group on October 7, 2002. The length of the article is 785 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

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Title: CHICAGO TRIBUNE DETAILS NICHE SELLING Marketing exec tells how three target audiences were wooed, and some

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Switch to the Niche: Niche marketing means identifying a profitable and growing customer segment and then targeting that group. Here’s how six financial … Story).: An article from: Bank Marketing

This digital document is an article from Bank Marketing, published by Bank Marketing Assn. on January 1, 2002. The length of the article is 3351 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

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Do it Best Corp. hands out industry’s largest rebate: co-op introduces new technology and niche marketing initiatives. (NewsMakers).: An article from: Do-It-Yourself Retailing

This digital document is an article from Do-It-Yourself Retailing, published by National Retail Hardware Association on December 1, 2002. The length of the article is 551 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

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Title: Do it Best Corp. hands out industry’s largest rebate: co-op introd

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American Girl Place: a lesson in niche marketing: affordable dolls offer gateway to seemingly endless add-on products and services. (Feature).: An article from: Photo Marketing

This digital document is an article from Photo Marketing, published by Photo Marketing Association International on November 1, 2002. The length of the article is 1352 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: American Girl Place: a lesson in niche marketing: affordable dolls of

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Price:

Do it Best Corp. hands out industry’s largest rebate: co-op introduces new technology and niche marketing initiatives. (NewsMakers).: An article from: Do-It-Yourself Retailing

This digital document is an article from Do-It-Yourself Retailing, published by National Retail Hardware Association on December 1, 2002. The length of the article is 551 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Do it Best Corp. hands out industry’s largest rebate: co-op introd

List Price: $ 5.95

Price: