Disclaimer Page. Every Affiliate Marketing Site Needs A Disclaimer

As an affiliate marketer, you may be marketing via a website or a blog. If you do not have a disclaimer on your website, you need to add a disclaimer page whatever niche you are in
For those of us in the make money online niche, adding a page with a 'no guarantee of earnings' clause is second nature.

But what about other niches?

Here are some reasons why you need to have a disclaimer page irrespective of what niche you are promoting products in.

New FTC regulation

The new FTC regulations effective from December 2009 has implications for affiliate marketers. While the aim is to stop people endorsing products they have not used and also to stop people making claims that are unfounded or outlandish [hype], the regulations leave us affiliate marketers a little vulnerable. Especially because we get a commission for successfully promoted products. This means that we should have evidence that the product we are promoting has the effects we claim in our promotions in the majority of people that use it.

Litigation

There has been a recent spate of claims where the consumer has gone after the affiliate marketer when products do not live up to expectations. While I have not found a record of any of these claims being successful, it really can be a drag to go through the process.

It makes sense therefore to protect your business by having a page with a disclaimer and a statement that you are an affiliate of the products recommended on your site. And link to your disclaimer page from every page on your website or blog.

While the disclaimer does not make you bullet proof, it does go a long way to reducing the number of claims that will come your way.

Having said all that, your best defense still remains promoting products that you absolutely believe in and that do what it says on the can for the majority of users.