I’m working on a research project that I would love your feedback on.

It started as a simple money-making research project on the top-selling internet marketing products and the marketers who market them on the Warrior Forum”s “Warrior Special Offers” online marketplace platform. 

Over time, what I found demanded more in-depth case studies in order to illustrate what’s laudable, right, wrong, and downright inviting government intervention and shutdowns of product developers who get caught up in off-color marketing schemes (whether purposefully or through ignorance of the law) to promote “educational” or “money-making” aspects of products, companies, local businesses, systems, training, memberships and courses.

Here in the USA, there are many legal and regulatory issues and agencies to be aware of when working online and offline, including FTC issues, anti-trust laws, monopolies, steering, discriminatory practices, market manipulation schemes, laws regulating franchises and business opportunities, unlawful business opportunity schemes cloaked as advertising, earnings claims and disclaimers, bait and switch schemes, false and deceptive advertising, required product and software documentation, defamation, libel, slander, designer laws like “veggie” libel, practicing law without a licence, practicing any licensed profession without a license, racketeering influenced and corrupt organization (RICO Act) “enterprises,” SLAPP suits, and the costly risks involved in speaking your mind or speaking out against these economy-siphoning, business-destroying, and sometimes home-wrecking practices and many more. 

It’s EASY for a professional’s or newbie’s lack of knowledge to draw them into career and fortune destroying legal issues quick as a flash.

Unfortunately, most social media and internet marketers learned their craft not through formal education or university systems who would have at least provided basic foundations, surveys, lectures, examples, and case studies on the laws that can enhance and catapult their products, services or outputs into comfortable livings and even fortunes,… but instead quite admirably learned their craft by toughing it out alone,simple trial and error, through various online courses, adult education venues, through freebies, search engine findings or by learning it from high-priced gurus who charged thousands and whose fees were either well-deserved or a shameful sham ripoff.

My overall goal is to help contribute to a better code of professional ethics, useful legal references, and communications resources with which to guide and protect both social media professionals and internet marketing professionals in their employer or client-supported careers and/or their independent entrepreneurial fortune-making activities.

Having said all that for project background purposes only, one of the chapters consists of survey questions and feedback from professionals in both social media and internet marketing, including those who use or implement online strategies and tactics.

Would you please share ANY question you would like to see answered by others in the industry, by subject matter experts, or legal experts that relates to helping us all stay lawful in our online marketing communications while building our careers and fortunes on the internet.

Specifically, could you contribute to helping answer any or all of the following questions:

1. What could and/or should social media and internet marketing professionals learn from each other? Or looking at it this way, what could members of Social Media Examiner’s Networking Clubs and members of the internet marketing group called the Warrior Forum learn from each other?
2. In your opinion, what’s the difference between a social media professional and an internet marketing professional? 
3. What do you think practitioners from both professions NEED to know about the laws that govern their actions or what do you wish they or you knew or could know?
4. Are you aware of any previous or current cases in the news involving clashes or violations of communications related laws? Any where a party was either criminally accused, the subject of a law enforcement or regulatory investigation or complaint or were involved as parties in a civil lawsuit, and was an online or offline company, government entity, internet marketer or social media professional, and involved any online or offline communications related issues as mentioned above?
5. Have any related questions YOU would like answered, have a concern about or wish to contribute?

 http://robincarlisle.info/internet-marketing-law-research

A lot to consider, but any feedback would be MORE than welcome and greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance for your help!

Robin Carlisle. 

@saumitra-ghotikar

Thanks for your thoughts, Saumitra. Yes, I’ve been playing with the site, making 1,000′s of changes in a short time, so playing catchup now is a chore.

I had a sticky post on the front page about our “work in progress,” but apparently it got unstuck, lol. Thanks for pointing that out. Since I WANT feedback of all kinds, I decided to just post work in progress. I’m finding I end up with much better results over time, than if I delayed releasing info until it was perfect.

Again, thanks for ALL your comments. Once question about 6c… can you explain what you mean?

Also, I’ve got more than 50 subcategories under Local Marketing and trying to find a better way to sub-divide them. Even though the theme is responsive, a looooong drop-down menu can prevent easy navigation if your browser won’t let you scroll passed your current screen. Any suggestions? (This menu item name will change to “Local Markets”).

Robin