MOBE FTC Update: How To Protect Your Business And Move Forward
Following along from the MOBE FTC shutdown reaction post from last month, here’s Dean Holland’s MOBE FTC update, and some further advice on how to move forward by building your own assets in your online business…
“Good morning everybody. Dean here of course. Welcome to today’s episode of The Drive, taking place actually at Internet Profits HQ here in our video studio.
I messed up! I went to do today’s Drive in the car and I was talking to myself. Got to the office and I hadn’t pressed the darn record button! So I’ve popped into the video studio. We’ve just been working on a few things – setting up and completing our live streaming capabilities.
Now I want to just talk about something… A few days ago I did a video about MOBE – that it looked like they’ve been pulled down. It looked like, at that time, they had been pulled down by the FTC and shut down… MOBE FTC update… That has now been confirmed.
MOBE FTC Update
If you go to their website, the receivers letter is up there, and there’s all kinds of legal stuff that now will ensue. Reading some of the stuff, it looks like a lot has been happening. I’m sure MOBE will be fighting this, and they’re gonna be having their day in court, so we’ll see what happens.
And what I would say is that I feel, y’know above all, sorry for the people that are directly impacted who have just invested and spent money. I can’t speak as to whether MOBE has done anything wrong.
I’ve seen some of their products. I’ve seen great content and things from Matt Lloyd in the past. And so everything looked good to me. But I don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes, right? So I can’t speak to that.
But what I can say is – that there will be a lot of people obviously who can no longer access the things that they’ve paid for. And some customers have spent thousands, even tens and tens of thousands – and now have zero access. Some people even paid, like, days before it was all shut off. So what an absolute mess!
I think right now, there’s a lot of shock and fear in the industry. Y’know like…
“Why Do All These Companies Keep Being Shut Down?”
Well I want to give you… Obviously let me just throw a disclaimer up here… I’m not a lawyer, not a legal representative of any kind, in any way shape or form. These are all just my own personal views and opinions. So make sure you do all your own research.
But what I can speak of is just some, like, common sense stuff that we all need to make sure we adhere to. So for example, not making guarantees or promises of outcomes, right? You cannot legally, morally, or ethically guarantee an outcome.
It’s even risky territory to even hint at what’s possible. Because it could be decided that you’re making it suggestive that everybody can do this. And typically not everybody’s going to be able to do something. So you’ve got to make sure you’re not making promises or guarantees of income.
Testimonials… Y’know, it’s a big area. And you know what’s crazy? When you actually understand the laws and you look into these things, you’ll realize that probably nearly all companies are violating some laws to some degree.
Look at the weight loss industry. They show these transformations. Well, is it true? Is it true and correct that the average person is experiencing these transformations?
In the make money online space – is it true, when you show these testimonials, that the average person is getting this result?
Is The Average Person Getting Results As Advertised?
Even when you have software, and tools, and solutions, and services… When you show something like, “Oh look at this amazing website that one of our clients has got and is making all these sales.” Is that a typical result?
Y’know for example, even with Shopify. Chris on the team here was actually telling me earlier that something like 95% of Shopify’s revenue… And I might be off with the percentages… But 95% of Shopify is revenue was coming from people that weren’t actually doing anything with their store.
Kind of like gym memberships! I bet a lot of gyms make most of their money from people that don’t even go, right?
And when you look at all these things, there are some widespread practices a lot of people are doing, that actually the FTC would deem as wrong.
So make sure you’re not making promises, or guarantees of results and outcomes. Be careful with using any kind of testimonies or anything like that. Make sure you’re being transparent – on what your customer is entitled to, what ensues after purchase, and what your product requires them to do.
If you’re selling something – but then, in order to use it… So, say if you’re selling a widget for a website. And in order for somebody to use that widget, they actually need to make sure that they’ve got other things. Well, they need to know from you that they’ve also got to have these other things. So transparency is a big thing.
And we could go on and on. But just use your common sense… “Am I saying stuff on my website that could potentially be misleading, or misrepresenting, or making unsubstantiated claims, making promises or guarantees of outcomes?” So anyway, do your own research.
MOBE Won’t Be The Last Online Business Education Company To Be Shut Down
But I just wanted to share a few little tips that could help. Because at the end of the day, MOBE isn’t the first company to be shut down. And it sure as heck won’t be the last.
I mean we’ve seen companies come and go in this market space over the last few years alone. Some big ones, y’know. There was Empower Network – gone, now bankrupt, dead. Digital Altitude sued by the FTC – currently still non-existent. Now MOBE. And so if you look at these companies, there are patterns. People were doing the same stuff.
And if you are one of the unfortunate people that has lost out because of this currently… I mean, who knows? MOBE might be able to win their case. I don’t know at this stage.
But as I said in my video the other day, what you’ve got to do is protect yourself and learn from this experience. Make sure that you are building your own assets.
You can utilise other people’s products and marketing systems, y’know – affiliate marketing and network marketing. But build your own assets, your own audiences, your own email list. Don’t just send your traffic direct to other companies.
In Network Marketing Or Affiliate Marketing, Build And Control Your Own Assets
If you’re in network marketing, affiliate marketing or any of that kind of stuff, build your own assets. Build your own email list, control your own website. Have your own blog, your own fan pages, your own ad accounts, your own lists, your own autoresponder.
Have control of as much as you can control. Because if something happens to go wrong for a company you’re promoting, for example, and you put 100% of your work over there… So you weren’t building your own list, you didn’t have your own blog, you didn’t have your own website… Then you can end up like a lot of people are now – and it’s it’s terrifying in that sense.
So I have the utmost sympathy for everyone who has been impacted by this. The reality is now that it is confirmed, it is fact, and you just have to really take this and learn from it. And I know that’s not nice to hear, because some people really are losing a lot right now. And I sympathize with you, with the utmost respect.
But I can’t do anything for you, other than to say, learn from this. Hopefully there’s a positive resolution and you don’t lose out. Even if this does have a positive resolution, learn from this and adapt. Don’t allow yourself to be in this situation again.
I hope you find that helpful in some way. Of course with that said guys, thank you for tuning in. Until next time with “How To Start And Build An Online Business From Scratch For Beginners“, thank you for watching and I’ll talk to you soon. Bye for now.
MOBE FTC 2018 Links
- https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2018/06/ftc-action-halts-mobe-massive-internet-business-coaching-scheme
- https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/2018/08/what-you-need-know-if-you-were-mobe-customer
MOBE FTC Update 2020 Links
- https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/2020/03/ftc-goes-after-several-top-affiliates-mobe
- https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2020/06/payment-processor-mobe-business-coaching-scheme-settles-ftc
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