Rant warning: what follows may offend some people. But I wanted to throw in my three cents on the topic of “forced continuity,” which seems to be the subject of a lot of debate these days.

Several well-known marketers have made offers of late with forced continuity. What it means is, the intended product you want to buy can only be purchased when you buy another (often, a continuous subscription) billed to your account every month or so until you cancel.

Forced continuity is nothing new. (In direct marketing, they call these “Til Forbid” offers.) It’s another type of offer, pure and simple. It’s marketing. And there’s nothing wrong with that. What’s wrong is not the way the offer is made.

The real problem is its lack of transparency.

But that’s not what I want to rant about today.

What a lot of people seem to be missing here (and something my brilliant wife brought to my attention, which makes perfect sense to me), is that there is a deeper, much darker side to this whole thing.

Something all marketers need to be aware of…

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A member once asked a question about the legality of using an alias or pseudonym in copy.

That is, is it legal to write the copy in the voice of a fictitious character, or telling the story of a fictitious character enjoying the benefits of your offer?

Using an alias in business is a common practice. However, if you’re considering using an alias or already are using an alias, there are a few things to know to keep your head above water with the law.

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I just recorded a tidbit on copyspeaking (copywriting for Podcasting) and the whole MP3 controversy. It’s produced by my friend Paul Colligan, a podcast expert and fellow marketer.

Check it out. Big Seminar Live Cast: Copyspeaking, the Legality of MP3s and One-Heck-Of-An Offer.

There’s a new threat (well, seeming threat) spreading on the Internet these days, mostly perpetuated by a recent press release. This is currently being discussed on many forums, too, and some point to the MP3 licensing website.

In a nutshell, the creator of the MP3 encoding process is attempting to collect royalties from creators of MP3s. And this, apparently, is threatening Internet marketers who generate and distribute MP3s with some hefty lawsuits.

I personally don’t buy the argument, and here’s why…

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