Click to unmute

Digital Agency Owners, Managers, & Professionals

Become a Certified
Digital Compliance Professional

... and learn how to retain, attract, and sign better, higher-paying clients while protecting your business and personal assets.

Course Details
Enroll Now

How To

Become a sought-after Trusted Advisor to higher-paying clients... 
While protecting your business & personal assets from your triple-threat liability to your clients, third parties, and the Federal Trade Commission.

FACT #1: Brand (Trademark) = Quality.

Know this: the quality represented by a brand has significant marketing and legal importance.

Why are consumers willing to pay higher prices for brands they trust? It's the quality they represent.

Legally, businesses have specific obligations to protect their brands, or lose their brand rights.

FACT #2: All businesses with brands are looking for agencies that act as "Trusted Advisors" to help protect the quality which their brands represent WITHOUT UNNECESSARY LEGAL RISK.

Did you catch that? Brands, national, regional, local - it makes no difference.

All agencies pitch brands on how successful they are with generating conversions.

Conversions are a given, but brands expect more.

  • To help them manage their advertising risk, &
  • To help them protect their significant investment in the quality that their brands represent.

This is where your being certified as a Digital Compliance Professional can be your "Indispensable Tool" for retaining, attracting, and signing better, higher-paying brands as clients.


Your Certification as a "Digital Compliance Professional" will be a Game Changer for You.

Most of your competitors don't get it. Let them continue to pitch brands promising only the "moon" in terms of conversions and promotional results.

That's where the Digital Compliance Professional certification becomes your new, "Indispensable Tool". Your compliance certification will help you to easily position your agency favorably against them.

You'll be trained to position your agency as a "Trusted Advisor"... a professional agency that has a working knowledge of the rules of the advertising game to help your clients protect their valuable brands.

Imagine the tremendous potential of this new approach for retaining, attracting, and signing brands as better, higher-paying clients. You don't have to think outside the box a lot to really see it.


Protecting Your Business Should Also Be a Top Priority

You may not know it yet...

but digital agencies are among the most regulated businesses on the planet, with triple-threat liability to:

  • Clients
  • Third parties for the User-Generated Content used with digital ads & promotions
  • and the FTC...

You need to be careful out there...

  • Uber sued its agency for $40 million+ for breach of fiduciary obligations.
  • Lawsuits for failure to clear copyrights for a single image could hold you liable for up to $150,000.
  • The FTC recently held the CEO of a small digital agency personally liable for $6,500,000.

Don't fall for these 2 common FTC Traps for the unwary...  

  1. Falling for the misconception that you're not liable to the FTC because you're an agency, not an advertiser.  
         - The FTC says if you provide agency services (ad copy or messaging), then you're regulated legally as an agency based on over 50 years of legal precedent.

  2. Falling for the misconception that your personal and family assets are safe if you operate as a corporation or LLC.
         - It's easy for the FTC to pierce these corporate and LLC entity shells to reach your home, bank accounts, investment accounts, even your cars and art collection.

What You’ll Learn in This Course

Intellectual Property

Do you know why you and your clients could be liable for up to $150,000 per image for images that your client gives you, or for images you source from a Google search, even if the image doesn't have a copyright notice? Learn the intellectual property basics that will help you protect your agency and your clients from infringement and misappropriation claims.

Ad Claims, Substantiation & The FTC's "Materially Misleading Standard" for Deceptive Ad Claims

Do you have a working knowledge of the most fundamental rules of advertising to help you avoid massive FTC claims against your agency and clients... that could result in personal liability for you and your clients? Do you know why your personal assets are at risk from FTC claims, even if you operate as a corporation or LLC? Learn strategies based on your clients' risk profiles: strategies for aggressive ad claims, strategies to moderate risk including "weasel words", and strategies with "puffery" for no risk at all.

Testimonials and Endorsements

Do you know the big change that occurred in 2009 regarding "your results may vary" for "success story" testimonials that could result in huge liability for you and your clients? Do you have a working knowledge of how to add "material connection" disclosures to social media testimonials, promotions, and posts? Learn how to avoid huge FTC claims resulting from its ban of "your results may vary" disclosures. Learn how to avoid liability across social media platforms by providing "material connection" disclosures consistent with FTC regulations.

Content Clearance for Digital Advertising

Do you understand exactly how your use of user-generated content (UGC) in social media ads and promotions could expose you and your clients to little-known claims and lawsuits from 3rd parties? Do you have a process for clearing rights to UGC prior to use in ads and promotions? Learn the process for rights clearance, including a super-efficient automated option for UGC rights clearance that will help you protect your (and your clients') business and personal assets.

Client Risk Management

Do you know that your clients may be your greatest source of legal liability? Do you understand that you have 10 legal, fiduciary obligations owing to your clients... obligations that are implied by law, and which you can't avoid? Learn how to manage this legal risk, including with your client agreement and liability insurance. We have a sample Client Agreement you may generate with our document generator.

What You'll Get:

When you enroll today, you'll receive instant access to:

  • The Certified Digital Compliance Professional Course
  • 21 Specific Courses
  • 46 Course Modules (Videos)
  • 21 Quizzes (1 for each Specific Course)
  • 46 Quizzes (1 for each Course Module)
  • 1   Final Exam
  • 46 Handouts (1 for each Course Module)
  • Annual updates (no quizzes, no additional fees)

Plus, upon successful completing of the course and all exams you will also receive:

  • A badge designating you as Certified Digital Compliance Professional that can be hosted on your website, email signature and LinkedIn profile.
  • A digital, printable certificate suitable for farming
  • Status and recognition as a Certified Digital Compliance Professional

Course Details:

Level: Intermediate/Advanced
Setting: Online/Virtual
Course Length: 10 Hours
Expected Completion Time: 3-7 Days

Become a Certified Digital
Compliance Professional Today!

Just $997
for Individuals

FOR A LIMITED TIME ONLY

$497 one-time payment
(No Further Payments With Paid FTC Guardian Membership)
 

How It Works

TAKE THE COURSE

The course is a 10-hour intensive training, with 21 specific courses, 46 course modules, 21 quizzes, 1 final exam, and 46 handouts.

PASS THE TESTS

75% or better is required to pass. You have 2 attempts to pass.

DISPLAY YOUR BADGE

You'll get a digital badge to display on your social channels & a printable certificate for framing.

ANNUAL UPDATES

You'll get annual updates to stay current (no quizzes, no additional fees).

Certified Digital Compliance Professional Course

COURSE 1
RISK MANAGEMENT

  • Module 1.1 - What is Risk Management?
  • Module 1.2 - Content & Advertising Risk
  • Module 1.3 - Digital Agency Liability
  • Module 1.4 - Digital Agency Cases

COURSE 2
COPYRIGHT

  • Module 2.1 - Copyright Ownership
  • Module 2.2 - Copyright Infringement & Clearance
  • Module 2.3 - Copyright Fair Use

COURSE 3
TRADE SECRET

  • Module 3.1 - What is a Trade Secret?
  • Module 3.2 - Trade Secret Misappropriation

COURSE 4
TRADEMARK (LANHAM ACT)

  • Module 4.1 - Trademark Subject Matter
  • Module 4.2 - Trademark Priority & Infringement
  • Module 4.3 - Trademark Fair Use

COURSE 5
UNFAIR COMPETITION (LANHAM ACT)

  • Module 5.1 - Competitor False Advertising
  • Module 5.2 - False Endorsement

COURSE 6
AD INDUSTRY SELF-REGULATION

  • Module 6.1 - ASRC & The Better Business Bureau
  • Module 6.2 - DAA & The Better Business Bureau

COURSE 7
THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

  • Module 7.1 - Statutory Authority, Investigation & Enforcement
  • Module 7.2 - Unfair Practices

COURSE 8
THE “MATERIALLY MISLEADING” STANDARD

  • Module 8.1 - Materially Misleading & How the Standard is Applied to Consumers
  • Module 8.2 - How the FTC Builds Materially Misleading Cases

COURSE 9
AD CLAIMS

  • Module 9.1 - Ad Claims & Ad Claim Identification
  • Module 9.2 - Puffery: How Puffery Minimizes Risk

COURSE 10
AD CLAIM DISCLOSURES

  • Module 10.1 - FTC .com Disclosures: 2010 & 2013

COURSE 11
“SUCCESS STORY” TESTIMONIALS

  • Module 11.1 - Success Stories & Typicality Disclaimers
  • Module 11.2 - Substantiation For Generally Expected Results

COURSE 12
SUBSTANTIATION

  • Module 12.1 - Substantiation for Efficacy & Establishment Claims
  • Module 12.2 - Substantiation Cases
  • Module 12.3 - Risk Management: The Nutrisystem Model

COURSE 13
ENDORSEMENTS DISCLOSURES

  • Module 13.1 - FTC Endorsement Guides
  • Module 13.2 - Social Media, Affiliate Links, Sweepstakes
  • Module 13.3 - Automated Branded Content Tags

COURSE 14
PRODUCT PLACEMENT

  • Module 14.1 - FCC and FTC Regulation

COURSE 15
NATIVE ADVERTISING

  • Module 15.1 - Native Ad Disclosures

COURSE 16
MEMETIC MARKETING

  • Module 16.1 - Memes in Marketing & Risk Management

COURSE 17
RETARGETED ADVERTISING (ONLINE BEHAVIORAL ADVERTISING)

  • Module 17.1 - What is Retargeted Advertising?
  • Module 17.2 - Retargeted Advertising Disclosures

COURSE 18
AFFILIATE MARKETING

  • Module 18.1 - What is Affiliate Marketing & Affiliate Liability?
  • Module 18.2 - Advertisers & Networks Liability

COURSE 19
ELECTRONIC MARKETING: EMAIL & TEXT

  • Module 19.1 - The CAN-SPAM Act of 2003
  • Module 19.2 - Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (TCPA)

COURSE 20
CONTENT CLEARANCE PROCESS FOR DIGITAL ADVERTISING

  • Module 20.1 - How To Develop Your Content Clearance Process Elements
  • Module 20.2 - Permissions for User-Generated Content (UGC)

COURSE 21
YOUR RISK MANAGEMENT PROCESS

  • Module 21.1 - Agency-FTC Liability
  • Module 21.2 - The Agency-Client Relationship
  • Module 21.3 - Your Legal Responsibilities as Agent
  • Module 21.4 - Recommendations for Your Agency-Client Agreement
  • Module 21.5 - Digital Agency Insurance
  • Module 21.6 - Beginning Your Risk Management Process

FINAL
WORDS

Congratulations
Final Words

  • Chip Cooper, Esq. Closing Words

Your Certification
& Trust Badge

YOUR CERTIFICATION
& TRUST BADGE

Click Here To Enroll Today

Who Should Get Certified

Agency Owners

Founders & CEOs

Senior Management

Campaign Strategists

Project Managers

Why You Should Get Certified

If you're an individual...

... this certification will set you apart from the pack. Unlike everyone else who simply calls themselves a "digital marketing expert", you'll have the certificate & the badge to prove that you have a working knowledge of the rules of the advertising game.

More importantly, the certificate can make you more valuable to your company, which is the surest way to get that raise or promotion you likely already deserve (but don't have a tangible reason to request).

Why? Because you'll have the knowledge to help assure clients that you have the training to help protect the quality their brands represent... without unnecessary legal risk.

And you can't get this training anywhere else.

So, if you want to:

  • Enhance your career (or start a new one)
  • Learn the basic rules of the advertising game
  • Expand your skill set, distance yourself from   the competition, and jump to a higher pay grade

…this Course is for you.

If you're an agency owner...

...you know that your business will suffer if you simply maintain the status quo. With your appropriate personnel certified as "Digital Compliance Professionals", you'll be able to demonstrate to existing and prospective clients that your agency is a leader in terms of the highest level of client service.

Your competition has not yet realized that compliance training is now consistent with the most recent FTC regulations... but you'll be able to prove that your agency does have the the training to help them protect the quality their brands represent.

Your competition has also not yet realized the extent of legal exposure facing digital agencies today... but you'll have the confidence that you've taken critical steps to protect your business and personal assets, even if you operate as a corporation and an LLC.

As a result, you'll be able to sleep better at night.

About Your Instructor

  • Co-Founder, CEO of FTGuardian.com
  • Full-time compliance attorney for digital agencies and online businesses
  • Of Counsel, Jones & Haley PC, Atlanta
  • Adjunct Professor of Software Law at Wake Forest University School of Law
  • Graduate School of Business - University of Georgia
  • Wake Forest University School of Law, Juris Doctor Degree

Books Published

  • 2 in the field of software law
  • 2 in the field of FTC compliance
  • 1 in the field of Big Data and Targeted Advertising

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How will this certification help me?

A: It depends on how your are...

If you're an agency, your size doesn't matter – solo agency (1 person), small agency (up to 10 employees, or corporate (10+ employees) - this certification is a tangible way to demonstrate to existing and prospective clients that your agency is a leader in terms of the highest level of client service, and that you'll be able to help them protect the quality their brands represent without unnecessary legal risk. And this will help you retain, attract, and sign better higher-paying clients.

You'll have the confidence that you've taken prudent steps to protect your business and personal assets, even if you operate as a corporation and an LLC.

If you're an individual, this certificate can make you more valuable to your company, which is the surest way to get that raise or promotion you likely already deserve (but don't have a tangible reason to request).

Q: Is it really true that agencies are regulated directly by the FTC as agencies?

A: Yes. There's 50 years of legal precedent holding agencies directly liable for the deceptive ads of their clients, if (i) the agency participated in the ad or promotion, and (ii) knew or should have known that the ad was deceptive or unsubstantiated. That's why the working knowledge you'll develop by qualifying for this certification will help your agency avoid life changing FTC enforcement claims.

Q: How in the world can the FTC hold me personally liable and levy against my personal and family assets if I operate my agency as a corporation or LLC?

A: The FTC has been granted enormous powers for purposes of protecting consumers (who are viewed in the law as essentially defenseless). This is why you need to have a working knowledge of the rules of the advertising game in order to protect not only your business, but also your personal and family assets.

Q: How will this certification help me?

A: It depends on who you are...

If you're an agency, your size doesn't matter – solo agency (1 person), small agency (up to 10 employees, or corporate (10+ employees) - this certification is a tangible way to demonstrate to existing and prospective clients that your agency is a leader in terms of the highest level of client service, and that you'll be able to help them protect the quality their brands represent without unnecessary legal risk. And this will help you retain, attract, and sign better higher-paying clients.

You'll have the confidence that you've taken prudent steps to protect your business and personal assets, even if you operate as a corporation and an LLC.

If you're an individual, this certificate can make you more valuable to your company, which is the surest way to get that raise or promotion you likely already deserve (but don't have a tangible reason to request).

Q: Is it really true that agencies are regulated directly by the FTC as agencies?

A: Yes. There's 50 years of legal precedent holding agencies directly liable for the deceptive ads of their clients, if (i) the agency participated in the ad or promotion, and (ii) knew or should have known that the ad was deceptive or unsubstantiated. That's why the working knowledge you'll develop by qualifying for this certification will help your agency avoid life changing FTC enforcement claims.

Q: How in the world can the FTC hold me personally liable and levy against my personal and family assets if I operate my agency as a corporation or LLC?

A: The FTC has been granted enormous powers for purposes of protecting consumers (who are viewed in the law as essentially defenseless). This is why you need to have a working knowledge of the rules of the advertising game in order to protect not only your business assets, but also your personal and family assets.

Become a Certified Digital
Compliance Professional Today!

Just $997
for Individuals

FOR A LIMITED TIME ONLY

$497 one-time payment
(No Further Payments With Paid FTC Guardian Membership)
 

FTC Guardian is #1 in FTC Compliance Training for Digital Agencies and Marketers.

Chip Cooper, Esq. our CEO and instructor works every day in the trenches with online advertisers and agencies as clients. He's been involved in legal education at the highest level, having served as an Adjunct Professor of software law at Wake Forest University School of Law for 20 years. The course is based on his experience in the every-day practice of law with the purpose of providing you the training you need to develop of a working knowledge of the rules of the advertising game.