Peter,

Could you give a couple of specific examples? Then we have some context for this discussion - because I think that the setting, the audience and so on partly determine what is appropriate and how the reader would likely take it. In addition, certain kinds of claims (particularly health claims) require much more vigilance and care on the part of the writer and the company.

I'll give an example from my own web site. I have a training program that teaches people to become a marketing consultant (in a sense a copywriter) in 10 weeks. Since I only accept candidates who already have good writing skills, not to mention the demonstrably huge learning leaps people have in the program) I feel comfortable with the claim that they really can learn those skills in 10 weeks. I have testimonials attesting to that, too. However, the headline on one of my pages describing this program goes:

Learn How to Earn $100/Hour With Your Writing Skills
http://www.yudkin.com/$100hour.htm (that's a page oriented to writers)

Another headline for the same program goes:

Become a Marketing Consultant and Earn $75-$150/Hour!
http://www.yudkin.com/become.htm (that's a page for folks interested in marketing)

Now I certainly have graduates who are making $100 an hour and up with the skills they learned from me, but they are not the norm. The norm is people who have finished the course and then half-heartedly tried to get their consulting practice up and running or simply went on to something else. Do you think it would be smart for me to have some kind of disclaimer that I can't absolutely promise these results, that while I make sure they finish with a marketing plan and great marketing materials, their progress depends a lot on their drive and persistence? Or do you think it would be better for me to rustle up one or two more testimonials from graduates who were making the amounts in my headline? (I have two such quotes at present.)

I hope my comments don't bend the thread away from Peter's questions again, but I really do think that different examples may call for different answers. Feel free to give your own examples, too.

Marcia Yudkin