18 Oct Important Compliance Memo

With momentum and success
comes great responsibility.

SOCIAL MEDIA INCOME CLAIMS
At Surge365 we always want to do business the right way. We’ve recently noticed an increase in social media income claims. Statements regarding a referral marketing company’s income opportunity go to the heart of the Federal Trade Commission’s mission to extinguish deceptive, unfair, or unsubstantiated claims made by a company and its distributors. The FTC wants to ensure that all potential distributors make a fully informed decision before choosing to join a company.

The Income Disclosure Statement (IDS) is a very important and necessary tool for all members of our company. We know that many of you have included the IDS in your social media posts (and we thank you for protecting our company by doing so), but it has also been noted that many SBAs posting and/or sharing those posts have not been including the IDS.

To stay compliant with all regulations, our attorney advises that on all social media we refrain from making income claims of any kind, including lifestyle claims, check presentations, and showing images of checks and bonuses, specifically as this may bring unwelcome attention from regulators.

MEETINGS AND PRESENTATION INCOME CLAIMS
It is very important that you include the IDS when you are presenting the business opportunity at meetings, small groups, or one-on-one. Do not make income claims that may include photos of big checks, bonus graphics showing dollar amounts, etc. We have created a custom link for the Income Disclosure Statement to make it easier for you to include and share in your presentations: http://bit.ly/S365IDS. Copy this link and keep it handy. Any time we update the IDS, the link will automatically be updated to include the most current information. You can review all the policies regarding income claims in Sections 3.18 and 3.19 of the SBA Policies and Procedures.

IMPORTANT NOTE:
RECRUITING WHILE ON TRAVEL PROPERTIES
Another urgent matter that has come to our attention is regarding recruiting while you are on travel properties. Please do not hand out business cards or tell other guests that your travel cost less while encouraging them to contact you. We must follow ethical business practices as representatives of Surge365.

You can download current copies of both sets of Policies and Procedures (SBA and Member) in your Back Office under Menu>Resources>SBA Documents.

As always, I appreciate your enthusiasm, drive, and compliance with all policies.

Katrina Bridges
Director of Operations
compliance@surge365.com