Get-Rich-Quick Schemes Vs Legitimate Work-At-Home Opportunities
Get-Rich-Quick Schemes Vs Legitimate Work-At-Home Opportunities
By Smiley Webb
There are a lot of get rich quick schemes on the web that bill
themselves as work-at-home opportunities, but get rich quick
schemes seldom make anyone any money. There are real work at
home opportunities out there. You just have to get past all the
hype that people post on the web.
Here are 10 tips to help you avoid wasting time and money on
schemes that will never pay off;
1. How did you learn about this work at home opportunity? Did it
come in a spam email or an email that you did not sign up for?
Was it from a website popup or exit console? Was it in junk
mail? These are signs that the offer may not be legitimate. Junk
Mail may not be the final word on whether it is legitimate or
not because many companies market this way, however, it is
unsolicited mail much like spam.
2. Do they promise you will be making thousands of dollars in
the first month or first 90 days with little or no work
involved? Working at home is no different than owning any other
business or working a job. It takes hard work and dedication
along with a little luck to make good money at it. Any scheme
that claims they can make you rich right away or that tells you
that there is hardly any work involved, is a scam. If it were
true, why would they need you?
3. Do you have to buy their software or ebook in order to get
started? Are they simply in the business of selling you their
package or are they actually doing this themselves? This is
another sign that they may be in the business of selling you
their ebook or package or tapes or whatever and not in the
business they are trying to get you to do. Some legitimate work
at home opportunities may require you to buy a membership or
other product. You have to learn to recognize the difference.
4. Do they talk a lot about reveling secrets and shortcuts to
becoming wealthy? Those who talk about teaching you the secrets
of making money online or offline or that are offering shortcuts
to wealth are usually scams. If it were a legitimate opportunity
they would have no need to tell you that you don't have to work
at it or that you will get rich quick. Ask yourself, if they
have a secret that makes people wealthy, why would they tell it
to you?
5. Look at the offer and read it critically. Pyramid schemes or
MLM opportunities are notorious for their lack of truth and
legitimacy. Pretty much anything with a downline should be
scrutinized with care. Here is a clue to look for. If the
primary focus of the organization is to recruit more people into
the program, then it's probably a scam. It could even be illegal
as a pyramid scheme where you live. If the primary focus is
selling product, then it might be legitimate. That doesn't mean
you believe the hype about how much you can make or how little
you will have to work however.
6. Go to http://www.betterwhois.com and check to see who owns
the domain name if the opportunity is web-based or if the offer
lists a website. If the information listed in whois about the
domain name looks false, such as phone numbers like 999-999-9999
or shaky looking email addresses and street addresses, then the
offer is likely a scam. If there is no information listed there,
then I wouldn't trust the deal either. If the name on the domain
has nothing to do with the personal or company name of the
person trying to sell you something, then it's a little
suspicious as well.
7. If they use testimonials, go to your favorite search engine
and type in the names on the testimonials and see what you find
about those people. You never know what you might learn. Those
with really common names are not so easy to search because you
don't know which one they are, but those with uncommon names
might be found. If they turn out to be with the company trying
to sell to you, then the testimonial was bogus. Look also to see
if they are from a similar address or phone number as the person
or company trying to sell to you.
8. Again, using the search engines, type in the name of the
opportunity and see if there is more information about them on
other websites, forums, and blogs. You might even type the word
scam or rip-off next to the name of the company to see if there
are any posted complaints about them. Many people try to get the
word out to others when they get ripped off.
9. Offline, call your local Better Business Bureau to see if
there are complaints about the company. Online you can search
for information yourself or search for the better business
bureau online.
10. Finally, If the offer sounds too good to be true, it
probably is too good to be true. With scams, it might walk like
a duck, talk like a duck, smell like a duck, and even look like
a duck, but it might not be a duck. Check all work at home
opportunities out carefully before spending too much money.
Smiley Webb has been working for himself at home for enough
years to learn the advantages and disadvantages of
self-employment and loves to share his ideas and insights with
people all over the world who want to do the same. Smiley also
maintains websites at http://workathomebusiness.smileycomm.com
and http://www.smileycomm.com for more information about work at
home opportunities.