– aka Don’t be a Sucker Any Longer!

I, like many others, have been sucked into various scams, schemes, “programs” (more about that later) and “opportunities”. The joy and frustration is that there are so many.

If you’re considering a home-based business you ARE vulnerable…. don’t kid yourself. You would be amazed at what otherwise intelligent people will fall for when they are looking for an easy way to make money. You (this is important – pay attention)“want to believe” that it can be done. Tons of people are doing it, you watched the video, you’ve seen the ads, there are tons of websites it must be true. It must be so easy.

It isn’t. Nothing worth doing is easy. It is hard work. And the trouble with telling people about scams and schemes is our ‘want to believe’ syndrome. You are hunting and hoping to find a better life for your family, you want to believe that you have found it, you have done the research and found out all about it. Sure people have some BAD things to say, but others have such GOOD things to say it must be true.

Stop kidding yourself. Listen to your gut, not your heart or your emotions. If you hear yourself thinking it all sounds so great but…..STOP. That but is enough. It’s not that great and there are lots of other opportunities on the web that are perfectly legit and will not empty your pocket book to try them out.

There is only one way to make REAL money. Work hard and be creative.



Well I am sure there are lots of other ways too. But to be a good honest decent person who can sleep at night your own creativity and determination are your two best business partners.

So back to more important topics. How to spot a scam:

1. Paying Money to “Make” Money.

   If step #1 involves you pulling out your check book or finding the expiry on your credit card – STOP. Do not pass go, you will never see your $24.95, $311, $2597 (or more, yes more)again.
   
   
   
   Let’s stop and think to ourselves when was the last time you went to a job interview and the guy across the table from you said “For only a small processing fee you can join our team” Never. That is because they don’t make their money that way, they have a real product or service that they actually need you sell for them. They need you to sell it not you to ‘sign up’ or ‘join’. Which leads me to #2
   

2. Exactly How Do They Make All That Money Anyway?

   You joined the team, they cashed your check and instead of putting you to work selling this amazing product you are encouraged or shown how to get more people to sign up for the “opportunity”.

   Ok sure, yes, some of them do have an actual product and it is not just hot air coming out of some dude in a suit. And yes maybe, just maybe, a few people may make a few dollars or…shock and awe their money back.
   
   But…back to my point…
   
   Big red flag here people. They don’t actually care about the product (if there even is one). They make their money by signing people up. The more suckers you can find the more money you will make. Is basically in not so many words is what they are getting at. And they will TRAIN you how to do it, wow what a deal! And in the real world when was the last time you paid for anything or got a job anywhere that they didn’t train you. Or it didn’t come with a little booklet full of instructions in three languages? What’s that? Right NEVER. #3……

3. Our Goal is to Help You Succeed

   Ok so, the odd employer might actually care that their employees get somewhere in life, but the majority of them could care less. They want one thing: to make themselves rich with your experience and/or skills; Translate to someone you just gave $2995: to make themselves rich with your money. They are going to tell you all about their miraculous (Insert money making program name here)that will change your life and lead you down the road to financial freedom. Bollux.

   The goal is to take your money to make them rich. End of story.
   
   They know that. They don’t want you to know that and they are preying on your “want to believe” syndrome in hopes that your own common sense won’t kick in half way through their schpeil. I have my own moderately successful business here and you don’t hear me telling you that I can make you rich. I can’t (in case you were wondering).
   
   Sure maybe you could make yourself rich, but that remains to be seen. Guy in a suit can’t. A Business-In-A-Box can’t. You want to believe it can but as we all now know: if there is little to no hard work involved the only success you will see is theirs in taking your hard earned dollars.

   The only reason anyone cares about your success is because it will mean they make more money. Whether they are legitimate or not. Sad huh? Kinda makes you want to kick someone in the butt doesn’t it? It is a cold cruel world, unfortunately.

4. Scare Tactics, Salesmen & Success Oh My!

   Have you ever encountered that born salesmen? He could sell you his burnt toast and you would gleefully eat it. Only to wonder later why your mouth tastes like charcoal?

   You can’t fail. He Says. Think of the opportunity. He says. You would be foolish not to at least try. He says. You get your check book. SOLD. To the easiest target. And suddenly you find yourself selling products to your family, friends and neighbors.

   Selling isn’t for everyone. Some people enjoy it and some companies do have reputable products that I myself buy. But the selling aspect of it just isn’t for me. If you have tried something and genuinely dislike it don’t be afraid to quit. It is ok to admit defeat, don’t let some pushy salesmen force you to try “just one more time” or “buy one more package”.

   Don’t listen to people who tell you that if everything is in place then you can’t fail. You can ALWAYS fail. When I started this website people told me I was crazy that it will never work. It has been done before. But I had the heart and determination to persevere. I knew that this was something I would enjoy and was going to make a decent living at. There is nothing wrong with going after your dreams. I think that
   everyone should.

   The first thing you should do though is to take an inventory of what you are and are not willing to do to get there. I did not want to have to meet a quota or to sell products to people face to face. I was willing to work my butt off and to create something that I could be proud of that I think defines who I am a little bit. I wanted to work outside of someone’s borders not within them. So decide what you
   want out of working at home and keep that in mind when you are choosing your business.

5. MLM – Makes Lotsa Money

   For someone.
   
   Who that someone is is up for debate. Like I was trying to get at before, you need a certain personality to be successful at that sort of thing. Someone who can recruit, train, motivate and sell.
   You know the type: people people.

   Even then, MLM by design is structured to make money for the people at the top from the people at the bottom. (Did someone say pyramid? Shhhh!) The more people at the bottom the more the people at the top make. And just how many people are at the bottom? A lot.

   Think about it: AVON, Melaleuca, Mary Kay, Candle Parties, Norwek, Discovery Toys there are endless MLM type programs out there. Some with completely decent and viable products but… these are not what get people involved. It is the “opportunity” that makes them join and how many people have joined over the years? There is no control over it hence massive market saturation. Whats that? The market cannot possibly be saturated, he said. Well consider this: talk to a group of stay at home moms. How many of them sell Melaleuca? Tupperware? Books? Toys? Do you think they are getting rich or even making an income by selling these products if there are this many of them?

   Those are the quality, decent, well known products that have stood the test of time and only exist because the product itself is actually worth something. There are tons of them out there and you would have to sell hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of products a year to even sustain yourself. You would be better to open a store on eBay and sell widgets for $10 a pop.
   
   All of that said. Some people like this type of thing. It works for them. And you know what? That is GREAT but it isn’t for everyone and there are other options out there for you.

6. Data Entry & Typing Jobs.

   Are always a scam. The jobs don’t exist and the forms/applications you fill out get sold to companies so that your inbox and mail box will become littered with solicitations for some product, scheme or other way to take your money.
   

   Don’t EVER send money to a company claiming an at home typing job. Let’s use our logic here. If a company needed an at home typist to complete work for them (which lots of companies do it is completely legitimate) would a legitimate company need to look all over the country for work at home moms? NO. Is the answer you are looking for. They would simply need to place a 3 or 4 line ad in their local classifieds and they would have all the typists they could handle. Word of mouth would be all they would need to obtain replacements or additional workers. This is a low skill job people anyone could do it which is why the SCAM is so successful.
   

7. Envelope Stuffing, Ad Placing and Craft Making.

   So we all know that we don’t send money to people who want to ‘hire’ us right? RIGHT? Good. But…I hear you saying it is only 34.97 what can I lose?
   
   You can lose your $35 that is what. So here is how it goes: you see a classified ad “make money selling your grandmas chili recipe”, “assemble products at home make $648.42/wk” or “make $2 for every envelope you stuff” followed by ‘send a S.A.S.E. (SASE) to PO BOX 1234 Rip Me Off JNT 56789″. We have all seen them, some of us (including me)have even sent for the ‘FREE’ details. There is a company in Canada who is making a TON of $$ by sending those ‘FREE’ details to people and telling others how to do it too.

   The envelope stuffing & mailing circulars is just ridiculous if we use our common sense once again. MACHINES stuff envelopes for most companies. We have these wonderful things called COMPUTERS that can address and mail out more ‘envelopes’ than you ever will. So let’s say you place your ad(which costs a small fortune these days) and you get someone to send you the $2 or the SASE to get the details and then you stuff the envelope filled with the same crap that you just got. Wow. What an opportunity.

   You place the ad (which costs $36) and it says ‘Grandmas Secret Chili send SASE & $2 for recipe” in this day and age do you actually think that someone is going to pay you for a recipe that they could get 100 versions of on Allrepices.com? Anyways the thing with this one is it is a chain letter(a mailing list nightmare) you are going to get tons of letters telling you “how to sell your recipe right” and in the year 2145 you will have gotten back $213,756 and now be able to retire in comfort. Wow. Thanks Grandma!

   Oh and finally the assemblers. Granted that I have not seen one that is as bad as some of the past that I have read about but they will charge you anywhere from $25-$500 for the ‘kit’ and a sample with instructions by which you are supposed to make a craft or product that you can sell back to them. Can anyone guess where I am going with this?
   
   The kits are often filled with products inferior to those used to create the sample (on purpose) because they never wanted you to make them anything then they would have to sell it which would mean that they would have to have customers which they don’t need they have you!
   

8. Seminar Scum.

   Not all seminars fall into this category but most of them do and while the seminar itself MAY (big MAY here guys) be worth your $3000-$5000. All of those other ‘things’ that they are selling are not worth the paper they are printed on. You will most likely learn a lot about how to herd people like sheep into a building and rob them blind. These guys wear fancy suits and big white grins they are dealers or investors who have made hundreds of thousands of dollars with some company you have never heard of and within months they will be gone from the face of the planet never to be seen or heard from again. Remember what you have learned because they are convincing fellows with dazzling smiles and quick tongues. Success is never a sure thing. They make their money from the seminars. Did you get that? Not whatever it is they are telling you is so fabulous, their stock advice, how to sell houses, or marketing business. They make their money from you writing your check to them. You will never see this money again I will assure you so be careful and check them out before you sign up. A legitimate seminar host will have no problems answering a few questions for you and many are FREE to attend!

9. Business in a Box

   What could be better right? Turn-key, press on, host website and you are on your way. Often these guys fall into the “Exactly How Do They Make Their Money” category and is a new twist on an old favorite – MLM. They will sell you a ready made website, domain and or advertising package designed to sell a product (if there even is one) or service, and then they will give you your ‘free-training’ on how to dupe more people into setting up a website exactly like yours.
   
   
   
   And that my friends is how they make their money. Not in the products or links but in the initial sale of the website and the advertising package they sell you. The only person who ever makes money is the guy at the top. As I mentioned before MLM – makes lotsa money.

10. Too Good to Be True.

    This falls into the category of “want to believe” syndrome that I talked about before I started all of this rambling. Listen to that inner voice of yours. Type that company name into a search engine and see what you come up with. It is surprisingly difficult to get an honest account of some of these things from people, but do try. Nothing is unbiased but three peoples biased opinions are a clearer picture than one and if you find something bad about them don’t look the other way. DROP IT. Cease and Desist. There are lots of opportunities to make money out there that won’t leave you in the mud. They just require a little bit of work and creativity.

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    Oh and I almost forgot. The guarantee. Everyone has them, IRONCLAD, UNCONDITIONAL, RISK-FREE are common terms but most of them are absolute crap. They are full of holes and I will let you in on some phrases to watch out for.
    

    1# – If you give my plan an honest try and haven’t made $ xxx in XX days….
    
    So can anyone tell me what is wrong with this picture? How exactly do you know I gave it an honest try? Who decides? And what if your ‘program’, ‘plan’ or scheme is too darn stupid to try then do I get my money back? No? Oh. Darn.
    

    2# – As soon as you stuff your first 500 envelopes…
    
    This one falls into the ‘refundable deposit’ category as well. They could put 100 envelopes here and you would still never get your money back. How do they know how many envelopes you stuff? And the ‘refundable deposits’ After we have accepted your first 36 items we will refund your deposit to you which runs on the premise that they are going to accept your products which we all know is not going to happen. Also known as the ‘and we’ve sold it for you’ guarantee. So what if you don’t sell it? What if you just let it sit on a shelf and don’t even try to sell it?
    

    3# – I can’t find the guarantee I was thinking of right now I am going to have to get back to you………darn. Sorry.

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    Real business advice for soon to be home business owners….