Anyone who is interested in working from home has probably made some searches online. They will have found countless opportunities available including a huge amount of junk offers or scams.
In the past few years the internet has allowed the simple ‘get rich quick’ industry to mushroom and splinter beyond prediction. The internet allows for quick testing, quick production and quick deployment of all sorts of new ideas. Many of these ideas become shady opportunities or scams waiting to catch the unwary. Indeed, a whole new ‘doughnut’ industry has been born. Why doughnut? Because, despite the massive quantity of high tech, sophisticated marketing, there remains nothing in the middle of most of these businesses. It seems the whole concept of such business opportunities revolves around the art of finding, persuading, and selling these ideas to anyone who is remotely interested in starting their own business. And what of the purchaser of such business opportunities? Well, they pay for knowledge on how to sell the same doughnut to somebody else.
Of course this is just a variation on the old idea of selling someone the idea of making money by selling the idea of making money by selling the idea, etc.
It would seem easy to spot such scams. But they come in all shapes and sizes and some of them are very cleverly sold. If you have a few minutes, check out the amusing web page called click here you idiot. It’s funny, but it’s deadly serious, this type of web page can separate not just the fool from his money. Their proliferation on the web is testament to their powerful effect.
The familiar adage ‘if it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is’, is always worth remembering.
Aside from this there are some very useful things to look for when thinking about buying an idea or a course, or any sort of education or knowledge about starting your own home business.
Look for the contact If a seller is genuinely offering you something of value, they will be proud to be associated with it. They will not hide behind shielded contact details. Look for a postal address and a phone number. If you cannot find one — move on.
Look for more information If the seller is selling on the web, look at their site, not just the sales page. What other information can you obtain from it? What kind of image does it portray, hopefully one of professionalism. If they are supposed to be an expert in their field, is their evidence of this? Of course, if all you can find is a sales page then, again — move on.
Beware the ‘testimonial’ Sellers think that if they write a few words of praise about their product and stick someone else’s name under it, people will be reassured and will buy. The sad fact is that they are often right. The problem is that the would-be buyer has got so excited by the sales copy, they really want to believe that the testimonial or recommendation is real. Just keep in mind how easy it is to write, ‘I made $10,000 in 3 hours with this system’ Joe Bloggs.
Records of accounts or sales Again, our poor buyer really wants to believe that the table of figures and dates they see is a copy of a real bank statement. They’ll often ignore the fact that the seller has probably knocked it up on their pc in 20 minutes.
There are even scams that will deprive you of money so that they can tell you how to avoid internet scams; I think that’s called feeding a hungry market.
In summary, just take a step back and use some of common sense. Many of these scams promise huge amounts of money in return for very little work. In fact, that is usually their biggest and strongest selling point; dangling temptation in front of people who want something for nothing. Of course, that includes most of us. However, most of us also believe, deep down, that what we get out of life is largely dependent on what we put in. Running a small or home business is usually hard work.
Nevertheless, there are some very good, sound and honourable ideas for starting and running your own business. And with a bit of dedication and work, working for ourselves can set us on a road that we’ll never want to leave.
How to tell a good business opportunity from bad
Anyone who is interested in working from home has probably made some searches online. They will have found countless opportunities available including a huge amount of junk offers or scams.
In the past few years the internet has allowed the simple ‘get rich quick’ industry to mushroom and splinter beyond prediction. The internet allows for quick testing, quick production and quick deployment of all sorts of new ideas. Many of these ideas become shady opportunities or scams waiting to catch the unwary. Indeed, a whole new ‘doughnut’ industry has been born. Why doughnut? Because, despite the massive quantity of high tech, sophisticated marketing, there remains nothing in the middle of most of these businesses. It seems the whole concept of such business opportunities revolves around the art of finding, persuading, and selling these ideas to anyone who is remotely interested in starting their own business. And what of the purchaser of such business opportunities? Well, they pay for knowledge on how to sell the same doughnut to somebody else.
Of course this is just a variation on the old idea of selling someone the idea of making money by selling the idea of making money by selling the idea, etc.
It would seem easy to spot such scams. But they come in all shapes and sizes and some of them are very cleverly sold. If you have a few minutes, check out the amusing web page called click here you idiot. It’s funny, but it’s deadly serious, this type of web page can separate not just the fool from his money. Their proliferation on the web is testament to their powerful effect.
The familiar adage ‘if it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is’, is always worth remembering.
Aside from this there are some very useful things to look for when thinking about buying an idea or a course, or any sort of education or knowledge about starting your own home business.
Look for the contact
If a seller is genuinely offering you something of value, they will be proud to be associated with it. They will not hide behind shielded contact details. Look for a postal address and a phone number. If you cannot find one — move on.
Look for more information
If the seller is selling on the web, look at their site, not just the sales page. What other information can you obtain from it? What kind of image does it portray, hopefully one of professionalism. If they are supposed to be an expert in their field, is their evidence of this? Of course, if all you can find is a sales page then, again — move on.
Beware the ‘testimonial’
Sellers think that if they write a few words of praise about their product and stick someone else’s name under it, people will be reassured and will buy. The sad fact is that they are often right. The problem is that the would-be buyer has got so excited by the sales copy, they really want to believe that the testimonial or recommendation is real. Just keep in mind how easy it is to write, ‘I made $10,000 in 3 hours with this system’ Joe Bloggs.
Records of accounts or sales
Again, our poor buyer really wants to believe that the table of figures and dates they see is a copy of a real bank statement. They’ll often ignore the fact that the seller has probably knocked it up on their pc in 20 minutes.
There are even scams that will deprive you of money so that they can tell you how to avoid internet scams; I think that’s called feeding a hungry market.
In summary, just take a step back and use some of common sense. Many of these scams promise huge amounts of money in return for very little work. In fact, that is usually their biggest and strongest selling point; dangling temptation in front of people who want something for nothing. Of course, that includes most of us. However, most of us also believe, deep down, that what we get out of life is largely dependent on what we put in. Running a small or home business is usually hard work.
Nevertheless, there are some very good, sound and honourable ideas for starting and running your own business. And with a bit of dedication and work, working for ourselves can set us on a road that we’ll never want to leave.