It seems like everyone is being flooded with advertisements on
how you can be a millionaire by working at home. I see it when I
turn on the TV, I see it when I read a magazine, I see it when
I surf the Net, I see it everywhere! We just can’t escape the
latest get rich quick scheme. It seems like everyone and their
grandma is trying to sell you that pie in the sky dream of living
the perfect life. So the question comes up, is it truly possible
to make a living by working from home or are all these
advertisements we see just another scam?
The good news is yes, it is possible to make a decent living by
working from home but you need to be cautious. You especially
need to be aware of online “get rich quick scams”. In this
article I am going to cover 6 tips to help you discover which
business opportunities are for real and which ones you should
stay away from.
1) Do they have contact information?
Obviously scam artist don’t want to be found. So do they have
all their contact information on their web site? Such as their
company name, phone number, and address? It’s also important that
they have a physical address and not just a P.O. Box. Once you
have their phone number you should call them and ask them any
questions that you have.
2) Are they a legal company?
Has the company been legally registered in their country? Each
country has different laws in this regard, but in the United
States you want to make sure that they are set up as a legal
corporation. Look at the company name and see if there is a
LLC, Inc., Corporation, Incorporated, Limited, Ltd., Corp., or
Enterprises at the end of it. You can also do a search at Google
and see if it is registered in that state. Just type in “search
for corporation (name of state)” and you can find any
registration data.
3) How do they accept payments?
Another sign to look for is how they have set up their payment
system. Have they taken the steps to have their own merchant
account? If not then are they using a reputable 3rd party
payment system? If they are using a 3rd party payment processor
then make sure that you can dispute any charges made to your
account. Paypal is a good example of a reputable 3rd party
payment processor. On the other hand I would stay away from any
company exclusively using payment systems such as Stormpay or
E-gold.
4) Do they offer a real product?
Do they offer a real product with real value? Most business
opportunities that are scams won’t even talk about a product or
all they offer is a bunch of ebooks or other worthless products.
If they are a legitimate company then you should be able to make
money by selling their product or service. If the only way to
make money is by recruiting other people to join then this is
a sure sign of a scam.
5) What are other people saying about it?
It is always good to know the experiences that other people have
had with the business opportunity that you are researching. You
can take a look at forums where people talk about their
experiences with home based businesses to get a good feel of a
company. You can find some forums by searching for mlm forums,
work at home forums, or home based business forums on Google.
It’s also a good idea to get some referrals from the company
itself. When you call or email them, ask them for some contact
information of other members. That way you can get in touch with
these members and see how it’s working out for them.
Another good resource to check is the “Work-at-Home Sourcebook"
by Lynie Arden which has more than 1,000 home business and
franchise opportunities, complete with realistic descriptions
of what the work entails, how much it pays, up front costs,
projected incomes, and addresses and phone numbers to facilitate
contacting specific companies.
6) Do they make outrageous promises?
Starting a home-based business is just like starting any other
kind of business. It requires time, effort, and money. Be wary
of any company promising you big money with little or no effort
involved.
There are literally millions of people making a living by working
from home and it’s possible for you to be one of them. Just
remember to use these 6 tips to find a legitimate work at home
opportunity.
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