Internet Business Scams: How To Avoid Them

I hate internet business scams. I mean, I really hate them. Most of us do. They cheat honest people out of their hard-earned money. They turn honest people into cheats. And they give a bad name to honest people running legitimate online businesses.

The problem is, there are so many fraudulent online "opportunities" out there, it can be hard to sort the good from the bad. The people who run these schemes are sometimes well-versed in internet marketing, they have excellent online tools, and know how to make their words sound sincere.

I'm going to try to highlight some of the most popular internet business scams out there, how you can recognize them, and how you can avoid them.

You're probably familiar with many of these schemes. You've seen them advertised on the internet. Or perhaps you've been a victim yourself. I've personally seen all of them, and almost succumbed to two of them.

Fortunately, my internal skeptic and external cheapskate kept me from being cheated.

Here's a list of some popular internet business scams:

• Medical Billing Training - This one promises you can start your own home-based medical billing practice and earn lots of money in no time. You just have to buy $500 worth of training materials. This scam may not be illegal, but it is misleading because it's nearly impossible to find work.
• Envelope Stuffing - With this scam, you pay a fee (between $35-$70) for the startup material. Then the company will send you a bunch of pre-addressed envelopes and instructions to stuff those envelopes with flyers advertising...ENVELOPE STUFFING OPPORTUNITIES! So you send the same letter to a bunch of people, who are supposed to send you money back for more information. In the end, you lose.
• Assembling Crafts - Here, you send in money (between $100-$300) for instructions and materials to build crafts for some company. The company promises to pay you a portion of every item sold. But every time you send in the completed craft, the company rejects it because it doesn't meet their specifications. You'll never make your initial investement back.
• MLM - Not all MLM companies are scams. But most of them are. Multi-level marketing (MLM) is where you sell a business opportunity, and maybe some product or service. If the company focuses more on selling the "opportunity" than they do the product or service, then it's most likely a pyramid scheme.
• Internet Storefront - Here you pay a company (about $500) to join an "online mall." They give you an online startup packet that lets you open your own little store on their website. Supposedly, you'll be selling stuff to the thousands of visitors to your website "storefront." The reality is, building traffic is difficult, and no one will find you or buy from you.
• Home Based Typist - You pay for computer software (about $100) that gives you instructions on how to place ads online or in your local paper. What are these ads for? HOME-BASED TYPISTS! You'll be paid for everyone who signs up. Guess what? Very few suckers will.

No one's perfect. We can all be suckers at some point or another. But most people are able to avoid getting scammed by these online bamboozlers. These scammers make their money by mass marketing their garbage and hoping a small percentage falls for it.

Here's how you can avoid being in that small percentage of suckers:

• I know you've heard it before, but it still holds today. If it's too good to be true, it probably is!
• Think about how the company promises you'll make money. Are there more cost-effective way of doing it? Does it make sense to pay someone $50 an hour to assemble crafts? Or stuff envelopes?
• Are they a nationally, or even locally, recognized company? How many satisfied customers do they have?
• Do they ask you to pay an upfront fee? Does that fee sound kind of high?
• Are they making money by selling products and services or by selling hopes and dreams?

It may seem like the web is juft filled with internet business scams. And in may respects, it is. I've come across so many of them, that I've learned to avoid them like poop on the street.

But there are also many real business opportunities out there. I can vouch for them because I've used them or I know others who have used them and earned decent money. None of them are internet business scams.

None of these opportunities will make you rich overnight. In fact, they may not make you rich at all. But they will allow you to earn an income legally and ethically.

• Arise - This is a company that contracts with real home-based business owners (you) to handle customer service, technical support, and sales for major corporations. These guys are for real. I've worked with Arise for a long time. You will NOT get rich with Arise. But you will be able to pay your bills.
• Sitesell - I talk about Sitesell throughout this website. They are for real also. They do sell hopes and dreams a little, but the services they offer are legit. Sitesell helps you build a real online business. But it takes work on your part too. Sitesell just makes the process easier and much more likely to succeed. And many people have succeeded with it.
• Adsense - If you don't know what Adsense is or how to build an adsense website, you have not visited this site often enough. Adsense is Google's pay-per-click advertising maching. It does work, but it can be difficult to make a lot of money from it.
• Your Own Website! - You can build a real stay-at-home business for yourself. I give you all the information you need to get started on this website. You can sell your own products or services from your home. If you need help, I can do a lot of it for you. Just let me know what you need, and we'll work something out.

Like I said at the beginning, I hate internet business scams. So don't become one yourself, no matter how alluring it may seem. You can start a real business from your home. And while it won't be free, the costs can be low, and the return can be great.

Do you have a skill or talent? Can you make or design something beautiful and interesting? Are you an artist or a writer?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you can have a real home business. And I can help you get started.

Heck, I give all of the information you need for free in this website. But if you don't feel comfortable building your own website, or you just don't have the time, then let me know, and I'll do it for you.

Internet business scams are a dime a dozen. But they hurt real people. Don't be one of them.

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