The search for an online business strategy that works involves patience, hard work, and a good deal of wisdom. Failure to exercise any of these qualities could make you easy prey for scam artists. In addition to outright scams, there are, in my opinion, online offers that are just to suspicious to warrant consideration.
Before launching into a business deal of any sort, it's always good to do your homework. This usually isn't very hard. Many times, if you just Google a company name, you can get a good idea of whether or not they are legitimate. Any negative information at all warrants hesitation of any business relationship. The business could have an actual business model that is capable of generating income. However, maybe there are details of the business dynamic that present barriers for earning that income. For example, imagine that you see an offer to sell products for a company as an independent contractor. Suppose that you pay $40 a year for a membership fee. You receive a catalog and a price list of suggested selling prices. Say, you even gather a number of customers. If the quality of the product is so bad that your customers are demanding their money back, you just wasted money.
There are also several types of business opportunities that are way to risky for me to consider. The first type is the one that makes me pay some kind of startup fee. Once that business has that startup fee, they have your money. The fee may be $60 dollars; it may be $200 to get started. The bottom line is that there is no incentive for this business to uphold their part of the bargain, once you pay them. I'm much more of a 'when I get paid you get paid' kind of guy. The second type of business opportunity that I avoid is the one that promises that I'll be rich, or that I'll make money easily. I've come to the conclusion that earning legitimate income is a challenge, and that it always costs something from you - time, effort, dare I say hard work, and energy. I have difficulty believing that I'm going to earn $25.00 for each email for which I press the Send button, or that I am going to get rich simply by following some kind of 'tried and tested' plan. I do believe that there are legitimate online opportunities out there. However, I think that finding these requires digging a little deeper below the surface. You'll recognize these by using good old-fashioned common sense. Does it sound like the business model would work? Would people actually pay for that kind of service? Also, don't sign up for a business offer that you know nothing about. Some people will tell you how easy that it is to make trades or investments. I'm sorry, but as a novice in this area, I prefer not to lose my shirt as part of some elaborate learning process. I neither have that kind of time nor that kind of money. Lastly, if the offer lacks professionalism, I would stay away from it also. I'm sorry, but if a business offer lists an email address of Susie@email.com with no details of the business offer, no request for a resume, and simply contains a 'come work with us' message, then I am not going to take it seriously. I would rather err on the side of caution than to find myself in debt, due to a bad business decision on my part.
- D. Larone
