Teresa D.   I WANT TO CLOSE THIS ACCOUNT!!
A lot of people love the idea of working at home, but with all the
hype about scams it can be confusing and scary There are so many
opportunities that your head starts spinning. Here are some things to
first consider about your wants and needs:

1. Do I need a steady income from the beginning? Can I go a while
without a pay check?

2. Do I want to invest in a paid opportunity? (Hint-Never pay for a
work at home job- who in their right mind will pay an employer to
work? Business opportunities are an exception. Sometimes the fee is
to cover a kit, advertising material or products to buy.

3. Do I like to sell products and/or services? Am I good at
influencing people? Can I sell through the web without direct
communication on the phone or in person? Do I want to join a business
that has parties to market their products? Parties usually will occur
on weekends and evenings, can you work those kinds of hours?

4. Do I just want a little extra money? If so, there are some easy
but time consuming ways to make a little cash. There are survey
sites, paid to click on ad sites and mystery shopping. Actually
finding good and legitimate opportunities is also a chore.

5. If I'm selling a product or service, is the price reasonable and
is it something many people will want? If it is overpriced you will
have to work harder to find an appropriate market for the items.

6. Will I still need to get day care for my child so I can be on the
phone or host parties? Or would I rather have something I can do at
any time of the day and interuptions will not be a problem with
building the business?

7. Do I want to work at home full time or part time for an actual
employer? Usually you will need skills, experience and a good resume
to find these jobs. They are called telecommuting jobs and you may
have to pay a fee to become a member of a database that has work from
home jobs.

8. Do I like to write? There are places you can write articles for
and earn between $5 and $20 each. It is also possible to find forums
that need moderators.

It can be tricky especially when you are new to working from home. It
has been while since I lost money, but I remember some key features of
the systems where 97% of members fail. If there is some or all of
these issues present, let that be a good indication it is something
that will be hard to succeed at.

1. They ask for large amounts of money to get started. You are
buying a kit or training materials that do not seem to be as valuable
as you would think for something of that dollar amount.

2. The Sponsor actually sits down with you for an official meeting,
where they use a sales pitch for you to join their program. Sometimes
they even have their sponsor with them to coach them through and push
you a little harder to join.

3. It is not clear what you will be doing or selling, and every time
you ask, you get vague responses. Maybe they don't tell you the
prices of the products or services they sell until after you join.

4. It appears that while there is a product or service to be sold,
the majority of money comes from selling a membership

5. You still have to pay for your own advertising materials even
though you paid a large fee for a kit. Then they rationalize this by
telling you that it is a business expense you can get credit for on
your taxes.

6. The product or service that you are supposed to be selling, does
not sell itself. It is something that probably failed on an
infomercial! It is something you really do not need or want.
7. When you go to a website through a link to find out more
information, you have to give your contact information before you can
view a video (they say it is customized with your name in it, but
really it is their excuse so they can get your info), or so that they
can send you the information through email. Yet, there is a huge page
full of figures, and "what ifs".

The above criteria generally can indicate it is a pyramid scheme.
Even though a MLM (Multi-level Marketing plan) can seem similar, it
isn't a scheme per say. MLM's usually don't cost as much to get
started and some may even be free.

Marketing through levels of people is very powerful if you are selling
or offering a service that is wanted and needed by many consumers.
What happens is as you go down through the levels, the numbers of
people multiply and even tiny commissions can end up huge at that
level. Just think if 1,000,000 people gave you 5cents.... that is
$50,000!!!!
May 20th 2007 17:13