Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

I`m looking into a few of these work at home offers, would some of you ckeck it out and give me some feed back..Thanks==>http://clicks.aweber.com/z/ct/?5fscPT2tAUaRzqXTvbgqyw

==>http://clicks.aweber.com/z/ct/?5fscPT2tAUaRzqXTvbgqyw

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Tony.N

Well, it looks like I am the first to weigh in on this. Let me start like this. Advertisers are good at what they do. If they are as good at their jobs as I am at mine (provided quality earthborn & handmade decoratives at ElusiveTreasures.com), then I must understand how capable they are to convince me of something that might not be as it seems.

(Not all advertisers are dishonest. Please don’t misunderstand my point. I am simply saying the snake is great at catching food without arms, legs, or high level of intelligence. Life has made them very good at their job. –the same can be said about all creatures… including man.)

I have went through many of these "10 steps to success - I have made hundreds" type situations. Especially when I spend 80% of my day online or at the computer (seems like more than that, now that tax season is here... and I didn`t win the mega millions jackpot!) On top of that, in my younger days, I shelled out a few hundred dollars for these programs and worked them to death.

All of these, wonderfully marketed, income earning options, are/were enticing. Especially the one you mentioned... However, as with the others I have signed up for (some free, most not), I eventually get to a "pay for your enlistment" page. I have stopped paying, because they simply have never provided a return. Not even the initial payment. At the same time, they consumed much of my time and energy. …Well, your suggested page gave the same deal. ‘Pay and we will list you.’

I signed up to a similar "free" service just two years ago. I worked every survey available to my account for about one-two hours a day, for 8 weeks. What did I get from that? Nothing. As a matter of fact, the ‘points’ I accumulated didn`t even reach the smallest level of rewards.

Shortly thereafter, the "new surveys" available dropped off (slowed) to nothing... I wrote the company by snail mail and email asking, `Hey, what happened to the surveys? I am trying to earn rewards and haven`t reached success, but the surveys have stopped coming...` Guess what... Three letters written (over 3 weeks) and I received no response. I was still getting the weekly newsletter by way of email, but it didn`t provide any benefit to me. Eventually I canceled my email newsletter and deleted my name from the system. Within a week I started receiving twice the junk email as usual… Coincidence? Likely. But who knows.

Nothing is free in life. Have you ever been offered a job, a good or decent job, in which you needed to pay to be “in the club?” Me either. So, isn’t it just like the scam little Grandmothers end up involved?

Picture it. A nicely dressed gentle man says, “Ma’am, I am an illegal alien to the US, but I won the lottery! It’s not the big jackpot, but it’s about $250K! Only I can’t collect because of my alien status. I tell you what, you can buy my ticket for say… $20K and collect the rest for yourself. I just want to send the money to my family. There should be plenty of left over funds to pay the taxes and plenty for you to replace your investment. It will be the best choice you have ever made. I promise!”

That’s the time the Grandma pulls money from her retirement and later learns the same guy has done this to 10 other people. Now Grandma has nothing! And the police are still looking for him. (Not saying only Grandmas are caught in this. Just saying, the innocent people do.)

So. First, nothing is free in life. Second, if it’s free (financially) there is a cost in some other area. Maybe it’s hard work, expense of time. For sure, it costs something. In the case of earning money, it’s never about “pay to get in the club.” That’s the first indication of corruption. Do you want to work for a corrupted business? You are supposed to feel “safe” or “encouraged” to get involved with these programs. Some may actually make some money. But do you think you are at the top of the earning pool, or are you one of the last to join. Do you think Bob (the owner – made up the name for this analogy) would invite his closest friends to earn money the “easy way” first, or you?

Don’t get bit by the snake. They are good at catching victims with no arms or legs!


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Vincent Wilcox (a.k.a. KRAKR)
Drummer
My band: Letters Make Words

One classic rule to know relative to starting a business, is to find something people really need/want. If you can save people time or effort, that`s another great business idea.

So what do people these days really, really want? Security, money, love, stress-free work, enjoyable work, and all the things people have wanted throughout history.

All that`s changing is the pitch to those people what want it all without having to expend either time or effort. As Vince and plenty of other people have said, there`s no free lunch. If these people have all these fabulous ways to make money doing nothing, working from home, why aren`t they doing it themselves?

It`s not a "scam" in the true sense of the word. Rather, it`s a psychological ploy based on the customer`s greed and/or desperation.

LOL! I remember once, when I had money, sending away for a "program" that would help me make more money by using some list of potential customers. I got a package and some instructions. The first was to "fill out a business plan." Here`s the plan:

1. Write down how much money you`re currently making per year.
2. Write down how much you`d like to be earning next year.
3. Subtract what you`re earning from what you`d like, and fill in this blank.

That was it...the whole "business plan." :-D But it was a package, they did send it, they did tell me that if only I scrunched up my eyes and thought really hard about how to make more money, I`d surely make more money! The only part they left out was that I would have to make all that extra money on my own.

Thank you, that`ll be $39.95 with free S&H.

I am amazed at how uneducated your assessment is.  Asking for a credit card is actually a testament to their responsibility.  If you don`t ask for identifying information during the sign-up process, you`re far more likely to fall victim to fly-by-night spammers who use bots to repeatedly sign up, spew tons of spam, get the account cancelled, wash, rinse, and repeat.  When you ask for identifying information, you greatly reduce the risk of such abuse, and in turn make the service more reliable for all the customers AND help protect the internet community at large from those who would seek to clog up mail servers with oodles of spam.  Many companies do the same thing - in fact, Netflix comes to mind because I just signed up for their free trial the other day.  And, they offer a risk-free 30-day trial.  If you aren`t satisfied that you`ve made your money back and then some within that first month, you can get a 100% refund, no questions asked.  I`ve been using AWeber for quite some time now, and my revenues jumped by an order of magnitude within the first 3 weeks of using the service.