Oh Kenneth, you are so right. As a matter of fact, I closed out so many accounts in the past month because I was just not making the money they promised, and it was not for the lack of advertising I was doing. Some of those accounts were from way back when I first got into marketing, and I am embarrassed that I joined some of them. I totally got sick of the whole tail chasing thing. They make promises, and then hit you with new hoops you have to jump through in order to get paid, just to keep from paying you.

I got sick of chasing so called leads, sick of getting no training from my sponsors, sick of trying to find buyers, and especially sick of gurus ebooks. My company got rid of 3 of the biggest problems with home businesses, thank God!

I have a much cleaner mailbox now and I went with taking inbound calls from infomercials, by purchasing my own franchise. Since these guys are on tv all the time and are federally regulated (the FCC), and have a proven track record when it comes to products, customer service, training, and success. Another huge problem with most online businesses is duplication and training: we do not have that problem because it is all done by corporate. They do not take anything lightly. All training is mandatory and is done by them (instead of maybe someone who might be a newbie and was told that they have to train new people, VERY BAD). All I do is take incoming calls from people wanting to buy our products. They call me.

Shoot, I am getting off track here. Yes, you MUST look into any and all businesses. There are some good ones, it's just that you MUST sift through all the poo (yes I said poo, lol), to find the real gems.

There are some multilevel marketing companies that are legit, those that have real comsumeable products for instance, but still--you have to look close and see the business model, and the pay plan: Be sure to ask a lot of questions you may have, and be sure that you get value and fairness!!

I have been slapped around for 5 years in marketing. I can honestly say that I was hurt, embarrassed, ripped off (for $3147.00 one time, aaarrrrggghhh), made a fool of, and mostly because I trusted what some websites said and did not do my homework.

Kenneth knows his stuff, he is ALWAYS a good person to listen to.

Thanks Kenneth for all that you do!

Warmest Wishes,

Brenda Sue

skype me: itvallan

 

 

Thanks, Ken.  I recently (in the last 2 weeks) did a lot of due dilligence on a couple of programs that were being PM's and emailed to me. 

I am so happy to see that you are passing around what I found out.  Most of them ARE illiegal, and the products - if they have one,are questionable, and I know one of them I found product that is not legal in US.

You are the one who always used to preach about due dilligence and I'm glad I listened.  Way back whe, I used to sit and and read everything and just be quiet.  I used to watch people get all excited when someone would post "I got PAID" or, "I got PAID twice this week already".  I used to get excited too and now I just feel sad for all of thiose who haven't yet learned that " Even if you are getting paid doesn't mean it's legal. Check into it."

Thanks

Judy

Hi Kenneth,

I'm so glad you're back.  Thanks for the excellent article.  Even old-timers like myself, who've been around since dirt was created, need a refresher now and then.

As the final paragraph says, "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.".

Thanks Again My Friend,

Phil

Hi, Kenneth, Thanks for the information, and you're so right! I get hit with quite a few of these "offers", myself, and believe me... the ones sending this crap is well aware of what they've gotten into. I don't how many times you have to remind people that there are NO GET RICH QUICK, or OVERNIGHT MILLIONS solution on the internet. Anyone running a lucrative (legal/legitimate) business on the web knows that it takes dedication, discipline, and work! The others are just trying to recover whatever they've been scammed out of, by scamming the next person. It's also becoming quite a nuisance here at AlandPro. Miracles & Blessings, Robin

Ken, If you think these will help please accept this post. Small Business Administration - U.S. government organization for aiding small business owners. Federal Trade Commission - Watchdog arm of the U.S. government for consumer issues. Better Business Bureau - Reporting mechanisms for fraudulent or unscrupulous businesses. U.S. Department of Justice - DOJ's website for educating the public on Internet fraud. Federal Bureau of Investigation - The FBI's advice for avoiding Internet business fraud. Fraud.org - National Internet Fraud Watch Information Center. U.S. State Department - Overview of typical business scams both inside and outside the U.S. IC3.gov - The Internet Crime Complaint Center receives, develops and refers complaints of cyber-crime. Consumer.gov - FTC portal for research in comsumer issues. On Guard Online - Practical tips to help you understand computer security and guard against Internet fraud. CommerceNet - Organization dedicated to enabling safe business practices on the Internet. Library of Congress - Business Reference Services provides resources for business practices on the Internet. Federal Citizen Information Center - Database of scam, fraud and recall resources. Firstgov.gov - Portal for research in government databases for all business practice information. Office of the Inspector General - Fraud prevention and detection resources and reporting. Ken, I have been checking on some sites being promoted here in Adland. I did as was suggested---put in the name of the company with the word scam. Very interesting reading. Mary