Monday, October 30, 2006

Work at Home Scams

The Internet is full of ads for work at home opportunities promising you thousands of dollars a month for staying at home while doing little or no work. If you are struggling financially, as so many people are, these ads sound like the answer to your dreams.
If you are thinking about investing your time or money in any of these ads, proceed with caution. Not all work at home opportunities deliver on their promises. In fact, a large percentage of them are scams and should be avoided.
Most advertisements for these opportunities deliberately omit certain facts, including only the information that will draw your attention. There is no mention of how many hours you will need to devote to the program or what the total investment costs may be.
Many work at home schemes require you to cover the costs of placing newspaper ads, buying office supplies, etc. This is in addition to whatever start-up fee or initial investment is required. Many people lose thousands of dollars plus their time and energy because they fall prey to these schemes.
There are many of these work at home scams floating around on the Internet. Some of them are listed below:
ASSEMBLY OR CRAFT WORK: Most of these programs tell you how easy it is to produce goods for a company that promises to buy them from you once you complete them, thus earning you a nice weekly income. They fail to tell you how many hours are required in order to produce those items or how much of your money is required as an investment in equipment or supplies, sometimes adding up to hundreds of dollars.
An example of this is a company that pays you to make aprons. You need to either have a sewing machine or purchase one. You may also be required to buy materials to make your aprons. However, after you purchase the materials and equipment and perform the work required, you are not paid.
How can they get away with this? They tell you the work does not meet their “quality standards.” Unfortunately, no work ever done by anyone is “up to standard” leaving you with a loss of income and investment. If you want to sell the items you have made, you are forced to find your own customers.
CHAIN LETTERS: Ads for chain letters tell you to make copies of a certain letter and send that letter to people whose names and addresses are provided. All you are required to do is send ten dollars for a mailing list and labels. You are then shown a chart to see how you can automatically receive thousands of dollars.
In reality, the only people who ever make any money from chain letters are the ones who are at the top of the chain who, by the way, are continually changing names and post office boxes. The person who sends you the chain letter tries to pull you in by claiming to be a successful lawyer who does this on the side and who assures you that there is nothing illegal about chain letters.
ENVELOPE STUFFING: Ads for envelope stuffing have been around for years in various formats. The basic claim is that for a fee, you will be provided with directions to earn money from home simply by stuffing envelopes.
After you make the initial investment, you discover there was never any real employment offer. Instead, you are told how to place ads in newspapers, magazines, online classifieds, etc. The only way for you to earn money is if people respond to your ads.
MULTI-LEVEL MARKETING: Ads for MLM programs tell you how you can earn more money than you have ever had in your life. By joining their program it will be possible for you to let others earn money for you while you enjoy your prosperous lifestyle!
Multi-level marketing is a business based on direct sales. It is a solid, well-established, legal form of business that has provided profit for many people who have successfully sold products for reputable companies.
Many illegal pyramid schemes can resemble these legitimate MLM programs. The difference is that instead of selling a product, your primary goal is to recruit others into the program. At some point, everything collapses because the market becomes saturated and only a few people at the top have made money.
MEDICAL BILLING: Ads for medical billing are in newspapers, magazines, and on the Internet. The sales pitch says there is a crisis in the health care industry due to the massive task of processing paper claims. Since only a small fraction of the claims are fulfilled electronically, the opportunities in this area are huge.
Supposedly, doctors want to contract out their billing services to save money. This means you should be able to earn a sizable income working from home providing services like billing and accounts receivable. No experience is required and you will be provided with clients. Unfortunately, the reality is that you have to do the selling yourself.
Very few people who invest in a medical billing business are able to find clients and generate an income, let alone recover their investments. The competition in this market is brutal and primarily centers on a few large companies.
Before making any investments in any companies, ask questions, specifically regarding investment amounts and the requirements for running the business. Insist upon receiving contact information for references. Contact those references and speak to them, preferably in person.
If you invest in any work at home opportunity and find that it is not legitimate, contact the company and ask for a refund. If they will not honor your request, find out the physical address and contact information of the company. You can then make a complaint with the Better Business Bureau or your local Attorney General’s office. You can also find out if any other complaints have been received for that company.

Saturday, October 28, 2006

Investing Strategies: Aggressive And Conservative

Investors who have different risk profiles, investment objectives and time frames will adopt different investment strategies in order to achieve a similar result. Basically, there are two types of investors; aggressive and conservative.
An aggressive investor will take a shorter time period to achieve the desired result as his risk attitude should reward him with a higher rate of return, given a dynamic portfolio investment style and a well drawn up investment philosophy.
For any reasonable portfolio management exercise to be meaningful, you must have at least $50,000 to start with. If you're looking at a portfolio of shares or unit trusts, $50,000 will be a good starting point. As for property investment, $50,000 should be sufficient in most cases for down payments.
Where the money should be invested will very much depend on the prevailing market cycles and opportunities. However, this will have to change throughout the portfolio management process, which is fundamentally based on your investment philosophy and the changes in your financial statements and life goals.
However, always take into account two things when investing; a well-correlated portfolio and the market cycles. Having all monies in the same asset class at any one time may not be prudent, so, the other area to look out for is the equity market. For more disciplined and market savvy investors, investing your money in stocks can help to double your initial capital.
It's advisable to put only a small allocation of just 20% of your available funds into carefully chosen stocks. Pick the ones that have good net tangible assets and price-earnings ratios. Study the highest and lowest prices for these stocks over the past one year and discuss what price levels will be prudent for a buy and sell.
Another option to look at is unit trust funds. Choose the fund house based on the umbrella of funds available to you for the purpose of portfolio management. Two factors are important to determine that a fund performs; your investment strategy and who is managing your funds directly and indirectly. However, of course there are risks in unit trust investments too, though less when compared with direct stock investing
On the other hand, the conservative investor should be more patient as he will need more time to grow his money. Conservative investments like fixed deposits, bonds, money market or income-yielding instruments have yields below one's personal inflation index and thus may not be a meaningful tool for wealth accumulation over the long term.
Choose a well-managed balanced unit trust fund that has a combination of fixed income securities and equities and is dynamically aligned to suit the various events and market cycles over time.
Consider opting for a regular savings plan using the balanced fund as a base to invest, as this will help smooth out the volatility of events and cycles over time. There are many regular savings plans available in unit trust funds but be careful when choosing one. When you invest regularly, you may push the dollar cost upwards or downwards and if the fund you choose is a highly aggressive one, the upward and downward dollar costing exercises may eventually prove to be less effective than investing regularly in a more stable fund like a balanced fund.
Last but not least, you may also want to look out for opportunities in some direct stable and established stocks that provide high dividend yields. These yields will provide a cushion against market and specific risks, which will not worry you too much as a conservative investor. Some unit trust funds have their core holdings only in high dividend-yielding stocks and they may prove to be of good value in your portfolio.

Thursday, October 26, 2006

How To Maximize Your Profits With Autosurf Programs
If you have not heard about Paid Autosurf programs yet, you are about to hear of a great way to earn extra money using your computer and a web browser. If you have heard about them and thought these programms can’t be real, then you’re in for an eye opener as well.
Paid Autosurf programs are offered by advertising companies that pay you to surf their members websites and get paid for doing so. These companies have advertiserss that purchase advertising packages that allow their websites and promotions to be shown to members who surf their exchange. Their hope is that as you surf, you will be interested in their offers and make a purchase or at least capture that all so coveted e-mail address of yours so they can try to up-sell you later.
The Paid Autosurfs are quite simple. They accept both free and paid members for their service. Free members are able to generate free credits to have their websites shown to other members to help increase their sales. Paid memberships also get their advertisements shown to members but they also earn money for each day they surf in the exchange. Paid members get paid for the days they surf. If they do not surf, they do not get paid.
Paid members are charged membership fees for Upgrades they purchase and earn a certain percentage daily for the days they surf. When these Upgrades expire, members get paid. Upgrade durations vary between programs. Some may have 4 day Upgrade sessions where others may have 365 day (1 year) Upgrade packages. The percentages paid can range anywhere from 1% to 12% each day and more.
If you understand the rules of these Paid Autosurf exchanges, the members do not gross the high percentage gains advertised, since initial membership fees are not returned. For example, if a Paid Autosurf program were to pay you 12% each day, after deducting the initial membership fee from your 12% earnings, your net profit would be approximately 3.66% per day. This is still a fantastic gain on your money, but it is a far cry from 12%. Is not marketing a wonderful thing?
So many people wonder how these Paid Autosurf companies can afford to pay their members such high daily gains. There are many ways these companies make money, from paid advertisers, to Forex (foreign exchange) trading to playing the odds. The facts are that many people who join these programs do not understand how to use them. Many of these people lose money. As I mentioned before, the membership fees you pay to earn your daily gains on are not returned. You earn money from your membership fee amount. So if you invested $30 and never surfed a website, then guess what? You are out $30. If you only surfed half of the days, you lost money. If you do not have the time to commit to these programs, do not join them. You need to have daily access to a computer with a web browser to earn money with these programs. If you do not, then these programs are not for you.
Programs like these are always accused of being some type of scam, or money laundering, funding terrorism or whatever else. If people would just learn more instead of crying scam at everything, they would understand how these can be very profitable businesses for the companies running the Paid Autosurf and for their members.
You do need to be careful however, since there are so many well respected Paid Autosurf programs around today, there are many more that are not. Most are pure pyramid or Ponzi schemes setup to look like Paid Autosurf programs and their main objective is to close up shop one day and take your hard earned money with them, and do it all over again. You need to be careful and you need to do your homework. Do not be fooled by promises made on some flashy website. Search online and do some research. Bad programs will soon have lots of bad press about them. If you find many people complaining about the same program, do not join. Also beware of brand new programs as they pop up on the internet every day. If a program is very new, they may not have been around long enough to earn a reputation; good or bad. If that is the case, then my suggestion is to stay away.
There are not many programs available today to help folks earn extra money without taking high risks. If you diversify over a few of these programs and limit your investments to very small amounts at first, you can quickly get back your initial investments and start earning more money with your gains. You will quickly be earning more money with no financial risk and you will be on your way to generating a substantial extra income for yourself.
What's Better Residual Income Or Passive Income?

Most of us have been taught to go to school and get an education. Ideally you graduate from high school and further your education through college or a trade school. Some go on to achieve their Masters or PHD allowing them to command more money for their time. Ultimately, one must choose what they intend to do for a career, earn a living and be productive in soceity. Not that you or anyone else needs a "diploma" in order to be sucessful but some would consider it to be a "marker" of discipline, as to whether one may finish the task or do the job required.
Residual income is known as money that is received on a regular basis from efforts already sown. Could be thought of as money that is "left over" from an initial purchase or ongoing installment. Its nickname or also known as (AKA) "mailbox money" and can be obtained by anyone, graduate or non graduate.
Usually to keep receiving residual income, one must still be "active" within the company or organization. Should they leave or break "policy", you can expect to stop receiving any further residual money. Replacing the mailbox money with a final termination letter and ceasing any more paychecks as the residual return comes to an end.
Passive income is similar to residual income but with one major difference. With passive income you can now be an "inactive" party. Qualifying you to "retire" from your venture an yet still keep on receiving your expected paycheck. Not to be confused with a pension but giving you the freedom to maintain your preexisting standard of living, while NOT having to work for it (the paycheck) any longer.
You hear a great deal of individuals giving testimony to having a residual income, which is what most people strive to obtain and rightly so. This is to be expected when working within a home based business environment or any other self-earned income opportunity. However, if you can build your residual earnings into an ongoing passive income, you will be better off once you choose to STOP acting (or working) to get the paycheck.
Whether it be residual income or passive income, once you get a taste of either one you will most likely want to continue in this manor and grow it to unlimited heights. Allowing you to experience a lifestyle unlike others they may need to report to workplace at a certain time each day, week after week and year after year.
If you are curently representing a company or thinking of joining a company that offers residual income as a form of payment. You should check into their company policies and learn how your earned paycheck may be treated, should you choose to move on to another business opportunity. Losing a residual income after spending your time and energy creating it, could be devastating if you are not aware of its tenure ahead of time.

Monday, October 23, 2006

How Compounding A Simple Monthly Investment Will Make A Millionaire

It's a fact - a simple $1500 investment can make you a real millionaire, in dollars, in less than 20 years. Of course, this won't happen over night, or over one year, but it will happen in less that 20 years, if you have the discipline needed.
It really is a simple process, and all it takes is:
1. A paycheck, or any other kind of steady income. Most people have that. 2. Discipline. This is where most people fail. In order for this plan to work, you need to make monthly deposits into your "millionaire fund". Many people will fail to make that commitment and stick with it. If you are ready to do it, your future as a millionaire is secured! Are you ready for this simple plan? Here's how to do it:
Step 1 : you need to find $1500/month to deposit into a special fund. How do you get those extra $1500/month? You can take a second job, start a small business online or off, give up a few magazine subscriptions, work over time...whatever way you can find - you should be able to come up with $1500/month that you can save. Of course, you can start with less (maybe $1000/month), but this will slow things down.
Step 2: After you got those $1500/month, invest them with a conservative mutual fund that gives you a %10 yearly growth, on average.
Step 3: Repeat this process, EVERY month. Almost every month, a new "good" reason will arise, requiring you to give up the $1500 for another cause. This could be an unexpected bill, a vacation, a new appliance you "need" to buy. Don't be tempted. Keep depositing $1500 a month into your fund! This is the only way to make it to the millions. If you start skipping monthly deposits, your growth will suffer, and you will take years longer to get there.
OK, let's take a look at the yearly growth of $1500/month deposited into a %10 yearly growth fund:
End of year 1: 19,005 End of year 2: 40,000 End of year 3: 63,195 End of year 4: 88,817 End of year 5: 117,123 End of year 6: 148,393 End of year 7: 182,937 End of year 8: 221,098 End of year 9: 263,256 End of year 10: 309,828 End of year 11: 361,276 End of year 12: 418,112 End of year 13: 480,899 End of year 14: 550,261 End of year 15: 626,886 End of year 16: 711,535 End of year 17: 805,047 End of year 18: 908,351 End of year 19: 1,022,473
See? Over 2 million dollars in less that 20 years!
Of course, if you keep depositing for 30 or 40 years, the amounts will be much higher:
After 30 years: $3,418,987.99 (!) After 40 years: $9,565,170.37 (!!!)
Building wealth is not rally hard. All you need is a paycheck and a commitment. If you start today, imagine where you'll be in 20 years!
Remember - the older you get, the more important money becomes (imagine being old AND broke...NOT a good thing).
Start early - and you will enjoy the rewards when the time is right.

Friday, October 20, 2006

Making Money Online Is Possible!

Are you trying to make money online but just can't seem to get the income you want? There are thousands upon thousands of aspiring online business entrepreneurs who are in the same boat as you right now. You are not alone! However, in this article, I am going to give you some tips on how to actually make money online and eventually bring in a very nice income.
Before we get started let's talk a little about who I am and why it's even worth your time to listen to me. Am I rich? No. My bank account would be laughable compared to Bill Gates or Donald Trump, but compared to the average person trying to make money online from a home business you could say I am doing quite well.
I started my online business about six years ago and slowly but surely increased my income to the point of financial independence. I don't consider myself to be some money making guru. But I have been making money online, and teaching people to do the same, long enough to know what I am talking about.
So how can you make a living from home? Here are the steps necessary to make money online and eventually bring in a very good income...
1. Define Your "Why" - Really the first, and most important, step to becoming rich is not "how" to do it but "why" to do it. Without your why, your how will be nearly impossible. Once you have found your why, it is much easier to find your how to become rich. You must look deep inside yourself to find out why you want to become rich. Once you have found it write it down and keep it in a place where you will see it everyday. After you find your why you can search for your how. Remember, there is no easy road to riches. If there was then everyone would be rich.
2. Write Your Plan - When you are getting started you will need a plan. What exactly do you want to accomplish? How long will it take to do it? What steps do you need to take to ensure it happens? How many hours are you going to put in each day? How much money can you afford to spend on marketing? Etc... Think about these questions and write down the answers. Make your plan realistic and stick with it as closely as possible. It can be modified along the way as things change but you should always have a realistic plan to follow.
3. Find Your "How" - Now it's time to start searching for how you will make money online. There are many different ways to make money online. A few of the most popular ones are: business opportunities, affiliate marketing, network marketing, niche marketing, creating your own e-book, or doing an actual online job. Most of these actually go hand-in-hand so you will usually be doing more than one at a time. They are usually lumped under one umbrella called internet marketing.
My suggestion is to start out with an actual paying online job as well as at least one of the others. Doing this will allow you to bring in an online income while getting started in something that you will eventually make a lot more money doing. For instance, you could work a couple hours per day in an online job while spending the rest of your spare time learning how to market affiliate programs.
I actually know of a great program where that is exactly what you do. You make money working online jobs while also getting into affiliate marketing and a business opportunity and learning to market on the internet.

4. Get Educated - Walking blindly into an online business without having some basic education is suicide! You need to know the basics of online marketing and promoting. You can get this education for free all over the place on the internet. A great place to start is internet marketing forums and articles.
You also need to know programs to definitely stay away from before you make the mistake of jumping into some overhyped dishonest opportunity or even an all out scam. A good way to be sure you don't get sucked into one of these is to stay away from anything that promises ridiculously large amounts of money in a short period of time. Or any opportunity that says you will make a lot of money without doing any, or very little, work. It's just not true!
To help you out a little here are a few things I can tell you right now to avoid - paid to read emails, randomizers, doublers, paid to surf, HYIP, the oprah paypal letter, etc... of course there are more things to stay away from but I can't go into detail in this article due to length. I will tell you that the Honest Income Program mentioned above gives you a lot more programs to avoid and tells why you should avoid them.
5. Get Started - Now it's time for you to get started making money in your new business. It is critical in this step to be focused. Don't go jumping around to every opportunity you see just because it promises riches. Stick with what you started and put your full effort into it. It is also critical that you do not expect too much too fast. It is going to take time to start making money online and it is going to take even longer to start making a significant amount of income.
While you are getting started you will be learning a LOT. In fact, you will probably feel like you are on information overload and feel overwhelmed by everything there is to learn. Don't worry it will all come together. Just take things one step at a time in an organized manner. The learning is something that never stops. You will constantly be learning new things in online business but the beginning is probably the most crucial and the toughest.
The most important part of this step is to TAKE ACTION! Yes, there is a lot to learn and a lot to do but the only way to get anywhere is to do something with it. Making money online is largely about taking action. The more you sit back and wait for the "right time" the less you are actually out there making money.
6. Work Hard and NEVER Quit - This is probably the best advice that was ever given to me and I consider it the most important tip I can pass on to anyone trying to make money online. No matter what anyone tells you making money online is hard work. You have to put in a lot of time and effort before you reap the rewards of it. You will fail at times, that is certain! However, you will also succeed if you get up from those failures and keep going!
That's it. Those are the six basic steps to making money online and eventually bringing in a great full-time income. Of course, this article is a simplified version of what it truly takes. There is more detail to making money online that cannot be fully explained in one article but the above is basically all you need to do. It will not be easy but it can certainly be done. There are thousands upon thousands of people making money online right now. Many of them are very rich because of it. Follow the above steps and you can be making a full time income on the internet soon enough.

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Is it REALLY possible to make money from home?
Almost everyone dreams of being successful. Many people go forth and attack that dream, many lose trying, and yet many don't even try!
I want to discuss achieving success in a home-based business making money online. Is it really possible? Is it just a marketing ploy by hundreds of gurus trying to trick you into believubg that there's money out there online? Maybe we are too skeptical, scared, or lazy to try anything new in this fast-pace changing world.
I can tell you off-hand that making money on the Internet is very possible and there is enough money to go around for everyone. I myself am a worh-from-home father of 2 children, and I work about 3-4 hours per day on the computer 4four time a week. My wife does not work since I am making an excellent living online.
What are your options for making money online? There is Ebay, which has more than 80 million customers per day buying on its website. Then there is affiliate marketing, Google Adsense, HYIPs, MLM marketing, forum and blog marketing, online investing, and so much more.
I am not here to discuss these topics now. Rather, I want to reveal to you the Big Secret of success that anyone who has ever been successful knows about and used. In fact, there is no such thing as success without the following secret. What is the SECRET?
Positive Attitude! Seem a little cliched, huh. Well it is the ultimate secret for success, whether in offline business, a work at home business, or makong money online business.
A positive attitude is very important to achieving anything. How can we take any task and get anywhere when we're negative? When we tell ourselves, "It will never work," guess what? It probably won't. By saying this, you have implanted it into your brain's subconscious and you will find all the negative reasons a new venture won't work. In addition, you will take into consideration what friends and associates say, like "That won't work, you're wasting your time, you won't succeed with this method, etc."
Keys To True SuccessPositive Attitude -
Have trust in yourself and don't focus on previous failures.
Enthusiasm and Passion - don't just have it, take action on it as well!
Don't listen to dream stealers - even if they are your friends or associates. Maybe they mean well for you, but it is not your obligation to act on their negative attitudes.
Set Goals - Decide whether you want to work part-time or full-time. Research has shown that successful people set definite goals. Work hard to achieve your goals and write them down in a place you can see them everyday.
Get Organized - Plan your work time and manage your time well - you don't want to overwork yourself. "Manage your time properly or it will manage YOU."
Take advantage of your advantages - Every single person in the world has a talent, skill, idea, drive, or gift that is unique to them. Saturate your mind with winning statements - "I am confident. I am successful. I am committed. I am prepared."
William Saroyan once said, "I am not the kind of guy to knock at a door and then when the door is opened, not go in."

Monday, October 16, 2006

How To Promote ANY MLM Program Online

Even if you are successful at recruiting new members to your Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) programm, it is not enough. You need to be able to show your downline how to recruit, or you won't have a bussiness. The most important thing you need to promote any MLM program online is a duplicatable system. A system is an organized, established prodcedure, which will produce consistant results, no mater who is using the system. Systems are duplicatable, while most people are not.
Most successful MLM recruiting systems have a few things in common, including:
Your own domain or presence on the internet. There is no easy way around it. You MUST have your own site if you are going to succeed easily, or you will find yourself struggling like crazy just to break even, like over 90% of those without their own website are doing.
A lead capture, or "squeeze page". Lead capture pages focus specifically on capturing leads for a newsletter or making sales for a specific product - and make no attempt to give visitors any other option. Usually you offer something of value to entice a potential downline member to sign up to your opt-in list. It can be an ebook, or perhaps a free report. Almost all successful internet marketers know the importance of having their own list. The best quality lead is always the one who specifically asked for your information. Build your own opt-in list, and you will get the best quality leads you could possibly get. All the money you'll ever make in this business will come from your list. It is the same for any other business. Their customers and potential customers are their most valued assets, because that's where the money comes from.
An autoresponder loaded with a series of follow ups. Over half of your members won't sign up on their first visit, but they might submit their name and email address to get free information. Studies have shown time after time that people will still be signing up after 7 or more contacts. Write a series of 7-10 followup messages to be sent automatically over a period of about a month for best results. With a good follow up system, you can convert several times more prospects into members rather than just one-time visitors.
You should advertise the marketing system that your team is using to achieve huge success. People will join you if they believe you have a workable system in place. If you advertise only your affiliate link you are losing out on a lot of potential money. Think about it for a moment . . . If you just advertise your referral page for the program you're promoting, what happens to the traffic you create? You are creating leads for the owners of the program you are promoting, and very often you won't even know it. They would have been your leads if you had sent them to your own website, instead of your referral page. Make sure to advertise generic recuiting information on your own website, and have a way to capture visitors information for YOU.
Find an existing system that works, or design your own system that combines these elements, and you will easily be able to build huge downlines in any MLM program you choose.

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

A HYIP For Making Money Online! (Before Go Into HYIP)

When you invest in HYIP programs you should understand that you are taking a risk. The information in this article is based off of statistics and personal opinion.
1. Accept that many HYIP's are ponzi's you can still make money off of ponzi scams. When you accept that many HYIP's are ponzi's you are on your way to becoming a great investor. HYIPs with low ROI (long term HYIPs) are often safer to invest in, but it still doesn't diminish the fact that they are ponzis. Long term HYIPs last 3-12 months. Mid term HYIPs last 2-6 months on average. Short term HYIPs last only a few days. Do not take any special pride or interest in any one HYIP. Think of it as a game, you win some, you lose some, however if you are smart about it, your "gaming score" will rise above the others.
2. First in, first out. To earn a lot of money in the HYIP arena, you have to get the "timing" down. If there is a great program that comes out, and if it takes the status of a short term/mid term HYIP and you have yet to invest in it, perhaps you should wait for the next golden HYIP to come out. Golden HYIPs are those HYIPs that have a nice design, good support, and make you feel like you have a "safe-investment". The reason you do not want to invest in a short term HYIP while it has been out for a week, is that, statistically speaking, short term HYIP's last only a few days, only a few hit a month status. If you don't wait the week, and decide to invest your funds in the HYIP the current week, you may not get your funds back, depending on the HYIP's investment terms. That's why it may be safer to wait until the next golden HYIP comes before you invest into a good one that is out at the current time. Basically the first in and first out rule goes like this. A program is created. If the program has: a. A decent site b. Semi honest admin c. HYIP monitors d. Accurate reports of where members invested money are dispatched then this is definitely a good ponzi to consider investing in. On day one you should wait and see what investors are saying about the program and how the Admin reacts to members problem. On day two you should see if the admin is still helping out members, and if everyone is still happy, if everything is going as planned, you can now take your test spin investment. Your test spin investment obviously will vary considering what type of program it is, so choose an amount you won't cry if you lose. Wait until you receive your money back before taking your next actions.
3. Decent site = decent cash. A lot of HYIP sites created now days have no care put into them. If a website looks like a 5 year old created it, why should you feel secure that your money is invested in such a site. The more money an HYIP admin. puts into his HYIP, the slower he will run away scamming, due to the fact that he wants to get his ROI back as well. If a HYIP. has a nice flash banner, custom designed script, security flaws fixed, and it's own little goodies then you can assume the site is decent. Thus the cash will be decent. With sites like this, you can wait a few days to see if everything is still under control but do not wait over a week. You will also want to watch out to see how much money is invested into HYIP monitors before any members investments are put in. If he invested $300 of his own money into a handful of HYIP monitors, you then know he isn't using members funds to invest into the HYIP. If that is the case, you can assume that he won't be scamming on the first few days of the HYIP as he's going to want to be able to make his money back.
4. Rates/referral system. I will not tell you to investigate the rates of a program to determine if a program is a scam or not. By now you should willingly know that almost every HYIP you see is a scam. However I will say with rates, you can tell how long a
program will last, which will determine how long you have to make a profit. 1% - 3% a day: two months - one year programs with a ROI of 1-3% usually last the longest. They can span for a couple of months, to sometimes even a year before shutting down. Many investors get scared when investing into these types of programs however, because you usually have to have a large capital to make any profit. When investing in these type of programs, what I suggest you do is divide the amount of money your willing to spend into multiple programs, that way you are not relying on one program. For example, if you are willing to invest $1000, I would recommend you to invest $250 into 4 different "reliable" HYIP's, rather then dumping the whole $1000 into one program. You will most likely make the same profit as if you would have if you invested the whole amount into one HYIP, however the risk will be lower, and your investment will be safer. 4% - 12% a day: 1 month - 6 months. These programs typically last 1-6 months. It is recommended that you diversify your money into a couple of programs when you see rates like this. Getting in first is usually vital for these type of programs, that way you can be surethat you will receive your investment back first. When investing into these sites, make sure that they follow
3'. 110% -200% a day: one day - two weeks. These are known as ponzi scams - straight out. What you basically want to do is follow the "Get In - Get Out" approach. Even though these programs offer 110-200%, it is really more like 10-100% of your profit due to the fact that your initial investment is usually not returned to you. If a HYIP Admin of such a program bites on the claim that the money generated back to the members are from trading and FOREX, don't even bother investing, the admin. is obviously lying and it isn't worth your time. If a program offers a referral rate over 10%, this most likely indicates that they are in a need of investors quick and that they
may have a shorter life span then normal. You will want to look for programs with referral rates of 1-7% as this is more safe. With that being said, you can still make money with programs offering referral rates of 10-15% if you use caution and are ready to pull out at any time.
5. Short term/middle term/long term. Short term: short term HYIPs are the fly-by-night HYIP's. They only last a few days and they usually have no real source of creating an income for it's members. Admins usually often run "games" which restart when the withdrawal percentage reaches a certain amount of money. The best way to profit from games is to deposit when the new round starts. You may want to wait two-three rounds to see if the program is legitimate, rather then investing in round one. As soon as a new round starts, you need to invest, being one day late can make the difference of receiving your money, or losing it all. Short terms are usually the riskiest, but if played right, can be the most profitable. You can identify short term/middle term/long term HYIP's in 4'. Middle term: these HYIP's usually last longer and usually offer fun twists and turns that not only make the HYIP interesting, but sometimes also fun. These can last up to months, and if you get in and out at the right time you can make a lot of money. Long term: these HYIPs usually last for a couple of months to years. These HYIP's offer the lowest amount of risk, however the highest amount of investment. You can make money with these programs if you know how to identify if the program will last a while. I do not recommend investing more then $1000 into any HYIP.
6. Due diligence. When I say due diligence I do not mean that you need to identify if the program is a ponzi or not. If you have learned anything from this e-book, it should be that almost all HYIPs are ponzis. However what I do mean by due diligence is take
what the admin gives out to you and identify if it's true or false. For example, if a program offers 10% daily, and the admin claims to invest members funds into FOREX, you can assume he is lying as, receiving such a ROI investment daily in FOREX is almost impossible. You can also use due diligence to further research the HYIP. If the admin says his program been around for months, you can check the status of the domain by using the site www.alexa.com if it shows that the website in fact been around for months, perhaps the admin is telling the truth. Some things to remember. Anything above 2% daily is hard to receive in any stocks/forex/etc.
7. Do not compound. You may think that you are making more money when you compound into HYIPs but in reality, unless that money is in your e-gold account, the money is not your money yet. This is why I do not recommend that you compound, and if you do at low amounts. If you compound, you basically allow the HYIP admin to hold on to your money longer, and this can make a the difference of you receiving your money, or losing it all. The only time you should compound is if you have reinvested in the program a couple of times and confident of the program. This law is short, but is one of the most important, compounding is dangerous, and until you develop your own HYIP investing strategy, and your own "terms of riding the Ponzi" I do not suggest doing such for beginners, otherwise you may keep on asking yourself why do you keep on losing all your money. If you still refuse to listen to the advice, I
suggest that if you DO compound, only do so in long term HYIPs, never in short-mid term HYIPs.
8. Initial Investment. When you first invest in an HYIP, the first thought in your mind is when are you going to be receive your initial investment back. Do not think about investing more, for the idea that you may earn more money. This is letting your emotions over-run you, which is something that you should not do. Your initial investment should not be compounded, and should be at the plan which you receive your money back the fastest. When you receive your initial investment, that is when you should play with your profits. If you want to come out ahead, put 75% of your profits back in. Doing so will allow you to earn some money, even if the HYIP closes and scams. If you come out at a loss, and are unable to receive your initial investment, look back at some things you did and what you could have done to avoid the loss. Identify the reasons that the program may have scammed earlier then anticipated and use that information in your future investment decisions with other programs. Compounding on profits is recommended, but not on your principal money. Compound on profits only this way you do not lose your initial investment. For each dollar lost, there is a new skill gained.
9. Reinvesting. After receiving your initial investment, you have the options of reinvesting the money, or if you are unsure about the HYIP at this point, you can keep the profits and reinvest it into another HYIP. When reinvesting in the program, you should only play with profits. Doing so is less risky as you are not risking your own money at this point. This means you can compound the money perhaps at 50%, put it in riskier plans, etc. For each payment paid, you should only reinvest the profits of the profits invested, that way, you always come out ahead.
10. Receiving Your Cash. You followed the above techniques, made yourself some money, and now you have a large sum of e-gold in your account and it's just stuck. How do you convert your money into physical cash? You have to do so via a third party exchanger. When you want to receive your e-gold, you will have to pay a small fee, and what you are doing is "selling" your e-gold. You can receive your money via bank wire, direct deposit or check but if you do bank wire or direct deposit you usually receive your money in 24 hours rather then having to wait for a check in the mail, which takes longer. You should cash out when you reach $200-$500 or more. This protects you against losing large amounts from hackers. Also be safe, and change your e-gold password frequently and scan for viruses, as many keylogger programs and phising websites are hijacking e-gold accounts at a tremendous rate. When investing in HYIPs make sure your password for the HYIP is not the same .
11. Invest or not. If you can yes to 7/10 of the below then you should invest in the program:
- Does the things the admin say match up with the HYIP?
- Does the admin backup his claims (for ex: investing in forex)
- Does the HYIP offer good support for it's investors?
- Does the admin hide anything from it's investors? If so, is there a reason why he is hiding them.
- Does the admin offer accurate claims of where the money is invested? Can he prove those claims.
- Does the admin tell the truth about the program? (Ex: If the site says it's created on 2002, was it really?)
- Are investors of the HYIP happy?
- Is there a 50:1 ratio on HYIP monitors? That means for every 50 good votes, there is 1 bad vote.
- Does the admin answer your direct questions on time?
- Does the admin admit that the HYIP is a ponzi?
So You Want To Earn Online?

It's not all that difficult to make a few dollars each month from your online activities. Most sites pay in US cash and a quick $5 to $10 is just fine for those who live in countries where there is a high conversion rate. This can actually work out to a couple hundred in local currency for them. However, this amount really isn't worth the time or the effort for most people. That's why you need a plan. Here are some of the key money making tips that should be included in your strategy.
1. Open A Payment Account:
It doesn't make sense to join all these programs and they have nowhere to send your money, now does it? Payment differs by program but, by and large, there are a few common methods.
- If you live in one of the supporting countries, it would be a very good idea to open a Paypal account. This is one of the most recommended payment methods and is accepted pretty much everywhere online. You are allowed to withdraw cash and it is very easy to use.
- E-Gold is becoming increasingly popular with more and more online merchants accepting it. The one downfall of this program is that, while you can easily transfer funds online, you need to go through a third party to withdraw funds as cash. I would highly recommend E-Gold only if you plan on using your earnings online. Worldwide.
- I have heard this next program referred to an E-Gold without the restrictions. Moneybookers has also been increasing in popularity and is even being accepted by domain registrars such as Registerfly. There are a number of ways to fund your account and they are worldwide. Unlike E-Gold, you can withdraw your cash directly.

- Some affiliate programs will offer to pay by Cheque or Money Order. If you want access to your money ASAP then this may not be for you, but it's a good option for those who prefer to see concrete evidence of their earnings. However, the associated fees might make it more profitable to look into another payment method.
There are a number of new programs that have recently come out. I have never used any of these but I have heard good things so far in the 'Get Paid' forums about AlertPay. Another new program is GreenZap.
2. Get An Email Address:
Once you sign up for these programs, you are going to start getting a lot of emails. You can choose to read your emails at your Site Inbox but if you are sticking to only 'Paid to Read' programs, I would strongly suggest having your emails sent to your own mailbox so that you can have everything conveniently in one place. That being said, you don't want your personal email address being cluttered by endless messages. Get an address that you intend to use strictly for online earnings activities. A good choice is Yahoo.com as they offer a huge mailbox and you can filter your incoming emails by program. However, they will send most of your emails into the bulk folder unless you add the addresses to your contacts list so you need to keep checking. Another good bet is Mail2world.com with a 250MB mailbox. Do not use a Hotmail account. Unless you live in the USA and can access the 250MB mailbox, or you intend on checking your email a few times each day, you are going to have a lot of bounced messages.
3. Join Only As Many Quality Programs As You Can Handle:
You know, when I first started this, I made the most common mistake ever...I joined every program I could find. I was convinced that I could keep up and for a couple weeks I did. Then I started getting overwhelmed. There was just too much to do...too many emails to read....too many banners to click...too many sites to surf. The end result? I got completely frustrated, left all of the programs and made exactly $0. After a while I decided to try again, but I was careful this time...I drew up a plan and I did my research. I joined only a few 'Paid to Read' programs that were the most recommended online. Little by little, I was able to join a number of different types of programs (including surfing programs) and generate a small but steady income stream with just a moderate effort on my part. What's the moral of the story? Do only what you can handle. If you know you're not going to be able to be online everyday then don't join 'Paid to Click' sites because these only work if you can devote at least half an hour each day to clicking links. If you know you can't sell anything to save your life then don't join the high paying affiliate programs that everyone else is joining because you'll be trampled by the competition. If you try to do too much, you'll end up wasting your valuable time.
4. Construct A Spreadsheet:
So you've joined all these different programs. How are you planning to remember each and every one of them? The best way is to construct a spreadsheet. Include the name of the site, your user ID, your passwords (especially if you a different one for each site), what the program involves (reading email, clicking links, etc.), value of each action, payout levels, your referral link and the number of people in your downline. It's also a good idea to update your current earnings at the end of each month. This way you'll never lose track of your information.
5. Re-Invest Your Earnings:
If you've been following the steps so far, you'll have quite a little list of high quality programs going. Most, if not all, of these you would have joined as a free member...which is how it should be. However, once you've actually started earning money, you'll want to put at least some of it back into your memberships. Why? Paid memberships often come with benefits, from no minimum payout levels to higher earning opportunities. Simply put, you can earn a lot more as a paid member and it's usually quite cheap to join.
6. Build Your Own Site With Your Own Domain Name:
Remember when I told you to include all your referral links on your spreadsheet? Well, you're going to need them now. Don't let anyone fool you. Yes, you can make a decent amount from just participating in the programs you've joined, but the real money lies in building your downline. What does this mean? Your downline includes all the people who have joined using your referral link. You then earn a small percentage when they actively participate in the programs. You'll want as many people as possible joining under you and that's why I'm so particular about recommending only quality programs. You don't want to make a bad reputation for yourself. You only make money from your downline for as long as your referrals stay active. But how do you get the word out? You build your own website of course. You can do this a number of ways.
If you have a program such as Microsoft Frontpage, or it's free alternative NVU, installed on your computer you can construct your own pages from scratch with minimal difficulty or you can download free templates from the web and just add the content. If not, a number of hosts offer at least a basic editor that you can use online. One of the best that I've come across is offered by Yahoo Geocities. Now, you may choose to go with a free host and the decision is entirely up to you, but there a few disadvantages to this approach. Firstly, most reputable free hosting companies offer packages that include extensive advertising (banners or pop-ups) that may detract from your site. Secondly, some free hosts are not reliable and you stand to lose your site when they either fold or switch to paid packages with no prior notice. If you prefer using a free host, use a host that has been around a while and has a good reputation. I would recommend either Geocities or Tripod but you can do a simple search on Google to find one that may be more suited to your needs. Whatever you decide, a domain name is a must. You want a name that people can easily remember. If you have any experience with website design or you're a quick learner, I would highly recommend that you purchase a domain name from a registrar who offers free hosting such as GoDaddy, download NVU, and build your own pages. A major point to note, search engines don't like link farms (read more in the last section).
7. Get Some Products:
So you've joined your programs, gotten your referral links and built your website. Now what? Well, if you're satisfied with what you've gotten so far then you don't have to read any further. If you want to boost your earnings significantly then you're going to have to learn how to be a salesperson...and to be a salesperson, you've got to have something to sell. Now, you can try to come up with a product of your own. For example, I could have taken this information, made it into a e-book and then charged you for the privilege of reading it. However, it's much easier to just sell someone else's product and keep a share of the profits, i.e., become an affiliate. To this though, you have to know your own capabilities. While you may be tempted to go with bigger brand names or very high-paying affiliate schemes, you must face the fact that everyone else is going to think just like you. This is where the concept of niche marketing comes in. Determine your target audience and join selected programs that would be of interest to them. For instance, if you are targeting webmasters, you would want to affiliate yourself with sites that offer domain names, hosting, software, etc.
Marketing e-books is also a good starting point. There are a number of sites that offer free e-books which you can either give away as an incentive or resell and keep all the profits. However, many of these have a minimum price at which you can sell the e-book individually and this can be quite high. My best advice... put together a package. This will make it more attractive to potential buyers and you can be more competitive with your pricing.
You should always give your visitors as much information as possible about the programs/products you are referring them to. You will have a better chance of someone following one of your links this way rather than just having a pretty, but uninformative, banner or ad.
8. Promote Your Site:
Congratulations. You've made it to the final step in your journey into online earning. All you have to do now is to promote your site and you can do it without paying a cent in advertising if you so choose. There are a number of ways you can do this:
- Search Engines: Most of the bigger Search Engines will allow you to add your site to their directories for free. There are a few things you must do first though. You should recall I said before that Search Engines don't like link farms. This is especially true with Google. A link farm is essentially a site that has no actual information and just a list of links. If you have a site like this, Google will very likely refuse to add you. If you've followed my advice and given your users enough information then you'll be safe. Now I want you to look up these terms online - Meta Tags, Keyword Density, and robot.txt. You need to know about these things and correct any mistakes in your site before you submit it to the Search Engines. Note that the time it takes for your site to be added to the directory depends on the Search Engine.
- Traffic/Hit Exchanges: This is one of the most popular ways to get traffic to your site. Remember earlier when I told you to join a few 'Paid to Surf' sites even though you didn't have a website yet? Well, now you're going to upload your website URL to those sites and assign the credits you've earned. Don't bother to do this with Autosurf sites. No one actually looks at the ads on these. You'll want to use Manual Surf sites so that there is at least the possibility that a visitor may be curious about your site and visit it. A variant of this is the Banner Exchange where you place a banner on your site you earn credits each time your banner is viewed. This can bring in additional traffic but I wouldn't recommend it if your site already has a lot of banners.
- Classified Ads: There are quite a few sites that allow you to post classified ads for free. Remember though that your link will go down as one of many and there may not actually be a lot of people visiting the ads site. Seriously, when was that last time you visited a free classified ads site online? You may bring in a few visitors but don't let this be your main method of advertising.
- Ezines: There are so many ezines out there now that it's becoming a really good way to advertise. It is also very cost-effective. In some cases you may even find an ezine owner who is willing to post your ad for free in exchange for a service or ad space on your site.
- Paid to Read Sites: Huh? That's right...you heard me. You can use the same sites that you're a member of to advertise your referral links to other members. This is especially good if you're advertising other paid opportunities. Rates are often very cheap or, if you prefer, join a site or two that lets you redeem your earnings for ads as opposed to cash.
Well, that's it. I sincerely hope that you're successful in you online earning ventures. What's my final piece of advice? If you want to reel people in to your site, it's always a good idea to use bait. Offer some free stuff. It can be anything, as long as it's free....and it's good. Don't offer anything that you yourself wouldn't like to have.

Do Not Trust Everything One HYIP/Autosurf Forum Says

I want to say some words about money making forums. There are so many out there that you must realize that not all of them are 100% accurate. To fully understand the concept we can divide HYIP/Autosurf/Online Money Making Forums in 2: Regular Forums and Forums maintained by one investment program. Because of the fact that these forums can offer important information about such sites many members constantly join them and can be mislead. Let us take both types and analyze them a little.
Forums maintained by one investment program.
Many hyips and autosurfs out there (better said the vast majority of them) will run a forum for its members. Such a forum is opened in order to discuss problems and offer support for its members. Although it can solve a lot of problems, mainly script errors and situations in which payment was not received, it can also cause some misleading. The biggest problem in this case is forum ownership. The owner is also the admin/webmaster/individual running the investment program. You can imagine the fact that he is also the main moderator and if he/she has bad ideas in mind (IE. to scam members) you will never see one thread that will speak badly of that site. Such forums need to be avoided when deciding about investment!
Regular Forums.
Such forums are led by an outside source. The admin and moderators are usually not leading investments in any official HYIP/AUTOSURF. This basically means that they do not own such sites. They are just regular investors like any of us! These are the forums you really need to check out before investing. Unfortunately these are also not safe. They can quickly become one sided as well. What you need to be on the look-out for is a forum that allows members to express their experience with a given investment site without censhorship! Any forum that will delete one of your negative posts does not deserve you as a member so why care? Go to one that really counts and is 100% objective!
To sum up I recommend some forums you should check out if you are serious about using forums to find out more about investment sites:
Talkgold
MoneyMakerGroup
TheHyipForum

Saturday, October 07, 2006

HYIP Monitors: How They Work and Can You Trust Them?

HYIP, or High Yield Investment Programs allow you to earn a considerable daily or monthly interest on your investment. It can be something from 5% monthly to even unbelievable 50% daily. The risk is very high and you need always to know the most up to date information to take the right decision. By investing in HYIPs you risk your money every day, because you has no warranty that your money is safe and in fact it isn't.
There are several sources of information about HYIP programs, though no one of them is perfectly reliable, you should use them all and know how to find the needed information about every certain program. Without the right information it may be much harder to be a successful investor.
One of the main sources of the HYIP information are the HYIP monitors. HYIP monitors list all HYIP sites and provide with some basic information about the program, as when it was started, how does it claim to gain the needed profit and what are the interest and fees, but also the most important information - if the program is paying or not. Some programs continue operating even after they've finished to pay their members and while experienced investor may always find out easily if the program still pays or not, newbie investors may sometimes lose money on such programs.
All HYIP monitors work in a very simple way, they just monitor all the HYIP programs and also sort them by payouts, age and their preferences. Lots of HYIP monitors also allow people to vote for the programs. While this is a great feature, some of the votes may be easily forged by the program owners themselves, but still the majority of votes are usually made by real persons, which were happy after they got paid. Also pay more attention too the bad votes.
Good programs are never marked with "not paid", so if any HYIP monitor claims that the program is not paying, stay away from it. But even if the program is paying now, it may stop paying soon and turn to a scam. Look for more information about a program before considering an investment.
There are now hundreds of different HYIP monitors and most of them list hundreds of HYIPs, the competition is very high, though Goldpoll is one of the biggest HYIP protals. Other good HYIP monitor is HYIPs Analysis, where you can check an average lifetime of any HYIP program and estimate how long will a certain HYIP last.
HYIP monitors earn from the interest paid by the HYIPs, but also form referral comissions generated by their visitors who decide to invest in the program. Also every HYIP owner should usually pay around $20-$50 to get his HYIP listed. This money is invested aftewards into the program.
HYIP monitors are great to check the program and see if it pays, but they mostly list programs paying high returns, like over 10% daily and these HYIP usually don't last long, so a lot of people get scammed by believing that the program is able to generate this kind of interest for a long term period.
Use HYIP monitors to find new programs, but also use HYIP forums and read HYIP articles to educate yourself more and to be a more successful investor.

Thursday, October 05, 2006

To Invest In HYIP Or Not

This post is an overview of the risks, scams, and extraordinary profits that can be experienced by HYIP investors.

If you are an investor looking to truly double your money, you might want to look into HYIP or high yield investment programs. This type of investment always carries a high risk, but when you consider the potential profit, you might find that the risk is well worth it. High yield investment programs have always been around, but have become even better known in recent years as investing online has become more and more common. Despite the risks, many investors continue to take advantage of the awesome selection of HYIPs out there to double their money.
Choosing your HYIPs is something that has to be done on an individual basis because what each person will feel comfortable with is different. There are HYIPs out there that show very little in way the way income, but have high risks. On the flip side, there are HYIPs out there that show a lot of promise for profit, yet they have the same risks associated with the programs that don't guarantee much in the way of profit. You'd obviously want to stick with the second choice if you can tell which HYIP would be more profitable than the other. The key to getting involved in the right type of HYIP is research. Though it may be exciting and easy to just jump at a very promising looking program, you'll want to put the brakes on for long enough that you can check out the company. You want to stick with companies that offer high revenue, but only if they actually payout and give you access to your currency. Do your homework to make the risks worth it; otherwise you'll end up losing money! The more you participate and research HYIPs the more familiar you'll get with the tricks that many of these programs have to keep your money.
If you've invested in high yield investment programs in the past, you know what to expect in the way of scams. If you have never participated in an HYIP before, you'll be want to be extremely careful when first getting your feet wet. Because there is a lot of money to be made with an HYIP, scams are often associated with this type of investment. There are people, and even companies out there, who want you to invest and event to make money, but then they won't want to give any of it back. This is where the research that we mentioned above comes in really handy. Even if a friend or business acquaintance recommends an HYIP to you, you should still research it to be sure it's something that you feel comfortable with. If after looking into it you feel as though the investment and possible income is worth the risk, then go for it. If you do not feel this way, simply do not invest. When it comes to your money, you shouldn't feel pressured to invest at any time. Often, these scams will require you to invest is something that does not even exist, and then, the fraudulent people are off with your money and that of other investors!
Choosing the proper HYIP is something that you will need to do very carefully, and you should only do if you feel completely comfortable with the risks associated with any one investment. Even the most legit HYIP should be approached with caution, and followed up by extensive research. You have to remember when looking at HYIPs that even those that are not scams cannot promise you much in the way of a return. The potential to make a lot of money relatively quickly is there, but it is not a guarantee. Because there is no guarantee when dealing with HYIPs, the more you understand the investment, the better chance you have to succeed with such an investment.
The bottom line is that you stand to earn a great profit with an HYIP, but there are extreme risks and even scams associated with this type of investing. If you know what to expect when you get into the high yield investments, and you know what to look for through research, you'll probably be fine. If you get into an HYIP because you've just heard that it's profitable, you stand to lose a lot of money! Invest smart.

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Should You Invest in a HYIP?
Answers To Four Of The Most Commonly Asked Questions

The occurrence of HYIPs is somewhat new, but have gained popularity at a rapid rate. They have become one of the biggest opportunities to make a lot of money fast, but also one of the internet's biggest scams in recent years. They have made a lot of people rich, but have also made a lot of people lose their money. Should you get in on this phenomenon? This post is a reference to aid you in the decision.
1. What is a HYIP? HYIP stands for High Yield Investment Program. HYIPs are investment programs normally offered on the internet. They typically accept investments of $100 or less while promising high returns. Interest rates of up to 100% a month is not uncommon. In general the interest rates are ranging anywhere between 5 – 250% a month. Most only accept payments through e-currency programs such as e-gold because this allows them to accept numerous donations from anywhere in the world.
2. Where does the money come from? There are hundreds of different investment strategies used by HYIPs. Some invest in stocks, others in property. There are even HYIPs investing in other HYIPs. Scam HYIPs are Ponzi schemes, in which new investors provide the money to pay a profit to existing investors, which they could then withdraw leaving nothing to pay the new investor. This approach allows the scam to continue as long as new investors are found and/or old investors leave their money in the scheme.
3. Is it legal? Some might consider investing in a HYIP gambling. Gambling online is of questionable legal status in the U.S. and other countries, however, the odds of winning cannot be determined, as one cannot know whether one is playing early enough to win money. Thus, it is unlike other forms of gambling, where a player has an equal chance of winning no matter when a ticket is bought, or where the odds of the game are known. In addition, the promise to pay out a percentage of deposits is not a legally binding contract or regulated by a government agency.
4. Is it worth the risk? This is a tough question. It really depends. These programs are extremely high risk. There are more scams out there than serious long term programs. Over the years large amounts of people have lost their money as a result of being involved in High Yield Investment Programs. However, if you are aware of the risks, really research the program, and never invest more money than you are willing to lose the payoff could be huge.
How Long Should You Stick With A HYIP?

Most people ask me when I feel is the right time for them to stop compounding/reinvesting and take their money out of a program. This is a tough answer to give. It all depends on the program that is invested in and the rate of return. Usually I recommend the following for the below 3 categories:
1. Low stable payers (Pays between 2-7% per week, 8-28% per month). This type of program is probably one of the safer types around. More likely than types 2 and 3, these are actually investing funds in Stocks, Forex, or other stable programs. This means that they will most likely be around for quite some time. Even if they do end up as a ponzi, their lifespan will be much longer then types 2 and 3. I recommend that you Invest a sum of money and then compound half of your returns until you get back your principle. Once you have recovered your principle continue to compound/reinvest but this time at a rate of 60-70% of your returns. If the program sticks around, you should be able to profit quite a bit. Once you receive 250% return I recommend that you stop compounding and look for another program.
2. Mid range paying moderately secure program (Pays 8-16% per week, 32-64% per month). This type of program is probably the most popular among investors. They feel secure since the payouts are not too high, but also feel like they are going to quickly make a return on their investments. Many of these programs actually invest in other programs, forex, stocks, etc, however many are just ponzi's. I have found that most of type 2 HYIP's are a mixture of both ponzi and investment program. They more then likely invest members funds in a variety of ways, but most of the time find it impossible to pay out such high returns with the revenue they are making. This forces them to become part ponzi and use some of the new members funds to pay off old members. In the case of the type 2 HYIPs, I recommend you compound/reinvest only 20% of your returns until you get your principle back, then once you get your principle back you simply stop reinvesting and just let the program run it's course.
3. High paying, relatively insecure programs (Pays Over 17% per week and over 65% per month). These are usually the programs which are more then likely daily payers. For example 3%, 5%, 10% per day or even more are offered. 99.9% of the time these are atleast part ponzi, and will most likely end within 3 months. These programs begin with the admin knowing that he will have to run a part ponzi program to succeed. It is nearly impossible to earn such high returns in a short period of time like most of these programs claim. The higher the daily return the less likely the program will last. If you dare to gamble your money in such programs, I recommend that you only invest one time and do not reinvest or compound your earnings. The lifespans of type 3 programs are usually extremely short and those who invest right when the program opens are the ones who will walk away happy.
All in all these are just some of my opinion. Performance may vary. Stick to these guidelines and investigate HYIP's before investing in them.
Things To Do Before Investing Into A High Yield Investment Program

I have compiled a short list of some of the things you can do before investing into a program to make sure you get the most for your money:
1. Search all HYIP forums for the name of the HYIP. Check for people spamming about the program, as this usually is a sign of a short lived scam. Look for people's opinions. Often those who have been investing in HYIPs for some time are the ones with the best insite. Most importantly, look for complaints of people who have not been paid.
2. Do a search on google. Copy small parts (1-2 sentences) of the text from both the homepage and the page with information on how they make their returns. Paste it into the google search bar with quotes around it, and see if anything comes up. A good amount of the time, google will return results that are an exact match, usually a professional traders website. Also, do the same thing with any images of people that are shown to look as though they are the admin of the program. Simply get the name of the file that the image is uploaded as by viewing the properties of it. Then paste this into the google image search. You will be amazed that a lot of the time you will see that the image is a direct copy from another site. This proves that the admin is lying.
3. Email the admin. Ask some good questions such as, where are you located, how long have you been around, and how do you make your returns. The common answers you will receive are United States, 2 Years, and Forex trading. Usually if these are the answers the admin is lying to you. About 75% of all new HYIPs claim that they have been paying members offline for over a year. 99.9999% of the time this is a lie. If an investing firm is able to deal with members offline for 2 years, there usually is no need to go online with their business.
4. Look at the main HYIP rating sites. If it looks like a program has been cheating the ratings by voting for themselves, or it looks like they may have hired a paid voter, then stay away. You can usually tell if a program is cheating by trying to look at what else each member has voted for. Also check the voters IP, maybe the cheaters were not careful and didn't use a proxy.
If you follow these 4 steps you will likely be saving yourself a descent amount of money in the long run. HYIPs are extremely risky, and these steps alone do not guarantee success. They only improve your chances of walking away with profits.
Internet Investing

There are many options for capital investing. You may put it into a bank, buy stock of some well-known company or buy a piece of art or real estate. However, many potential private investors do not have enough money to make an effective investment: real estate, art and stock of leading corporations are not very easy to afford. Bank interests from moderate sums will be ridiculous.
What shall the private investor do? He/she is isolated from the big game, and small investments do not promise anything but a headache and time waste. Here comes HYIP (High Yield Income Programs) to help the prospective investor. Using special Internet services you invest a certain sum of money (entrance limit are very low as a rule) then during the determined term you get an interest from your investment. The interest is paid every day or every week, or monthly. The rates vary from 0.3% up to 3% per day. The investor gets back his/her investment very quickly and then he/she starts getting the pure profit.
Are HYIP profitable? Yes, sure. The private investor has almost no possibility to effectively invest small amount of money and regularly get some good profit out of it. A private person not having enough financial means, reputation, serious business partners, working schemes and contacts is almost completely isolated from serious investment activity and the big game on the stock exchange. By taking part in HYIP the private investor gets a kind of an agent who has the knowledge and possibilities the investor lacks and who makes the investment instead of the private investor.
Is HYIP participation risky? Yes, of course. As any other investment activity the High Yield Income Programs are risky venture. No one will ever guarantee that the money put by HYIP organizers into some project will actually bring the maximum profit. However, the qualified specialists developing the high-yield schemes always reinsure themselves. The part of the means is spent on financial instruments of maximum security that guarantees the investors some minimal safety of their investments.

Monday, October 02, 2006

Top 10 "Due Diligence" Myths

Are you doing your Due Diligence? Everyone in the HYIP investing world speaks about this. You have heard it many times - "Do your DD and you'll be OK". Is this really true? You have seen many high yield programs fail even after the best DD. There is never guarantee. But think about it, if you could avoid 99% of the mistakes that the Due Diligencers do, you'll have 99% better chance to make successful investment.


Here are the top 10 mistakes and myths in doing DD:
1. Low paying programs are more reliable. Low paying programs are just low paying. The low ROI alone does not prove anything and it is not advantage. The lower the program pays, the longer you need to be in profit, the bigger is the risk to loose. Of course you should spot the crazy paying programs as scams, but after that the ROI is not a criteria regarding program's reliability.
2. The admin is honest. The admin's behaviour has too little to do with the investment program credibility. Surely, with good psychoanalysis you could understand if the admin is mad or dishonest, but even the greatest and gentlest admin is not indicator that the program is for real.
3. There is a phone, the program must be legit. Today you can get real but anonymous phone number for few hundreds of dollars. It could be call center, virtual office or other similar kind of service. You can't track the owner of that number, therefore it is not helping you to track potential scammer. Very often the false investment programs give phone numbers with the only idea to gain trust and make themself look real.
4. There is an office, the program must be legit. Getting an office is harder and costs more. But still it won't help you tracking the thief. In many countries an office can be hired anonymously, and even if this option is not available, the thiefs use fake IDs (you can even purchase one online).
5. You can meet the admin, they are for real. Yes, if you can meet the admin, you at least know he/she is a real person. Can't they disappear though? See the previous item about the IDs.

6. The admin can show incoroporation documents, this proves they are for real. Option 1: The incorporation documents can be faked. Ok, you can eventually check this and spot them out. Option 2: The company can be real, but registered by phantoms. If you can't track the person who owned the scam, you can't do anything useful. Option 3: Ok, there can be a real company. And even then they can scam you - the HYIP history shows several cases in which the program simply start reporting losses. You can't call the authorities against such company - because when invested you have agreed that losses can occur. You can read about one great example of faking everything at
here HYWD.info
7. The HYIP is paying for long time. This is certainly nice unless you are dealing with a ponzi scheme. The longer a ponzi pays, the lower is the chance for you to win when joining. Ponzis have lifetime, you know. Paying for long time alone does not prove anything.
8. Offering managed accounts means they do really trade. Offering managed account really proves that the company offers legitime investment service. But this does not prove that their pooled (or whatever they call it) HYIP is also based on real trading. A very clear indication for fraudient scheme is when the managed accounts are producing losses, but the HYIP keeps paying just fine.
9. They accept bank wires, so they can't run away. They can run away if they want. I can name at leats 5 HYIPs which accepted wires, but this did not stop them to disappear. Using bank makes the things harder for the scammers, but not impossible.

10. They have referal program, must be scam. The affiliate marketing is one of the most powerful tools in the internet business. There is nothing wrong to offer referal bonuses for investors who bring other investors - this is a very effective advertisement method. The referal bonuses are red flag only when they are too high.

Are you doing your Due Diligence when investing? Are you following the myths?