Thursday, November 16, 2006

Make A Living From An Online Home Business

Work from home make money on the Internet, to have an online home business is a dream of thousands of people worldwide. People search at the Internet for the phrase "work at home" more than 500.000 times per month.
The fact is that most of the information you'll find , is get rich quick schemes : earn more than thousand dollars a day, earn money when you sleep, invest one dollar become a millionaire, type at home earn more money than you can spend etc. Opportunities like those, has to be considered fluff, scam, hype or fake.
It's easy to get overwhelmed, oppressed, by the huge amount of information available. It's difficult to take the right decisions. Is it possible for any ordinary person, with a small budget, to make a living out of their online home business?
Yes, it lies in any body's reach. However, there is no such thing as a free lunch at the Internet. There is always work involved to make money. Especially in the beginning of an online home business. You have to educate yourself to know where to start. You need to learn about the necessary resources and techniques to be able to start an online home business, to create a Web site, and to get traffic and sales.
Why do you want to get online instead of starting an ordinary business? The big advantage of the Internet, is its world wide reach to a huge amount of people = potential customers. And best of it, the possibility to automate, replicate and duplicate peoples and corporations efforts, in order to increase income without growing costs. Once you have your online home business up and running. It will continue to to work, with less effort than you have to put in an ordinary business. Again, can it be done by anyone? It can, as long as you have the will, the attitude and the persistence to do it. How do you get started? Well, the answer might surprise you a bit, however, the best start you ever get, is to find out what you really enjoy doing. That is the most important step towards success in your online home business. When you're clear about what you want to spend your time at, it's time to investigate how to realize your online home business plan. That will be far more easy when you have narrowed down the possibilities, to what you really enjoy doing. The market opportunities at the Internet are huge, there are 67 000 new users getting online everyday.The benefits of an online home business will increase over time.
It's time for you to start thinking about what you want your future life to look like. Write down 3 things you really enjoy doing, picture yourself as you have accomplished your desires. Now you're on your way...

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

eBay Scams To Watch Out For!

There are many eBay scams out there to keep an eye out for when you are selling on eBay. This article will cover a few of the known and not so known scams to be aware of. Whether your a causal seller, or a professional seller on eBay, you need to know about these scams so that you can take measures to prevent or recognize if its happening to you.
Bid Shielding. This scam is something you need to watch out for as a seller on eBay. Basically the scam is run using two separate eBay accounts. The scam works like this. You put your item up for auction. Lets say your item is worth $100 and you have no reserve. The first bidder (scammer) comes along and bids $5 on your item. Right after that, another bidder working with the first bidder comes along and bids $200 on your item. Since your item is only worth $100, you receive no more bids for the duration of your auction. Right before your auction ends, the first bidder backs out and cancels their bid, leaving the $5 bidder the winner, effectively shielding all other potential bidders because of the $200 bid.
Because of the potential for this scam it is always good to have a reserve on your auction. Also, I would put some sort of disclaimer on your auction stating that if you suspect bid shielding on your auction, you reserve the right to back out of the sale. Its always a good idea to keep an eye on your auctions and watch for this type of behavior. If you suspect this is happening to you, be sure to report the parties involved to eBay right away.
Wholesale List Scam. This scam takes advantage of the fact that many people dont pay close attention or read the fine print on an auction. This scam is targeted at buyers who are looking for deals on electronics and technological items on eBay. The wholesale list scam is basically an auction that looks like the seller is offering a great deal on a product like an iPod for example. They may have a buy now price of $40 for an iPod that is worth $150. However, if you actually read the fine print on the auction, you will find that you are not really buying the iPod. In fact you are purchasing a wholesale list.
To avoid this scam, just be sure that you read the entire details of the auction before making a bid or a purchase. Basically, just use common sense. If it looks too good to be true, it probably is, so read the auction carefully.
Bad Check Scam. This eBay scam is exactly what it sounds like. The bad check scam is simple. Someone purchases your item and sends you a check as payment. You receive the check, and send out the item. However, 2 weeks later you find out the check bounces and now you are out your item and the money.
To avoid this, simply do not send out any products until the check has cleared.
Spoof eBay Emails. This eBay scam is an attempt to get your personal information and/or eBay account information. Basically the scammer sends you an email that looks like its from eBay. The email may direct you to a website (that also looks like eBay) where it asks to you verify your information. In reality, the website is created by the scammer to collect your personal information and use it for identity theft. The scammers can be very tricky and make everything look very official.
To avoid this scam, you need to be wary of any emails that you get. The first thing you need to check is the email header. Emails from eBay, will have ebay.com as the last part of the senders email. Also any links that are in the email may be directing you somewhere other than where they say they are. Also copy and paste the links into your browser, and only visit official links that start with eBay. If anything seems suspicious to you, forward the email to eBay and wait for their response. They will let you know if its legitimate or not.
In conclusion, most people you run into on eBay are good honest people and not out to scam you. You may do business on eBay for years and never run into any of this. However, occasionally these things do happen so its important to use common sense and use your best judgment when it comes to this stuff. Just be aware that it can happen, and take the necessary precautions and you will be fine. There is a lot of money to be made on eBay, so dont let anything scare you off. Keep yourself armed with knowledge and information and you will be successful out there in the auction world!

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.