MLM Scams And Pyramid Schemes

Let me start bluntly by saying I personally hate programs full of hype that promise the moon and never deliver anything more than smoke and mirrors. The thing that baffles me the most is, no matter how many times people hear or read the old adage "it's too good to be true", they STILL fall prey to these scams.

There isn't a day that goes by where I don't see someone in a forum flogging some crappy program promising you'll retire in a year or make 30k a month within 30 days, if only you pay out X amount of dollars. Total BS.

The sales page blinds you with images of flashy cars, huge mansions and fat stacks of cash, but what you actually end up with is a dent in your wallet and being a slave to that program owner by recruiting other suckers into the program under the disguise of an "opportunity". (By the way, I own several cars, including a Porsche, but I didn't get them through ANY program. I worked hard online, the right way, to earn what I have.)

So, how do you tell a legitimate opportunity from an MLM scam or pyramid scheme? Please read this informative article by MLM attorney Kevin Thompson, as it sums up some very interesting points you should consider before joining anything: http://www.scribd.com/doc/17733330/Legitimate-MLM-or-Pyramid-Scheme-How-can-you-tell . You should read it VERY carefully and learn from it. Knowledge is power, after all, right? I'll offer my thoughts on the topic below, but all references in quotation marks are from Kevin's article.

While I'm sometimes blown away by the lack of common sense some people show with what they do online, it really boils down to greed and/or desperation. People WANT it to be true and they NEED the money, so caution gets thrown out the window. They will spend $97 on a product that claims they will make 1000's, even if the sales page itself isn't clear or makes no real sense. I read a Clickbank sales page last year that was a mile long, claiming you would get rich the easy way and never have to worry about bills again. It tugged at the heart strings with images of poor, desperate people and told of how bad the economy is and how you can rise above these problems affecting everyone. The interesting thing to me, though, is that after an hour of reading through all the hype, sad pictures and vague "proof" there was NO indication of what you were actually about to buy...seriously! Was it a program? Ebook? Software? Keys to the kingdom? Not a clue, yet the greedy and desperate bought whatever it was in droves, as it had a very high gravity score at CB. It's the magic beans everyone is looking for. Unbelieveable!

While there are legitimate opportunities, they involve working on yourself more than other people. The MLM scams and pyramid schemes, on the other hand, involve recruiting others into the "opportunity" itself to do better. As Kevin says "If the compensation plan requires you to recruit other participants in order to advance up the pay scale, it's a factor to consider...Or is success described in terms of the number of distributors in your downline i.e. if you get x people below you, you can earn $y. If advancement is explained in terms of recruitment, it's a factor...An easy example is with forced matrix plans. If a plan is 5 x 5, the only way to advance to the next level is to fill the first level by recruiting 5 active distributors".

A legit business sells products to CUSTOMERS...not to each other in the business, and that's one of the biggest factors the FTC looks into when determining what is legit and what is a scam or pyramid that should be dismantled. So, a legit company must have product to sell to customers outside of the opportunity to be legal, and training materials (including your own personal sales website the program gives to you upon joining) do not count because they are not sold to customers, and only distributors use them, so "it’s illegal if the company is paying commissions on the sales of training materials".

Many of these scams also inflate the prices of whatever products they do sell and ask their recruits to buy them as part of the requirements to keep your "business" in good standing in the program. Kevin recommends asking yourself “If there was no income opportunity associated with this product, would I still buy it as a customer?". For example, if a store sells cheap pens for $1 each to real customers visiting the store, then it's legit, but if they sell the same pens for $10 each, and only the store staff is buying them and they get a bonus compensation for recruiting other staff to buy the overpriced pens, then it's an opportunity only to get scammed.

A real example I noticed recently is for a program where the "product" is way overpriced traffic. It sparked my interest because I sell traffic myself, so I looked into it further. I'm not going to mention the program name because I don't want to help advertise it, but it might sound familiar to you. They sell 1000 visitors for the high cost of $10 (2000 for $20, etc), which is far too much. If I charged that much I'd hang my head in shame, as the going rate is $2-5, the higher range being for extra factors, like targeting, control panel, etc.

With that program the product itself is overinflated, but people are pushing it because of the income opportunity. I've never once seen anyone posting about the program for the product itself, because most people have the common sense to know it's overpriced, but it's the "opportunity" to make money that people push, simply to recruit others into it. Also, the program used to be called something else, but changed after only a short time online...yet another warning sign. Legit businesses build brand name recognition and trust over time.

Normal affiliate marketing is fine, where you have an actual product to sell to consumers. I do very well myself selling online game guides to gamers, as an affiliate AND as a vendor. That's an example of a legit way to earn money online, but the rampant MMO scams are steering people in the wrong direction and hurting the overall potential for those people to really earn a living online, like I do.

As Mr. Thompson puts it: "When fraudulent schemes masquerade as legitimate companies, it affects the reputations of all companies in the industry." It's sad to me because I know first hand what it's like to be conned online, but I also know that you CAN legitimately earn online, if you do it the right way and stop believing the hype. Are you up for the challenge???

Google Adsense Payment Proof Check

I got my Google Adsense check for the month in the mail today, so I thought I'd do a quick scan of it to post here. As usual, all identifying information has been cropped out (such as bank numbers) or concealed due to privacy reasons (there are strict laws for that where I live in Canada). It's for $134.03

I only present payment proof like this solely to show you that a program is legit and does pay and to show my own proof of income to back up what I wrote in previous posts about it. There are so many "make money online" (MMO) blogs out there written by scammers who actually aren't making ANYTHING online, that I wanted to set myself apart from them by proving that I know what I'm talking about.

I'm truly amazed by complete newbies who start up an MMO site, but have no idea what they're doing. They've been told (lied to) that it's easy money to simply create a free blog and put up some links and banners on it and suddenly the money comes rolling in...WRONG!! How can you tell someone the RIGHT way to earn an income online if you haven't actually done so yourself? Think about it.

Creating a banner farm of ads trying to get others to join your various PTC's and MLM schemes is NOT going to earn you a living wage income! Sure, you may get a few sign ups and a few pennies here and there, but that's peanuts compared to what you COULD be making by reading and learning about what works and what doesn't from someone like myself who has tried pretty much everything there is on the net.

Read. Learn. Adapt. Survive.

Asmodeus' Work From Home Story

It's perhaps a bit late in this blog to be giving you my life story, but I thought this was a good time to tell you a few things about me, if for no other reason than to give you a bit of inspiration to carry on when things get difficult. My friends and regular readers will notice gaps of time in my blog and that is due to the fact that I have an intestinal illness which prevents me from doing anything at all on some days. I get very severe pain and can't even move much on bad days, much less sitting up in front of a computer to update my blog.

However, the part that I'd like to focus on is how working from home has basically saved me from a life of poverty. I had a good job in an office as a supervisor and was doing quite well for myself, I thought, until my illness took it all away from me and prevented full time work as a possibility. I tried several crappy part time jobs, working when I could to try to make ends meet, until I came to the realization that I could NEVER get ahead that way. I'd always be poor, just living day to day.

So, I set my goal to work for myself at home, where I could be comfortable, and do what I could to be successful as my own boss. It was a struggle at first, as it will be for anyone starting off (never believe the hype that you can get rich overnight!), but I fought against all the obstacles that came my way. I've always believed that an obstacle is just a good challenge to find a solution. Those who only see the obstacle without looking for the solution are the ones destined for failure. ALWAYS look at an obstacle as another step in getting ahead once you overcome it, and you WILL overcome it if you choose to work at it!

I tried many different ideas at home. I sold satellite dishes, programs and many different MLM schemes (anyone remember "Project 21"?), but they either didn't work or made very little. Since I didn't want to live my life on a meagre disability pension, I continued on, determined to succeed.

I already had a university degree, so I tried to use my education background to my advantage at home in perfecting techniques that worked. My university training was in logic and solutions, so that helped quite a bit! I got into being a degree broker for various small colleges and universities, and that worked great for me. I recommend being a Degree Broker to anyone who realizes the importance of a good education.

Then I became a Mystery Shopper and I have a lot of fun with that one. I get free food, gas, groceries etc. and, because of this, many of my basic expenses are already covered! I worked my way up the ranks over the years and now am a full fledged service evaluator for my entire region. I plan to write a more detailed post on this topic in the future as there are MANY scams out there related to mystery shopping and I intend to expose those for you.

Among many things I have on the go now, my latest project is running the new EyeEarn Community Network and, so far it's the easiest affiliate program I've ever been involved in. What could be simpler than wearing a shirt or driving a car with a website logo on it? No cold calling or bugging your friends or really pushing it on anyone. People see the website address as you do your daily routine and they join if they want to! You can Join EyeEarn for free and see for yourself!

There are "gurus" out there who will tell you to focus on just one thing to be successful, but you'll notice that the "one thing" always happens to be the program they are promoting. My advice to you is the exact opposite. Try a few different things and see what works for you, after giving each one an honest shot of hard work. If you put all your time into just one thing, as they tell you, and it doesn't work for you, then you've wasted valuable time that could have been used on something else! Always keep your options open.

Even if you only make a bit of money off each idea, then you are creating multiple income streams that, put together, will make you a nice income. That's what I do with my affiliate programs, mystery shopping and my Ebay store and, trust me, it works! I believe almost anyone can be successful if they want to be.