Article by Charlie Wright
It was a friend’s birthday on Saturday…
Pub, food, booze, back to mine, music, booze, laughter, bad dancing, sleep, hangover, cheese, sleep.
Last weekend, in a nutshell.
(Odd thought: imaging spending your weekend in a nutshell. Actually, physically, INSIDE a nutshell.)
Yes, I’m too old for all these shenanigans. Which was why I still felt groggy and foul on Monday when I turned on my computer to read my emails.
Whatever my mood, I like to know what you and your fellow readers have been up to after a weekend in the biz opp jungle.
As it turned out, the American “work at home” gang have been emailing the UK again.
And I’ll tell you what…
NEVER buy this on a Monday
With a hangover, the bad smell of another shady “work at home” offer made me feel sick.
Definitely not one to buy, or even look at, on the Monday after a good weekend.
Or any other day of the week, for that matter.
The one that I looked at, hazily, on Monday was called Date Entry Business.com. (If you decide to go and look it up, please don’t buy it. Read the rest of this email first)
The blurb is typical of these opportunities. It reads:
“Would you like to earn an extra $200 every day for 45 minutes work? You could quit your job and make double the money at home working for yourself. Companies are currently looking for data entry workers worldwide to enter data online. Rates of pay are excellent from $200 a day and up.”
Sounds good, doesn’t it?
They also say:
“This is not some get-rich-quick scheme, and we can guarantee an income of $200 a day or your money back!”
Even better!
So what’s the catch?
Behind this big bulky doorstep of a promise… there’s not one catch, but a bunch of catches.
A gaggle of catches. A flock of catches. Or even a parliament of catches.
Whatever the collective noun is for catch.
And here they are:
CATCH #1: When you send off your money, you’ll get a CD ROM or download with basic information on running a business and a list of 500 business names around the US. You then have to go to them for the ‘work’.
CATCH #2: Lots of these won’t still be in business. Most pay an amount per entry, which works out to only about $2 per hour.
CATCH #3: You aren’t even doing pure data entry. You are actually entering adverts for affiliate products. These end up on Google search engine results pages. You make money on a commission basis. If your ads don’t work, you don’t earn. Don’t expect a lot of amazing expertise that will help you become a super earning affiliate.
CATCH #4: Worse still, you will end up advertise dodgy “work from home” schemes like the one you just bought! You will become one more link in a chain of disappointment.
CATCH #5: They give you only an email address to write to with questions, complaints, or massive swear words in bold capital letters when it all goes wrong. No landline or address. A bit worrying. Means if you don’t get what you’re promise, you’re not likely to be able to complain or get that money back.
CATCH #6: This being a USA opp (as most of these are) you won’t get the legal protection from a scheme in the UK. Or be able to complain through any reliable channels.
For my money, that’s too many catches.
If it were a film it would be called A Catch Too Far….
A Bridge Over the River Catch… Catcher in the Rye… Catchablanca… Citizen Catch… Catching Tiger, Hidden Dragon… 2001: A Space Catch…. Butch Catchidy and the Sundance Kid.
If it were a pop group it would be called Catchagoogoo. Or perhaps Johnny Catch.
Or something like that.
I’ll stop now.
Five tips to follow when considering a ‘work from home’ offer
Not ALL work at home offers of this type are dodgy. It’s just that I’m yet to hear of one from my army of seekers and contacts.
Most genuine offers of work at home will involve you applying for free and being contracted to do a certain amount of work for pay.
But perhaps you’ve had a different experience?
If you’ve tried a work at home opportunity and it’s made you money, then let me know. Write your tale of success in the comments section below.
In the meantime, if you’re considering trying one, please follow these tips:
*** Check there’s a landline phone number, not a mobile. Get an address, a proper street address, not a P.O. Box address.
*** Never send money without asking the company for specific details of what they’re offering. If it’s along the lines of what I’ve described above, then forget about it. If it’s a genuine way to work and make money for the time you put in (NOT commission for entering ads) then maybe consider it.
*** Avoid stuffing envelopes. You pay a registration fee in return for advice on how lure other people into the same fake opportunity.
*** Avoid home working directories. They promise you a variety of home work opportunities for a fee of up to £25. But you only get a directory of other companies who have their own registration fees.
*** Home assembly kits. You get a kit for making stuff like from baby boots and toys. They say they’ll pay you for your goods but will either reject it because of poor quality (not your fault, as the kits are rubbish) or they’ll tell you to sell the goods yourself. You won’t be able to do this, because there will be no market for it.
Better still, go for a decent armchair business that has already been investigate and checked out.
Go and browse the website here
In each case you’ll know exactly what you’re getting into, and know you’re protected by a money back guarantee.