Separating Legitimate Opportunities from the Scams

After you have looked around at the marketplace for "make money online" products and opportunities, or are simply looking for legitimate work-at-home opportunities, you'll find that there are a lot of scams that people are falling for day in and day out. Once you realize that these people will probably never actually use the product, for one, because it is too hard/complicated to use, it tells them something they already know, or it just tells them to purchase additional products, go to seminars and meetings – not worthy of the $97 price tag.

The one place to look for legitimate opportunities are sites and blogs that contain proof that they have paid, and aren't in the thousands of dollars. Even though there are certainly programs that will pay you thousands per month, you probably shouldn't be signing up for them at this moment. They are too good to be true, and will require more work and experience than you currently have (at this stage).

You want to seek out honest opinions from others. If there are more negative than positive opinion polls and people complaining that they weren't paid, you probably shouldn't even think about joining it, unless you want to lose money (both time and capital). Get in contact with people that have had experience with it, who aren't necessarily looking to sell it to you as part of an affiliate "deal." Use their opinions and insight and make an informed decision, not one based on what another marketer you've never met has said.

In reality, all products sold for $97 are scams unless they reveal the secrets of others that no one else has. Unless you can make back the money you paid for the product by the time you have carried out all the steps in the book/movie/etc., you are being scammed and ripped off. You have to realize that many of these tips and ideas are already available for free online, but you have to search.

Back to the programs. There are many legitimate programs that you can use to make money online. A majority are associated with placing ads on your site, getting sales for products that you are promoting, while others are in an associated field. Honestly, the best way to make money by far is selling your own product, as you are in control of all the channels of income, and you generally don't have anyone working over you, who will be telling you when and where you can sell it.

Scam programs always have some warning signs that you have to be aware of. They include (this is a brief list):

1. Key words that inform you that you don't have to do any work, such as "post links to Google," "make money overnight," or "this program helped my purchase my $10 million home." Most likely, these people had to do some work to get there, making money 24/7.
2. Screenshots. If you see screenshots of payments that appear similar on other sites, or have large portions of information (other than the name or bank identification details), it is likely a "fake" check or payment proof. Sales figures (listed in a table, usually) are also "fake" as they indicate that you are doing direct selling to someone and need to have inventory/a website/experience in the field.
3. Other words that tell you that "this program is NOT as SCAM" should present you a flag, as a legitimate opportunity will be able to get to its position not by informing users that they won't be scammed, but will simply do a favor for its members and participants and PAY them for what they are due.

With these core ideas in mind, keep your eyes open for scams and opportunities that are too good to be true, specifically dealing with the amount you have to pay in order to earn the money. Usually, you want to keep that number as close to $0/free as possible, unless you are paying for hosting or other services that will help you grow.