I was reading this article in my local paper this past Sunday. The article was about how someone was looking for a job online and came across an advertisement for a Google work-at-home business. Apparently the ad had used the name of a very prominent newspaper in order to make it look legitimate.
It would seem that there are some unscrupulous people that are part of a growing trend on the Internet where they use fake stories and the names of respected news entities so that they seem like they are legitimate work at home opportunities.
Honestly, I don’t know why this would come as a surprise to anyone that they thought it warranted an article in my newspaper. I mean, I get at least 3 emails a week offering me some amazing work at home opportunity where I can make a ton of money. I don’t believe it for a second.
I really appreciate that there are people exposing these scams because I think that it’s important to know that there are people out there willing to take advantage of others in the name of making a dollar. However, what I don’t like is when these good intentioned people go on to make a totally ridiculous statement like: “If someone asks you to pay to learn how to make money, that’s the tip-off to the rip-off” That’s what was quoted as having been said by Bernas (I’m assuming they were with Google but it wasn’t very clear).
How ridiculous is it to think that someone is going to teach you something for free. In the same paper that I was reading this article in there was an ad for Bartending School. The ad clearly stated that they would show you now to make money (as much at $35hr). When you check out the website, it’s pretty clear to me that you will have to pay to learn how to become a bartender and make that money.
There was another ad for Real Estate School where you can get your license FAST. And there is the implied reference to making a lot of money with a real estate license. And by-the-way, you have to pay for the education.
The point is that you have to know what it is that you are looking for. If you are looking for a JOB, why would you click on a work at home business? Being a business owner is definitely going to cost you money, whereas, being an employee usually doesn’t.
I also believe in the saying that you get what you pay for. If someone is going to teach me something (like: mlm sales), I want to be sure that I get what I pay for. Learning is not free; you have to pay for it one way or another. That being said, even some of the high priced network marketing training programs out there are very expensive and don’t really deliver on their promise of showing you how to make money from home. Do your homework folks. It’s a dog eat dog world out there and there are those that will take advantage of you and still sleep soundly at night.
