We know there are a lot of scams on the internet but if you check out my post “ Thinking of starting a home based business? – Read this first.” For some hints and tips on what to look for in an online business and how to stay safe.

In this post I want to talk you through 5 business formats you should be wary of and in my opinion why you should avoid them. I have listed them in no particular order.

  1. 1.       The Forced Matrix is one that seems to be taken off over the last year or so. Please correct me if I am wrong about that but I don’t really recall them much until that time. So what is it, well basically it involves you registering people before a launch and any overspill gets put under you. You start at the top and find 3 people who go under you. If you find 4 or more they go under the 3 below you. This makes 1st level 1(you), 2nd level 3, 3rd level 9, 4th level 27 and so on. You will also get people who you did not register put under you from other people in the matrix , this is called overspill. It sounds like a great system to build a business but hang on. If you don’t to register anyone only your first 3 and you can get people from over spill why would any of your downline bother to recruit people? Answer, they won’t which breeds a downline of very lazy distributor all hoping that the people below them will do the work. My tip stay well clear.

2.       New Ground Floor opportunities sounds like a great idea to get involved with a brand new company and potentially it could work out great. However, these new companies have no track record, could still have problems to iron out and may just be a scam. You are staking your personal reputation on a business that could fold within a few months. This could cause damage to your reputation that may not be reversible which will be disaster for your potential growth.

3.       Gifting programs , at least that’s what I think it’s called. I found out about this “business” in more detail earlier this week when I received a spam email. I have seen something like this before and can’t believe that anyone would get sucked into this kind of scam.  Here is an extract from the email as to how this works:

        wk 1   Send $2 to 3 people.  Send out on Mondays
          Receive $2 from 14 = $28   Keep $7
        wk 2   Send $7 to 3 people
          Receive $7 from 14 = $98   Keep $8
        wk 3   Send $30 to 3 people
          Receive $30 from 14 = $420  Keep $120
        wk 4   Send $100 to 3 people
          Receive $100 from 14 = $1400   Keep $800
        wk 5   Send $200 to 3 people
          Receive $200 from 14 = $2800   Keep $2050
        wk 6   Send $250 to 3 people
          Receive $250 from 14 = $3500   Keep $2750
 

                You then repeat Wk 6 over and over each week. They tell you who to
                send to in your Eagles Den. If one of the 3 drops out, the admin will replace
                them. Never send money through a like this as i fail to see how this can work only for the person at the top.

4.       Surfing Credits are when you sit in front of your PC clicking on averts and watching a timer count down before moving onto the next ad. You earn something like $0.01 per advert viewed. The timer can last anything from 10 to 20 seconds so lets take a 15 second timer. That’s $0.04 a minute or $2.40 an hour. Your time can be much better spent so don’t get sucked into the glossy ad for these sites.

5.       Home crafts which I’m sure everyone has seen these companies everywhere. A company asks you to assembly a product, like a picture frame, dolls house or just about anything. They send you the kit and it will either be so complicated you need a degree in engineering to assembly the thing or you can put it together but when you send it back it won’t meet the companies strict quality standards. It does not matter how well you put them together you will never meet the guidelines. You end up with a load of products that you and noone else wants.

These are just some of the dodgy business opportunities that are out there with 100s more that I have not mentioned. So if you are looking at working from home do your research first and check out the business.

I would like to thank you all for reading and would love to read your comments and feedback. Also please share this with your friends on Facebook and Twitter.

Have a great day.

Tristram Lodge