Data Entry Jobs: Scam Or Real Money Making Opportunity?

'Get paid to type data online! This is a perfect opportunity for stay at home moms, students or anyone that is in need of some extra cash. Available worldwide.'

'Earn money entering data from the comfort of your home! Follow the simple step by step system. No experience needed.'

Any of these ads look familiar? They should, you can find them plastered all over the Internet and in most classified newspaper ads. Data Entry Jobs are currently the latest rage. It seems everyone wants to do them. In fact, I did a check to see how many times people typed in the phrase, 'data entry' (with Overture's Keyword Selector Tool) and found that last month there were 38,490 searches for Data Entry; and that's not counting all the searches on Google, MSN or any of the hundreds of other search engines on the Internet! That's also not counting the other phrases people could have typed in, such as; 'data entry jobs,' 'make money with data entry,' 'online data entry' or many other phrases associated with Data Entry.

Why are so many people interested in Data Entry Jobs? Well think about it. You get to work from home (in your pajamas if you want), spend more time with your family, don't have to worry about leaving your house and getting stuck in that traffic, and you don't have to hate it every time the alarm goes off each morning. I mean, how irresistible is that?

I decided to do a bit of research on these so-called 'Data Entry Jobs.' What did I find? Well, I will tell you this; many of the companies I researched had a lot in common. Now let me start off by saying that I researched some of the more popular Data Entry Programs. What I found was many of these programs had very misleading ads and websites with outrageous promises. Customer service was also very poor and in some cases nonexistent. I emailed some of them to ask a simple question and I never got a response.

Some of the Data Entry programs I researched were from Clickbank's Marketplace. All of these I found were actually eBooks that tell you, or even show you how you can make money using Google AdWords to sell their product or other Clickbank products. (That is not Data Entry. That is actually Affiliate Marketing.) So in reality, once you join and pay the registration fee for these Data Entry Programs, you will receive the training materials that will teach you how to type more 'data entry ads' and convince other people to do the same thing. What they fail to tell you is that YOU have to pay for the ads you place and you ONLY make money IF you make a sale. When I made this discovery I was outraged because not only are these programs misleading, as you actually do not make money for the data entry itself, you only get money if you sell a product, these programs are also fraud and contain false information. That has the word SCAM written all over it. In fact, after further research, I discovered that Clickbank actually had these so-called Data Entry Programs removed from their Marketplace. Why? Well, even though these products were very popular and sold very easily, they also have a very high return rate, which Clickbank frowns upon. That right there should tell you something.

So are Data Entry Jobs scams? In my opinion I don't think that Data Entry Programs themselves are scams. It's the WAY they are presented and sell their product to the public that's misleading. As mentioned earlier, this is nothing more than Affiliate Marketing, which is not Data Entry.

So how does one go about finding legitimate Data Entry Jobs? The key is to find an honest and reliable freelancing data entry job. This is going to require time on your part. You are going to have to do your homework and put in the effort required to find these legitimate jobs. Don't worry. I have listed a few of the best places to look.

You can use search engines to help you find reliable companies. There are many review sites out there that will give you an unbiased review of data entry programs. Please don't go into this kind of search believing EVERYTHING you read from these review sites. Believe it or not, there are a lot of review sites that are still promoting data entry programs from Clickbank, which as mentioned earlier are mostly scams.

Another great place to look for data entry jobs is Webmaster forums. Many webmasters are constantly looking to save time by hiring other people to do manual labor so they can focus more on advertising and updating their web sites. Some forums even let you advertise your services, but some also charge you a fee for this, so once again, do your research.

A great place I recently discovered to look for Data Entry Jobs is www.Craigslist.org. Craig's List is the largest online classified website on the Internet. I used to think it only listed things to buy or sell, but during my research, I discovered they also have a section called "Gigs" which includes a section on 'Writing' where people are always looking for someone to do data entry work.

There are many other job sites such as Monster.com, Yahoo and even HotJobs where you can find data entry jobs in your area. Remember to take your time and do a thorough search because you need to insure that you are signing up with a reliable program so that you do not get scammed.

The best way to make sure that you are dealing with a reliable company is to go to www.BBB.org and check out the company you are interested in. The BBB grades companies using their rating system and has official information and customer praise and complaints about most businesses. It's the best place to find unbiased and accurate information.

So in conclusion, Data Entry Jobs can be a real money making opportunity. Just remember, as with any industry, there are scammers out there who know what you want to hear and are ready to 'tickle your ears' with their ads promising instant riches. Don't fall for them. Do your homework and you will be fine.

I hope this article has proven to be helpful for you.

To your success,
Anna Allen