All Home-based Opportunities are Scams!!

ALL HOME-BASED OPPORTUNITIES ARE SCAMS!

Do I have your undivided attention? Truth is folks; the vast majority home-based opportunities are NOT scams. The reason I am writing this article is to delve into the two reasons why I believe this rumor exists and how it affects our industry. As a newcomer to the home-based industry you may have some concerns about an opportunity (“Can I do this?”, “Will I make any money with this?”, “Is this a SCAM?!”). If you are a veteran and/or you are experiencing success in your opportunity, you must develop a concise and effective dialog to address this concern AND in turn convert a valuable prospect into a member of your team.

A quick disclaimer: This article is NOT written to instruct someone HOW to tell if a home-based opportunity is fraudulent or a scam.

First, let’s define what a scam is or what it is to scam (From Dictionary.com):
1. Confidence game or other fraudulent scheme, esp. for making a quick profit; swindle.
2. Deprive by deceit.

The first reason why the rumor that “ALL HOME-BASED OPPORTUNITIES ARE SCAMS” exists is simple: The fact that there have been and still are scams that come in the form of home-based opportunities. In other words, a home-based opportunity where the INTENT of the founders or leaders of that opportunity was it to take in money for themselves AND ALSO NOT put the new distributor/business owner/member in a real position to generate any real money. The keyword here is INTENT. Intent could manifest itself in a few ways including the fact that the opportunity is obviously a pyramid or Ponzi scheme. A more subtle way is the opportunity is set up legally, but when it comes time to pay the members they don’t. Flat out! Unfortunately, schemes like these get a lot of bad press and they cast a bad light on the whole industry fueling the SCAM rumors.

By stating this second reason I will at least hurt some individuals’ feelings and more than likely deeply offend others; newcomers and veterans alike!

Bottom line is that WE ALL created that rumor. Yes, WE as in YOU and ME. Despite a great opportunity or company, great compensation, great products, great everything WE ALL at one point have contributed or keep contributing to THAT nasty rumor. Let me explain…

In selecting a home-based opportunity, some of US have been guilty of having that “something for nothing” mentality. For example jumping on every 30, 40, 50 dollar hands-off-internet-automated-opportunity out there and expecting to have a $10k a month income in 30 to 60 days. Worse yet is when those opportunities don’t work, the same folks STILL go and spend $1k, $2k or more figuring if they spend more, then THIS hands-off-internet-automated-opportunity HAS to work. When it doesn’t work, and you start to miss that money, and you start to feel stupid, and you start to feel manipulated, THEN you feel SCAMMED! A lot of people quit the industry at this point and they are REALLY P**SED and you better believe they are telling the world about YOUR scam.

Yes, YOUR scam. As a leader or someone that is having success in this industry, you must keep in mind what you are promoting. Are you laying out unrealistic expectations, thus setting people up for failure? Is your opportunity REALLY “hands-off” and “fully automated”? What about other leaders in your organization. What are they saying because they are also a reflection of you.

Bottom line, don’t come into this industry with a “something for nothing” attitude and don’t promote or encourage the “something for nothing” mentality.

What about those that have a sincere desire to improve their life, followed a set of instructions and still failed? Well, I am going to simplify this answer: PEOPLE. Yes, human beings. US. Sound familiar? Don’t get me wrong, there are exceptions to what I am going to write next (VERY few though with a 90% or more failure rate in this industry). Again, let me explain…

Behind every email, every website, every conference call there is a person. Question is who is that person? Is it Bill the teacher that just started his home-based business last week, and now you’re responding to his emails? Or, is it Jane the superstar that you NEED to learn from? You MUST put yourself in close proximity to a superstar or leadership within your new opportunity to have a fighting chance of success. You MUST ask who you are working with. You CANNOT be afraid to pick up the phone and ask questions. DO NOT be afraid to learn from the best. After all, you are probably expecting life-changing results and who better to emulate than someone who has already achieved those results.

As a leader, you MUST make yourself available to your organization or offer viable options in case you can’t. I am not talking about spoon-feeding someone but I am talking about tightly locking arms with a newcomer and “Show them the MONEY!” How? Well, that’s another article. But, it CAN and MUST be done in order to lower the failure rate in our industry. Less failure means less people screaming “ALL HOME-BASED OPPORTUNITIES ARE SCAMS!”