With all the news about online fraud, it’s easy to be afraid of investing in an online system that claims to help you make a living. So you might be wondering, “can I make money online?” The answer is yes if you are ready to invest in time, money and efforts to find the right system and follow it step by step.
If you surf the internet for a long time, you will most likely find many advertisements from companies that claim to make millions with little or no time, effort or investment on your part. So the question arises, how can you distinguish genuine money-making opportunities from a scam?
Avoiding the pyramid scheme
The first thing you need to do is avoid the pyramid scheme. Real affiliate opportunities do exist, so how do you distinguish them from pyramid schemes. If what they want you to do is invest in the opportunity to sell schemes to other people without any actual products to sell to people, then this is a pyramid scheme.
Each original affiliate scheme will have real products to sell such as downloadable documents, books, manuals, CD or DVD media or other physical products, access to online videos, useful software or facilities, etc. – in most cases, their media will also be available through leading affiliate clearing institutions such as Commission Junction or Clickbank
Beware of sites that claim to be affiliated with very successful companies (Google, NBC)
Second, beware of sites that claim to be affiliated with very successful companies like Google or have been featured on several major broadcast networks such as NBC News or BBC. If this claim is true, they must be able to tell you when and where that is, if the BBC actually displays or recommends their company or product, the organization’s website must have a link to an actual positive article about them on the BBC website.
Some of them display checks (check for US visitors) from Google. Because Google will pay anyone whose Google AdSense ads are clicked, this only means that they make money from hosting Google ads or selling Google products, not because they work for Google or with Google as a partner ie placing ads for the Daily Telegraph in your store Windows does not make you partner with them in the sense that most people understand.
Other people can use the name Google as part of a scheme to make you think they are Google products, e.g. Google Money Making System. This does not mean they are a scam, or that the product will not do what they say. Just don’t be led to believe that the product is from or is supported by Google.
Read the small print
Often you will be asked to pay a small fee in advance with real hidden fees for far more taken from your card in the short time after that, or you might think that you pay a one-time fee when you actually sign up to a monthly subscription. If very important information is hidden from you be suspicious. You have to start wondering, “What else are they hiding?”
Do an internet search on the product or site with the following ‘scam’ or ‘problem’ words eg. type ‘XYZAffiliateMonsterMoneyMaker scam’. If people have a problem with a site or product, they will most likely publish their complaints online somewhere. Any product or system may experience problems, but be careful if the problem is related to a bad or non-existent product or is related to people who don’t get service for their money or have trouble contacting support or receiving a refund.
Note that sometimes advertisers use the word fraud to get you to read positive product reviews, e.g. assuming their imaginary system might use the header: XYZAffiliateMonsterMoneySystem: Is this real or just fraud?
Actually making money online is difficult until you have the right information. All you have to do is:
a) Find a system that really works. How?
If it is being promoted by many affiliates then there is a big chance it really works – if not, why are they wasting time promoting a product that is so bad that they have to return their profits in return for money.
b) Invest a reasonable amount of money
Invest a reasonable amount of money to buy into the system or buy software and materials (Genuine entrepreneurs do not “give” their systems, but can provide free trials or time-limited versions at a low cost in the hope of tempting you to upgrade to the version better or more complete)
c) Reasonable effort and time to research
Include reasonable effort and time to research, study, understand, learn the best way to use and implement the systems and tools that you provide.
c) Identifying niches
Identifying niches that have not been over-exploited and which are not too much competition; ideally in areas that you really care about.
e) Consistently apply the system exactly
Consistently apply the system exactly as you learned without jumping from one system to another. Don’t be impatient, but learn from your mistakes.
Unless you think of some great online products that nobody else in the world thinks of, it’s likely to require a lot of time, effort and patience to succeed.
The good news is that once you understand the original system and how to make it work, you can replicate your success over and over again by increasing ease and confidence and less time and effort.
