“Home Business Reviews” – Legit or Scam

The fair and balanced “Business Review Site”- You’ve finally found an unbiased, truthful source for reviewing home and online business models. Great! Or did you? More accurately, you’ve probably just fallen into a shady form of affiliate marketing….
One way to view things is to see two groups of folks out there… numbering millions on the one hand and.. well, hopefully NOT millions on the other side. Let’s talk about these two groups.

Would-be Entrepreneurs and Those Who Would Pray On Them

Group 1: The folks like you and me; they want out of the corporate cubicle, and out of the commute. They want time… for themselves, and their families. They want to see their efforts pay off for them… not for company executives and shareholders. And so they will do research, make a decision, take a deep breath and start a small business. In fact, by the second quarter of 2009, USA Today would report that, of all people out of work, roughly one in 10 would re-enter the work place for themselves.., NOT for anyone else. Aside from the lay-off statistics, over 23 million (million) more people will start a small or home-based business. Let’s hear it for the action takers. Unfortunately, for folks with a lesser grasp of unsavory marketing tactics, you are not only taking action… you’re taking on the role of “the mark” in an online dupe of sorts.

Group 2: It’s hard to pinpoint these folks or to label them without being, um… colorful. These are the people who know (as you now know) just how many people will research starting a home-based small business in 2010. And they’re counting on it. Because they will be waiting, under the guise of impartial “home business review” sites… some even with official sounding names such as federalhomebusinessreviews.org. Others will use trust-inspiring names like “intergitybusinessreviews” or “truthinhomebusiness”… all names that the masses, not yet savvy to just how easy it is to be duped by online predators, will see and give a deep sigh of relief. Because, thank goodness… they’ve finally found the voice of truth and honesty regarding fair and balanced reviews of home business, right? Right?

We Have What You Need… And Have Exposed What You Don’t!

Well…. wrong. After seeing the trend increase over time, I began to perform google searches for terms such as “home business reviews” and “legitimate home businesses” with the main goal of counting the “impartial review sites” that popped up in the results. And it seems the number is increasing. Sites will purport to have tried to implement dozens, if not scores, of business models and systems. After doing so, they will proudly proclaim that, in the interest of the public, they have declared only (x) number of businesses to be legit. Perhaps 3, or perhaps 10. Then, to add even more legitimacy to the claims, some go on to describe each business, and rate it for it’s efficiency, profitability, etc. How thorough, no?

What the researcher needs to understand here is that, for the most part, none of this is being “researched and reported on” for your benefit. What he or she has stumbled upon is a very clever from of affiliate marketing. Clever, if not a bit unethical. Affiliate marketing, one of the most common form of profit generation undertaken on the Web today at various levels, is a concept wherein a marketer will offer any given product or service on the part of another company. When sales are made, the marketer receives a commission from the parent company. Likely the largest and most visible example of such a business is Amazon.com. Aside from the Kindle, virtually everything Amazon sells is the product of another company. When sold, Amazon receives a commission. The end. After millions and millions of transactions, and companies clamoring to have their products marketed on the site, Amazon’s profits soar.

On a much smaller scale, Internet Gurus across the Web offer the same concept to those who would aspire to grab a piece of the company’s profits. E-books, training courses, marketing resources…. advertise for it, sell it, and get paid. Simple, right? After all, it’s done every day. And therein lies part of the problem. Affiliate marketing, in just a few years, has become a saturated niche. As well, search engines, who gobble up consistent fresh, unique content, despise the duplicate web pages that affiliate marketers use, often provided by the parent companies. For this, affiliate marketers who, for the last few years, thrived on a solid Web presence allowing for skyrocketing sales, are today finding themselves slapped down- all but crushed by the search engines, with their various sites, each identical to the last, forced into veritable obscurity.

What to do?

Simple. Start a site that won’t only market one course, system or product. Market many. In the most basic terms… if you only sell a few of any one thing, but have a bunch of things… you end up with a bunch of money. But how to stand behind multiple “businesses”, when each is clearly “the best”. Again… simple. Claim that, after so much “exhausting and extensive review”… your site, after “tremendous losses” and so many lessons learned, has discovered the best of the best; the answers to all your home business dreams. And even more tasty is the fact that, oddly, these business are all available for low, low prices of.. (wait for it…) 49.97 (or thereabout). That’s right. For under 50 dollars, you too can get rich in 60 days. I mean, it’s right there on the site. This is one of the “real” businesses, for Pete’s sake!

The headlines on these types of sites often provide the best amusement for those who know better, with one reading “We Tested 37 Business- Only 3 Paid Out”. Paid out… you know, like a slot machine. The site would not go on to mention any of the 37 other business that were “tried”. ( On this note… how does one “try” to start a business. Should effort be fore 5 days? A week? The absurdity of these claims should be self-evident. The problem is… it’s not, and people slide straight into the slippery sales funnel. Perhaps more luck would be had with the aforementioned slot machine.

The sites are in many different forms. Some strive to look “federal” in appearance, with official seals (courtesy of Photoshop) and eagles and flags and all sorts of “nation” markings. After all, who doesn’t trust the (ahem) government? Others take the opposite route. They are “renegades”, dressed as the underground “exposer” of all things evil, and of all fraudulent businesses. One unnamed site actually claimed that, unlike other sites who claim to “prove” a business is worthless… well, they REALLY proved it. They even said so right there on the site. (Thank goodness.) None of these sites will go on explain exactly how these “exhausting tests” were performed, or for how long. It should be noted that even shorter business ramp-up phases for online business take from a few months to upward toward a year, along with a learning of the business, to realize the coveted five figure monthly incomes that are not only possible, but also likely, with commitment and diligence on the part of a Web-based entrepreneur.

As well, the information “exposing” the various business models shunned by the site is, often times, information from (get this) other “review sites”, topped off with an extremely well-written but still uneducated opinion. Don’t fret, though, because these super sites.. these savers of YOUR time and money… well, they have just the business(es) for you, now don’t they…for only 49.97! So much for the impartial truth.

Author’s note:

Aside from being the Work From Home Editor for BusinessTM.com, I’m a full time home-based entrepreneur, marketing certain things with certain affiliations in which I believe very strongly. The specifics of my home based-business are neither here nor there, in that these words are not about me- they’re about you, the would-be online (or offline) business owner. Well over a year ago, I stood where you now stand, and jumped through all these same hoops. Some seemed to be on fire. So I got taken for some dollars here and there, and singed, but began to quickly implement the age-old weapon known as common sense.

As I’ve written on in the past, your ability to perform due diligence on your own, coupled with the ability to read between the lines, is your most valuable tool when researching an online business. Are there many out there? Yes. Are some profitable? Extremely. Are some fraudulent? Well, let’s just say the line gets fuzzy.

When first looking into an online business (yup- I also originally googled “online business reviews”), I stumbled across one gentleman who had quite a comprehensive site, reviewing and covering no less than 12 online courses and their respective “gurus”. This man replied to my most basic (I knew nothing of the industry) inquisitive email with answers that covered in detail the various methods of generating income online. I learned right then and there of affiliate marketing, list building, soft and hard products, etc. All this without soliciting me for a dime. Now this gentleman promoted a few of the courses he reviewed as an affiliate marketer, with detailed explanations as to why he chose these to promote. After all was said and done, I chose to move in another direction to start my online business. No matter. I learned a lot from one person who, in spite of financial interests in affiliate companies, took the time to explain to me the ups and downs of each. And for that, I was grateful.

But this gentleman is not the norm. He is one man, where more and more “honest review” sites will claim to have “disproven” some businesses and “discovered” those conveniently affordable and oh, so simple to work. Set it and forget it, and your money will roll right in.

In closing… remember that age old weapon (common sense). Check on companies where you can by referencing the Federal Trade Commission and the Better Business Bureau for archived issues, and various Attorneys General offices (in a company’s home city) for criminal complaints. These are informative places to start.

Does anyone think that the road to wealth is actually paved with 50 dollars in start up capital, or that a business can be fully evaluated in days or weeks. In a world where traditional business can easily demand 250K to 2.5 million in start up and not see profit for 3-5 years, a lucrative online business can be started for exponentially less. However, there will be capital to invest and a learning curve. We are discussing business here, after all- not miracles. If you think you’re in the money for 50 dollars and 60 days of watching your computer screen… well, then I know a “business review” site you need to visit. They have just what you need.

Written by: Jon 02/24

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