SCAMdar Alert: Work At Home Jobs
By Dakim | November 26, 2008
With the seemingly endless stream of economic bad news it is natural for people to be afraid. It’s also natural for people to turn to the Internet in hopes of finding work at home jobs that can bolster their income, or in some cases replace a lost income. Fear is natural, but you shouldn’t let fear drive you into making a bad situation even worst. Websites offering work-at-home jobs are some biggest scams on the Internet. And in the current environment you can bet that these types of sites will only increase. Here are a few ways to use your Scam-dar to avoid these crooks.
‘We only require a small fee for the privilege of working for us.’
Legitimate jobs don’t require you to pay upfront to work with them. Take mystery shopping. Typically, scammers will advertise an opportunity to become a mystery shopper. But when you apply you’re asked to paid for something like an info packet or a list of employers in your area supposedly looking for mystery shoppers.
‘Dude, I’m making a fortune stuffing envelopes while I watch TV.’
If it was this easy we would all be rich couch potatoes! Be wary of any job claiming to pay big money for menial tasks. In fact, just avoid them altogether. No legit operation is going to pay you $2,000 a week when they could pay a teenager $5.50 an hour.
‘Girl, all I do is sit at my computer and fill out surveys all day longer and I get PAID!’
There are some legit survey jobs out there but have manage expectations. I worked one of these sites for month and all I made was $16. This was after filling out dozens of surveys. So don’t fall for ads claiming you can make hundreds of dollars a week filling out surveys - unless you’re not planning on sleeping. And again, don’t pay for any lists of companies. You can find these companies yourself with little research.
When investigating any online opportunity you should always err on the side of caution. Also, it’s always a good idea to research the company using the Better Business Bureau or the Federal Trade Commission.
Topics: Advice, Scam | 4 Comments »
Lonely Entrepreneurs
By Dakim | November 25, 2008
I just read this great post over at SmallBizExperts. The post lists some good tips on how to reduce the feeling of isolation that some home business entrepreneurs can feel. Being solely responsible for the business’ success or failure can a difficult adjustment for some people, especially if they’re use to an office environment.
I’m a big pro potent of coaching (this blog is a result of me working with a life coach), but it can expensive. If you find yourself feeling alone I suggest you try out some of these tips.
Topics: Advice | No Comments »
In Tough Times It’s Nice to Have Good Neighbors
By Dakim | November 24, 2008
A feel good story from PRWeb.com
When a local business owner ran into trouble, he turned to his neighbors and was overwhelmed with the response. “Everyone was in the same boat that I was”, said Dan, “but nobody was talking about it. Now we are. Now we are helping each other”.
(TIP: To make the good feeling last longer, ignore the ad at the bottom of the page, 
)
Topics: Motivation | No Comments »
Are You A Successful Entrepreneur?
By Dakim | November 7, 2008
Good article from Sales & Marketing Information blog:
An entrepreneur does many wonderful things. In fact, many people are amazed with how the entrepreneur’s mind works. How does an entrepreneur become successful? And most importantly, do you want to be a successful entrepreneur too?
Topics: Advice, Motivation | No Comments »
Easy Come, Easy Go
By Dakim | November 6, 2008
Sometime last month I told you that I had come into an unexpected sum of money from my Zazzle gallery over at www.zazzle.com/Dak325. The money was unexpected because I put so little effort into creating the pieces you see there and zero effort into promoting the gallery. So I was pleasantly suprised when I got the email telling me someone brought 50 of my “Kool Aid Drinker” buttons (and later I got another email stating an additional 10 had been brought). Well, Grandmama Duncan always warned me not to spend my money before I got it. Here’s what I got today:
Dear Zazzler,
Thank you for your interest in Zazzle.com, and thank you for publishing products on Zazzle. Unfortunately, it appears that your product, “Kool Aid Drinker”, is in violation of Zazzle’s Copyright policies. Specifically, your product has violated in the intellectual property rights of Kool-Aid.
We will be removing this product from the Zazzle galleries shortly.
A detailed description of Zazzle’s content policies is available at http://zazzle.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/zazzle.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=143
We are always trying to improve our process. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us at content_review@zazzle.com
Best regards,
Content Management Team
Zazzle.com, Inc.
Apparently I was a naughty boy! I guess the makers of Kool-Aid don’t want people walking around advertising that they use their product. What was I thinking?!?
Asleep at the Wheel
This is a minor thing and I’m not at all upset that I’m losing my 10% commission on a 10 dollar button that I spent minimal effort designing. The one thing that does bother me however is the fact that I created that button in May and it wasn’t until someone brought it in October that I find out it’s a no-no. That seems like a really long time for something to sit on Zazzle’s site and no one noticing it. I think that with all the technological sophistication we have today, there should be way to determine if something isn’t appropriate for the site a lot sooner. Imagine how whoever brought those 60 buttons feels about not getting something that they ordered off of the site.
Back to the Drawing Board
So the grande latte I was going to splurge on will have to wait but the new items I’m designing for the gallery won’t. I still stand by my opinion that Zazzle is a good home business to express your inner designer. You’re likely not to get rich but you might have fun making your imprint on very small part of the universe (mainly the part you, your family, and your friends inhabit). Just please don’t give companies the chance to advertise for free… learn from my horrible and morally bankrupted mistakes.
Topics: Zazzle | No Comments »