Did you know….

There were 565.7 million Internet users worldwide at the end of 2005, and there were 633.6 million at the end of 2006. This amounts to 67.9 million per year, or 5.66 million per month (in 2006). That’s 189,000 per day, 7,875 per hour, 131.25 per minute, or 2.2 new internet users every second of the day worldwide, translating to a new Internet user going online every .45 seconds this year. This is great news, but unfortunately this opportunity will also attract scam artists According to Forrester Research 2007 Market Projections say E-Commerce will produce $10 Trillion. Unfortunately this explosion of opportunity will also bring in people who will try to run scams.

Everyday Yahoo, AOL and MSN filter over 90 percent of all email sent because it is considered spam or a scam. Unfortunately if you are looking to start a online business you will quickly learn that the same statistics apply to that industry. In Newsweek December 1999 issue the cover story was “In the Internet age, the GREATEST risk is being left behind." If that was the case in 1999 it is even more so today.

With the massive growth of opportunities online and the increase in people who will try to run scams also trying to make money online how do you get started and avoid the scams?

Here are some general rules to follow:

If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is! Granted, there are legitimate money making programs out there, but there are also a large number of over hyped, over promising, under delivering scams too. A key indicator of a scam is the promise of big returns for no work.

Be mindfullof programs or sales pitches that use a hard sell to get you to sign up right away. Take your time to think about opportunities. If you do find a program that intrigues you, do yourself a favour and check it out first. Sign up to their newsletter to see if you like the way they do business, see if they explain how to make money with their program and have a good look around their site.

Reputation is a key indicator of a good online company. Try to find at least 3 positive and negative reviews on the program. All companies will have negative reviews. When you read a negative review make sure to read between the lines to see if the person giving the negative review really tried the program or is simply disappointed because they expected returns for no work. Positive reviews need to be watched as well. Often a company will post positive reviews about itself so if you see the same things being said by different people question why.

Make sure there is an out. Before you sign ANYTHING, find out what the procedure is to withdraw if you change your mind and what, if anything, it will cost you. If you have to pay start-up fees, pay with a credit card rather than cash or check. Knowing what the withdraw policy is before you join you will know that you can walk away without damages.Read the fine print before you sign anything. If you don’t understand an agreement, have a lawyer or an accountant review it before signing.

Going through all of this and then some can be a challenging task. A short cut is often to find a reputable work at home directory website that does the work for you and lists various types of opportunities for you to chose from.

Once you find a companies that you feel is your golden ticket work it hard and take advantage of this incredible time of history.

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