Be Careful Answering Work-At-Home Ads

I received an email on my OFP account, this weekend:

From: [removed email address to protect privacy]
To: [see Orange Frog Productions or leave a comment here]
Sent: Saturday, September 22, 2007 3:41 PM
Subject: Incomeathome.com

I heard a commercial on Sirius Satellite radio about something called "incomeathome.com". Have you heard of it and do you know if it is another scam?

Greg, NY

Now, I don't normally reply to requests like this, because it doesn't have to do specifically with a page on my site. But, because I DO have a Scams page dealing with Work-At-Home scams, because I've seen so many commercials on TV for Work-at-Home jobs, and there are so many ads in other media, I "took a quick look", and replied:

from BBBOnline.org

Online Business Systems
http://www.incomeathome.com/
www.theonlinebusiness.com/contact.php

GlobalNet Marketing Solutions, Inc. is an advertising company that sells
Herbalife products and utilizes Online Business Systems as a marketing tool

The business appears to be based on an Amway/Quixtar model, and since the original founders of Amway have retired or died, Amway seems to be more interested in selling the business than their products, which makes them more of a pyramid scheme.

Amway PRODUCTS used to be very good products (and I assume still are). It is and was possible for entrepreneurs to make money (though, from my understanding and experience, not in the amount always dangled in front of distributors). It's also a way to learn about the complexities of business.

As with many other distributorships and in-home sales opps (Mary Kay, Amway, Quixtar, Avon come to mind), it depends on a number of things how much money you can make:

• how many friends you have
• how willing you are to sell them product and the business
• how willing the friends are to refer you to their other friends
• how outgoing and how good of a salesman you are (to recruit and sell to non-friends)
• etc.

The costs of joining are noramlly relatively inexpensive. The cost of seminars promoting the business aspect are also not normally too expensive, compared to many others. However, those costs can add up quickly. The seminars are meant to keep you "pumped up" to keep selling, and to attempt to achieve what the speakers have. And the speakers are GOOD and motivational.

However, in my own and my parents' experiences with Amway, many years ago, while becoming a distributor means you can buy product at reduced cost (and the product almost always costs more than a comparable product would in a retail store), and this seems to be the only way you can GET the product for that price, that's not really a good reason to join.

Be VERY CAREFUL with any work-at-home offers. If it comes in spam emails, ignore them. If it's advertised on TV/Radio, in newspapers, magazines, on the internet, or any other media, search the internet for them. (Go to Google, and enter the name of the company in quotes, or their website) before signing up for anything associated.

Pay attention to scam and rip-off reports. While they may be disgruntled associates, former employees, etc., they also may give you an indication of what you may have to deal with. Read OFPv2 - Scams - Work-at-Home Scams Home and its links.

For more information, check out OFPv2 - Scams Home, OFPv2 - Shams (Infomercial Info) Home and OFPv2 - Shams - Business Opps Home and their links.

Bill Sanders

PS: I am going to post this on my blog (Me, Myself and I, not OFP), to help warn others. I will remove your email address.

A lot of the information provided was from personal experience and the links I suggested Greg read are to pages on my main site. However, for more about this specific ... "opportunity", check out the Google search results for incomeathome.com, yourself.

I hope this helps others looking for Work-at-Home businesses.

-wds

Scam Alert

I've published a new page on OFP related to some emails I received yesterday. They contained the subjects

You've received a greetingecard from a Neighbor!
You've received a postcard from a School mate!

Note that neither mention a name, which is one of the warning signs. See my experience, full examples, and a link to a Scam Alert about these at OFPv2/Scams - Malware Email Examples #009-011.

I've also added some correspondence I had about my OFPv2/Shams - NRPI page, and sent a letter to the editors of the Lebanon, Indiana Reporter and Indianapolis Star newspapers concerning the cemteries article I mentioned last week.

Other than that, I've been researching the William J (or G) Laughner family in Tennessee and Boone County, having problems finding them in 1850 (they're supposed to be in Boone County). They seem to tie a lot of my peripheral families together.

Sports, Politics, Etc.

Sports

We spent the day watching the Colts and NASCAR (two TVs going at the same time...) And I have a few observations:

Colts Win

The Indianapolis Colts beat the Tennessee Titans, 14-13. Why is it that everyone is making such a big deal of "the winless Titans" almost beating "the undefeated Colts"? On any given day, any NFL team, from the ones with the worst records to the ones with the best can win. This means that one team has to lose. Duh! Why can't anyone remember, in one of the Indianapolis Colts' worst seasons, in the 80s, (I always remembered it as the ONLY game they won, but they may have won a couple of others... Thought it was the Dolphins they beat, and they were after another undefeated season...), must have been in early-mid November, they beat a team that was undefeated to that point. (At least that's the way I remember it!) It can happen... And, as was proved last year, they can't "sit back" and "rest on their laurals(sp?), assuming they can beat teams having a tough time, and they can't "let the starters rest" in the final games of a season. They need to keep the momentum going for the finals. (I'll stop there... Don't wanna jinx anything!)

NASCAR

Talladega, October 8, 2006 - Dale Earnhardt Jr is leading in the last few laps. Jimmy Johnson and Brian Vickers (teammates) are directly behind, with Johnson waiting for the last (white flag) lap to get a run and try to pass Jr. The white flag falls... Johnson drops back to get the run, Vickers still behind him... They take off, Johnson drops below Jr, is about half-way past, and Vickers follows. But he was moving faster than Johnson by just that tick, taps Johnson's back end as he gets behind, which turns Johnson up into Jr's door, and wrecks them both. Vickers goes on to win.

My wife almost screamed out "He did that on purpose!", though you could see by the replays that it didn't appear to be so. She kept saying "Jr better be the winner!", though it was obvious that that was not going to be the case. Even Jr said nothing looked "purposeful" in the replay. Johnson, on the other hand, without seeing the replay, pretty much put the blame on Vickers, saying, without actually saying it, that he'd done it on purpose. I guess this will be up to NASCAR to figure out, but, again, it didn't happen at the finish line, so there's no way that Earnhardt or Johnson will be scored the winner.

Oh... Another "friendly arguement" I have with my wife has to do with certain other drivers. (I don't root for ONE driver... I root for a few, usually Stewart, Jr, and Jeff Gordon - probably because no one else likes him (I always like the underdog!)) What's strange is the illogic of TRUE NASCAR fans! (Apparently, I'm not one, because I see logic in a lot of places others don't.) Here's the point: If Jeff Gordon says anything in interviews about ANY favored driver (especially Jr!), my wife says he's whining. Where, if Jr says exactly the same thing about ANY other driver, he's NOT whining. What's the difference? Jr has a Southern accent, and Gordon's speech is nasally (therefore "whiney" to some). Hell, I even understand the fanaticism of race drivers.

I used to watch Wild World of Sports and loved the "Stock Car Races". I knew some of the drivers' names, and watched them go. I loved Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt (Sr), and others. Was I "fanatical" about it? No, but I did enjoy it, and usually decided sometime at the beginning of the race who I would root for. SOME fans, obviously, love THEIR drivers. I wish I could get that deep into it, but to me, it was just "fun". Now, it's even more "fun" to watch the race. My wife is a die-hard Earnhardt fan. She works nights, so tends to fall asleep during races, but if Jr's in the lead (or near) WATCH OUT!

The thing today? See, when Jeff (Gordon) went out of the race in a wreck (not caused by what he was complaining about), he said the "bump drafting" (where one car goes nose-to-tail with the car in front, literally "bumping" him forward, or raising the rear tires slightly off the pavement, where the lead car loses traction - sometimes causing a wreck, depending on where it happens), especially by JR (OMG!), which NASCAR said it was going to watch carefully, was really bad. My wife immediately goes "WAH! WAH WAH! Such a baby"... I kept trying to point out that if Jr said the same thing, she wouldn't have said that... She said "Jr never would"... BS! I've seen it with my own eyes! Everyone, but Jr, drives dirty, and everyone but Jr (and a few of the older drivers) is a baby! See the "logic" in this? I don't! GEEZE! (We were both grinning about the "arguements" we were making, so, no... no worries about that, but she was pretty adamant! LOL)

Politics

Oh, gawd! They're at it again... If you didn't know it, this is an election year (and if you don't, you need to get off the internet and watch TV more! ;-)

It seemed to start fairly nicely... Local prosecutor wanna-be put an ad on TV asking for your vote. Nothing negative there. Then (I can't remember who started it) one of them pointed out the other's record, then one pointed out the other's record (or lack thereof), and it's off to the races.

I understand. The saying is "If you can't find something nice to say about someone, don't say anything." However, in Politics, it's "If you can't find dirt on someone (or make some up) you will lose." The "make some up" part is not strictly true. They find ANYTHING they can make negative comments about and put it on. No wonder people don't want to be politicians any more... Even if you make it, you are up for more and more and more scrutiny. There aren't a lot of people out there that want EVERYTHING in their past (from when they were about 12 or so on) detailed in public! Even if it built their values to be those others would respect.

BTW: Various political ads report the opponent voted AGAINST various legislation apparently desired by those who would vote for that person. Think about this: MANY, MANY times, desirable legislation is added to - usually items that favor one small area (as in "pork barrel" projects) - and the only way to keep the "pork" out is to vote against the desirable legislation. Who knows? It COULD even be a strategy of certain parties (individuals or the whole group) to add this "pork" in, knowing certain congressmen will vote against it, thereby giving them "fodder" for these political ads. By the same token, if the desirable legislation is voted FOR by the opponent, THEN they could say they voted FOR various pork barrel projects.

Politics is a nasty business. Actually, politics, itself, may not be nasty, but the tactics used in political ads DEFINITELY is.

Other Stuff

Bad Ads

Some of the ones previously discussed are still out there (or trotted out for occassional play). Thank GOD it's not as often as before. There are others... I can't think of them at the moment... Apparently, I just "put them out of my head" as soon as I see them. (Defeats the purpose, doesn't it!)

Infomercials

Looks like a new crop of infomercials have arrived at Discovery and History Channels. Some are new versions for many I've already researched at www.orangefrogproductions.com (Scams, Shams and More Flim-Flams button.) Some are new things. Soon as I get the following up and running CORRECTLY, I will have to get on to researching them.

Orange Frog Productions

Version 2 will be out soon. I have not made major changes to OFP since it went up in 2003. This revamping will (hopefully):

• I am dividing it into three logical sections - Main; Owner; and Scams, Shams and More Flim-Flams (scams = various types of scams, shams = Infomercials, Flim-Flams = Rumors = Trivia lists, Urban Legends, etc.; and it includes information on Spam.) There are probably other ways that I SHOULD have done it, but it works for me, for now.
• I am making it more "accessible" (the print is designed to enlarge - or shrink - if you wish) - The sidebar buttons will currently overlap the content area, but it will work.
• I am adding buttons to all external links, allowing users to open that link in the current or a new window)
• I am adding definitions (glossary entries and tool tips)
• The background is a bit lighter, so the contrast will make it easier to read
• I'm trying to be more careful, so it works in both IE and Firefox. I know there are other browsers out there, but they seem to follow the lead of those two. I've already found and fixed some things. Hopefully there are few others. Most have had to do with the styles used to format things.

While it's not completely done, I believe it's ready to debut as OFP's main site. I have also included a Sitemap for the new site, and a Sitemap from the old site that links to the new pages.

A little more work (want to use Google Sitemap to let Google know there are changes, and have to make sure the old links will go to new pages via .htaccess file), and I will republish the site.

Keep an eye on it. www.orangefrogproductions.com. The new version is currently at www.orangefrogproductions.com/ofp2/index.html, but will be moved "down", soon. Let me know what you think.

That should do it for now.

TTYL

BigDaddyBS (Bill S)