Buyer Beware In The Home Business Market

Remember the old Rocky and Bullwinkle show where every episode had two titles? The title for this article might well be "Buyer Beware or Investigate Before You Invest." (I know, there is supposed to be a pun, but . . . )

We have all heard both phrases so often we go yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever, and then blow them off and ignore what they are trying to tell us. That's often a big mistake on our part. If we do even the simplest of investigations, we could save ourselves a lot of grief, embarrassment, and heartache, not to mention money.

Let me give you a case in point. I won't give you the name of the business advertised because I don't want to give this guy any more publicity. But I will tell you some of what he did and how you could have discovered it for yourselves.

This guy came up with an idea, built a simple (but long) wordy pitch page on which you are made to feel like you have to act RIGHT NOW or lose out forever, registered his domain on the internet, and put up a website. That act RIGHT NOW or lose out forever approach is a big red flag in and of itself. If it won't be around tomorrow or won't be a good deal tomorrow, you should be v-e-r-y wary of it today.

But back to our guy. So far so good. Then he signed up with Clickbank, and is still selling his product as I write this, using affiliates to do the legwork, splitting the profits. That's also OK.

So what's the big deal?

Remember the old TV show The Munsters? Their fictional address was

1313 Mockingbird Lane
Mockingbird Heights, USA

As things would have it, the address this guy gave when he registered his website was . . . . .

1313 Mockingbird Lane
Beverly Hills CA 90210

That address does not even exist!

Why, oh why, oh why would anybody plunk down their hard-earned money, in this case month after month after month because he strings you along with a monthly subscription, to anybody that gives that kind of bogus information when they register a web site? It's like he is making fun of you for being so stupid! Do you REALLY want to do business with somebody who thinks that of you?

So how do you go about checking out such obvious attempts to avoid being located?

To check on where a business is located - or claims to be located, enter the domain name here: http://www.networksolutions.com/whois/index.jsp . You can see if the web site was registered years ago, meaning they business has been around for awhile, or only registered last week. You can also see if it was registered for several years, meaning they intend to be around awhile, or only for one year which MIGHT mean they intend to take the money and run.

Don't be too quick to make snap judgments on this information. This guy has been around awhile. That doesn't necessarily mean he's honest and legit. It could mean he's just a chameleon, always changing his colors and sales pitch. Also, realize that moms doing business from home might not want to put their family at risk by posting their home address on the internet. The web site may list a post office box as the business address. Play that one by ear. Also, the web site may be registered for a short period of time rather than ten years because the business is just starting out and money is tight. Play that situation by ear as well. A mom starting a home business is going to be totally different than a guy full of hot air trying to make you believe he is a Madison Avenue big shot.

To see if the given business address even exists, go to the USPS web site and attempt to look up the ZIP Code: http://zip4.usps.com/zip4/welcome.jsp .

Type the address into Google and use the map feature. This is a great way to tell if the address is the mansion the webmaster wants you to believe it is, a private mailbox place in a suburban strip mall, or if is a dilapidated dump on the wrong side of the tracks.

Is there a phone number? Does it match up with the address? Again, use Google or Whitepages.com.

We all want to be able to make life a bit easier by having a bit more money. Don’t let that desire overtake your common sense. God gave you a brain and He expects you to use it.

"Buyer Beware or Investigate Before You Invest."