Avoid these on-line "Get Rich" schemes. If it is too good to be true, then it usually is.

Every day a sucker is born. This is very true, and unfortunately every minute of every day someone is taken advantage of on-line. With dreams of owning a business, having freedom to work from home, and getting rich, the lure of on-line business is very tempting. Below are some tips and advice so that you can avoid being scammed on-line and to utilize your time more efficiently.

If it sounds too good to be true, then 9 times out of 10 it is. I see so many advertisements that hook people in guaranteeing riches and freedom if they were to just buy their book, or sign up to their site. Sorry, but there is no easy fix or formula for making money on-line. It takes hard work, consistency, dedication, and a commitment much like running your own business. Nothing is easy, especially being an entrepreneur. Anyone who says otherwise does not have your best interests in mind. Stay away from the easy to get rich ads and promises.

PTC (Paid to Click) is one of the biggest schemes going. I mean really, you are paid anywhere from 1/10th of a cent to 1 cent to click and then stay on the search engine or site for 30 seconds to a minute. I thought I would get rich doing this until I realized it was taking me an hour to make $1.00 or less, thus enlightenment and a realization that I was being taken advantage of set in. Getting paid was the other thing. These PTC sites all say that "you will get paid in 30 days." I waited patiently with great anticipation for the payment that never came. Now some of these sites were ok (or claimed to be) but even working with them was a struggle. The webmasters watched everything you did, how long you stayed on the sites, if you clicked or searched. It was an uphill battle and no way to make a living. Try it if you do not believe me, you will make little or no money doing it and waste a huge amount of your time. Don't believe the PayPal statements proving payment either, this is another tactic they use to hook you in. Anything can be doctored to look real.

Paid traffic, Likes, & Followers. This is not a good way to build a following or fan base. Anything that is paid for will not engage with your brand. It will be hollow and faceless. The best way to generate traffic to your pages and sites is to do it organically offering engaging and original content. I see that there are many websites that offer 60,000 visitors to your site for $29.95 a month. Does this not sound to good to be true? It is tempting to try it once to see if it works, but I can guarantee you that you will not get an ROI on it. Stick with building your fan base the natural way and you will be better in the long run for it.

Motivational Speakers. I have been to several of these seminars and I can honestly tell you once the tingling feeling leaves you about 5 minutes after leaving, that will be the extent of what you get out of it. Much like ridding a rollercoaster ride, it is fun and exhilarating for about 20 seconds. I once went to a Zig Ziglar seminar that was highly advertised and touted as an amazing and engaging business discussion. What a waste of time that was. It was all about him and his buddies trying to sell their books and CD's. Now Zig has some good quotes, but I received nothing tangible out of the seminar at all. It was all scripted rubbish. The only person that can motivate you, is you. Paying someone $100 to listen to how they did it, and to buy their books and CDs is no way to motivate you. Focus on your goals, aspirations, dreams, and what you want to achieve and I can guarantee this will go farther for you.

Paid to share Videos. This is a newer scheme as YouTube and the various video sharing platforms have gotten more popular. I came across of few of these sites and I decided to try them. A sucker was "re-born." $0.10-$0.20 was paid for just sharing a video via your Facebook or Twitter pages. I thought that sounds easy enough. I watched the videos, then I posted with comments. I did my job and thought I will be reimbursed for it. Wrong. The site was fully monetized and to upgrade to get
paid at higher levels you had to pay them first. What a scheme it was. So you paid $5.00 to get paid $10.00 and $10 to get paid $20. And it was all about paying to get to higher levels of payout. My videos were shared and I saw that they were being clicked many times. My account didn't change at all after sharing videos, this despite the site claiming great riches once the videos are shared multiple times. I went to an online discussion forum that discusses which PTC and PTS sites are honest and valid. I found that this particular site was a total scam. There was the usual one person on their who claimed that it was an amazing site that paid well and was not a scam. I asked them for proof of payment then never heard from them again. Stay away from these sites!

You can run an on-line business, but its not easy. Sorry but that is the truth. You will not get rich quickly either. For 10 years I have been looking for ways to run a successful business via the internet. What I have found is that you need to be honest, original, real, engaged, and consistent. Much like in your F2F life, your digital on-line persona needs to exert positive character traits. You can do it, but it will take time and great efforts. Avoid the get rich quick schemes and sites and focus on building your personal and business brand the natural and holistic way.