a rundown on "work at home" opportunities....
Jun 11 '01
The Bottom Line Buyer Beware..... this is a listing and explanation of some of the "get rich quick" schemes out there....
ok, first a disclaimer... I do NOT have thousands of dollars to invest in a franchise, or for mail-order inventory, or to invest in the stock market. I am not a computer genius, but I do know how to use computers. I just wanted to work from home, and actually FIND something that I could do, to make an honest decent living.
And I tried so many "opportunities" -
Earn thou$and$ stuffing envelopes from your home!
Yes, I did sign up for this one - everyone has seen the ads, they are put in the backs of magazines and newspapers like the Enquirer and Star. (THAT should have been my first clue)
And there IS no "fine print" in the ads - if there were, it would say something like - - Earn thou$and$ stuffing envelopes from your home! (fine print) You buy the envelopes, and postage, and then pay to print copies of our flyers, then mail them to people whose names you buy from mailing list companies. IF those people buy the items advertised (those items ran from $3.00 - $15.00), you receive a percentage of the transaction.
In the mid-80's when I did this, the return rate for direct mail was about 4 - 5 % - that means if I mailed 100 pieces of mail, maybe 4 or 5 people would respond - - and maybe spending an average of $7.00 each....
THIS is how I'm supposed to make thousands a week? ouch.....
and the return rate now is less than 1/2 of 1%.
Companies pay you $$ to make crafts, jewelry, baby items from home!
There are actually lots of companies who do this - every item you submit is first checked to see if it meets their standards - then you are paid. You do have to buy your own materials, and pay for the shipping. While this might actually be kind of fun, it did not seem to provide me with enough means to actually support anyone, and at the time, I didn't even own a sewing machine...
THIS is NOT a chain letter.....
Send $1.00 to the six people on the list, then remove the top name, and insert your name in the #6 spot, and send copies of this letter to 100 people. Then just sit back and wait for the money to roll in. According to the letter, even in an extremely depressed economy, you will receive 4 - 5 responses (and $4-$5, of course) from that first hundred. (HOWEVER, see comment above) - and these 4 or 5 people are also sending a hundred letters, and you will receive the residual $1.00 from each of the 4 or 5 that respond to THOSE letters...etc, etc, etc....while your name moves up the list - - until your name is in the #1 spot, and you will be receiving approximately $800,000. CASH.
I could hardly resist this one -so I tried it. I decided to send out 200 copies! It cost me $113.00
I ordered 200 names of "opportunity seekers" as the letter recommended ($15.00)
I bought the envelopes ($4.50)
I made 200 copies of the letter ($ 19.50)
and 200 stamps ($68.00)
and I sent a dollar to each of the six people on the list ($6.00)
and I waited - it's been 3 years, and 4 months now.....I'm still waiting.....
I tried others, but won't even bore you with the details - my husband was sympathetic, and understanding, but also a little leery of my enthusiasm everytime I would suggest another "sure-fire" way to add some money to the budget, and still get to stay at home with my kids, now almost teenagers.
I almost became discouraged - so I went back to work at a "real" job - still looking, still convinced that there just HAD to be a way to work from home, and make good money. I have a disability, that prevents me from bending to pick up anything lower than my waist, so a daycare seemed out of the question.
what I really hoped to work at, most of all, was something on my computer....?....whatever that might be - or on the phones - I really did enjoy phone work, I had worked at Citibank, and done some telemarketing for the Juvenile Diabetes Assoc., and really liked talking to people on the phone - it didn't bother me to try to ask for money for a worthy cause, and while at Citibank, I had been a billing dispute and fraud specialist - listening to complaints and handling angry customers all day - that didn't bother me either.....
BUT, those two companies didn't hire people to work from home.....
and then one night, just browsing, I finally turned to my computer, and started searching for things there - after all, I did want to work from my home computer, right? There are surely lots of places out there who are looking for and would want a hard-working person - and all I wanted, was not to have to drive in to work every day! *smile*
And so.....the "saga" continues, and I will give updates as they become available.....I hope that my words can help someone avoid the traps that are out there....the traps that only seem to snag the people who really want to work hard, and better themselves.....
take care, thanks for reading - any other ideas or comments, please add them - I appreciate your time.
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pansy4agirl
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Location: warm and sunny Arizona
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Life is an adventure....not a guided tour
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