(FinancialHealth.net) – Struggling to make ends meet with one job? Like many Americans, you may have discovered that the days of working a single job for your entire life seem to have come and gone. In today’s gig-based economy, many people work a never-ending roulette of jobs throughout their lives, bouncing from company to company or even choosing to start their own businesses. That’s led to an entire industry of “work from home” jobs — some of which happen to be more or less scams. Before embarking on your new money-making empire, read through this article so you can avoid problems before they happen.
Surveys
At first glance, surveys seem like a fun way to make money. Log in, tell people what you think, get paid. What’s so bad about that? The answer isn’t in what you’re doing, but rather in your hourly rate. Getting paid $3 for a 20-minute survey is fine until that’s all you’re doing and you’re only making $9 an hour. There are simply much better ways to make money if you’re going to be online anyway. Don’t rely on surveys for regular income alone. It’s hard to predict when they’ll pop up and you could go months between requests. That doesn’t mean you can’t fill them out at all; just make them an occasional add-on instead. Fill out only the surveys that equal out to a decent hourly rate and skip anything cheaper whenever possible.
Tasking
This is a segue from the last entry; tasking, also known as crowdsourced micro-tasks, referring to website platforms that specifically farm out micro-tasks to people. Tasks are generally extremely small, low-paying, and simple in nature. They may involve verifying that pictures aren’t offensive or writing a small snippet for a website. Unfortunately, most platforms pay extremely poor rates— like cents-on-the-dollar range — taking up far more time than they’re worth. Even worse, tasks can be rejected at the whim of the requester, potentially leaving you with no pay at all.
Multi-Level Marketing
Multilevel marketing (MLM) refers to a marketing program that closely mimics pyramid schemes with a few subtle differences. Both rely on each tier of workers reselling the idea of becoming a salesperson to others; the more people you sign up, the more money you make. It seems sound at first glance, but quickly results in market over-saturation — leaving you, the salesperson, struggling to compete with the other 20 people selling in your area.
Very few people are ever able to make MLM programs like Younique, Mary Kay, Avon, and It Works! effective. For most, money comes in a little at a time if they’re lucky. Others struggle to sell after the programs gain a bad reputation for being pushy or even directly lying about the benefits of products. The MLM community is pockmarked by scammers who will try to take advantage of you, and you’ll have to fight that reputation in order to get established.
That said, some people have found certain MLM programs effective with hard work and dedication. Tupperware, for example, seems to have a better reputation and history, though you should approach it like any other sales position if you want to succeed.
In truth, there is an exception to every rule. If you do choose to work with one of these programs, do as you would with any job and take it seriously — giving it your all. Some people have natural sales abilities or may even work better in short time increments, making MLM or micro-tasks a perfect fit for them. Just be sure to have a plan with set goals and make it a mission to learn all you can, while you can. Even though these aren’t always lucrative positions, they can be great back-up plans for a financial emergency or the driving force behind a savings account that doesn’t take away from your normal income.
~Here’s to Your Financial Health!
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