DEATH to Old School Home Based Business Practices - Avoiding The Bully (Shark) Marketer

It is exciting to make big money working from home. Very few actually do though for numerous reasons, and this article series is devoted to revealing why few succeed, how those that do succeed accomplish their success, and what you can expect if you really want to find success working from home.

Back to the sharks. When you get your returned phone call(s), you have no idea is calling you. But be sure of one thing, they are doing it in the hope of getting paid. Nothing wrong with getting paid, but not everyone conducts business with the same ethical standards. In fact there are way too many individuals in the industry that will tell you whatever they think you want to hear to get you to move forward with their business.

The process is simple - they call you - tell you how busy they are - then give you some websites to go see and a conference call to attend. Easy enough, anyone can learn to do that right? Then they insist that they are professionals, insist that you be the same and be at either of a couple of choices of "appointments" with them to get your questions answered. You agree on a time and then you are off to do your research.

So you go to that call, check out the website - everything looks so good, but as a normal person you have some questions; and you should. You are about to make a decision that is important, and your time and energy is the #1 resource you are risking, not the money. Money is replaceable. Your time and your emotional state and health is not.

You are really interested so you keep your follow up appointment with what seems like your harmless tour guide.. You have so many questions, and you are excited. Here's where you can be vulnerable to the seasoned professional you are about to meet. You are about to be 3-wayed to someone that has more experience at "closing". They intend to "close" you, which means, have you pull out your credit card or you get sent to the bank to get certified funds.

Meanwhile you are thinking you are just trying to get questions answered so you can consider your options.

The call comes as scheduled, the person that you first spoke with then tells you they are new to the business (in most cases) or says that they want to show you what kind of up line support you are going to get when you join, "so if you don't mind, I'd like to bring in John Hammerhead into the conversation. He's a great guy, a lot of fun to work with, and very successful. He's teaching me the ins and outs of this business, and will be teaching you".

Now in your mind something is a bit amiss right? The yellow caution light is flashing in your mind, and your original contact person can sense new resistance developing in you; and he/she should. You built rapport with that first person that called you. You wanted to speak with them more, and now here comes someone you don't know. You are about to experience the home based business shark bite.

Of course John Hammerhead is very busy so as you ask questions, he gives you short answers, and says "don't worry - you'll learn all of that when you get started". Get started you are thinking? I'm just still learning about all of this home business stuff, your brain shouts at you.

Then it happens, John Hammerhead goes for the "BITE" (close) - "well let's get you started?"

If John Hammerhead has done his job, all along the way, he has painted the picture that this is easy, just follow the "SYSTEM", and we'll be here to help all along the way.

Meanwhile you have not had enough time to Google the company or research any other businesses. You are not ready ... John Hammerhead is ready and expects you to be too because " he's looking for decisive people". Who is this all about anyway? It's about you, your life, your goals, your dreams - not John Hammerhead.

For so many people that is the first experience, you pull out your credit card and go to the website and sign up. You just signed up for your first home based business. It will probably not be your last.

At the end of the call you are congratulated for being decisive and committed to your future, etc. Meanwhile, John Hammerhead just bit a chuck out of your checking account. And you can be guaranteed that, if you enrolled in your home business this way, then you will almost certainly regret it at some point, and write it off as lesson 1 at some point in your not to distant future.

My first experience at learning about home business was from watching a TV commercial late at night. I went to the website, put my information in, and almost immediately my phone rang. People from about 8 different companies called me. I connected with one particular guy that seemed honest enough.

I had very specific criteria. No selling to friends and family and drop ship completely from Internet ordering were the headlines. Jim the "Vitamin salesman" was not resonating with me, but I figured IF it was totally turnkey online, it would just be another stream of income. After all, people buy lots of vitamins.

Jack Greatwhite just kept saying yes. I went to their call. Everyone was making all this money, it sounded great. When Jack Greatwhite called me back, he already had Bill Thebullshark on the phone with him. I was instantly in a 2 on 1. I re-capped my criteria, and told them that if everything I heard was true I was in. They said yes again. I ordered the "IPB decision kit" for $500. They got me to go ahead and signup for the marketing system, for a year (big mistake), but I felt these guys were being honest with me.

When I got my kit, the first thing I did was read the "manual" that came with it (very unusual for me), but I wanted to see their marketing model. And there is it was, on page 3 "circle of Influence", friends and family, blah, blah, blah. Right about the time I finished reading the manual, I was packing up everything to ship back, and Jack Greatwhite just happened to call. I questioned him on the "drop ship" program and then he said I needed to either sell X dollars in product first (of course by having them all shipped to my house first) for a couple of thousand dollars, or buy my way in at a higher level.

I confronted him, and essentially politely called him a liar. He back peddled and got Bill Thebullshark back on the phone, and they settled me down a little bit. At the time I didn't realize they were trying to get me past the 72 hour period with which I could get a refund (which they successfully did).

A week later, I called to cancel everything, request my refund (that's when I found out that the 10 day period began when I put my credit card in the website, not when I received my product evaluation kit. It was now day 11. I wanted a refund on the marketing system. Of course I had clicked on an agreement that said it was non-refundable. So it was a $750 lesson and introduction into the world of the dangerous shark infested waters of MLM. One year later the old wound was opened and salted when the company that provides that company's marketing system started charging my credit card without my permission. After an hour or so of my time on the phone, I finally got the charges reversed. Unbelievable.

Are all people in network marketing and home based business sharks and pilferers? Absolutely not. In fact, when 4 months later I looked again after responding to what I thought was a job ad in the newspaper. I saw the sharks coming and got back in the boat fast.

This whole exercise though led me to find a business that was legitimate, and I was able to do very well at. But I swore to myself on day 1 that if I ever had to resort to those tactics to make money, I would quit the business. (which I did in February 2007).

The best advice is take your time looking, don't let a seasoned "Networker" (shark) bully you or make you feel inadequate because you want to "think" about a particular business. Thinking about it is exactly what you should do along with some Serious Due Diligence (Research). How to go about this is the subject of another article.

I was taken advantage of because at the time I was moving "away" from a situation, and everything sounded better than where I was. By the time I picked my right business, I was moving "towards" a goal, and therefore no one was able to push or bully me.

Either you or someone you know has been the victim of a GUMP (Good Unsuspecting Money People) hunter in MLM or direct sales, creating much of the negative view of the industry.

Some network marketing, direct sales, MLM companies or other home based business opportunities in many cases have tremendous value propositions. Most do not, and they are populated with lots of hungry sharks.

Jim Rivas spent 17 years owning traditional businesses, selling big ticket technology solution products to Fortune 500 Companies before bursting on the Home Business Scene in late 2004. He has the secrets to 7 Figures per year? Jim can show you how too. Check out http://www.JimRivas.com.