Ways to Identify Whether a Business Opportunity Is a Scam (Part 2)
- Brad Crymes
- Jan 19, 2015
- 2 min read
Welcome back. Hopefully you’ve read the first post in this series.
Before we move on, a scam to me is a business transaction, where one side is cheated out of their money by using unethical practices, where the cheated has not received a reasonable product or service for their money.
Now, let’s take a detailed look at the first part of my list from Part one of this series.
The company exaggerates its product’s effectiveness – I’ve seen this a few times with different companies promoting their product. Not to call anyone out, but I’ve seen this on Site Sell’s website before. Now, wait I know I said earlier that they weren’t a scam, and they’re not.
On their site they used to talk about how using their platform and service was going to get you ranked more effectively than using WordPress Now, this may be true, but it’s only true if you are talking about using the hosted version of WordPress and not the self-hosted version (and then not in all instances). The fact is they use this example to show why you should use them instead of the competition.
The problem is that unless you were already somewhat educated about the difference in some of the solutions that were available to you for building a website business, then you would see that point as a good reason to join Site Sell.
The issue is that this is exactly what they are trying to do, and while it may be a bit deceiving, it’s not completely dishonest. It’s also not a reason to call it a scam because it shouldn’t be the sole reason for choosing to use the product. Also, if you do decide to use them, then you actually get a good product and service for the money.
On the flip side, if a company over-exaggerates their product to the point where it’s just an all out lie, and the reason that you chose the product is because it was said to do something that it really doesn’t, then you’re likely dealing with a scam.
The company over promises your potential earnings - This one would probably be number one on the list for most people. There is honestly not much to say here. Honest companies or individuals will not promise to make you large sums of money overnight, and with little effort.
It is perfectly acceptable however, for a company to list a high earning potential followed by a disclaimer that states that you are not promised to make that amount. So, the company isn’t necessarily a scam if they are stating what the potential income can look like.
In any situation or opportunity that you get into, it’s important to read the print, and realize that nothing is guaranteed.
We’ll take a look at the rest of this list in the next part of the series.
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