Home Based Business: Three Crucial Things To Avoid If You Want To Succeed

By: Daniel ‘BizzBooster’ St-Jean

My assumption is that you’re reading this article because you’re looking for a way to change (some would use the word ’escape’) your current situation. Boring job, glass ceiling, stupid boss, office politics, no time for the family, credit card debt, second mortgage, no money for a much needed (or wanted) new car or vacation.

The bad news is that anything good and exciting (like the Gold Rush of the Old West, or the current one on the Internet) will attract the snake oil merchants of the world who are looking to cash in by taking advantage of people who are fool enough to believe their claims. “A fool and his money are soon parted,” and sadly, too many people these days part with their hard-earned money by falling prey to unscrupulous Internet predators.

What I’m going to share with you now are three crucial things to avoid in a home based business opportunity IF you want to find a good one, a legitimate one, one you will be proud of, one that will be straightforward and relatively simple to build, one that will change your life for the better, forever. These are three of the “secrets” that the snake oil vendors don’t want you to know.

1. AVOID bad marketing strategies
You want to make sure the team you are working with has a real marketing strategy in place that anyone can duplicate - a foolproof system that ANYONE can plug into and get results with. If you have to figure out how to generate your own leads or if the company relies mostly on you recruiting family members or friends (or strangers using the three-foot rule) or on purchased leads or newspaper advertising, RUN. RUN FAST! If you don’t have a reliable way of getting quality prospects in front of what you are offering you cannot be successful long term.

Really good marketing strategies that actually are proven to work are difficult to find. This is usually the weak link in many home based business opportunities. So look closely.

2. AVOID the pass-up sales deals
Make sure you don’t have to pass up any sales as part of a qualification system. You should be in a money-making position from day one. This is critical. Every time you make a sale you should be able to earn a profit - right out of the gate! That's an important element that will help you build a successful home business.

The problem with the pass-up sales deals is this: you start by spending, for example, $1,500 to get in the business (possibly charged to one of your credit cards). Then you spend the next two, three, four weeks working your butt off to market the opportunity, and you disburse another $500 to $800 on marketing. Then you finally find someone who wants to start and you have to pass him up to your sponsor. You’re now $2,300 deeper in debt and you have not made a penny yet.

Chances are you might end up spending another thousand or two before you FINALLY sign up your own first associate and make your first commission. Unfortunately, many people will give up before that happens, and they will retreat with their tail between their legs (and a huge credit card bill) while their sponsor (who did not spend a penny on marketing to make those two or three sales) laughs all the way to the bank.

3. AVOID convoluted compensation plans
Three things to watch out for:
Watch out for compensation plans that are so complex they require that you fill five place mats at the restaurant with circles and arrows to try and explain to your befuddled prospect how he will / might get paid… someday… maybe…

Watch out for plans that require “X” number of points, or credits, or XBVYZs (or any other combination of letters no one can remember or explain) to qualify for your check. As the ex-president of an MLM company told me recently, those plans are designed so that most distributors won’t qualify and the money will either roll up to the “leaders” (which explains why THEY make so much money) or it will not be paid to anyone, helping the company make astronomical profits.

Watch out for plans where it takes 1,000 people under you to make a decent monthly income. That makes it very hard, if not impossible, to build a successful home business.

Going back to the lotions, potions and miracle juices companies, another problem with those opportunities is that they only pay about 2% to 15% so many levels deep. They will tell you that when you fill the matrix, you won’t have to do anything and you’ll be making $20k to $40k a month. The truth is there are so many loopholes to their compensation plans that nobody ever reaches those levels. You either will have too many people on your left, but not enough on your right side to earn the higher level payouts. They tell you that you need more personal volume but your group volume is fine, or vice versa. Or my favorite, you had “fallout” this month, so you no longer qualify for that car bonus they promised you.

[There are actually 10 things you should really avoid if you want to succeed with a home business. You can find out about the other seven (including ‘soap boxing’, front-end loading and non-responsive sponsors) by going to the web site in the resource box below. You will find there many informative articles on how to choose a good income opportunity and how to build one into a successful work at home business.]

In conclusion, think of the Internet as the Wild West of the nineteenth century. There are some really good opportunities out there in cyberspace, BUT unfortunately there are also a lot of snake oil merchants. Do your due diligence and you will find a legitimate home based business that over time will allow you to earn a solid residual income from the comfort of your home, and finally live the lifestyle that you and your loved ones desire and deserve. It CAN be done; we (my wife and I) are living proof of that.

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All About Credit Scores

By: David Green, Jr.

Your credit scores affect you more than you may think!

When you are looking to purchase a home a good credit score can save you tons of money both initially as well as long term. Many lenders have reduced closing costs, lower down payments and lower interest rates for people with high credit scores. Folks with lower credit scores may have a hard time qualifying for a mortgage loan, are often only offered adjustable rate mortgages, and have to go through a much longer process to be qualified for a loan.

For automobiles and other big ticket items, a higher score will give you lower interest rates and save you tons of money over the course of the loan. For instance, an auto loan for a borrower with good credit may only carry an interest rate of 5-6% APR. A loan for the same car for a borrower with bad credit may carry an interest rate of 13-15% APR or more.

Many companies are now using your credit for things other than purchases. Some car insurance companies are basing your monthly premium partially on your credit score - the lower your score, the higher your premium. It is becoming more and more common for large corporations to use your credit score as a hiring factor.

Credit scores range in number between 300 and 850. The higher your number score the better off you are. To keep your scores high, always pay your bills on time and pay down the total amount you owe.

Always check your credit scores with all three bureaus at least annually. No one is perfect and that includes credit bureaus. There are three major credit bureaus - Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. The three bureaus are completely separate entities and do not share information. If you find an error on your credit report that adversely effects your score, you have the right under federal law to challenge that item on your report. The credit bureau has 30 days to decide whether that item should be removed. If a credit bureau refuses to correct a mistake, you can sue.

Be sure to get copies of your credit report and inspect them for errors at least 5-6 months before you plan on applying for a home loan. Many times, an error can take months to clear up and you need to have a clean report with the highest scores possible before applying for your loan.

What is a Reverse
Mortgage Loan?

By: Jayson N

The term ‘reverse mortgage loan’ is not particularly descriptive of the kind of financing involved. It implies that the homeowner is lending money to the mortgage company.

With a traditional mortgage, the usual pattern works like this: the total price of a property is $100,000. Of this amount, let’s say $10,000 (10%) is put down by the prospective homeowner - the other $90,000 is supplied by a bank or other financial institution. Then, over a period of 15 to 40 years (depending on the loan term), the homeowner pays back the $90,000 in regular monthly payments including interest.

With a reverse home loan, an owner with equity in their home or who has paid off their existing mortgage, requests a cash sum from a lending institution. The big difference from a regular mortgage is that there are no monthly payments involved. In fact, there are no payments during the homeowner’s lifetime; the total loan amount is paid back only upon the death of the homeowner. This amount will also include interest accrued over the lifetime of the loan.

There are several ways in which the homeowner can enjoy the benefits of a reverse home loan. He or she can take out a single lump sum in cash, or alternatively, a regular monthly cash advance. Another option is to use the available loan as a line of credit and use it as needed; a homeowner could also choose to combine some of the options above.

Reverse mortgage loans can be of particular help to many older Americans who may be poor in terms of available savings or monthly income, but who are wealthy in terms of the equity that has built up over the years on their real estate property. For example, if a person is retired and purchased their house 30 years ago for $10,000, they have paid off their mortgage and the house is now valued at $100,000. They could take out a reverse home loan and have access to much of that equity, with no monthly payments.

Therefore, unlike a regular mortgage, with a reverse mortgage, such things as credit score and income are not particularly relevant as there are no monthly payments involved. Obviously, these loans are generally made to senior citizens who can use the equity in their home to help finance them on a monthly basis, or perhaps to pay off their medical bills, or maybe even to travel the world.

These reverse mortgage loans are usually tax-free and are officially known as ‘Home Equity Conversion Mortgages’ or HECMs. They are backed by HUD (The Department of Housing and Urban Development). This kind of loan can also be obtained from private institutions such as banks and many other mortgage lenders, who are not backed by HUD.