Creative Consumer: Legit Work-From-Home Jobs

Feb. 18, 2008 — -- Last week's column about work-at-home scams generated a flood of e-mails from people desperate to find another source of income and confused about how to identify legitimate offers.

Many of the questions appear to be about multilevel marketing, one of the most common forms of work from home. More on MLMs in a moment.

But first, since you've found my column on the Internet, while you're online here's a simple but powerful Internet tip: Type the name of any work-at-home company into a search engine and see what comes up.

Then type the name of the company and the word "scam." Of course, people can say unflattering things about good companies, but if you encounter page after page of consumer complaints about the company, you will know to proceed with extreme caution.

Now, about MLMs. People often confuse illegal pyramid schemes and legitimate multilevel marketing companies. You definitely want to avoid pyramids. But the truth is, even if a multilevel marketing company is LEGAL, it may not be PROFITABLE.

For one thing, most MLMs allow an unlimited number of people to become distributors in a single market. That's in contrast to traditional businesses, which often give each salesperson an exclusive territory.

Furthermore, even though multilevel marketing companies pass the government's legal litmus test by offering products for sale, sometimes they are still structured as a pyramid that rewards longtime distributors more than new recruits. In a traditional business, a veteran and a newcomer make the same amount of money if they sell the same item.

Because of these inherent disadvantages, drop-out rates in multilevel marketing are astronomical. One major MLM says 50 percent of its sales force bails out every year. Only nine percent of its people last 10 years. The Web site MLMSurvivor.com says less than 1 percent of multilevel-marketing participants make a profit — and even fewer make a living.

If all that is not discouraging enough, consider whether you want to turn your friends and family into sales prospects. Years ago, some acquaintances invited my parents over to dinner. Halfway through the evening, it turned into a multilevel marketing pitch. My dad, never one to disguise how he feels, got up from the dinner party and walked out. Can you blame him?