Work from home. Such fleeting words. Like many cash-strapped Americans, you come home from an outdated job with barely any disposable income. However, on this day, you decide that you want to earn a little more extra money. So naturally, type into Google something like “How to Earn Extra Money” and hit the Enter button.

Ready! Thousands and thousands of results come up, with ads featuring many kinds of ways to get rich quick or work from home. You click on them, they are interesting. You’ll see all kinds of sales pages, with bold words and bright colors. You get ‘testimonials’ from people who just made so much money in such a short amount of time, just by sitting at their desk. However, you still have no idea what they are offering despite all the hype. The price? Wow, only $39.99. mmm.

So, like most of their first time, you decide to give it a try…just to get a ride, and maybe some of the products they promised you to start. Request a refund due to the ’30 day money back guarantee’, only to find out that after 2 weeks of requesting it, it’s probably gone for good. You get mad because you know the truth deep down…it was a scam.

I think it’s safe to say that work from home opportunities are, at the very least, a minefield. I’ve been there myself, but after getting burned so many times, I’ve started getting smarter about identifying the legit ones from the fake ones. What I’ve found is that half the battle with these is simply identifying the real ones from the fake ones. Not only this, but the few legitimate opportunities out there have to suffer for the bad, which is unfortunate.

Over time, developing this experience has helped me save a lot of time and money, which are two of our most valuable assets, do you agree? So I feel like I wanted to take some time to give you some tips and things to consider on your journey to finding the perfect work from home opportunity:

1. Is the sales page hyped? If you have to go miles just to get to the bottom, this is probably the case. They are trying to make themselves look like ‘full proof’.
2. Is the sale price outrageous? Of course, this depends on the disposable income of individuals, but it is quite easy. Why should you have to make such a large financial investment? I would avoid
3. Does it cost anything to register? I believe that if a company really wants to grow, they shouldn’t be charged for getting their name out there. I would avoid
4. Does the company have a bad reputation? Google search forums that talk about the company. Don’t be blind to the good experiences, consider the bad ones as well.
5. How long has this company been around? Companies that have been around for years are much more likely to have a decent reputation and performance. Scams come and go.

In my personal opinion, I think there are legitimate opportunities. I hope that these tips will help you if you decide to participate in the journey of finding the opportunity that best suits you. If you feel uncomfortable with one, trust your gut and move on to the next. Be careful, it’s a minefield out there. Let’s do our best to reward companies that do the right thing and avoid those that don’t.