There are so many links and information out there for ways to make money online. It is hard to look passed the scams and find the real ventures. There are ways, hopefully, if you are looking, you find something you are qualified to do.

The first thing to stress to those looking to make money from home is that just because you are working from home does not mean that making money will be easy.

Rule #1: If it says it is easy, or it sounds too good, it is!

If everybody could make thousands of dollars with a few hours of easy work, don't you think that at least one other person that you personally know would be doing it already?

Rule #2: Be wary about investing money without a clear idea of what you will need to do to make it back.

Many scams will tell you about all the money that you will make, and ask you to pay for the information, but they are never really clear about what you will be doing. You can bet that the task is either impossible, very hard, or possibly illegal!

If you are looking for your own business, be sure there will be money to invest as start-up. Just be careful who you give money to. Check out every business and website at bbb.org first. If they have ANY sort of negative feedback, do not send them money or your information. The Better Business Bureau tells you to be sure to understand the size of the company. By law of averages, there will be occurrences where people complain. How a company handles these problems is the important part. If the problems are quickly and easily resolved, the report will state that. You must understand that most website business that are really scams are small businesses, so if they have a handful of complaints, you must know that you will be next if you ignore the signs.

Rule #3: Do not work for a foreign company that you have never heard of.

A popular scam involves sending emails asking you to basically cash their checks. In return they give you 10%. It does not make sense that this would even be necessary. They promise you a lot of money, and it should be weird to you that they would send an email to you when you never contacted them first. They will end up asking for your banking information. Which brings us to the next rule.

Rule #4: Never email anyone your banking information.

This information could be intercepted, if nothing else. I don't care how trustworthy you feel the person is, once they have asked for bank info, they are one step away from having you scammed. Just remember.... NEVER!

Rule #5: Investigate thoroughly, and ignore urgency.

All scams include a sense of urgency. This means they express need for the money or information quickly. This is also a common marketing trick. Remember watching those infomercials on TV and they say order in the next 2 minutes and receive a free gift? This is the same idea. Also, just like in legit marketing, more than likely, the "deal" is always available. If not, it will be again soon. Most websites, however, will replace the date and time with their current date and time, so that no matter who visits the site and when, it say you only have minutes to order.

Rule #6: Track your contacts and see where they are emailing you from

In Entourage or Outlook, there is a "view source" (or similar) located in the menu when you have an email selected. When you view it, it shows you the email header which will have the IP address from which an email came from. Other email programs have it to. Search for Email Header with your program and find out how to view it. Take the IP address to a site that tracks IPs. Again, search it, there are tons. I'm sure iplocator.com is one. This will tell you information you may want to know. Would you find it odd that your soon to be business partner says he is from the UK, but has been emailing you from Nigeria? Many times you will find out what you thought was a foreign partner, really lives right in the states near you.

This information may not be important in some instances. It is still good to check it out and see what you find.

Rule #7: Be careful of the word FREE, especially FREE money or electronics

Many scams offer things for free. Realize that nothing is free, and what you are getting is something that is included in the price you are already paying.

Also, FREE lists of grants with free money or lists of how to get free plasma screen TVs are all scams. Yes, there are grants out there. They are not that easy to get. Most are designed for organization, who sometimes offer a thousand dollars here or there to personal applicants. The important thing is that paying for a book of this information is a waste. This information can be found in your library. Instead of taking a chance and maybe saving some research time, just go and look yourself. You do not need a book full of things you are never going to use. Look for what you need for free at your local library.

Also, free merchandise is possible. However, again, this is information that you could find yourself with the right research. How most of the scams work is that they say you can get the company to send you a free sample. Well, good luck with that. You will not get a free big screen TV. If you are a legitimate business, with business information, you can usually get a sample at a low cost. However, don't expect much, especially if you have not formed a strong business relationship with the company first.

These rules are very important. I pass them on from experience. I run an online store that is full of drop-shipped items. These companies do exist as well, but all the real suppliers were not found in compiled lists. They were found from research. Save yourself the money, and do the hard-work yourself.

The Internet is lucrative. However, you are not going to get rich quick and easy. Be careful and patient.

I have also included links to scam awareness on my website at http://music.midwestprosound.com