Because the world has to put a lot of Web-skilled vagrants, bums, and other lowlifes to work, the Internet is a breeding ground for people who would otherwise be shown the door by survival of the fittest. Over time, so many of these people have come to support the infrastructure of the Internet that you will often see scummy ads offering FREE* products on some of the top-name web platforms and Internet gurus' web pages. One would think that someone trying maintain credibility would filter out ads such as "Congruatulations! You R the 10000000000th Vesteor!" But no, some of the biggest cash-hauling sites are built on a foundation of slime.

So before doling out hard-earned cash checking out a program that offers the often-heard six-figure income, you might like to check out a few precautions:

1. If it's a duplicatable system that works, the ultimate winners will have the most money to pump into advertising. This means out of the "lucrative Internet sector" or other economic niche the product will try to get you into, there will likely be a few cash-saturated pigs getting the lion's share because they are able to buy advertising in such large quantities they get a lot more bang for the buck. Take a look at what autoresponder keywords cost, for example: if you can get $4 per sale, just like any other person can, chances are the law of supply and demand has gotten the price up to $3.50-$3.99 in ad costs per sale. You may not be able to live off 50 sales a day at this rate, but someone who can spend $5000 a day and compound his money at 2% daily is living the life of Riley.

2. To cover themselves, It's likely "How I Made $xxx,xxx", not "How You Can Make $xxx,xxx". A lot of publishers of these guides have to be careful with false claims, so they're detailing what they did to make the money, with copious disclaimers. Instead of daydreaming about the dollar amount in big words, it's best to read the disclaimers.

And on the other side, beware of anything with "can" in it. It's a murkily defined word. Each person has a different amount of potential, so unless you've been personally sized up by this guru to see if you can do it, don't believe you can do it without a thorough assessment of the program and its pitfalls.

3. Google and the Better Business Bureau are your friends. If you've never heard of this person or company before, it's likely for a good reason. Certainly, with the speed of Internet marketing, sales stars are being created overnight. But if you're going to invest in a system, you'll need to ensure it has staying power. If it looks like a Ponzi scheme, you might want to give it a few months to collapse under its own weight, pick up some bad press from a scambuster site, or garner some complaints from the Better Business Bureau (bbb.org).

4. Up-front costs are often an admission that the company can't hack it with its own sales. The best company I ever sold things online for was RevenueAllies. They never demanded a penny up front for anything. All I did was copy and paste their code on a few webpages, and within a few months I had $700, all paid right on time by PayPal. If you're looking at some exorbitant start-up costs, proceed with caution. Will you be able to continue your own online businesses if it all turns into a huge blunder?

There are plenty of great affiliate programs, like Kolimbo, which never charge a dime for their commission splits.

5. A lot of results are based on several streams of income. If you're a flexible businessperson, and you can hack all the different tools and web platforms you'll have to get into, by all means go for it. But if you don't have the time or money to work your job and learn a ton of expensive tools, don't bother. A lot of high-paying programs are just affiliate links cobbled together here and there. One lady, allegedly in real estate, sent me spam after autoresponder spam with her tips, all the while trying to steer me to a company in Poland that charged $60 a month to have other people sign up. Not likely.

6. The economy only has so much money. Just think of what it would be like if a million people signed up for the guide in front of you. Just to be generous, let's say you could make, oh, $150,000 a year. So if everyone jumped off this product bridge at the same time, and did as well as you, that would be a $150,000,000,000 a year industry. Does the industry justify the splash page? If not, hold onto your money and help put a liar out of work.

7. If the pitch offers zowie-wowie percentages, at whatever price level, just think: you can be getting a few times the equivalent amount on your own. It's not that hard to start your own high-powered blog, online store (try w3schools.com) or other online presence. The more and more I look at my past paid writing jobs, for example, the more steamed I get for putting a hundred hours of writing into a web platform that I know should have paid me a bit more than what it cost to run my computer.

8. Outright lies, while rare, are still possible. One of the most brazen attempts to scam people I've seen was a Linden dollar (L$) duplicator. Allegedly it would get you a million US dollars worth of virtual currency after a few minutes of doubling your in-game balance. All it was was a site selling ringtones.

So remember: if someone wants your money, see what purchasing the product or service gets you, what real people have to say, and the tangible results. Check reviews, ratings, complaints, legal proceedings, and more. Otherwise resources you could be setting aside for your own business may end up as nothing more than a memory.