While there are a lot of legitimate earning opportunities online, there are also a lot (a lot a lot) of scams and schemes and websites designed to swindle you out of your hard-earned money.  So how do you know the difference?  Sometimes it’s hard!  But doing your due diligence, as well as using some common sense, will go a long way in preventing you from getting taken in by a dishonest site. The following are a few things to keep in mind when researching a possibility:

1.  Be extremely wary of any sites/programs that promise to make you rich overnight, make you money without actually doing any work, or guarantee a certain amount of income.

2.  Stay away from sites that avoid talking about their product, and instead just try to woo you with pictures of rich people in front of their fancy houses and expensive cars. Transparency is important.

3.  Never pay for something if you don’t know what it is you’re getting.  Yes, there are legitimate trainings out there that cost money, but you should be able to have questions answered, and know exactly what it is you’re paying for.  If you’re wanting to learn how to make money from your own website, Wealthy Affiliate provides an excellent, comprehensive and FREE step-by-step training.

4.  Never pay for reward sites, survey sites, testing sites, or jury sites.  These should all be 100% free to join, and I will never recommend one that is not.

5.  Be discerning when researching multi-level-marketing companies.  The emphasis should be on the product, and how to share it with others.  It should raise a major red flag when companies focus solely on getting people to sign up underneath you.

6.  And finally….

If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.