Make no mistake, People will start BEGGING you to sponsor them in!

Take a look at this Income Projection Chart:

Level | # of Days | # Benefactored | Income Projection

1 3 3 $70 2 6 9 $130 3 9 27 $290 4 12 81 $660 5 15 243 $1520 6 18 729 $3520 7 21 2,187 $8160 8 24 6,561 $18,880 9 27 19,683 $43,520 10 30 59,049 $99,840 11 33 177,147 $227,840 12 36 531,441 $517,120 13 39 1,594,323 $1,167,360

Days add up in a hurry and so does your downline!"

OK people ... I know how tempting this looks but REALITY check time. This is but one example of a number of "wealth generation programs" currently being touted online. The idea is that you must find three people who want to join this program, you pay $20 to "benefactor" each of them into program (for a total "investment" of $60) and you're set for life. Oh, and you have to do it in three days. Each of your three, if they are to remain in game and thereby derive same wondrous riches from program as you, must also find three people, benefactor them into program (again within three days) and their three must find their three in three days and so on.

And, because non-performers are booted from program, so theory goes, only people getting paid are ones actively benefactoring in their own recruits, each of whom down line contributes their "investment" of $60.

THE "PRODUCT"

The product each person gets for their $60 (because this is NOT, of course, a PYRAMID SCHEME - banish thought!) is:

"Software entitled "Building an MLM Empire using Internet", in which you Own Full Licensed Retail Rights to Market software. Retail Value $29.95 All Sales Are Final-No Refunds!"

OK, three points on "product".

First, your investment is $60. The product is worth (let's give them benefit of doubt) $29.95. HELLO!? But you get RESELL RIGHTS!, I hear you protest. That makes it more valuable than just purchase price of product itself. Oh yeah? Well, you HAVE to be able to sell product otherwise whole scheme ... er ... program would be nothing more than a wealth distribution arrangement wouldn't it? And that's against law, and we couldn't have that.

Second, this is not "software", it's an e-Book.

Third, title of e-Book deviously and insidiously implies a relationship between this "wealth creation program" and MLM (multi-level marketing). MLM is a different thing altogether. For a more detailed explanation of what MLM is and what it is not, read "Not MLM! ... Why ever not?" at http://www.ahbbo.com/notmlm.html .

'WEALTH CREATION' PROGRAMS

OK, so what about these "wealth creation programs" then? Sounds like a great idea, right? Everybody wins! Well, think about this ... if everyone goes out and gets three people who each have to throw $60 into pot for their three, everybody up and down line has effectively contributed $60 and that's all there is in pot. How do you get more than your $60 back?

Ahah! you cleverly point out, those who don't recruit ... er ... "benefactor in" ... er ... SELL (yeah, that's it, SELL) "product" to their three gets dropped, don't they, so now $20 their benefactor contributed for them to join program is still in pot but they're not. They've forfeited their investment. THAT'S how we make money.

OK! Very good. I can see you're paying attention. Just one, teensy little problem with this brilliant plan.

It's B.S.. It's a pyramid scheme and it's ILLEGAL.

PYRAMID SCHEMES VS. LEGITIMATE MLM

In her prepared statement to International Monetary Fund's seminar on "Current Legal Issues Affecting Central Banks" in May 1998, Debra Valentine, General Counsel for U.S. Federal Trade Commission, had this to say about pyramid schemes:

"What is striking about these schemes is that while they are very old forms of fraud, modern technology has vastly multiplied their potential for harming our citizens. The Internet in particular offers pyramid builders a multi-lane highway to world-wide recruits in virtually no time.

"What is a Pyramid Scheme and What is Legitimate Marketing?

"Pyramid Schemes now come in so many forms that they may be difficult to recognize immediately. However, they all share one overriding characteristic. They promise consumers or investors large profits based primarily on recruiting others to join their program, not based on profits from any real investment or real sale of goods to public. Some schemes may purport to sell a product, but they often simply use product to hide their pyramid structure. There are two tell- tale signs that a product is simply being used to disguise a pyramid scheme: inventory loading [recruits are forced to buy more product than they could possibly sell] and a lack of retail sales [sales are made only between people inside pyramid, not to public in general - sound familiar?]. ...

HOW DO I START A HOME BUSINESS?

The best advice I can give to someone who asks a question as vague as this is that they're asking wrong question. The first question they should be asking themselves is: "SHOULD I start a home business?", not HOW do they do so.

The person who asks how to start a home business has not given much, if any, thought to what they might do as such a business (otherwise, their question would be "How do I start an errand service home business?" or "How do I start a gourmet gift basket home business?").

So, first things first. Why do you want to start a home business? What are advantages as you see them? What are disadvantages? What entrepreneurial qualities do you bring to table that make you think you could make a success of your own business? What is your plan? What product or service will you market? Who are your customers? When will you give up your day job? Are you thinking about this because you just LOST your day job (if so, warning bells should be ringing very loudly!)? A home business is most definitely NOT for everyone and it's certainly not a solution to unemployment per se.

There are financial considerations too, obviously. How will you support yourself until you generate a profit? Where will you obtain financing?

For more thought starters, read "Look Before You Leap ... Is a Home-Based Business REALLY For You?" in AHBBO Articles Library at http://www.ahbbo.com/lookb4uleap.html .

Assuming you work your way through above considerations and conclude that you do, indeed, want to start your own home business, then, and only then, should you ask "HOW do I start a home business?"

There are as many answers to this question as there are individuals who ask it. There is no one answer that fits all sizes. Generally speaking, however, process of starting one's own home business can be broken down into seven broad steps.

=> IDENTIFY YOUR PASSIONS

If you're truly starting at ground zero and you don't already do something on side that you'd kind of like to see if you could make fly, your first step is to decide what it is you'd like to do as your business.

I'm a firm believer in following your passion, whether that be for gardening (start a herb and spice business or cultivate cuttings for distribution via mail order), lead- lighting (design and create stained glass lampshades), accounting (run a home-based small business accountancy service) or website design. It doesn't matter whether other people are equally as passionate about what you're passionate about. It's YOUR passion that counts and it's YOUR passion that will propel you towards success. Do something you love to do in other words. Make your work your joy and you won't be able to help but succeed.

=> IDENTIFY A NICHE MARKET FOR YOUR PASSION

Now, it's one thing to know what you're passionate about, it's quite another to identify an unmet need in that field. But that's what you must do if you want to turn your passion into a truly profitable business venture. Identifying your niche is a pretty straightforward process:

1. Identify your general category and sub-category

Let's say your general passion is gardening. Gardening is your general category. Let's also say that you're particularly interested in growing herbs and how they can be used for cooking and medicinal purposes. Herb growing is your sub-category.

2. Hang out with people interested in your sub-category

In order to identify unmet needs in your sub-category (step 3.), you must find out from people interested in your sub-category what they're looking for that they can't find. A good way to find out is to hang out where they hang out - offline and on. Offline, you may belong to a local gardening club or cooking class at which you hear that so-and-so has been looking high and low for a certain type of specialty herb that isn't commonly grown in your country. Online, you may sign up for mailing lists and hang out in newsgroups to listen to what people are asking time and again.