3. Assembly or craft work: These programs often require you to invest hundreds of dollars in equipment or supplies. Or they require you to spend many hours producing goods for a company that has promised to buy them.

For example, you might have to buy a sewing or sign-making machine from company, or materials to make items like aprons, baby shoes or plastic signs. However, after you've purchased supplies or equipment and performed work, fraudulent promoters don't pay you. In fact, many consumers have had companies refuse to pay for their work because it didn't meet "quality standards."

Here's catch: In order to get out of paying workers, their work is NEVER deemed to be "up to standard,"--leaving workers with relatively expensive equipment and supplies and no income. To sell their products, these workers must find their own customers.

Legitimate work-at-home program sponsors should tell you - in writing what's involved in program they are selling. Here are some questions you might ask a promoter:

* What tasks will I have to perform? Ask program sponsor to list every facet of job. * Will I be paid a salary or will my pay be based on commission? * Who will pay me? * When will I get my first paycheck? * What is total cost of work-at-home program, including supplies, equipment and membership fees? What will I get for my money?

The answers to these questions may help you determine whether a work-at-home program is appropriate for your circumstances, and whether it is legitimate. To our knowledge, nearly all are scams!

You also might want to check out company with your local consumer protection agency, state Attorney General and Better Business Bureau, not only where company is located, but also where you live. These organizations can tell you whether they have received complaints about work-at-home program that you're interested in.

But be wary: The absence of complaints doesn't necessarily mean company is legitimate. Unscrupulous companies may settle complaints, change their names or move to avoid detection.

If you have spent money and time on a work-at-home program and now believe program may not be legitimate, contact company and ask for a refund. Let company representatives know that you plan to notify authorities about your experience. If you can't resolve dispute with company, file a complaint with following organizations:

* The Attorney General's office in your state or state where company is located. The office will be able to tell you whether you're protected by any state law that may regulate work-at-home programs.

* Your local consumer protection offices. * Your local Better Business Bureau. * Your local postmaster. The U.S. Postal Service investigates fraudulent mail practices. The advertising manager of publication that ran ad. The manager may be interested to learn about problems you've had with company. In addition, Federal Trade Commission (FTC) works for consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive and unfair business practices in marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop and avoid them. To file a complaint or to get free information on consumer issues, visit www.ftc.gov or call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357)

Marketing Basics specializes in writing articles that teach, explain and define basic marketing techniques. http://marketingbasics.blogspot.com/

“GEE, I DON’T HAVE ANY MARKETING ISSUES?” We all have issues with our businesses. In fact, I’ve never met a company that didn’t. I believe that if your company doesn’t have some kind of issue, then you’re not trying hard enough! I have a real compassion for this situation, because I know we all get buried in issues that we can’t see ourselves, yet they require help. Just as therapists cannot conduct therapy on themselves, we business owners need an outside, objective viewpoint, too. That’s exactly why I believe it is critical to work this ‘marketing therapy’ into any strategic marketing campaign. Of course, you won’t have to sit on a couch and analyze childhood issues – it’s not a psychotherapy session that is required. But, if together your consultant and you can uncover what struggles your company has, and dig out any issues that might be holding you back, it’s possible to discover some powerful methods for harnessing your company’s strengths, your employees’ contributions, innate wisdom, and resources, and for getting best results, period. It’s rooted in your own innate intelligence as company’s founder, which sometimes gets bogged down by your day-to-day operations, by rusty marketing that isn’t producing results, or by issues buried beneath surface of your management structure. When you, as owner of business, simply “feel” that something isn’t on track, it’s exactly right time for this marketing therapy/strategy tune-up.

HOW CAN YOU OVERCOME THE FEAR OF REJECTION THAT SALESPEOPLE POTENTIALLY FACE? Here’s one technique for you, as a solo entrepreneur: Consider that calling a potential customer is not about talking them into something they don’t want. Instead, it’s a wonderful opportunity to help someone with perfect solution you have, and make his or her life easier with your product or service. Look at it as helping people, rather than pushing something on them. After all, that’s why you started business—so you could help someone do something in a better way.

I think my favorite story about handling sales rejection is from my little brother, Peter, who put himself through law school by selling dental products as a telemarketer. He just hated this job. He didn’t like getting phone slammed down in his ear, like most of us do with telemarketers. He really didn’t like making sales, period. But he needed to keep his job. Accordingly, he developed a character that helped him cope—he called himself “Clint Bond,” who was a combination of Clint Eastwood and James Bond. Clint Bond gave my brother a sense of confidence and allowed him to disassociate personally to overcome his fear & loathing of sales – suddenly, HE wasn’t getting rejections; it was his character who was getting instant hang-ups. Of course, I don’t recommend that you use someone’s name other than your own. But in Peter’s case, it really didn’t matter what his name was, as long as he represented company and its products properly. The fact is, he did quite well after developing this approach, and as a result he’s now a successful lawyer! Seriously, though, whatever works for you that is honest and ethical is fine.

If your company has a sales staff, breakdowns often happen when there is not an efficient system for conducting sales, getting your promotional literature out door, ensuring proper follow-up, project tracking and management, and seeing each job through to completion with a simple method for owner to track progress. It’s simple to correct once issue is identified.

WHAT ABOUT THE ISSUE OF FEELING LIKE A FRAUD? HOW COMMON IS IT? You might be surprised at how many people feel this way. As a business owner, typically you will experience this feeling during first 1-3 years of your business’s growth. This is especially true in professional services – you may find that a competitor has released a study before you, or has “built a better mousetrap” in some way. You may start to feel like you don’t have all answers, or you may find other products in marketplace that are just as valuable (or more so) than yours, and may even be less expensive. Any of these factors can induce you to begin feeling like a fraud in some way.

This issue can often manifest itself in your marketing – you might respond by charging far, far too little for value you actually bring to your clients.

The solution is for us to look at your positioning—how you’re unique in your offerings. Then it’s possible to determine value you bring to your clients, so you can resolve this issue and improve your revenues. The hard part is, you rarely know you’re doing this when you’re doing it! That’s exactly why we created “marketing therapy” programs to help CEO’s and owners with these issues.

“Marketing Therapy: Stop Sabotaging your Marketing”