It is always very important to read terms and conditions of each particular forum for a basic guideline as to what is acceptable. It`s also a good idea to read archived posts in order to see guidelines in action. If you don`t, you could end up doing something wrong, like spamming forum, and that could seriously hurt both your name and your business.

Taking an active part in forums can help you gain recognition in topics you show some knowledge of, and may even result in some great business leads and contacts. Read through posts, and answer any questions you are able to in a polite, friendly and helpful manner. It`s a brilliant way to get your name and services known, but you have to be aware that different forums have different rules in regards to self-promotion.

Some won`t allow any hint of self-promotion, some are specifically aimed at self-promotion, and a lot of them fall somewhere in between, allowing either signature files or URL's to an off-the-page member profile. The in-between ones are best ones to use for marketing yourself, especially as ones aimed at promoting usually end up more like "spam boards" than anything else.

Sounds great, doesn`t it? But is it actually true? Ok, so you get to decide your work hours, but let me tell you, there`s a LOT of hours involved here, and a LOT of hard work, and even then, you may not succeed in making enough money to quit your day job (IF any at all...)

There are tons of business opportunities out there to get involved with. Here`s a list of some of them, with their "TRUE" colours. I`m NOT saying every individual opportunity IS a scam, but a lot of them are, and you need to do your homework before you embark on journey as an "internet marketer".

MLM, Pyramid Schemes etc:

Promise: You make money from sales, be it services or products. You recruit other sales people, and earn from their sales. Fact: Most of time, you`ll find that people you`re trying to sell to are other distributors, and you`re all trying to sell to each other, which ultimately means no sales.

Holidays and Travels:

Promise: You get dirt-cheap or even free tickets, with tons of extras. Fact: You could end up with no trip, or with a trip of a much lesser quality of services and accommodation than promised. Sometimes there are hidden charges and costs that you don`t find out about until you`ve paid.

Credit Cards:

Promise: Give us your credit card number, we need it to verify that you are over 18, then we can give you X, Y, and Z for free. Fact: There are a lot of these that will run up charges on your credit cards

Health Care: