Seminars offer great money-making opportunities, at least, for the seminar sponsors.  They feature very high pressure sales tactics designed to assign a sense of urgency to their products or services.  They usually feature a keynote speaker, who (a big lie!) does not actually work for the seminar sponsor, but who does earn big money using the promoted opportunities (another big lie!). Try to see margo's defunct page; she also had a dummy email address.  They specialize in exaggeration, playing fast and loose with statistics.     Why tell a client that a second-rate, trouble-prone candy vending machine might only clear a $100 or so a year, when you can tell them that it will do it each and every month!  They also love the three-day rule: everything becomes final before the client really has time to think about it! 

Seminar sponsors pretend to be agents for sophisticated photographic services, online malls, vending machines, and telephone cards.  All of these could be legitimate businesses, but not when the seminar sponsors have a vested interest.  Not only do they get to charge for their services (at the seminar), but so long as sales to distributors exceeds the actual cost of services, these businesses are booming, much like Pyramid Schemes, where the last recruits get burned the most.   However, once the actual business part is no longer incidental,  things often fall apart.  This is where the telephone messages about temporary closure first appear.  Also, by this time, the business cannot help but to have attracted the attention of the FTC, because the level of complaints really starts to escalate.

In the wild rush to grab vouchers, storefronts, vending machines, and other goodies, it is hard for anyone to remain unaffected.  It does not stop there; later, they call you at home or work and try to sell more products or services, at which time they are rude and insulting if you do not bite.  It is only after the smoke has cleared that you realize you are dealing with an unscrupulous entity, who may have no business presence,  telephone book entry, street address,  website, or support.

The internet is the wave of the future, but people are already wary of a medium overrun by scam operations; they create an adverse climate for legitimate businesses.   See the following links for the latest warnings:

• FTC v. AmeriPress, Inc., et al. - TRO
• FTC v. AmeraPress, Inc., et al.
• Operation Money Pit
• What's Wrong With Multi-Level Marketing?

YOU OWE IT TO YOURSELF TO READ THIS BEFORE YOU BUY INTO ANY OF THE OPPORTUNITIES BEING OFFERED BY ANY HOME BUSINESS SEMINAR.

We are not here to discourage you from starting your own business, but to offer guidance. In some cases, business opportunities being hawked on the seminar circuit are a shortcut to financial ruin. It is important that you know what to watch for.

Legitimate companies make their profit in one way and one way only:

 BY SELLING THEIR PRODUCT OR SERVICE

When profit is derived from selling the opportunity itself, from daily faxes or expensive catalogs, from product sales to dealers, from overpriced training workshops or personal coaching programs, or from back-end offers to
"jump-start your business" . . . you've got a blueprint for disaster.

As you listen to the pitch, we recommend you do two things:

• Be wary, and continuously ask yourself, "IS IT LOGICAL?"
• MAKE UP YOUR OWN MIND. An opportunity seminar is a finely-orchestrated performance designed to draw you into the excitement. Laugh if you will, but the biggest favor you can do yourself is to leave your credit cards and checkbook in your car before you go inside.

RED FLAGS
 Why are they giving you free gifts "just for attending" unless they stand to make a good profit here today?

 Why should you pay $495 for the privilege of selling a company's product? Are they not profiting from every sale? Many excellent companies will not charge you one cent to represent their products.

 Why do you have to pay $2995.00, $1,695.00, or even $995.00 to receive training? Can you think of any company in the real world that charges their new sales reps for training? Of course you can't. In fact, the company usually picks up the tab for travel and lodging.

 Why does "personal coaching" cost an average of $1,495.00 for six sessions? Would you pay your doctor or lawyer $500 an hour?

 Why must you ACT NOW?? Why do they reward those who make an emotional decision in the heat of the moment and discourage those who would prefer to thoroughly research the opportunity and make an informed decision?

 Why do they encourage you to charge this "opportunity" to your credit card, whether or not you can afford the risk, if their goal is truly to help you get out of debt?

 Why is someone who has never laid eyes on you so sure that you will "have your investment back" in X-number of months or that you can make X-number of dollars in the business? Such predictions are not only ludicrous . . . THEY ARE ILLEGAL.

 Why would a company require its dealers to purchase product every month? Shouldn't the object be to sell product to customers?

 Why does the speaker sidestep tough questions -- or perhaps even cut the Q&A period short and invite you to talk to him privately? No question should be off limits, and no one should be made to feel inadequate for asking it.

 Why do they compare this to buying a franchise? Franchises involve legal contracts that protect both parties. When you walk out of the door with your "Business In A Box," you are on your own. Sometimes even the "support" they may promise mysteriously disappears.

 SLOW DOWN!

 Don't be dazzled by testimonials and success stories.

 Give yourself time to investigate the company thoroughly. If it's on the level, it will still be there next week, next month, or even next year.

 Don't rely on the Better Business Bureau to give you the green light.   They're only one of many sources you should check -- and usually not the most reliable.

 Never assume a dealer is doing well just because he has an impressive display, a great-looking web page, or a big ad in the phone book. He may be up to his eyeballs in debt.

 You must search out dealers on your own. Talk to them and find out how successful they are. (The internet is your best ally.)

A FINAL NOTE

You are about to become part of a live infomercial.

These are all SALES TACTICS. They are designed to build trust and create excitement.

THIS IS NOT REALITY.

As with any sales pitch, it is possible that you will hear half-truths or even outright lies. A common example: The internet. One day it will no doubt be a great sales medium . . . but right now it is not. There are too many scams.  People are too suspicious. At this point in our history, millionaires are not being created every day on the internet.

You owe it to yourself and your family to keep your guard up and base your decision on reason . . . not on a "group high."

We ask that you share this information with a neighbor who might not know about Seminars.