Learning things the hard way is probably the best way to learn a lesson. Like putting your hand on a hot stove when you're a kid. Won't happen again. But, things don't always happen that way. For instance, the stove may look like it's off and you touch it realizing it had previously been shut off. Simply put, accidents happen. And I accidentally believed something that ended up being a flop.

There's this company out there called FourDollarClick. Typically, I look into a site it seems too good, or if it appears to be hoaky, I'll steer clear. I knew I wasn't going to get rich quick off it. But, it appeared I'd make some money from it. Not a lot, but a fair amount. Well, as it turned out, they didn't live up to what they said they would do. In fact, they closed my account. I tried to get into my page one day and said I had the wrong password. Hmm? Okay? So, I tried it again. Same thing. After a few tries, I attempted a password recovery. No response. I waited a bit and tried again to log in. Nothing. I tried another password recovery. Nothing. Oh, I forgot to say I payed for a month subscription and it was only about a week or so into it. I attempted to contact them through their contact form. No response. I figured I'd give it a day. But, again, nothing. That's when it occurred to me to search them out. I felt like an idiot. These people are bonafide scammers. My search actually began when I was trying to find their phone number. When called, it was disconnected. When attempted to email, it bounced back. Scam is an understatement.

I posted a banner on this site for them and promoted them. The banner quickly came down. It has bothered me since finding this out about them. I wrote them giving them three days to refund my money or I will be filing a case with the Federal Trade Commision.

Lesson learned. There are lots of ways to make money on the internet. Letting one bad apple shouldn't discourage anyone from pursuing an online business to make a little extra money. One must be vigilant. That's all. As a matter of fact, individuals operating online businesses from home is high. In a recent Forbes article, they state:

It doesn’t surprise me. I’ve been noticing an increase in million dollar, one-person and home-based businesses in my reporting, on a case by case basis, so I was curious about what kind of work these solopreneurs are doing on a broader scale. (Forbes)

It is possible to make money online. But, there is a lot of time and patience that go into it as well. I should probably be posting more often to keep it fresh. Freshness keeps people coming back for more information. And the more information one can provide can help us all. So, if anything is taken from this post, research the program first prior to jumping in head first. Even as an affiliate marketer, one must check out the company before putting up an ad. There is one thing about affiliate marketing, if you're getting ads from an already trusted source like Commision Junction, it's safe to say you're in good hands.