Photo by Mike

A co-worker shared a story about his previous employer…a story about corporate silliness gone wrong.

Apparently, the CEO was into “team-building” and often used the brilliant “bus” analogy from Jim Collins book - Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap… and Others Don’t

“Get the right people on the bus, get the wrong people off the bus and put the right people in the right place in the bus.”

Ok.  Makes sense when thinking about how to build a good company.  Where the CEO went silly, was to present bus driver hats to each employee.  He even encouraged his people to wear them.

Imagine walking down the hallway at work and bumping into Ed from Finance, who is wearing his Ralph Kramden bus driver hat.  How silly.  I’m sure that hat will help Ed do his job better.

Should have handed out “I Ride the Short Bus” t-shirts too.

The bus stops here.

Jen at Millionaire Mommy Next Door posted a brilliant guest article addressing how to take advantage of the current housing slump and make money through creative house renting and leasing.

In our city, there are 16,000 foreclosures for the month of April.  Many of these desperate homeowners attempt to sell before the “Grim Reaper” Bank Forecloser comes knocking on their door.

Imagine you are currently renting an apartment and would love to upgrade to a house rental.  Maybe you need extra space, a yard to plant a garden or for your kids to roam. 

By approaching FSBO’s (For Sale By Owners) with the idea of leasing from them until they can sell, you could find a sweet deal!

I encourage you to check out the article How to Make Money Without Ownership: Take Advantage of the Housing Slump to learn more.

Avoid Work at Home Scams – Our Story

When Dad had his accident in early 2001, our world came crashing down. How could someone in their 20’s who was strong, vibrant, and hard working be struck down so suddenly and told he may never walk normally again?

Thankfully, Dad had excellent doctors who saved his foot and after 18 months of hard physical therapy, he learned how to walk again.

During those first few months, we struggled financially. I had two consulting contracts ending and Dad’s disability income was not enough to pay the bills. In desperation, we searched high and low for a quick way to make money, possibly a work at home opportunity. It wasn’t that we were interested in GRQ (get-rich quick), we simply wanted to PTBQ (pay the bills quick).

What we found, were TONS of scam artists eager to take our money and offer nothing in return.

That 80’s song “Taken In” from Mike and the Mechanics rings in my ears:

♫ Taken in, taken in again
Wrapped around the finger of some fair weathered friend
Caught up in the promises, left out in the end

Taken in, taken in again
Someone saw me coming, a fool without a friend
There’s one born every minute and you’re looking at him ♫

Unfortunately, we fell for an illegitimate direct sale company. We spent $600 for sign up fees and inventory and three months later, the company folded. Ouch! This was a hard lesson learned but one that made us wiser.

Seven years later, there is no shortage of unscrupulous people hocking work at home scams, especially with more and more people using the Internet.

Here are some tips on how to protect yourself from work at home scams:

• Use common sense.  Remember this wise advice: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
• Be wary of companies requiring money up front before providing details of how their business works.
• If a company offers a money back guarantee, get it in writing.
• Don’t allow yourself to be pushed into making a quick decision.  Scam artists often use hard selling techniques to close the sale.  If it’s a “limited time offer” that does not provide enough time to think it over, move on.
• Check out the organization or company.  Make sure to obtain the telephone number, address, and owners contact information.  It’s also wise to check with the BBB and obtain references.
• Work at home jobs and businesses require time and real effort.  If you are promised “BIG MONEY” with little or no effort, chances are…it’s a SCAM!