Work At Home Musings

The ads are flooding the internet and claim that you can make $15 for each rebate processed. Some websites charge as much as $129 for information about this home job. Most others charge $29-$39 for information. The sites make the following claims:

You can make money just by filling out online forms
You can make $15 per rebate processed
You can make as much as $75,000 per year or more
Hurry now because positions are limited

Actually, what you get when you sign up are instructions on how to create a Clickbank account. Clickbank is an affiliate program with thousands of products to sell. You choose the products you want to sell and create ads for these products (offering a rebate if they buy the product). You place these ads anywhere you can think of. Of course, you will probably have to spend some money to place the ads. IF someone clicks on your ad and IF they purchase a product, you send them a rebate from YOUR earnings at Clickbank.

Basically, you don’t need to sign up for the “rebate processing job,” I just told you how to do it. This kind of affiliate marketing can take months to build up. Finding the right niche and the right products are the key and that comes by trial and error. If you want to read more about affiliate marketing, try Uber Affiliate’s Marketing Guide.

Another big email hoax and scam is the email that tells you “You Have Won!” and you didn’t even enter. The scammers try and make you believe that you have won grand prizes or lots of money. When you reply, or call them, they inform you that you either have to pay a “small” tax or fee to claim your prize. Guess what? They collect your money and you end up with nothing. When you try to report them, their phone number is conveniently disconnected.

I am starting a new series on this blog called Watch Out! Watch Out! will feature scams, virus alerts, email chains and hoaxes.

Neiman Marcus Cookies

An email hoax has been circulating for years. The story goes something like this:

My Aunt was having lunch at Neiman Marcus. For dessert she had chocolate chip cookies that were very delicious. She asked for the recipe and was told it would cost her two fifty. She assumed the waitress meant $2.50 so she said yes. When the bill arrived they charged her $250! The Aunt was mad and couldn’t get a refund, so as revenge she is giving away the recipe to anyone who wants it.

The story is simply not true. You can also find similar stories about other famous recipes. In fact, Neiman Marcus was so sick of the complaints that they posed the recipe on its Web site. Here it is:

Ingredients

* 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
* 1 cup brown sugar
* 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
* 1 egg
* 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1-3/4 cups flour
* 1-1/2 teaspoons instant espresso powder, slightly crushed
* 8 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Cream the butter with the sugars until fluffy.
2. Beat in the egg and the vanilla extract.
3. Combine the dry ingredients and beat into the butter mixture. Stir in the chocolate chips.
4. Drop by large spoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes, or 10 to 12 minutes for a crispier cookie. Makes 12 to 15 large cookies.

Enjoy!