You have just been exposed to an opportunity. You are so excited. Dollar signs are dancing in your eyes, and long buried dreams of grandeur have been awakened from their slumber. But, you haven’t jumped on board yet. You are smart, intelligent and savvy. Before you invest any time, money and more importantly, your credibility, you are going to check this company out.

So you start with the search engines. You type in the name of the company you are researching followed by the key word scam.

And then Bam! 239 000 search results come back for your keyword.

What makes up the first ten search results? Well, as a test, I figured I would search TVI scams. I chose TVI, not because I feel their opportunity is a scam (I really know very little about them in reality). I chose TVI as I knew it would bring up thousands of search results.

Let’s look at the first page of search results. Six of the top ten search results are from bloggers. The other four are from article directories. Everything written is the opinion of the authors masquerading as truth.

That is why I give you…

Seven Reasons Why Bloggers Should Not Do Your MLM Due Diligence!

1. Blogs are on the net for one reason only. They make the blogger money. They need to create traffic to earn a living. The best way to create traffic is to create controversy. Calling a company a scam is an easy way to create controversy. Both sides square off, creating sticky traffic, as readers return over and over. This of course benefits the blogger.
2. Blogs and articles are loved by search engines. As noted above, the top ten search results for TVI scams consists of four articles and six blogs. Due to the fresh content provided by the sticky traffic from the controversy, their search engine ranks increase. This gives them more organic traffic and readership.
3. You are reading the opinions of the authors. That is exactly what they are opinions, based on the information they have before them. Rarely will a blogger or article author, provide a bibliography of where they got their information. How reliable is the information provided by a former employee or vendor? Rarely does it matter as it contributes to the controversy
4. Often times, bloggers and article marketers, want to viewed as experts. The purpose of which is to create credibility. By seeing them as an expert, and a leader, you will be more pre-disposed to follow their advice in the future. Whether it is to join their opportunity or purchase a product based on their recommendation
5. Bloggers and article marketers may already be involved in an MLM opportunity of their own. That alone makes it difficult to write in an unbiased point of view. However, the blog now become a public forum to trash the competition and build up and endorse the companies they do work with. So be wary of conflicts of interest.
6. Rarely are bloggers lawyers, nor have they ever played one on tv. It is one thing to be familiar with the law. It is quite another to offer legal advice. By stating that a business is a scam, they are in a sense, offering legal advice.
7. And finally, you need to do your own due diligence. If you are unwilling or unable to find the information from credible sources, you have no business going into business. We are all adults here. Get off your ass and do some work, and come to your own conclusions. That way, you will not be lead around like a lamb to slaughter

Now that I blasted the blogs and articles, just how do you use the search engines to do you own due diligence?

It is really easy actually. There are many credible organizations. The BBB, SEC, FTC, FCC, your state attorney’s office, and Consumer and Corporate affairs for your province in Canada can be searched for complaints. Court documents are also public domain. Search for legal proceedings against the company in question. Start with your local jurisdiction. Then go to jurisdiction the company you are researching is located. From there move out to surrounding areas.

Yes, it can be a lot of work. That is why it is so much easier to go to the blogs. But successful people are willing to do what unsuccessful people are unwilling to do. So go out and do what is necessary.