July 2017

24 Legit Data Entry Jobs You Can Do from Home

Written By:Steve Wrzeszczynski

Last Updated:September 29, 2023

So, you’re combing through data entry jobs from home and you’re wondering if any legit ones actually exist?

Great question. The short answer is yes.

But the long answer is a little more complicated.

I did manage to find 24 companies that are currently looking for remote workers to do data entry jobs.

These companies do not charge a fee to apply for these jobs. Pay is either per output or per hour.

The Downsides to Data Entry

The appeal of data entry jobs is understandable.

It doesn’t require extensive training, doesn’t require a college degree or professional experience, and doesn’t require more than you and your computer.

There are a lot of data entry jobs that are mislabeled to get money out of you. It’s nothing new.

However.

Amidst the muck and grime lay a few legitimate companies offering online data entry jobs.

Now, before you think you’ve struck gold with this post, realize you haven’t. These jobs are highly competitive.

More often than not, you’ll be put on a waiting list for 6 to 12 months just to be told you don’t meet the job requirements.

Even if you do get hired, you’ll be working for minimum wage, if not less.

Listen to me, data entry jobs ARE NOT going to make you rich. This may sound harsh, but it is the truth.

Data entry jobs just aren’t skilled positions and the competition for them is fierce.

Why would a company hire a US-based worker for $10 to $12 per hour when they could outsource it for under $2? For every American, they can hire 5 equally skilled workers overseas.

Typically, you’ll find data entry work as one of the responsibilities of a larger position, most notably, a virtual assistant job.

My advice, seek out better-paying work from home jobs or something like a work from home chat job. There will be fewer headaches and less hassle.

Maybe consider transcription jobs instead, which are more specialized and require a bit more skill and a strong grasp of the English language.

Therefore, they pay better, and companies are constantly on the lookout for new employees.

If you’re still interested in doing data entry work, the following list would be a good place to start.

Here Are 24 Data Entry Jobs From Home

I’ve scoured the Internet and found 24 data entry jobs you can do from home.

This industry has been notoriously plagued with scams. A GREAT-paying job will net you around $10 to $15 per hour.

If you receive such a job offer, please leave a comment below this post with the job posting and company and I will happily look into it for you to make sure you’re applying for a real job.

1. FlexJobs

I highly recommend starting your search at FlexJobs.

As of September 2023, there are currently more than 100 different data entry jobs posted on FlexJobs.

Some have fancy-sounding titles, but they’re mostly share the same tasks as any data entry employee. The specialization and industry may just vary slightly.

FlexJobs is a paid service; however, you are paying for them to scour the Internet to find real, active work-from-home job postings.

When you go through FlexJobs, you can rest assured that these job opportunities are real and legitimate. Each and every one of the companies that submit jobs for posting has gone through FlexJobs’ stringent checks to verify if they are legitimate companies.

A membership will cost you either $15 for a month, but you can get that down to $4 per month if you pay for a year upfront. It’s a small price to pay for the hours and headaches you will save.

Click here to go over the remote data entry job openings available now.

2. AccuTran Global

This Canadian company offers work-at-home jobs in transcription and stenography across the USA, UK, and Canada.

Contractors who earned a good track record with the company or those with additional competencies, such as knowledge of legal or medical terminology, could also be offered work in different departments.

A typing speed of 70 wpm is required. Attention to detail and ability to work independently is also essential to the job.

The basic transcription pay rate is $0.004-$0.0055/word, or $0.40 per audio minute.

AccuTranGlobal has been around for over 20+ years. It’s a highly reputable transcription specialist. The downside to this is that scammers love pretending to be AccuTranGlobal (there’s even a fake AccuTranGlobal.org instead of the official AccuTranGlobal.com). As such, only apply using the “Apply for Work” button at Accutranglobal.com.

3. Axion Data Services

This Pennsylvania-based company offers data entry work, including Internet research, address correction and verification, and document scanning.

Axion applicants must have a working computer with high-speed Internet access; they must also pass a criminal background check.

Applicants must also have 2 to 3 years of data entry experience and a typing speed of 50 wpm.

Work hours will span 20 to 25 hours per week and payment is per completed piece.

Depending on your speed and expertise level, you could earn $5 to $19 per hour for your work.

Axion hires regularly; however, you must submit your name into their database to be eligible to work for them. With that comes a charge ranging from $5 to $10, depending on how long you want your name to stay in their database.

Axion Data Services is legit. It’s been around since 1996 and known to pay its employees. The problem lies in the waiting time between jobs, which can be frustrating if you’re trying to earn as much as you can with data entry jobs from home.

4. Lion Bridge

Lionbridge isn’t a freelancing job site. It’s an international translation agency with 350+ languages supported and over 2,000 global customers all over the world.

To land one of their work-at-home data entry jobs, become a Lionbridge Partner, Interpreter, or gaming translator.

5. Clickworker

Clickworker is a microjob site that hires workers for both data transcription, answering surveys, writing content, researching, app testing, audio and video recording, photo capturing, and data entry jobs from home.

Hired freelancers typically earn $9 to $10 per hour.

To start looking through the site’s posted jobs, you will need to fill out an online application, after which your email will be verified.

Clickworker will then send you periodic notices of job opportunities via email. You can also search its online job board.

This site pays, but the biggest obstacle with Clickworker is the lack of jobs. Also, many available tasks require additional assessments to qualify, which could be time-consuming.

6. RapidWorkers

RapidWorkers is a micro job site that offers basic jobs, such as promoting a website, following, liking, and commenting on social media, answering short surveys, posting reviews, and other minor tasks.

They have a strict accuracy requirement of at least 60%; if your score goes down, you might get your account suspended.

Also, take note that the tasks they offer are country-based. Check each of your jobs if they are available for your country or not.

Rapidworkers pay through PayPal, but they don’t do it once you reach minimum payout amount. Instead, you have to request payment manually to receive anything from the company.

There are two problems I see with Rapidworkers – one is that tasks pay no more than $2. While it’s nice that the payout threshold (at $8) is low, the second problem is that there’s a 6% fee every time you withdraw your earnings.

7. OneSpace

OneSpace is a cloud-based platform to connect freelancers with large companies and is a good repository of data entry jobs from home.

The site crowdsources freelancers to perform microtasks that are part of a larger task.

Some common microtasks include writing short product descriptions, answering surveys, transcribing, doing keyword research, etc. Salary varies per task, depending on how difficult and how soon the task is needed.

If there aren’t any openings that seem interesting to you, you can still submit your application and you’ll be contacted if any data entry jobs come up.

They pay via PayPal, so make sure you have a verified PayPal account when you apply.

8. Remotasks

Another microtask job site, Remotasks offers various data entry-related tasks, such as image annotation, content transcription from images of physical menus and documents, data collection from various websites, categorization of different websites, and other simple tasks.

To qualify for tasks, sign up with your Facebook or Gmail account and start taking courses in their Training Center. Once you complete the training courses for the tasks you want, you can then start participating in projects and doing tasks.

The tasks on Remotasks help AI become better, so as a Remotask worker, you’ll be assigned to do a variety of things such as categorizing items, identifying spam, analyzing content, and drawing boxes around stuff.

They pay weekly every Friday through PayPal, so make sure you have a verified PayPal account. There isn’t a minimum amount for payout, so whatever you earn throughout the week will be credited to your PayPal on that Friday.

9. DataPlus

DataPlus+ has openings for data entry clerks, mail and document handling clerks, and administrative personnel.

They require a criminal background check and a typing speed exam, as they likely pay per word.

DataPlus+ doesn’t have a public page with job listings and applications. You can inquire about their job openings by e-mailing info[at]dataplus-svc[dot]com.

10. GoTranscript

GoTranscript offers data entry jobs from home in transcription and video captioning across the world.

If your online application is accepted, you’ll undergo training and certification before being allowed to accept client work.

Payment is 60 cents per audio/video minute, which will earn you an average of $150 per month.

They hire regularly and allow you to choose which projects you would like to work on and complete.

To apply, sign up or register. Study the guidelines and the samples (you’ll need this to get a sense of the job). Take the transcription test.

11. QuickTate/iDictate

This company hires independent contractors to perform both general and specialty (e.g., legal, medical, law enforcement) transcription work.

Transcription services are offered in several languages (e.g., English, French, Spanish), so knowledge of extra languages is a plus.

Part of the application will include a background check ($20 fee paid by contractor) as well as signing a HIPAA Business Associate Agreement.

Note that Quicktate requires three references (either family member, friend, former/current clients or employers, and other people in your life).

12. Scribie

This company hires independent contractors for data entry and transcription work.

Typical tasks include transcribing files such as interviews, lectures, conference calls, YouTube videos, documentaries, podcasts, dictations, and many more.

Once a job is selected, it must be completed within two hours. Scribie jobs are evaluated for completeness and assigned a 1 (Poor) through 5 (Excellent) point score.

The pay ranges from $5 to $20 per audio hour, and the files are short ones, lasting 10 minutes or less. A monthly bonus of $5 is also given to transcribers who complete at least 3 hours in a month.

13. Sigtrack

Sigtrack collects US-based data entry freelancers and combines them into a pool of workers to help distribute data entry work evenly.

They conduct Skype interviews after you apply and you must prove your residency.

The work focuses on matching the signatures of registered voters into voter databases, thus the reason behind only accepting US-based applicants (except those based in California or Massachusetts).

Pay depends on the amount of work you complete and is then paid out via PayPal.

14. Xerox from Home

Xerox has an entire work-at-home jobs division.

They regularly hire for tons of positions including: Customer Care, Tech Support, Data Entry/Verification, Image Tagging, Quality Control, Systems Development, Software Programming, & Administrative/Business Support.

Check the available positions often because data entry jobs from home can pop up at any time.

15. TDEC

TDEC has been around for more than 60 years, helping companies and nonprofit organizations by providing solutions for labor-intensive functions, such as document management, call center assistance, and other essential services.

They are in constant need of data entry operators, a role that pays $16.20 an hour if you’re willing to work in the office at their Cleveland, Ohio location.

Home-based data entry jobs you can do from home aren’t advertised on their side, but you can email in your application with your resume. They will get back to you with job positions as they open up.

16. Kendall Creek Communications

Kendall Creek Communications specializes in legal transcription. You’ll be asked to transcribe depositions, trials, hearings, and other audio files from lawyers, court reporting agencies, and other legal clients.

Bad news is transcribers for Immigration and Social Security accounts will need to get a security clearance. The good news is you don’t shoulder the cost for the full background check.

Rates vary depending on the particular task, turnaround time, and the quality of your work. For general legal documents, the pay ranges from $1.25 to $2 per double-spaced page.

Like most transcription jobs, pay isn’t based on the exact time you completed the job. Pay per audio minutes is determined by how many minutes of audio you transcribe. Pay per page is determined on how many finished pages you have transcribed.

17. Amazon mturk

Amazon’s Mechanical Turk program is not without its flaws.

You have to keep an eye out for work constantly, and you will likely make $2 to $3 per hour if you are lucky. The work is extremely mindless and pay is equal to the amount of effort you have to give.

I really only included mturk on this list because it is one of the few legitimate ways of finding a data entry job from home and like most others, it doesn’t pay all that well.

18. VITAC

VITAC falls into the “well, it’s technically a data entry job from home” category but you will have to have some extraordinary skills to land this position.

The training is on-site in Canonsburg, PA, but the position is fully remote and can be done from anywhere. VITAC provides live captions for on-air programs, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. There is always work available and schedules may come in at odd hours.

Click on ‘View All Open Positions‘ and look for ‘Realtime Captioner‘ to land this unique job.

There are also other, less demanding positions that pop up from time to time. Keep an eye out for Voice Captioner jobs as well. It’s less demanding than real-time captioning and more like a traditional transcription job.

19. Vaco

Vaco is a premier talent and solutions firm, connecting businesses to quality talent.

They have remote data entry clerk job openings currently available on their jobs site. Salary varies depending on the company you work for.

20. Medix

Medix offers recruitment and workforce solutions to various industries, such as healthcare, tech, life sciences, and engineering and construction.

They’re currently looking for data entry clerks to enter data into their database systems and ensure the accuracy and integrity of that data.

You’ll become eligible for benefits after you’ve been employed for 30 days and you’ve worked an average of 30 hours per week on your first four weeks.

21. SitusAMC

If you have a background in real estate, particularly real estate financial documents, this may be an interesting job opportunity for you.

SitusAMC provides solutions for the residential and commercial real estate finance industry.

They are currently looking for a real estate data entry and analysis specialist to extract data from real estate documentation after training to develop an understanding of real estate financial calculations, market research reports, document checklists, and data organization.

22. Aston Carter

Aston Carter provides professional staff to fill job openings in departments such as accounting, finance, customer service, administration, office, and clerical to various companies and industries across four continents.

They are currently looking for remote data entry specialists with Salesforce experience to enter sensitive employee, payroll, and tax information.

23. MetaSource

MetaSource is a technology company that provides business process and data management services to various companies worldwide.

They’re constantly offering home-based data entry jobs with various degrees of specialization. Currently, they’re looking for remote Verifications Specialists to collect, research, and analyze data provided by clients and various financial institutions.

24. Conduent

This business process service provider is currently looking for home-based Data Entry Associates to work on a per-project basis.

Permanent data entry associate positions are also available, but require you to train in their office in Sandy, UT for two weeks.

Are there Still Data Entry Jobs From Home in 2023?

I hope this list provided you with some valuable insight into real data entry jobs from home and where to find them.

Unfortunately, it’s fairly basic work that doesn’t pay that well, and the competition for jobs is fierce.

I would highly suggest looking at our complete work at home jobs list as there is likely something in there that will be a better fit and offer you more money for the same amount of work.

If I had to guess, I would wager this blog post will be irrelevant in the next few years as data entry jobs will be completely replaced by AI.

Should You Join L’Bri as an Independent Consultant?

Written By:Steve Wrzeszczynski

Published On: July 25, 2017

If you use skincare and beauty products on a regular basis, then you have probably heard of L’Bri. This company offers several lines of products geared towards skin and haircare, and they also offer cosmetics. What’s really great about L’Bri products is that many of them feature aloe vera extract as their first ingredient. They also strive to use natural ingredients such as plant oils, nut butters, and essential oils.

L’Bri products are priced comparably to products from Avon and Mary Kay and are not as expensive as those of Lancôme or Estee Lauder. Face creams average at $20/jar, and care sets run about $50.

You can purchase the products on their own by going onto the L’Bri website and shopping online. At checkout, there is no need to interact with a sales consultant.

Alternately, you can sign up with L’Bri and earn products and commissions through the company. How does this work?

The L’Bri business opportunity

L’Bri does not offer its products through retailers and stores. Instead, it sells its goods to and through independent consultants, who then sell those products to their customers and earn a commission on their sales. As such, the company operates through a direct sales model. L’Bri also pays out commissions to consultants who can recruit other consultants- because of this, the company operates as a multi-level marketing (MLM) business.

If you really like L’Bri products, you can score free and reduced items by hosting a L’Bri party. The compensation plan is as follows:

Keep in mind that, in addition to selling a given amount of product, you will also need to have someone in your party book the next L’Bri party. Otherwise, you won’t receive your product compensation.

If you’d rather just make money by selling L’Bri products to customers, you will first need to purchase a product showcase. There are two showcases to choose from: the full showcase, which costs $350 and includes skincare and makeup products, and the skin care showcase, which costs $135 and includes only skincare products. Doing so is part of the process of becoming an independent consultant with the company.

In addition to these products, you also get your own dedicated L’Bri website, and product samples.

L’Bri consultants don’t necessarily need to purchase products themselves before they sell those products to their personal customers. However, commissions are higher if the consultants purchase product outright. For example, at the consultant level, you earn a 30% commission on products that you order directly from the company, but only a 23% commission on products that are purchased online via your website.

The entire L’Bri commission structure is outlined below and shows the four different levels that consultants can achieve:

The sponsoring bonuses outlined in this chart are commonly known as downline commissions, or the commissions that you make as a result of sales generated by people you’ve recruited.

So, is being a L’Bri consultant worth the time and money? I break down the pros and cons of this business opportunity below.

Pros

Great products– L’Bri truly strives to create and market products that contain pure and natural ingredients. They list these ingredients openly on their website and strive to explain what each one does.

Reasonable prices– The skincare and other products offered by L’Bri are reasonably priced- furthermore, customers don’t have to pay a membership fee if they just wish to buy the products outright.

Cons

Low commissions– L’Bri may not require that its consultants buy its products outright- but it sure makes it a challenge to earn a high commission otherwise. Consultants earn only 23% on products that they sell through their website. So, in order to earn higher commissions, you’ll either be having lots of parties and taking customer orders directly, or you’ll be buying product ahead of time to sell at shows or additional home parties.

Limited market– L’Bri offers skincare and cosmetics products directed towards women only. This is unfortunate because aloe vera products could easily be formulated for men, or just be offered in the gender-neutral categories of sun protection, wound healing, etc. However, because they’re not, you cannot just market your wares to everybody and expect sales.

Personal volume requirement– It’d be great if all you had to do to earn commissions was set up a website and generate 23% from every sale that occasionally rolled in. Alas, it’s not that simple. As a consultant, you must make a minimum of $200 in sales each month if you are to earn any commissions. That means that, more than likely, you’ll be hosting at least one party per month to make that $46. Either that, or you’ll be starting side businesses like these in order to sell your wares:

Little to no marketing training- Glassdoor reviews of L’Bri have one recurrent complaint about this company- the fact that it offers little direction on how to go beyond the at-home party model to market and sell products to a general audience. Because L’Bri focuses mostly on your ‘warm’ audience, you won’t know enough about how to reach out to third-party customers and boost your sales.

L’Bri has great products but a so-so business opportunity

L’Bri offers quality products at affordable prices. Unfortunately, this is where the company’s advantages end. The L’Bri business opportunity is rife with risk because you must generate a set personal sales volume each month. Additionally, you must encourage your downline to make its required sales volume or the promised bonuses don’t materialize.

Have you sold L’Bri products? Please leave a comment below about your experiences.

How to make a Side Income as a Store Merchandiser

Written By:Steve Wrzeszczynski

Last Updated:July 25, 2017

If you’ve ever been in a retail or grocery store and asked for help from a “stocker,” you may have been told something along the lines of “I don’t work here.” How is this possible? Because that “stocker” was more than likely a merchandiser.

What is a store merchandiser?

A merchandiser is an independent contractor who is paid to stock shelves with merchandise, remove discontinued/expired products, scan inventory, create displays, adjust prices, and take before and after photos of the merchandise. The merchandiser does not work for the store or outlet when performing these tasks. Rather, she works directly with the company/ies and manufacturers supplying the products to that store or outlet.

A merchandiser performs some of the duties of a mystery shopper, including reporting on the condition of the store and its displays, interacting with store managers, observing store staff and their behaviors, etc. However, because the merchandiser is also helping to market the goods by arranging, tracking, and discarding them, he makes a higher hourly wage than the average mystery shopper. Typically, a novice merchandiser will make $9.50/hour, while an experienced merchandiser can command as much as $20/hour.

Many retailers and companies hire merchandisers via agencies. These agencies work with a number of such clients and assign merchandisers to them on an ‘as needed’ basis. Merchandisers can work a few hours a week if they are assigned to just one or two clients; alternately, they might put in a 40+ hour workweek if they take on a roster of clients, and especially around the holidays.

When it comes to finding merchandiser jobs online, it helps to have some background in sales, advertising, and/or marketing. Even having past mystery shopping experience is a plus when applying for merchandiser jobs. However, if you have no experience in this arena, don’t worry: Some agencies will take on newbies and train them to become merchandisers in the space of a few months.

In most cases, your work hours as a merchandiser are fairly flexible, allowing you to choose when you can show up and complete your assigned tasks. Many companies only require that you work a given day or weekend.

So, where can you go to find merchandiser jobs? The following companies offer a regular batch of such jobs in different stores and industries.

A & A Merchandising

This Canada-based company offers merchandising and other jobs, complete with their hourly rates, via its website. Merchandiser jobs start at $17-$20 (CAD)/hour and range from 3-4 hours/week to full-time.

At Your Service Marketing

This company offers merchandising representative jobs in select states. You can fill out an application online, after which matching jobs will be emailed to you.

Creative Channel Services

This retail marketing agency has been in business since 1995 and offers a number of merchandising positions via its
online portal. Pay rates start at $17/hour.

Crossmark

This company hires merchandisers for area retailers and pays $12-$15/hour. There are plenty of jobs available through this company, both in the USA and Canada.

Franklin Retail Solutions

Founded in 1998, this company offers projects with area stores and retailers in the fitness, sports, outdoor, and health industries. Merchandisers are paid from $12-$19/hour. To start viewing jobs, you need to fill out an online application.

Merchandise Management Company (MMC)

This agency has been posting merchandising work since 1979 and offers many merchandiser jobs through its member job board. Before being able to peruse the listings, you will need to fill out an online application. After that, you’ll become a member of the site and login to find jobs available to you.

Mondelez International

The agency, as its name suggests operates on an international level and offers merchandising jobs all over the world. The site’s handy job selector lets you pick which types of jobs, and in which regions, you’d like to peruse.

Mosaic

This company offers rows of location-dependent merchandiser jobs in fields such as cosmetics, retail, groceries, etc. The jobs vary from a single gig to 40 hours/week. You can also sign up to receive the company’s regular daily job alerts.

Resource Plus

Resource Plus works with Fortune 50 clients in a number of retail categories, including home improvement, office supply, groceries, hospitality, and major department stores.

Wolf Retail Solutions

This agency has been in business since 2011 and offers merchandiser jobs with a variety of retailers. You can apply for the positions via the site’s application portal. Wolf merchandisers earn $10-$15/hour.

How to increase your odds of being a successful merchandiser

As noted above, you can increase your chances of being hired as a merchandiser if you’ve had experience in marketing or sales, or even if you’ve been a mystery shopper in the past. Other ways you can increase your chances of success include reading up on marketing tactics and the latest ad practices.

Also, keeping an eye on your retail or manufacturing competitors is useful for when you’re called upon to set up or enhance a store display, arrange products, or reduce inventory. As your time and success with a given company increases, you can eventually expect additional work and bumps in pay.

Should You Become a Scent-Sations Distributor?

Written By:Steve Wrzeszczynski

Published On: July 19, 2017

If you have shopped for home decor products, then you may have come across a company called Scent-Sations. This company was founded in September 2002 by Carmen and Lynn Milazzo, Bob Scocozzo, and Charles Umphred. The company is headquartered in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania.

The company is best known for marketing Mia Bella Gourmet Candles, which are candles that come in different jar sizes and are offered in over 90 different scents. Scent-Sations also offers Mia Bella Beauty, a line of cosmetics that are advertised as being high in soy protein. There are also bath and body products to choose from, and even Mia Bella Bakery products.

The Scent-Sations business opportunity

You can buy Scent-Sations products online via the company’s website. However, you can also become a distributor for the company because Scent-Sations operates as a direct sales, multilevel marketing company. This means that it doesn’t sell its products to retailers. Instead, the company deals directly with private individuals, who sign up to become independent contractors (aka, distributors). These distributors purchase company products at wholesale prices and then sell them to others at a profit. They can also recruit other individuals to become Scent-Sations distributors and earn commissions on their sales.

Your first step in becoming a Scent-Sations distributor involves signing up to the company’s auto-ship program. There are three auto-ship programs to choose from, as outlined below:

In essence, you need to pay at least $39.95 per month to join and remain in the Scent-Sations distributor program. Depending on your personal needs and sales, you can upgrade to the larger $100/month plan or the $87/month skin care plan.

The main perk of having an auto-ship plan is that you get to buy Scent-Sations products at discount (i.e., wholesale). While the Scent-Sations website doesn’t specifically state how high of a discount you get, one page does reference products costing 15%-30% less than those featured online.

While you can just stop here and sell Scent-Sations products on your own, the company offers additional commissions if you recruit others into becoming distributors themselves. You commissions can add up quickly, especially if you are on the $100/month auto-ship plan:

If you focus on recruitment and press your downline to also recruit, you could theoretically make as much as 25% on commissions from sales. And even better, these are sales that you yourself don’t have to arrange.

As you continue to recruit distributors and they themselves recruit other distributors, your downline commissions could become as high as 39% and as many as 8 levels down. Keep in mind, though, that the sales volume on such high commissions is stupendous, totaling a minimum of $500,000 per month.

How do you and your downline generate such high sale volumes? There are several different methods that the company emphasizes:

Person-to-person sales– You are encouraged to host home parties and sell products to your warm market (i.e., family members and friends). You are also provided with a company website where you can advertise products, announce events like parties, and post testimonials.

Fundraising– Scent-Sations offers products customized specifically towards schools, churches, and other organizations who wish to sell them as part of a fundraising effort. Much of this customization involves creating unique candle labels and matching them with colors. So, if you work at a school, church, non-profit or other organization, you could take advantage of this opportunity to earn money from fundraising sales.

Is Scent-Sations a worthwhile business opportunity?

When analyzing any direct sales MLM, it’s imperative that you consider several factors about the business including its commission structure, monthly cost, marketing plan, etc. In the case of Scent-Sations, the company can be summarized via its pros and cons as follows:

Pros:

Higher-end products– Scent-Sations offers higher end triple-scented wax candles, which cost more than candles you might find at discount retailers like Walmart or Target; however, the scents are also more concentrated and of better quality overall. In many cases, the company’s products are priced below comparable items you would find at Yankee Candle Co. or Bath & Body Works, for example.

Higher commissions– If you are able to recruit other distributors and enable them to recruit distributors of their own, you’ll quickly nudge up to earning an additional 25% in commissions just on the sales of your downline. If you keep building on your downline, you might even go beyond earning 25%.

Cons:

Low wholesale discount– Although it’s difficult to discern how much of a wholesale discount you receive on products, it appears that the highest discount is 30%. That means that many products won’t be 30% off. Also, many of Scent-Sations’ products are already offered at a significant discount via its main website. So, you may have some difficulty convincing customers to purchase your items at full retail price.

Recruitment emphasis– Although you can make money at Scent-Sations without recruiting anyone, you won’t make a significant income until you leverage your efforts through distributor recruitment. That may work in your favor if you know people who really want to get involved in the business- or it may be a detriment.

Monthly purchase requirement– Many MLMs require that their members purchase a starter kit to join…but few MLMs ask that their members continually purchase starter kits month-after-month. This can pose a problem if, for example, your customers want a bulk shipment of only one candle scent; meanwhile, you’re stuck with odds and ends of scents that you can’t move. It’s one thing to have a monthly volume requirement, where you can purchase anything as long as you spend a given dollar amount. It’s quite another to have to purchase items that you may not even need or use.

The Scent-Sations business opportunity is a pass

While Scent-Sations offers value-priced candles and other goods, its compensation plan seems lackluster for distributors who just wish to sell product and not focus on recruitment. Also, distributors are stuck buying kits on a monthly basis, which often results in excess inventory that cannot be sold and ends up being unloaded on discount sites like eBay.

Have you bought or sold Scent-Sations products in the past? We’d love to hear your experiences in the comments below.

Should You Become an Educational Consultant with Discovery Toys?

Written By:Steve Wrzeszczynski

Published On: July 17, 2017

If you have young children, operate a daycare, or work in an elementary school, then you may have heard of Discovery Toys. This company, which operates on a direct sales, multilevel marketing model, offers a range of educational toys geared towards children ages 0-8 years of age, as well as toys that engage the entire family.

How does Discovery Toys operate?

Discovery Toys (DT) does not sell its products through retailers. Instead, as a direct sales company, DT sells to independent consultants, called Educational Consultants (ECs). These ECs purchase the items at discount, after which they sell them to customers at full retail price.

Currently, ECs purchase DT products at a 34% discount.

The toys that DT offers appear to be of good quality and comparable price to other similar toys. The following screen shot of the site catalog showcases toys you’d purchase for an 8-year-old child:

Discovery Toys kits

To get started as an EC, one first purchases a starter kit from the company for $79 (USA) or $109 (Canada). This kit contains a few company products, access to a personal website, and business materials (order forms, etc.)

The next size up is the Business Launch Kit, which costs $139 (USA) or $179 (Canada). There is also the Business Builder Kit, which goes for $369 (USA) or $469 (Canada). The more money you pay for each kit, the more toys you receive. These toys are important because, as an EC, you will be expected to host at-home parties as your primary means of showing and marketing DT products.

You can also host a DT party without signing up to be an EC. By doing so, you score free and discounted products depending on your party sales and how many of your guests sign up to host a party of their own.

As an EC, you are compensated a little differently. You earn money from your product sales as well as bonuses. You can also earn commissions from ECs that you recruit.

The DT website does not list its EC compensation plan; however, I was able to discover it by performing a Google search. There are eight levels of consultants in DT, with each level having its own sales goals and corresponding commissions and bonuses.

Overall, as advertised on the actual DT website, ECs can earn 25 – 34% on their personal sales and up to 7% on team sales.

Discovery Toys: Pros and Cons

As with all direct sales MLMs, there are pros and cons to joining the business and pitching its products. Here are the results for Discovery Toys:

Pros

Quality toys– DT features toys for different ages that are organized to foster growth of specific developmental goals, such as social interaction, problem-solving, logic, etc. Some toys have been specifically developed for children with autism and special needs and are marked with a symbol denoting this. DT also offers a chart explaining which toys are intended for children with different developmental challenges. Finally, DT’s products have received excellent reviews from occupational therapists, daycare providers, and special needs teachers.

Cons

Cookie-cutter websites– DT offers you your own ‘personal’ website as a way to generate online product sales. However, the websites are cookie-cutter, meaning that every EC’s website looks about the same.

If you’re hoping that your personal website will be indexed by Google, think again. The only customers who will find your site will be those that you tell.

Low compensation– ECs earn only 20% on their monthly sales of up to $250, and an additional 5% if they exceed that amount. For a starting EC, that is extremely low and hard to make a decent profit at. It’s also hard to offer any kinds of promos or discounts with such a tight profit margin.

Party marketing– DT emphasizes the party model of selling, which is a good tactic when you are starting out and your friends and family members aren’t yet tired of DT. But once you’ve hosted three or more parties, no one in your immediate social circle will want to attend “yet another Discovery Toys party.” You’ll need to branch out online, via third party selling platforms, etc…and DT offers little to no advice on how to tackle those selling domains.

eBay competition– Search for DT on eBay and you will (currently) find over 8,500 listings, with many products priced far below their suggested retail price. With this kind of stiff competition, you’ll be hard-pressed to sell your products and make a good income from them.

Discovery Toys: Good products, not so good business

DT offers an impressive lineup of toys for kids of varying ages nd developmental stages. While the toys are of good quality and well-researched, the business model is lackluster. The company provides little direction except to sell via home parties, and 20% commissions on product sales means that, even if you throw great at-home parties and know lots of young families, you’ll still be scraping by.

Think about it: if you throw two parties a week that average an impressive $1,500 in product sales, that will give you $6,000 for the month. Even with your bonuses, you’ll be walking away with only $1,620. Over the course of a year, that doesn’t even take you above poverty line income.

Simply put, you’re better off looking elsewhere.

If you’ve had experience selling DT products, I’d love to hear from you! Please leave a comment below.

AWOL Academy: Is it Worth the High Price Tag?

Written By:Steve Wrzeszczynski

Last Updated:May 31, 2018

Since 2015, there has been a premium Internet marketing training program called AWOL Academy. This program was created by and is offered through Keala Kanae and Kameron George.

According to Keala and Kameron, AWOL Academy is “The World’s Most Comprehensive Internet Marketing Education & Mentorship Platform.”

AWOL actually stands for “Another Way of Life” and offers a series of separately priced trainings on areas such as email marketing, copywriting, traffic generation, paid advertising, etc. The higher priced academy trainings offer webinars and even 1:1 mentorship (via online forums and Facebook groups).

The most affordable training offered by AWOL Academy runs $99, while AWOL Elite costs almost $10K. The full breakdown of AWOL Academy products goes as follows:

Pro Academy (aka: AWOL 101 Coaching): $99
Inbox Academy: $447
Conversion Academy: $1,797
Traffic Academy: $2,997
Masters Academy: $5,497
AWOL Elite: $17,997

Total enrollment costs will run you just under $29,000.

Yikes.

May 2018 Update: Prices of the courses above (with the exception of the Elite program) have doubled over the course of a year. It used to cost around $5,000 to purchase everything. In 2018, it costs over $10,000.

AWOL Academy courses aren’t cheap, that’s for sure.

However, it all depends on what you get for your investment.

The real question here is, is AWOL Academy worth its hefty product price tag(s)? To find out, we take a closer look at its offering and promises.

What is AWOL Academy?

In a nutshell, AWOL’s Keala and Kameron say that their courses and mentorship will help someone who is starting out, or already engaged in Internet marketing, to make money online.

Pro Academy

The Pro Academy course, which costs $99, provides a good introduction to the world of Internet marketing. In this package, you receive 4 training modules comprised of 25 videos. You also have one coaching call.

This course is intended for newbies and introduces the concept of the sale funnels as a customer acquisition tactic. You are shown, step-by-step, how to implement your own sales funnel. To this end, several other products are needed:

LeadPages- for building landing pages ($25-$48/month)
GetResponse- an emaul autoresponder ($15+/month)
ClickMagic- a customer tracking system, which is useful for ad tactics like retargeting ($12-$17/month)

So, if you truly implement what the Pro Academy course teaches, you will be shelling out much more than $99.

Inbox Academy

The next course up, so to speak, is Inbox Academy. This course offers a set of “secret” strategies for not only creating your own email list, but getting that list to open, click on, and accept the offers you email out. Those secret strategies are supposedly what top email marketers use.

Conversion Academy

This nearly thousand dollar course offers “coveted conversion secrets” for getting customers to do what you want them to do- which is to buy your product or service. So, Conversion Academy focuses heavily on the art and science of good copywriting and content generation, including content such as images, presentations, and videos. It goes over what kind of copy you would present to a potential customer at the start, middle, and conclusion of his buying journey.

Other concepts introduced here include evergreen sales. In order to generate steady sales revenue not just today but in the future, an Internet marketer needs to offer products that are always in need. These products are often called consumables and should be a part of every marketer’s arsenal.

Traffic Academy

This course, which also runs almost a grand, focuses on generating targeted traffic via social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube. Five training modules cover traffic generation using these three platforms, and offer formulas on estimating whether or not your ad spend is achieving a high enough conversion rate.

The ads that are the the focus of this course are cost-per-action or CPA ads, where money is spent every time a potential customer completes a desired action. That action can include viewing a video, filling out a form, or even just buying your product/service.

Given that this course is focusing on traffic generation, it also goes over how to derive traffic from lesser used search engines such as Bing and Yahoo.

Masters Academy

This course, which is almost $5,500, is for Internet marketers who are already making money online and wish to increase their online earnings and/or leverage their efforts. So, Masters Academy focuses less on the step-by-step processes of setting up a website or creating an email list and more on the big picture of marketing. Concepts such as evergreen products, outsourcing, project management, automation, etc., are delved into in meticulous detail.

There are three sections in this course:

Section 1: Mindset Hacks
Section 2: Wealth Strategies
Section 3: Solopreneur to CEO

One way that this course has you look at long term wealth strategies is by getting top online marketers involved, and offering their advice and techniques.

AWOL Elite

For those marketers who want to go all in and take weekly webinars offered by Keala and Kameron, AWOL Elite is the program to buy. In this program, you not only get weekly 2-hour-long webinars, you get personalized mentorship through Keala and Kameron’s private Facebook group and forum.

In addition to this, you also get all the other products shown above.

Shelling out nearly 10 grand for mentorship and courses is no small investment. However, if you are already making a steady income via online marketing, this could be a worthwhile next step for you.

AWOL Academy’s affiliate program

There’s one more AWOL program that you can join, and that’s the affiliate program. As an affiliate, you’ll earn 30% commissions on any AWOL products you sell. You’ll also make 3% commissions on any products your direct referrals sell to others. Seeing tiered commissions in an affiliate program is a rare phenomenon and reminiscent of MLMs.

To become (and remain) an affiliate, you will need to pay $39.95/month. You will also be required to purchase Traffic Academy. So, this is not something to just delve into unless you are fairly sure you can convince others to purchase AWOL products.

Is AWOL Academy worth the money?

The key question you’re probably asking yourself here is whether or not AWOL Academy is worth its hefty price tag. In this case, the answer isn’t a simple yes or no. However, there are different pros and cons to consider when looking into this program:

Pros

In-depth training– The amount of training material and videos within AWOL Academy courses is significant and detailed. The lessons are well-planned and go beyond what you would simply find online.

Keala Kanae knows his stuff– You don’t build a high-level course of this caliber without know what you’re talking about. Keala is often praised for the high-quality of this teaching ability.

Direct access to program creators– At the higher level trainings offered by AWOL Academy, members can get one-on-one time with Keala and Kameron and have unique questions/issues answered. The member FB group and forum provide a means for online marketers to collaborate and bounce ideas off one another. AWOL Academy is definitely not a program where you will be left to fend for yourself.

Cons

High ad spend– Much of AWOL Academy focuses on generating traffic and conversions through paid ads such as solo ads. As such, you will be spending a lot of money on advertising. So, if you don’t set up your campaigns correctly, you could easily go through hundreds or even thousands of dollars in the space of a few days. To its credit, AWOL Academy does note that its traffic and other programs are not for those students who are cash-strapped.

Pushy upsells– Once you find enough cash to purchase a program such as Pro Academy, you’ll be offered more selling secrets in Inbox Academy. Once you purchase Inbox Academy, you’ll be told that you should really purchase Traffic Academy. And so on. So, you’ll find yourself reaching for your wallet again and again.

AWOL promotion– AWOL Academy will certainly provide you with ‘done-for-you’ squeeze, landing, and thank you pages, but these pages are, to a great extent, geared towards promoting AWOL Academy itself. Sure, you could strip them down and tweak them to promote your own affiliate or other products. But that takes away from them being done for you.

Affiliate marketing isn’t cheap– AWOL Academy requires its affiliates to shell out almost $40/month in order to profit from AWOL product sales. This is rather unusual in the arena of affiliate marketing- most affiliate programs are free to promote. Additionally, you must purchase the nearly thousand dollar Traffic Academy.

AWOL Academy Review- is it a good buy or goodbye?

AWOL Academy is no scam, but it ain’t cheap either.

Whether or not AWOL is something you purchase will depend on you financial standing and Internet marketing goals. It may be that this system will have everything you need to become a successful online marketer. Or, it may cost you more than you are comfortable spending.

What are your thoughts on AWOL Academy? Please leave your response in the comments below.

Should You Become a doTerra Essential Oils Wellness Advocate?

Written By:Steve Wrzeszczynski

Published On: July 2, 2017

Have you heard of doTerra? This Utah-based company, which has been around since 2008, offers essential oils for a variety of applications, including personal use, therapy, cooking, and ingestion.

It is easy to see why doTerra has created several different applications for its essential oils: if the company stuck to only offering oils for massage and fragrance, it would quickly overwhelm the customer with its plethora of fragrance. However, by entering the areas of cuisine, natural supplements, and even traditional OTC items (e.g., vapor sticks), doTerra manages to create more need for its items.

doTerra advertises that its products are all natural and 100% pure. You can find these products online, at the doTerra website. However, once you try to purchase the products, you are directed to a DoTerra ‘Wellness Advocate.”

Why can’t you just purchase doTerra products directly?

Because doTerra is a direct sales and multi-level marketing (MLM) company. What this means is that doTerra doesn’t sell its products through area retailers or grocery stores. Instead, this business sells its wares directly to private individuals like you and me.

Why would doTerra do this? Because it offers its buyers the opportunity to then resell those products to others for a profit. And in so doing, the company gains a sales force that works only on commission.

How does an individual like you or me get started with doTerra?

How to become a Wellness Advocate for doTerra

Anyone can sign up and work for doTerra as a Wellness Advocate. The actual cost of sign-up is $35, which gives the new member a website, business materials (e.g., order forms, catalogs), and wholesale pricing of products. After the first year, membership is renewed at $25/year.

A Wellness Advocate can get 25% off the retail value of doTerra products, then sell them at full retail costs to others. The difference in price is pocketed as profit.

doTerra states that, once you’ve purchased at least $100 worth of oils, the 25% discount on products matches what you pay each year to renew your membership.

Other doTerra benefits: Bonuses and commissions

doTerra Wellness Advocates earn different bonuses and commissions for member recruitment, which are paid up to seven levels down. Specifically, they are the called out as the following:

Unilevel: To achieve this commission, a personal volume (PV) must be met, along with a combined volume for the advocate and her team (Organizational Volume, or OV). Leg requirements must also be met. Incidentally, a leg is personally enrolled doTerra member.

Power of 3: This $50 bonus is earned if three people personally enrolled by the Wellness Advocate place 100 PV loyalty rewards program (LRP) orders and the team’s OV is at least 600 PV. The Power of 3 bonus increases as PV orders increase in size.

The full scope of doTerra’s compensation plan is rather lengthy, as this Unilevel table alone shows:

Keep in mind that PV and OV do not convert to dollars on a 1:1 ratio. It’s a bit unclear as to which items carry a given PV or OV quantity, but the doTerra sales compensation tables state that some items will carry different or even no PV/OV depending on the items, associated promotions, etc.

As with all business opportunities, doTerra has its pros and cons:

doTerra Pros

Good quality products– doTerra offers several lines of essential oils for different applications. The company advertises that its products are all natural and 100% pure. The company also works with small farmers in countries like Bulgaria, Kenya, Madagascar, and Nepal in fair trade agreements to purchase their products.

doTerra Cons

Expensive items- doTerra is by no means a company that offers cheap products. Even a single bottle of shampoo, when purchased at wholesale discount, is still going to cost $45.

In light of this, it’s going to be quite the challenge to convince customers to purchase such items at retail price.

PVs and OVs– doTerra Wellness Advocates are required to make set PVs and OVs if they are to receive their downline commissions and bonuses. Because the PV/OV to dollar value doesn’t necessarily go by a 1:1 ratio, that means Wellness Advocates may need to spend up to $100/month just to stay active in doTerra and receive their commissions and bonuses. This can easily lead to an advocate having a lot of extra stock that he has no use for. Plus, having to pay what is, in essence, a membership fee of roughly $1,200/year, quickly chips away at one’s profit margin.

Membership fee– Adding insult to injury is the doTerra annual membership fee. Exactly why a member must pay $25 for the privilege of working with this company is never explained by doTerra. Where that collected money goes is also never explained.

Emphasis on recruitment– doTerra spends much time and effort discussing member recruitment and downline rewards. It spends far less time discussing how a busy Wellness Advocate might sell the products online or at events. This means that Wellness Advocates are almost certainly going to fail at maintaining the needed sales volume for their bonuses and commissions.

doTerra is a so-so business opportunity

doTerra might offer good quality products that are ethically sourced, but its emphasis on PV and OV over actually selling to outside consumers should be cause for concern. Likewise, the products themselves aren’t cheap, so they will not immediately sell to an outside market. This will eventually result in the Wellness Advocate making up her losses by purchasing more and more product- and paying a membership fee in order to do so. Such a tactic easily leads to negative revenue- in other words, a gradual loss of profits.

With so many other business opportunities out there, you are better off passing on doTerra.

If you’ve sold or currently sell doTerra products, we’d love to hear from you! Please leave a note about your experiences in the comments below.