Rule 2: Don't invest without doing Due Diligence

After publishing some reviews, I decided to post an article for beginners.  If you are a regular reader of my blog, then you may be aware of Rule 1: Invest what you can afford to loose.  This article is just a continuation of that - Rule 2: Don't invest without doing Due Diligence.

Want to read more? Read My Experience in online investments series

Why this rule?  This is the second most common mistakes all beginners are doing.  Of course, the first common mistake is investing what they cannot afford to loose which is my Rule 1.  o.k, Let's take an "Investor A" who understood my Rule 1 and decided to invest not more than 100$ from his pocket which is good.  He got brainwashed by the posts in a particular forum and invests 50$ in a program.  That program fails in first cycle itself and no returns are paid to investors.  

"Investor A" now looses 50% of his seed money but you know what - the members who are promoting this program in forum/blog got referral commission from his investment and so they are in better position than "Investor A".   This loss to "Investor A" is purely because of his poor decision making skill.  "Investor A" is not supposed to make decision based on a single forum or blog.  He/She should have the habit of read more.  

How importance is to perform due diligence?  I should say it is very very important.  If you did your due diligence properly then you have very less chance to loose your money in that program.  This applies not only to Hyip and autosurfs but also to Stock market, forex etc., Read further to know several ways of analysing a program....

Next question. How to do due diligence and rate a program yourself?  It's actually simple.  If you have little experience in online investments then you can rate it very easily, otherwise it will take some time to perfectly rate a program.  It is important to look various factors about a program before investing.  Let me discuss those factors which are called as "Quality Factors" in my blog,

1. Is it a sustainable investment plan?  This factor should always be considered along with factor 2.  First you should understand that even a program which gives 1% daily return will become scam one day.  So, always hop in early.  There will be some exceptions always.  If you take Megalidio (Year 2008 autosurf program), it last for around 3 months with high percentage of 12% daily return for 12 days.  That is because of the admins marketing skills. It all depends on the confidence of investors about that program
2. How old is that program?  It is necessary for you to know the start date of the program.  If a program is 3 months old and it is paying 120% total returns after 12 days then it may not last for another cycle.  I insist, it once again depends on the admins marketing skills and the investors confidence.  If both are good then it can still sustain the payment.  So, refer to forums and keep an eye on the factors 14 and 15 and decide yourself
3. How serious the admin about his program?  If you want to invest in a company then you will always see how serious the management of that company about there business.  This same principle applies here also.  But, how can you measure the seriousness of a program admin?  One quick way to measure is, just look at the design and content of the website.  If the design is bad and the content is just a copy & paste from other programs then it's risky  to invest.  But, this measurement is highly impacted by factors 4, 5, 6 and 7.  So, read on...
4. Does the program website hosted on a dedicated server with DDOS protection?  Dedicated server and DDOS are always costly.  If a program admin spends that money to host its website then it means the admin is little serious about the program.  Some admins won't have DDOS or dedicated server at the beginning and after getting some money from investors they will buy DDOS and dedicated servers.  So, it is important to know whether the program has DDOS/dedicated server at the beginning or not
5. How is the security of the program?  Does the program has a licensed version of any of the famous scripts like neversay, gold coders etc.,  Script should be secured enough as they are dealing with investors money here.  Ideally speaking, all investment programs should have SSL encryption.  Or at least, I will look for a withdrawal pin or secondary password for hacker proof.
6. Does it accept many payment processors? A program which accepts only LR with high returns is most risky whereas a program which accepts almost all payment processors with sustainable returns is less risky.  So, always look for payment processors.  Don't just invest because that program accepts LR or AP.  Many investors depends on SP or STP too.  So, for me if a program accepts LR, AP, SP and STP then it is enough and it can attract many investors.  Another point to note is - If payment processors are more then it is difficult to manage the payments.  If only less investors are using LR for example then it would be difficult for admin to sustain the payment for LR investors.  He/She should exchange funds from other processors to LR which is little costly and affects the program's performance.
7. Is the site launched in hurry with known issues or bugs?  It is must for an admin to test the site 100% before launching.  But, it is difficult to have a script or software without bugs.  It is merely impossible.  So, all I can say is admin should do his/her best to identify the bugs before launch.  I can understand bugs like "deposits are not automatic right after launch" which is reasonable.  Because admin didn't test the site by depositing funds from his/her payment processors.  But, bugs like "link not working", "activation mail not received after sign up"etc., should be fixed before launch.  Because they are straight forward.  Don't forget to reduce your rating for this factor if you see any bugs.
8. Does the program has proper support ticket system?  How fast you are getting replies for your ticket?  A proper support ticket system helps the admin to manage the tickets professionally.  Just a contact form which sends email to admin's email address is mere waste or a basic requirement.   If tickets are piled up then admin may miss some emails raised from the contact form.  If an investor is not getting reply from admin for a ticket then he/she may raise panic in forums which affects the program.  If program is grown after a certain level then admin should hire a person to answer the support tickets.  If that is not happening then you should re-visit this factor and reduce your rating.
9. Does the program has it's own forum?  There are already lot of forums like MMG, TG, DTM etc.,  So, actually speaking it is not must for a program to have it's own forum.  But, if a program is grown after a certain level then it would be difficult for admin to monitor the various forums and see the investors confidence.  Rather if it has it's own forum then it will save some time for the admin.
10. How is the up-time for the program website?  If you see frequent down time in program website then it is difficult for the program to sustain payments.  During down time the program will loose investors or new sign ups which will affect the program performance.
11. How is the admin marketing the program?  Marketing is very important.  Due to the fact that all these programs are ponzi, they should get new investors to pay to the old investors.  If that is not happening that program will become down anytime.  But, this factor should be considered along with factor 12 and 13.  So, read on before rating this factor...
12. Is the admin a trusted/old member of a forum?  If the program admin is known to members of a forum then it is a big plus.  That too if that member is a trusted member then it is a big plus.  But note - There are some admins who register in forums couple of months before they start there own program.  A newbie with just couple of months experience in online investments cannot start a program at all.  If so, then it will become a failure for sure.  So, at least that admin should be more than 1 year old in any forum.  Don't get fooled by seeing the member status (MMG supporter etc.,).  He may bought that membership recently to fool you.
13. Is the admin or any support team member active in any forums?  Usually panics are raised in forums.  If admin or support team member is active in forum then they can immediately address the panic and take necessary steps.  This is very important than the advertisements in forums and blogs.  Put 5 out 5 rating if the program admin is active in any of the forums like MMG, TG or DTM
14. Monitor the website traffic ranking in alexa?  Alexa ranking implies the website popularity.  If you see the traffic rank is improving in alexa for a program then it means the website is getting lot of hits and it is famous.  This is an important factor to keep track of a programs popularity among the investors.  So, keep an eye on it and change your rating whenever it is necessary.  Be aware that some admins know ticks to manipulate the alexa ranking.  But, most of the admins are not spending time for this.
15. How is the google page rank for this program?  Search for keywords about this program in google and see the google page rank.  Admin should have taken some steps to improve the page rank in google which will surely improve the popularity of the program.
16. How is the opening response in forums?  Some programs get good opening response in forums.  Within 1 week they might have got couple hundred investors.  This is really a good sign but this is not the only sign.  Always take average of all these rating to measure a program
17. Any spam mails for this program?  Most of us don't like spam mails.  If you get a spam mail to sign up for a program then you will get irritated.  This brings down the program even if the program is really good.  But, if admin takes immediate action and bans that member who sends spam then you can consider improving the rating for this factor.  It is up to you decide
18. Monitor the program statistics?  Some programs have statistics in the home page.  If so, monitor the statistics and compare with alexa ranking.  With bad alexa ranking if a program says that it is getting 50 new investors daily then it is really a bad sign.  Raise the red flag and rate this factor to ZERO.  Some admins are using the statistics to motivate the investors.  If a program is really growing then having statistics in home page is a big plus otherwise just faking the statistics won't help the admin to improve the program.  

These are 18 Golden factors that you should consider before investing in any program.  I use all these factors in rating a program (scale of 1 to 5).  If you read the reviews in my blog then you can see rating for each and every factors and an average rating.  I always consider a program is 

• BAD - if average rating is less than 3.5       
• GOOD - if average rating is between 3.51 and 4
• EXCELLENT - if average rating is between 4.01 and 4.5
• EXTRAORDINARY - if average rating is greater than 4.5    

If you have any questions then feel free to contact me at admin@mywayofmakingmoney.com. You can also follow the reviews in my blog to get better idea about the quality factors.  Good luck guys...