6. Work from home scams, multilevel-marketing & federal grants

'Work from home' translated means stay away!

Don't be lured into work from home, envelope stuffing or multilevel marketing (MLM) offers. They don't work. Why would a company outsource things that make them money to complete strangers when they can do it themselves? A representative from the Federal Trade Commission said in 21 years she hasn't seen one home-based business offer that works and the majority of their complaints concern them.

Multilevel Marketing: 90% of those who try MLM make little or no money. The ones that do make money are the companies' founders who sell, usually overpriced, products to their "distributors." You then have to try to recruit people into your "downline," which usually break down when they don't make money or lose interest. About the only good thing about MLM is you can buy a product that isn't available locally, which aren't many. I buy my colloidal minerals that way, but I don't do the recruiting business. Amway and Mary Kay are examples of multilevel marketing companies. MLMs are glorified pyramid schemes. Not that Amway and Mary Kay don't good make good products. I've used some myself (Amway's L.O.C. is a great organic cleaner).

Some keywords that tell you to stay away: Home-based business, ground floor, unlimited Income, six figure Income, multiple streams of income, commissions and "I made $20,000 in two weeks!" or some variation thereof.

Envelope stuffing

All envelope stuffing opportunities are a scam (most companies use envelope stuffing machines). Here is how this supposedly works: An ad will say you are going to be paid $1 - $5 for every envelope that you stuff and all you have to do is send in $29.95 for their package. You then receive a package that contains letters and some sample ads that you are supposed to run and get others to send in their $1 for the sample information. Then when other people who respond to your ad sends you $1, you then are instructed to fold the letters and stuff them in an envelope and mail them back and if they purchase the $29.95 kit (just like the one you received), then you will get a commission off of that as well. It doesn't work except for the company selling you the $29.95 kit. You might get a few people to send you the $1 for info, but not enough to make any money.

Federal government grants

Don't be tempted by online offers or TV commercials that claim you can get free money from the government by buying a book or pamphlet. The information is available free on the Internet. The Federal government rarely makes grants to individuals, except scholarships. But a scholarship could be your ticket to SRS!

Pyramid schemes

Pyramid schemes have been around for hundreds of years. They continue by preying on a constant supply of gullible people lured into the possibility of making substantial money in a short period of time. They're based on an exponentially increasing number of people sending, or giving money (usually $5), to four or five people and taking the top person off a list and putting yourself at the bottom. Not only are pyramid schemes illegal, they don't work. There's one that's been circulating around the Internet for years that claims it's legal by sending worthless 'reports.'

I recently received a chain letter that said, 'My name is Dave Rhodes . . . ' Apparently, Mr. Rhodes was in financial straits, his car was repossessed and his unemployment ran out, but he made $40k in four weeks following the instructions in the letter. 'Dave's' letter has been around for decades - I was amazed it's still circulating. You'd think if Dave had actually made that much dough in such a short time he would have copied one of his deposit slips to prove it.

You may have heard from a friend about someone who's made money in a pyramid scheme. Don't let that tempt you. Just as in multilevel marketing, the ones who start the pyramid may make money, but at the expense of those underneath who make nothing since the downline always breaks down. Have you been asked to join a 'Women's Empowering' or 'Gifting Program?' These pyramid schemes surface every few years, sometimes with reports of the leaders being arrested and prosecuted.

• More information on Pyramid Schemes and MLM is available from the Federal Trade Commission. They have info on other Internet frauds, like the Nigerian scam.

No Money Down real estate - Updated!

Ask most anyone who has made a lot of money and they'll tell you real estate was involved or the primary vehicle. However, when real estate is mentioned most people shy away thinking it requires months of studying to pass the Bar exam, then even more time and money to setup a real estate business. The other method is to buy and sell real estate, but most people lack the knowledge and think they need good credit and / or money for a down payment. What about the No Money Down books and courses? Let me tell you about my experiences.

Ten years ago, I ordered Carleton Sheets' No money down kit and it had step-by-step techniques to buy property with no money down. It also had interesting strategies for reducing taxes. I could see how one could make good money following this course. But according to his methods you needed good credit to borrow money (I didn't, which is why I sent it back) or get a loan by finding a business partner with decent credit. On July 27, 2008 I did a google search on 'Carleton Sheets' and found his materials were quite cheap (compared to the several hundred I spent). There are numerous courses and even more books on investing in real estate.

Fast-forward to today...

I used my social security settlement to pay for several seminars, books and home-study courses including The Trump Institute and Dean Graziosi's Think a Little Different. I'm still learning and hope to apply the techniques to make good money in real estate. I will update this website as things progress.

7. Asking for money. Ask and you shall receive. As with most adages that have lasted through the ages this one has a kernel of truth. You may be thinking: I'm just supposed to ask for money? Yes! You may think it's far-fetched for someone to give you money, but it happened to me and I know of others who've had their SRS money donated!

It may sound simple, but you can't get what you need if you don't ask!

We're often taught since childhood that it's 'better to give than receive' and sacrifice ourselves to help others. Also, some equate asking for money as begging and the stigma attached. This mindset keeps people from transitioning and / or stuck in a marriage for the sake of the family. Then they find themselves middle-aged when they begin their transition, missing most of their lives as their true self. Do you have a well-to-do friend or associate? You could explain your situation to him and ask if he could help or perhaps they know someone who might help. Don't give up on the first 'no'. The more you ask the greater the possibility the next person will help!

Manifesting abundance - are your receiving channels closed?

Do you know people who appear to be lucky and get the things they want or find things? I did and wanted to know how they did it! When I heard about a rebirthing* class that had a session on 'manifesting abundance' I signed up. Basically, the class showed us how our negative thinking and attitudes affected not getting the things we want. Though I don't live in a mansion and drive a Mercedes, I've gotten most of the things I've wanted like my SRS, a camera to document my SRS and often find things I need.

Basic principles of manifesting abundance

• Acknowledging the universe's abundance and opening ourselves to it. For example, look at how abundant nature is with its constant growth and creation.
• Changing our mindset into deserving the things we want and need.
• Manifesting through visualization.

Food for thought

• The universe always says yes!
  
• You have to give to get.
  
• What you give comes back threefold - a pagan belief.
  
• Negative thought attracts negative action and vice-versa.
  
• Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

*Rebirthing was popular in the 80s and is a technique of controlled-breathing and guided instruction to tap into suppressed emotions and memories.

8. Sugar daddy or mommy (though they're harder to find). Having someone pay for your surgery is not as rare as one would think!

Men love to give gifts to their girlfriends. What better gift than to make his girlfriend a complete woman! Especially when it's going to benefit him! The trick is to find a man, first of all, but with a seemingly never-ending supply of admirers, and men who are fascinated by us, that shouldn't be too hard. The second is to find one with money. That might be a little more difficult, but with the volume of men out there the chances are good. Even if he doesn't have the money to pay the cost of your surgery if he's interested in a long-term relationship you can pool your money and save up. I'm not encouraging gold-digging, or using somebody for their money. I have no control over people's motives.

The Internet has numerous personal ad sites, some of them have categories for TG people. A good one is adultfriendfinder.com. They have state-by-state listings. They are a swingers site, but there are many single men looking for women. Another one is Planetout. If you're not getting much response it could be due to your ad. How you word it is important. You want to make yourself sound interesting without telling too much. Including your photo will increase responses. Periodic tweaking of your ad is a good idea. Not only to find out what wording works best, but to show you're regularly logging-in. Who's going to respond to an ad that says you last visited on May 19, 2004? My ad on adultfriendfinder.com went from zero responses to almost daily after I rewrote it (I've removed the ad since it's no longer necessary).

IRC or Internet Relay Chat. There are usually TG/TS chat rooms. People can hide behind nicks, make up stories about themselves, etc., though that also contributes to the fun. If you meet someone on IRC who wants to meet in person be very careful!

It goes without saying that before getting involved with a man be sure he knows you're pre-op! I once had a couple respond to a personal ad I placed in a local publication. Though my written ad didn't say I was a pre-op (mistake), my voice ad did. They saw my ad and contacted me without listening to my voice ad. We talked on the phone and setup a dinner at a nice restaurant. The night of our dinner I waited and waited, but they never arrived. I called them later that night—they were into real estate and had looked at some property they found out about at the last minute. During our conversation it came up that I was pre-op (at the time). The man became very angry, he'd assumed I was a genetic woman. He said if we'd gone to dinner and he found out I'd be lying at the bottom of a cliff! Luckily we didn't!

9. Foundations and philanthropists. There may be foundations, or philanthropists, that can help. Some may not be well-known. I recommend doing research, both online and at a library, for foundations and philanthropists.

Philanthropists are wealthy people who give money to causes and people. Most of us have heard about a philanthropist giving money to one, or more, people who need help. Though finding one who will pay for your surgery may seem like finding a needle in a haystack, I thought the same thing about asking for donations on my website! That brings us to . . .

10. Ask for donations on a website

If you've never made a website there are several easy-to-use website design programs. To find one I suggest doing a Google search. Also, some ISPs (AOL, Juno, etc.) have free website design programs. Check your ISP for info. A donor found me through my website.

Get your own domain!

I cannot stress how much of a difference getting a domain vs. your website being a subdirectory of a domain can make. A domain will draw more hits, is easier to remember and may mean the difference between getting money or not. A domain is a piece of the Internet real estate you own. For example, Yahoo.com is a domain albeit a very popular, and lucrative, one. Givemesrs.com is also a domain (that last I checked wasn't taken!). A website that's a subdirectory of a domain will be something like: www.users.aol.com/~givemesrs. Which one is easier to remember?

You can call a domain whatever you want as long as it's not taken. It'll cost a little more to get your own domain plus hosting, but with competition and rock bottom prices good deals abound. I've seen free domains with hosting. Be sure to check into the hosting company to make sure they're dependable (an up-time of 99% or higher), good customer support is also important, i.e. free 24/7.

Ways to promote your website

The more people who visit your website the greater chance a generous person with money will see it. If you post messages in newsgroups, especially TG/TS, put your URL in your sig. A sig (signature) is where you advertise something, put contact info, witty saying, etc.and usually consists of 2 to 4 lines.

A sig is preceded by a delimiter. A delimiter consists of two dashes followed by a space (a computer sees a space as a character), then a line break (hitting the enter key creates a line break and looks like <br> in HTML code). A delimiter looks like this: "-- " (without the quotes). A delimiter separates the body of the text from the sig and allows a newsreader to strip the sig automatically when you reply to a post. Example of a sig:

[email or message body]
--  < delimiter
< Your website name here. Example: http://needsrs.com

Be sure to include http:// in front of your website address to be sure it's a clickable link!

If you're on IRC put your URL in your whois (Is anybody on IRC anymore?). When you send emails include your URL. Most email programs (Outlook, Thunderbird, Eudora, etc) allow inserting a sig into your emails

Get people to link to your site. A way to do this is email the webmaster/mistress of another website and ask if you can put a link to their site if they will reciprocate by posting your website link. The more people who link to, and visit you website, the higher its rank will be in search engines. Some of the webpages on this site rank in the Top 10 on Google.

Get a web counter. There are numerous free ones that tell you how many unique and repeat hits your site is getting, which webpages are viewed the most, how long they stayed, etc. I recommend is Stat Counter. Work towards getting at least 100, or more, hits a day.

There are literally dozens of websites asking for some type of help or another.Two popular and successful ones are Savekaryn.com and Giveboobs.com. Notice both are domains.

If you create a website asking for donations I'll post a link to it here. Send me an email with your link. In return all I ask is to post a reciprocal link on your website.

More SRS donation websites

Elizabeth's Gift of Love website
Transgender Girl Kira wants to be her true self
Jenifers Transsexual World
Karolyn SRS
Help Jennifer Please make a small (or large!) donation to Jennifer
I need a Sex Change Miracle - Make Sara's dream come true!
AJ Needs an Angel
Brandi Lynn Lace Brandi's searching for a sponser to help her transformation
Help Jamie Rejected by her parents, Jamie seeks help with SRS
Pretty Up a T-girl Help Madeline with her facial surgery

Websites move or are taken down. Some links may not work.

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