I always like to take a long train journey simply because it gives me chance to read a load of magazines.

When I went to Robert Puddy’s “Focus 4 the Future” seminar in Birmingham last September, I picked up a copy of the Small Business Opportunities magazine for the train journey.

On the front of the November 2006 edition was the following:

– YES! Make $4000 a day in no-work biz
– Top 50 shoestring start-ups
– 25 New biz ‘dynamos’ you can start for as little as $50
– Grow A Fortune: Make a whopping $107 million from office plants
– Auto-matic riches! Clever car-share biz drives home $10 million

In reality, the magazine contained around 140 pages with 35 pages featuring stories and articles and the remaining 105 focusing entirely on adverts!

The magazine is a US publication and so it is very hypey in nature. There are some gems though.

For example: “If I could show you a way to put $58,000 in your pocket by investing just $395, would you watch an 11 minute video that explains how?” – from a mortgage reduction company.

There are lots of adverts for vending opportunities, MLM schemes, pyramid schemes such as the now defunct Prosperity Automated System, envelope stuffing scams, mailing lists, real estate companies and more.

People say that we in the UK lag behind the US so, technically, I should be able to see what will be big over here soon.

Unfortunately, I can’t see any big opportunities which aren’t already in the UK, just lots of people with cheesy smiles advertising over-rated schemes.

One advertisement which did catch the eye was one from Mr T.J. Rohleder who was offering a free book called “How to Make $900 a Day Without Doing Any Work!”

T.J. Rohleder was one of the people whose products were included when Stuart Goldsmith did some retirement seminars in 2005.

The classified pages threw up some seriously naff adverts, many featuring people pushing the usual pyramid schemes – PAS and the 1-Step System.

Perhaps the worst examples of shifty adverts are those which make a big deal of being “christian”. In one example, the promoter makes the headline read “A Christian Home-Based MLM” and continues with:

“Become part of a company that will help you reach Financial Freedom, the opportunity to spread God’s Word and the opportunity to help other do the same.”

Maybe it’s just me but trying to sell a multi-level marketing scheme based solely on your religious beliefs is rather strange and also smacks of desperation.

Although an interesting read, I won’t be buying Small Business Opportunities magazine again but you might be able to find it in WHSmiths for £3.50 if you are interested.