Nothing to lose…it’s a phrase I hear often from work at home mom’s who are promoting a new business or participating in some program that’s free of charge. When someone challenges whether it’s a worthwhile program, they often say, “What difference does it make? It’s not costing me anything. I’ve nothing to lose.”

Just because you’re not spending money doesn’t mean there’s nothing to lose. If you promote a less than scrupulous program, or you spend a lot of time on something that never comes to fruition, you have plenty to lose.

First of all your time is valuable, if you spend a lot of time on something, and end up with nothing, you’ve wasted a lot of effort that could have been spent building something worthwhile.

And perhaps even more valuable than your time is your reputation. If you recruit others into a new business that never gets off the ground or sign people into a service that doesn’t deliver what was promised, your reputation can suffer. Do that more than once, and you’ll likely have extreme difficulty convincing anyone that any other business or service you promote is worthwhile.

I’m certain that if you spend months on something and it turns out to be worthless, you will feel dejected and angry. You may even feel guilty about having convinced others to join in. You may question your judgment and your ability to evaluate other businesses and programs.

So does this mean you shouldn’t risk signing on with a new business or promoting a free service or offer? Absolutely not! What it means is that you should evaluate each new business or service as if you have plenty to you lose if it doesn’t work out. Every new venture has risk and you need to take that into consideration and weigh the risk against the benefit.

Don’t minimize the value of your time and reputation and keep in mind that any one you else who joins in is also investing their time and reputation. Make sure you believe that what you are promoting is worth it.