7 Great Ideas For Starting an Online Home-Based Business

In this time of economic uncertainty with its high unemployment rates and cutbacks, many people are thinking about starting an online home-based business. Let's be honest working at home seems really appealing, what with it's short commute from the bedroom to the desk down the hall, working in your PJ's, setting your own schedule and the promise of unlimited earning potential. Even If you think you have what it takes to launch a successful start up at home, how do you figure out just what business you're going to be in? There are many choices out there and I've touched on 7 of the most popular.
Idea 1 - Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is essentially making a commission on the sale of someone else's product. You don't actually sell anything, but instead try to achieve click throughs to the product page.  You do this by putting ads or links on your pages to the products you're marketing. When someone clicks the ad, and purchases the product on the vendor's page, you get your commission. It's a big market and it can be overwhelming. Fortunately, there are many tools and systems available to get you started.
Idea 2 - Google AdSense
While you don't actually sell anything when you make money with Google AdSense, you can make a business out of marketing other people's products. The way it works is you set up a niche blog or website and sign up for Google AdSense. Google does the rest. They place ads on your site that are matched to your content. The more focused your content, the more relevant the ads will be. You make money on click throughs from your site that are generated when people click on the ads.
Idea 3 - eBay
Have you ever been shopping on eBay and noticed some of the power sellers have literally thousands of products for sale and thought, "How could they possibly stock all that stuff?" Well the truth is they don't. They deal with wholesalers that drop ship and so can you. If that doesn't float your boat, you can find wholesalers who sell lots of goods, such as designer sunglasses. The trick is to sell products that are very sought after and get them at a good enough discount so you can make money. Another approach is to sell something that's a very small niche product, but you have to have the best or the best prices. To help launch your eBay business there are tools that do everything from tell you all the tips and tricks, to automating your store set up and operation.
Idea 4 - Writing
If you're a good writer, but haven't ever held a copywriting position, there's hope. With the proliferation of online content, providers need writers to fill their pages with information. One of the best ways to start is by reading a lot of content about a topic you'd want to write about. Next start submitting articles to article sites such as EzineArticles. There are tools and resources available to help you write good headlines, search engine friendly and key word rich content, as well as to give you ideas about how to find work.
Idea 5 - Blogging
If you are passionate about something or just can't stop telling everyone about something you've discovered or want to recommend, then blogging might be for you. And you can get paid to do it. Some companies will pay professional bloggers to blog about their products and services. You can also make money blogging by putting Google AdSense on your blog. There are many helpful e-books and tools to help you write and market successful blogs.
Idea 6 - Trading
This may not seem like the best time to try to start making money in the stock market, but there are a some great tools to help you build your own successful on-line trading business. If you're a numbers person and the thrill of the deal excites you, it's something to give serious consideration to. There are several different types of trading you can choose from. Two of the most popular are:
  • Forex - a non-stop cash market where currencies of nations are traded
  • Swing Trading - swing trading sits in the middle of the continuum between day trading to trend trading
Idea 7 - On-line SurveysThere's a lot of talk about how on-line surveys are a scam and some of them are. Companies make wild claims about how you can make a six-figure income from this line of work. The truth is you can supplement your income to some degree taking surveys, but you're probably not going to make a full blown or six-figure living. Also beware of any programs that change you to sign up. They are most likely scams.
Bottom Line
Look around and see what kinds of online home-based business opportunities are out there before jumping in. Look at some of the tools. Join some forums and see what people are talking about. Most of all don't hesitate too long. Online business is big and there's plenty of the pie to go around.
For reviews and information about top tools to help get you started, or to enhance your existing online home based business, to go to [http://www.makemadmoneyonlinenow.com] You'll be glad you took the time too.