With the advances in technology there has never been a better time to start a business on the internet that provides you with an online shop that never has to close. It will be open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to anyone that chooses to visit from around the world. More and more people are recognizing the potential and jumping on the bandwagon without a clear idea of what tool they want to use to actual drive them towards their chosen path.



Not only is the potential for customers huge, but the number of areas you can focus on online is also huge, and this article only provides a small flavour of some of the things you can do. If you don't choose an area it is very easy to become unfocused and to begin trying different methods with different experts. Before you know it 18-24 months have passed, you have spent a lot of money and you have still not experienced making any money.

Before choosing how you will make money I recommend you plan, then create your vision, then look at the vehicle that will drive your vision and your plan. Too many people come online and do it the other way around and this article is written from a place of hindsight after making that mistake myself!

So you have your plan and your vision let's look at some of the different ways you can make money online.

Blogging. This has to be my favourite because it is low cost and easy to start. You can set up a blog right now for nothing at somewhere like Blogger or Wordpress. Alternatively, and a much better option, you can host your own blog by buying a domain name and uploading Wordpress. Blogging is not a quick solution to money making and you need to be committed to your subject and building an audience, but if you focus on blogging alone for 12-18 months you will be surprised at the number of people you can have reading your blog. The key is to remember to have a place where they can sign up for your updates so that you build a list while you blog. Also consider varying text blog posts with audio and video (podcast) too.

Affiliate Marketing. This involves you selling the products of a supplier. Its one of the more popular things to do when you start out online because you do not need your own product, and many affiliates do not own their own website. When you sell goods on behalf of a supplier they give you a commission based fee. It makes for a great start because they take care of all the customer service and delivery of the product. The downside of affiliate marketing is the fact that you never earn as much as someone who actually owns the product.

Niche Marketing. Niche marketing is basically marketing your website to a particular group of people in one area. For example you decide to write an information product on how to build a pond; this is called a niche market. You are not talking about knitting, or how to improve your golf swing so you will not want to market to those people.

Focusing on one niche and selling to people within that niche is a great way to earn an online income.

Membership Sites. Imagine taking everything you know on how to build a pond, filming yourself as you build and then creating it into videos. Interviewing pond and fish experts and turning them into audios. Then putting all that information into a membership area where people pay to gain access. 500 members paying a monthly fee of $10 to get access to this membership site is a nice chunk of change! Your site could charge a one-off fee, a yearly fee or a monthly fee (or all 3!)

Finally.Turnkey Businesses. A turnkey business (also called plug-in) is a business that provides everything for you. You will usually be given a product, a website and/or some training/tools in how to market. Some turnkey businesses offer incentives to be paid if you recruit others to take up the opportunity. This is a great way to get started because you have everything you need. It is definitely important to look for a company that provides you with help and support.

There are many home based business opportunities and I encourage you to research and find out which one works best for you before getting yourself involved in one. I also encourage you to focus on one (or two at the most) and enjoy earning a living from them before moving on to running another business. Consider mixing them up so that your blog has audio and video plus you add premium content so you are running a membership site. Still only one area but you have added three different components to it. This variety will help you and your potential customers to stay motivated!