Looking to make a little extra cash? Did you know that hundreds of thousands of people now make their living (or just that little bit extra) at home. Whether you want to be your own boss or just have a little extra for that holiday you have many potential avenues to explore. Here we look at six proven home business ideas.

Art, Crafts & Handiwork

From flower arranging to leather belts and jewelry, many folk have an interest in a craft and can produce very individual pieces which can be sold through newspaper adverts and notices on local community noticeboards and of course on websites. One young lady I know makes as much from her jewelery making as from her employment. Do you have a craft or skill that can be useful to others?

Ebook Publishing

Ebooks have been hot sellers for some time now and with more and more people making use of PDAs and ebook readers for the daily commute, this looks to be a growing demand. If you've got something you can demonstrate your knowledge on you can write an ebook and sell it on a website, you'd be surprised at the topics that sell well! Know how to train a dog or know how to catch fish? Putting your knowledge into an ebook and selling it on the net is exactly how many of the top internet marketers work, just browse through Clickbank's enormous collection!

Mail Order

Possibly one of the most profitable business opportunities depending on the niche. Many folk offer the products they make or import for huge markups. Just look through weekend magazines and newspapers and you'll see small home based businesses offering all manner of goods through the small ads, most also sell over their websites or by phone order. Be careful with the products you choose to sell as you will of course need to ensure some element of quality control if you don't want to have returned orders to deal with!

Freelance Articles and Copy Writing

Did you know that lots of freelancers make a nice little extra by writing articles for newspapers and magazines? There are even web based exchanges where publishers and writers bargain over the types of articles required with writers offering bids on the jobs. If you have a flair for creative writing you can also draft advertisements for those merchants who don't have the skills to do their own writing.

Garage Sales & eBay

Some folks trash really can be other folks treasure. All sorts of perfectly usable goods from clothing to furniture and more can be easily sourced from garage sales, op-shops and even neighborhood 'clean up days' where households put their old furniture and appliances out for collection. Superseded computers and toys are often left out for collection and if you have an eye for them (you'll soon develop it by practice) you can make a tidy profit.

Affiliate Marketing

Now here is a biggy! Many merchants offer products or services over their websites and are always looking to boost sales. They offer commissions to others who sell on their behalf. These commissions can be quite generous, up to 50% in the case of digital products like software and ebooks. If you have a website you can sign up for an affiliate account with these merchants which gives you a special link to use on your website. Visitors going from your site to theirs are tracked using this link so that sales can be attributed back to you. This is an extremely lucrative opportunity and its hassle free as all sales, shipping and customer are handled by the merchant, you just sit back and receive the commission! This is an area we will be taking a much greater in depth look at.