Setting up a home online business is very easy - keeping it profitable is what takes time. Once you get the business set up, you will have to do certain things every day to keep that business in the forefront of the Internet community. While there is quite a bit of competition on the Internet, it can be done, especially if your chosen business is unique.

STEP 1: Set up a home office. Choose a quiet space in your home. There should be minimal distractions, so a perfect place is a den or a spare PC, a desk and computer peripherals, such as a printer and scanner.

STEP 2: Decide what type of business you want to set up. Once you decide where you strengths lay and choose a business, you are ready to start. Set up a webpage for your business. Use a site such as godaddy.com to register the site's name. Godaddy does offer hosting, but it is limited. For a nice page, you may want to have something that offers php and sql - especially if you are doing retail. Sql is what runs most databases, and with a retail store, you will need a store front.

STEP 3: Once the site is up and running, submit it to the search engines, especially Google, Yahoo and MSN. Make sure that you use meta tags and proper keywords, so the search find your site. Most sitebuilders will give you a place to enter keywords, which are then converted to meta tags. Always title the pages in your site. Use keyword throughout the text on the site for your home online business.

STEP 4: Create accounts at networking services such as Digg.com, Facebook.com and Myspace.com. Use proper keywords for your business. You should network on these sites at least once a week - remember, you want to keep your home online business in the front of everyone's minds.

STEP 5: Create at least one blog about your home online business. Write a post to the blog at least every other day on the blog about one of the items you are selling. If you are marketing a consultation business, write tips and tricks on the subject you consult on. Use the tips and tricks as teasers with a link to your main website.

Remember to keep doing work every day. Marketing and SEO (search engine optimization) is very important in the online world. Without it, you may not be highly successful.