There are literally hundreds of Internet businesses that you can start at home. The big question is whether they legitimate? The answer more often is a complicated one because of the marketing methods used in presenting the opportunity. The following is a breakdown of the more popular Internet businesses and a brief how-to of each.

 

Domain Name Brokering

 

You’ve heard the stories; some random person who owned a great domain sold it for millions. These examples are the extreme cases and hard to come by nowadays, what people don’t know however is that there is a thriving community and opportunity in buying and selling domain names. A website I frequent DNForum.com is such a community and I have bought and sold many domains there for a profit. I won’t go into the details of getting into the game but I will tell you that it is one of the legitimate Internet businesses out there.

 

Blogging

 

The Internet is still primarily about information and through a blog you can build a successful Internet business. What I suggest to others is to write down a list of hobbies, expertise and topics you are generally interested in. From there choose one and setup a blog on a free service such as Blogger.com or Wordpress.com. You can then write about the topic you chose, build links to the site and start attracting a stead stream of visitors. You can then monetize from those visitors by putting advertising on the page, creating an eBook and selling it, or sell other products / services and earn a commission. Once you get the hang of it you can then multiply your efforts and build an entire network of blogs.

 

Affiliate Marketing

 

Another legitimate and popular Internet business is affiliate marketing. It’s the process of selling other company’s product / service and earning a commission every time you refer a paying customer. Again communities such as SitePoint or Digital Point Forums exist where you can learn the tricks of the trade and get support in your efforts. I will tell you outright that it is one of the more difficult Internet businesses to master but also one of the more profitable.

 

These are just three legitimate options out there for you to start an Internet home business. In future posts we’ll breakdown each of these in more detail providing real life examples. For now I just wanted to dispel the image of Internet businesses by showing you a few that are legit and thriving.

That’s right, literally right now! If you want to make a little extra income online, you can do it without all the things you think it takes. In fact, with little more than an email address and access to the Internet you have all the tools you need. The following is a simple illustration of how you can start a home business today.

 

Define Your Home Business

 

I will make the assumption that you are English and can write reasonably well. The business you can start now, with nothing is writing articles. There are many websites / small business owners (including myself) who are constantly on the look out for writing services. Basically I like to provide a topic such as baby cribs, and ask for a 500 word article on the subject.

 

Your Home Business Service

 

The going rate for average articles is about $.01 per word. So every article that you write can earn you $5. May not seem like much but once you get the hang of it you can easily bang out a 500 word article in 20 minutes or so. The process is quite simple, do a search on a reference site like Wikipedia.com, read the informational page on the topic, and start writing what you’ve read. Before you know it you have started a home business and are out of the gate earning $15 per hour. Depending on the quality of the writing, you can also start to charge more. With a few writers I work with I comfortably pay $10 per article as they are more technical and well researched.

 

Finding Customers

 

You want to go out and network with people who actively look for services for their websites. Such a community is Digital Point Forums where 1000’s of website owners buy / sell / trade services related to managing their website. It is also a great resource to learn about creating and running a website and it is highly recommended that you check it out. Become a member and you can post your services potential interested parties. At $.01 per word by a native English writer, and you’ll get interest right out the gate.

 

Accepting Payments

 

Paypal is the most popular way to go about accepting payment for your services. Simply visit the site, setup an account and validate your account. The process takes about a week and from there you can receive payments via credit cards or online check and then withdraw payments directly into your bank account.

 

So there you have it, a simply way to start a home business right away and begin making money online. Think of it as a starting point or way to get your feet wet, you’ll quickly get a feel for what’s out there and the other opportunities will come your way.