Despite the current economic recession—or maybe because of it—this is a time of great opportunities for anyone thinking of starting a home-based business. The way people work and do business has changed incredibly in the last few years. The Internet and the Worldwide Web have created a new kind of marketplace. From your kitchen, den, or home office, you can reach out to potential buyers and clients not just in your neighborhood or city or state, but on the other side of the world.

As the world of e-commerce has taken off, traditional businesses have been changing too. Many of them are transitioning to new models of employment and moving much of their sales and marketing online. Almost every company is developing a web presence—it’s indispensable these days.

What this all means is that a lot of work that used to be done in offices and storefronts can now be done anywhere there is a computer with a decent internet connection—like your kitchen table. So how do you get started?

There are two major directions you can pursue to earn money online—you can sell something people want, or you can provide a service people need.

Personal services

Many e-commerce operations don’t maintain large offices, and even bricks-and-mortar businesses are streamlining by outsourcing some of their activities. Instead relying on salaried secretaries, administrative assistants, or in-house writing staff, with the associated cost of offices, equipment, supplies, etc., these companies rely instead on freelance, temporary, and contract employees for functions like making appointments and travel plans, keeping calendars, managing correspondence, performing data entry, graphic design, research, writing marketing plans–you name it.

Freelance employment bulletin boards and services make it possible for you to connect your skills in these areas with the people who need them. Some places to start include:

• Virtual assistant services: Alpine Access, Team Double Click, Virtual Office Temps, Elance, ODesk
• Writing, editing, research and design services: Elance, ODesk, GetaFreelancer

Many other sorts of services are available virtually as well. When people need help, information or advice, the first place they turn these days is likely to be not the library or the newspaper but the Internet. And the sites that provide these services need qualified people to provide answers. If you have professional training, educational credentials, or demonstrable technical expertise you can work as an expert advisor or even a teacher or tutor, paid by the minute, the hour, or the project:

• Advice services: LivePerson.com, JustAnswer.com
• Tutoring services: Tutor.com, TransWebTutors.com

Another interesting opportunity crosses the line between online and bricks-and-mortar business: “mystery shopper” assignments. Many large companies keep an eye on how their individual outlets are performing by paying people to be critical customers—you visit the store or restaurant and report back with detailed information about the service, the products, and other aspects of your experience. These opportunities are scattered all over the place geographically, but some centralized services can help you find the ones available in your area:

• Secret shopper services: Service Intelligence, Shoppers’ View, and Service Excellence Group.

Products

You may not realize how much stuff you own or can easily create that you could be selling for profit online. You’ve heard of eBay and Craigslist as places to buy and sell used items. There are actually quite a few online emporiums that will help you find buyers for those lightly- or never-used wedding presents, children’s clothes and toys, the shoes that never quite fit right, etc. Other marketplaces specialize in handmade goods and collectibles. Some of these services are free, and for others the membership fees and commissions are quite reasonable.

• Secondhand stuff: eBay, efleaa, Hoobly, or your local Craigslist
• Crafts and collectibles: Etsy, eBay, Silkfair

And there are new kinds of products and markets that exist only online. For many people photographs and books hardly exist on paper or in print anymore—both are increasingly digital. You can make money by buying eBooks for re-sale online (or writing your own) through your own free website builder such as WordPress. You can upload your own camera-work for sale through central photo warehouses to be used as stock images by all sorts of websites and businesses.

• Photographs: ShutterStock, Fotolia, and BigStockPhoto
• Ebooks: just google “ebook rights for sale.”

Put It All Together

One other pure Internet enterprise can offer you a chance to put many of these other earning opportunities together, and also develop additional income through ad revenue and affiliate marketing:

• Your own website: yournamehere.com

You don’t need any technical or web design experience to create a virtual storefront of your own. All you need is an easy website builder that will provide you with software, support, training, and step-by-step instructions. Your own website can point to all the services and products you are marketing elsewhere, as well as giving you a creative outlet for new ideas and products you may come up with. The possibilities for self-expression and earning are only limited by your imagination and ambition.

The more of these ideas you explore, the more ideas and opportunities you will discover.

Depending on how much time you want to devote and how much income you are seeking to build, some or even all of these projects could start you on your way to greater financial independence.

About the Author

Melanie Citron is a freelance author who wants the web to be open to everyone. She regularly researches and writes about great free or low cost resources to help all have a great presence on the web. See more of her writing at BuildMySiteforFree.com.

Have you ever struggled with designing your website? Business owners have several options when they are designing their web pages; to do it themselves, to hire a professional web designer or to utilize a website builder. For Internet marketers and affiliate marketers who establish and manage multiple websites, sophisticated and easy to use software programs are often ideal. Software programs provide these entrepreneurs the ability to initially create their websites and to manage them with a few keyboard clicks every month. The key however, is selecting the best program to suit your business’s needs.

Instant Publisher for Web Studio 4.0

Web Studio is recognized for being an easy to use and comprehensive website design tool. And, their new product Instant Publisher amplifies the benefits of Web Studio, giving business owners more flexibility in the design and management of their web pages.

The new Instant Publisher program offers the ability to preview websites online, giving the business owner a realistic view of what their site will look like to prospects and to clients. Once a business owner is ready to launch their web pages, Instant Publisher will assist them in locating the best hosting plan and host available.

Some of the other features offered with the new Instant Publisher include:

• Hosting plans
• Expanded disk space
• Improved bandwidth
• Email
• Shopping cart features
• SPAM protection using Whois Privacy Protector
• Support hosting affiliates and resellers

The well known, easy to use HTML programs with Web Studio have now been enhanced, appealing to a wider audience of online and offline business owners.

A new feature is exciting web designers. Now, the company’s ability to support resellers and affiliates gives web designers the ability to generate income through several channels including web site building, ecommerce and hosting solutions.

About iHost Networks

iHost Networks is a leader in the online industry, focusing on email, web hosting, domain registration, shopping carts and on demand applications. Their products are available through direct sales channels and independent resellers.

For anyone who is looking to create professional looking web pages without the expense of hiring professional website designers and programmers, this program is a great choice. Not only will the final website product be professional, but it can be established quickly, saving business owners a great portion of their valuable time. So, not only are business owners saving time, but they are saving money.

By now you have heard of several affiliate programs. With so many to choose from, you may be wondering exactly which one is the best for you. Researchers claim business marketers select programs based on a surrounding topic, something that blends with their personal websites while others join programs strictly based on the commission potential. Whichever your reason for joining, either way it can be said that these affiliate programs really do bring income. For quite a few business savvy individuals, entire financial support has been accomplished, further proving the program’s success.

Companies such as MochaHost are playing it smart by offering a hefty percentage of the sale if successfully generated by another. Not only is more money being made for the company, but the advertising costs are cut way down when using a web marketer. How does this benefit you? When you join partnership and customers purchases an item or service through your link, a tracking process notifies the company and you collect money! It is that simple. It is that easy.

Because each company has their own budget and rate of sales, not every affiliate program is going to offer the same commission rates. Most business will not charge any money to join partnership; however, you may find that the majority of these companies are only offering a small amount or percentage. Although, it should be taken into consideration that they usually provide an unlimited money limit, allowing you to make as much as you want or can! Most of these programs require at least $25 in your account before they pay via wire transfer or check.

Other programs, such as MochaHost.com, will charge a small sign-up fee of $10, while offering 50% sales commission! Because the commission is higher, a participant can potentially earn up to $366 per sale! This particular company requires a minimum account balance of $50 before a payout is issued. As a partner with Shareasale, payments are made on the 1st day of the month. Additionally, the marketer is provided with real-time statistics and the reporting data to accurately keep track of their sales progress. Even a customized test conversion performance can be created if desired. For every time commission is earned, immediate notification is delivered and all stats can become available right on your windows desktop. The sign-up process is simple, taking no time at all to generate income.

Web Hosting – What Customers Want to Know

Interested in knowing a little more about the company? Because the internet is massive and accessible internationally, there are great opportunities in the web hosting market. Mocha is recognized as one of the top webhosting businesses available. Anywhere from free domains and sub-domains to shopping carts are provided through inexpensive service plans. Customers are sure to be pleased with the vast amount of choices the company offers and will no doubt enjoy selecting the perfect plan for their needs. To learn further details, visit the web address: www.mochahost.com/affiliate.php.

Now more than ever individuals and business owners are becoming more and more reliant upon their online web sites. Whether it is a small business with internet services or a complete ecommerce company, web hosting is always needed. EpowHost is just one of the many available companies to facilitate the consumer’s needs. By offering attractive plans, they are certainly not hurting for business or sales. First established in 2003, Epow has taken their success to a whole new level and has decided to offer other business an opportunity to “cash in” on increasing demands.

EpowHost.com created an affiliate program that is sure to deliver the desired results in commission based marketing. As a partner of the true performing marketing company, Shareasale, this company is able to receive money fast and effortless. All that is required is an application, available online, and at no additional cost! Upon review of the application, you will be sent notification of acceptance or declination. Most affiliate applicants are accepted and it is likely your site will be too, so long there are no illegal activities or supportive hate content. Once you have selected the appropriate logo and pasted it on your site, consumers will be able to link directly to the company. With every order they place, the affiliate will earn $92!

In addition to the tracking services, participants may also follow their progress whenever they choose, 24 hours a day. Furthermore, affiliates are offered incentives through the Bonus Promotional Campaign. A cool $50 bonus is earned for every 5 or more sales generated in a month. The bonus is available to everyone, every single month! If that isn’t enough, a two-tiered option may prove to be a profitable choice as well. Webmasters can collect 10% by simply referring other businesses to the program! With two ways to collect income, EpowHost may be just the program for you.

Great Incentives- So Much For Free

So what exactly will your visitors gain from being a customer of this web company? Lots! There are several options with several plans; a fit for everyone. High quality hosting services begin with prices as low as $5.95 per month. Consumers are sure to be pleased with the unlimited hosting space and traffic (per month) available with most plans. To learn more about the specific services available or more about the affiliate program and its terms of agreement, visit the address: www.epowhost.com/plans.html. Here are the few great incentives for potential customers:

• Free domain name and online site builder
• Free $100 in advertising credits
• 300 Gb Disk space
• 2500 Gb bandwidth
• Free scripts
• 30 day money back guarentee

If you’re looking for an affiliate program that’s easy to join and offers a great income possibility, your answer just may be The Planet. Becoming part of an affiliate program is a decision many internet users make as a way to utilize their website and earn money at the same time. For the best income potential, they choose merchants that are successful with good revenue. Affiliates promote the company and its products on their website and earn commissions off sales made as a result of their website. The more money a company makes the more commissions the affiliate makes. Choosing a merchant like The Planet is smart as well as lucrative.

The Planet is a privately held company and also the world’s leader in IT hosting. They are dedicated to their goal of being you’re the best server hosting provider. The Planet provides web hosting service to both small and medium-sized companies that are reliable and affordable. They goal is to help you grow your business as successfully as possible, a goal they’ve met with over 22,000 businesses. They offer a variety of services to meet your needs, which may include single servers, collocation or advanced hosting services. One of their features, Anticipation Advantage, works overtime to help prevent IT problems while making sure the most comprehensive managed server hosting capabilities are also available to you and your business.

The Planet affiliation program, available through ShareASale, gives you the chance to earn a great income off commissions when you promote The Planet on your website. In fact, they offer one of the best earning potentials around. If they get a new hosting customer off your referral, you can earn a one-time 100% commission off the new customer’s recurring income after they’ve been with The Planet for three months. Referral commissions, therefore, can range from $44 and be as high as $1,000 or possibly more.

The Planet will also pay you commissions for monthly recurring products that are sole on their website. Their website is conveniently designed to convert traffic from their affiliates into online sales. The larger the sales, the larger the commissions are going to be. The complete process goes like this:

When visitors come to your website, they’ll see a unique version of The Planet’s website, which is made specifically for affiliate traffic. When The Planet detects affiliate traffic, any prompts for 800 numbers and chats are removed as well as chat pop-ups. Any time an inside sales rep is chosen in their shopping cart, you’ll get a commission. They also offer tracking cookies for up to 120 days. You’ll never have to worry about spam activity, parasites or other malicious activities on their site.

You’ll even get a commission as a self-referrer if you become one of The Planet’s hosting customers. There is no limit to the commissions you can earn on order sizes, regardless of how big they are. Sign up is easy and simple and quick on their sign up page. Within 24 hours of completion, you’ll hear back on your application and website and you’ll soon be on your way towards earning the big bucks.