So, you've finally decided to take the plunge and start your very own home based internet business. You've decided that it's finally time to stand up and be counted and claim your share of all that internet wealth you keep hearing about. The only problem is, now that you've finally made your decision, it seems like a pretty intimidating task deciding what to do next. Using the term "information overload" to describe the dilemma seems like a gigantic understatement.

Well, if you're really serious about starting your own home based internet business, the next step really doesn't have to be that difficult at all. There are several reasonably simple ways to start making an online income and one of them is sure to fit your particular plan of what it is you would like to do. So, just relax, take a deep breath, and read thoroughly the following ideas until you find something that strikes your fancy.

Sign-up for One or Several Affiliate Programs

This is undoubtedly one of the easiest and fastest ways to get started making money online. The Internet is loaded with products that have affiliate programs that you can join and most of them pay handsome commissions. When you sign-up for an affiliate program, you are simply making an agreement with the owner of a product or service that you will earn a commission in exchange for referring a prospect to that person's product (usually a sales page that you have sent the prospect to via your unique affiliate link) if that prospect ultimately makes a purchase.

Begin by selecting a product or service that interests you and then visit some of the websites that have achieved top rankings for the keywords that best describe that topic. You're certain to find the top affiliate programs for that niche or industry relatively quick. Or, try visiting one of the many affiliate program directories (you can find them easily enough on Google) and scan their listings and recommendations until you find something that you believe will work for you.

This is a good Internet marketing solution for newbies since you don't even need your own website to get started. You will, however, need to learn how to use a variety of traffic generating strategies, both free and paid, so you can get some targeted traffic to your affiliate link. Once you start generating some income from these sources, you can then start reinvesting some of your profits and get yourself set up with your own website. By that time the concept of getting set up with your own website won't seem so daunting.

Join a Recurring Income Program

Recurring income programs are somewhat comparable to affiliate programs in that you typically get paid for referring a prospect to the program's website if that prospect follows through and makes a purchase. However, the difference exists in the fact that with these programs, you also have the opportunity to earn a monthly recurring income if the prospect you refer becomes a paying member of the recurring income opportunity program. For example, I join one of these programs myself. If a prospect comes to my website and clicks on a link which takes them to the sales page for the product or service that I am promoting, and they buy, then I get a commission. However, if that prospect also decides to become a member of the recurring income opportunity program, then I get a check every month as long as that prospect remains a paying member of that program.

People tend to be cynical of these programs and get them confused with pyramid schemes. The way to tell if one of these programs is a pyramid scheme is to simply verify if the company in question offers a real, legitimate product or service. If so, it cannot be classified as a pyramid scheme and you should be okay. Don't be frightened away by the fact that you will most likely have to pay a monthly fee to participate in the recurring income opportunity. If you can build a downstream revenue source for yourself in one of these programs, the monthly fee will be insignificant compared to the probable recurring income you could earn. Many of these programs will provide you with your own ready-to-run website, which is okay if you are just getting started. Some, like one of the opportunities that I offer on my websites, not only provide the ready-to-run website and hosting, but also all the products you need to sell AND the ability to edit and customize the site to your liking. Again, use the various traffic generating strategies to start generating some traffic and then work on getting your site customized and personalized so you can start to build your own opt-in list.

Sell a Hard Good or Downloadable Info Product

Alright, I know this one doesn't sound as simple and easy as you had hoped, but to be honest, it truly not as hard as it might seem. Selling a hard good involves offering a real physical product (like custom car accessories, for instance) for sale in your own online retail store. If this idea really appeals to you, go for it. Brainstorm some products you would enjoy selling, then do some keyword research in Wordtracker to build a targeted niche within that market (hot rod parts?).

Then, you can use a drop ship source directory or the search engines to find suppliers or distributors who will drop ship the product for you (meaning they ship it directly to the customer and you don't have to carry any inventory). Then go to EBay or Yahoo and sign up for one of their stores. They'll even provide you with a shopping cart feature and help you get set up with a PayPal account (so that you can accept credit cards). Additionally, you'll get some built-in traffic since millions of people are using their shopping directory to search for products every day.

As far as the website is concerned, not to worry. Most hosting providers today have some type of site building solution available for those customers who don't know html code from java script. Believe me friends, I have seen technically useless and HTML challenged technophobes do this, so YOU can, too.

Now, regarding the info product of which we were speaking. By the way, I mean YOUR OWN info product. Everyone on the web and their mother will tell you that this is the best way to make the really big bucks online. Write about something you know and/or in which you have a deep interest. The topic of internet marketing seems to have been way overdone. Unless, of course, you are a true subject matter expert on some niche within internet marketing, then definitely do it. But please, don't do it just because everyone else is.

As for the actual writing, you don't even have to do that if you really don't want to. You can check out a site like elance.com and post your project and have writers bid on completing the project for you! And there are so many easy to use PDF ebook creators available that formatting the book should pose no technical challenge whatsoever. I offer several that you can read about on my websites. Set up a simple, little one page sales website with a link for payment processing, optimize the site for the search engines, implement several forms of advertising (free and paid), find some JV partners, and you're in the money! Now, just to be fair and honest, you probably won't attract too many JV partners until you have something to offer in return, i.e. a big, paying list of customers.

By the way, I know of some guys who have about 10 or 15 of these little mini sites set up selling simple reports on niche topics and raking in an average of $2,000 a month from each site. And they're incredibly easy to set up and practically run on autopilot once you do!

Well, there you have it. Just a few relatively simple ways to get you started on your way mining YOUR share of the internet gold mine!

All the best in your success.