These businesses are plentiful and very easy to start, they require minimal start-up capital, and have the incredible advantage of being able to be run from anywhere in the world where an internet connection can be found.

The only requirements are a computer, a high-speed internet connection and the desire and commitment to succeed.

In one of the last surveys completed there are currently millions of people worldwide making their livings from home, the vast majority from eBay. Many are making their living working as an affiliate selling other peoples products or services pocketing incredible six figure commission checks. In addition, the remaining people have developed and are marketing their own personal software or informational products.

Your short cut to online riches begins with one important requirement... knowing where you are hoping to end up. The most common reason so many people new to home business fail is they start without knowing where they hope to finish. Have you ever left on a trip without knowing where you destination is suppose to be?

The first decision you must make prior to opening your business is to determine whether you are going to sell Physical or Informational products.

A Physical product is anything you can touch and feel, like clothes, baby toys, furniture, or cosmetics.

Informational Products are "How-To" pieces, like training videos, audio books, e-books, newsletters, etc.

The big downside to the home businessperson and Physical products is the fact the products must be manufactured, shipped, inventoried, and stored... all resulting in additional expenses, decreasing profit margins.

Building a home business around Physical products can be difficult and not nearly as profitable in the early phases. The start-up expenses can be staggering, purchasing inventory, securing storage locations, and the infrastructure to inventory, ship and handle product returns.

If you are serious about selling Physical goods, one method to consider in your early stages is to utilize a "Drop Shipper" which eliminates the need to purchase, inventory, and ship products.

Profit margins on Physical products are growing smaller with the growth of the internet. Have you every price compared the price of something you where planning to purchase? If I want to by a new camcorder, I can easily do a Google search and have 40 comparable prices within seconds.

Information products on the other hand have an incredibly high profit margin, and the chances of making money for initial capital investment are great. It is very easy to find affiliate products paying between 50% - 75% commission per sale and if you are promoting your own product, it is easy to have a 90% - 95% profit margin potential. The other advantage, it is often quite difficult to price compare informational products.

Bottom line every successful Online Internet Entrepreneur I know that is making serious money online is selling Informational products. That is a strong indicator for my home business success.

Now that you have made the decision on what you are going to sell, now we need to sit down and map out our trip. Here is your next question, are you going to sell other peoples information product as an Affiliate for a commission, or are you going to sell your own product?

There are four factors for guaranteeing online success. You need your product, the technology to run your online business, generating traffic to your site(s), and converting the traffic into paying customers. Bring these four elements together, and you will be virtually guaranteed online success.

Your shortcut to online riches will be shortened even further if you can minimize what you need to learn to get started. Trying to become an expert in four fields can be overwhelming at best.

The quickest way to start making money online is selling other peoples information products as an affiliate, earning a residual commission for each sale made, By initially marketing a proven product you can quickly monetize your business during your initial learning period, and eliminate the technology product.

The web technology required to sell Affiliate products is much simpler and easier to set up than a shopping cart website (Sales letters are prepared, websites are live and active, and merchant accounts to process orders are already functional).

By initially selling Affiliate products, it allows you to mater the critical topic of converting customer traffic into money.

By starting your home business as an Affiliate you are able to earn some big commission checks right from day one. This puts you in the wonderful position of "Earning while You Learn" the basics of driving traffic to your website and converting visitors into paying customers.

After you have made some money selling Affiliate products, proving to yourself that you have what it takes to succeed online, you can now develop and market your own personal Information Produce.

Your shortcut to online riches starts with selling other peoples Affiliate Information products, learning the required skills to make money online. You can then develop your own products and get others to promote it working as Affiliates for you making millions like the Gurus.

Copyright (c) 2007 Chris Sullivan