Making money online is the way many people are building their home-based businesses. I knew that I wanted to work from home, so I learned as much as I could about building an online business. After two years I have broken it down into 5 main areas that you must focus on to be successful on the internet.

Blogging

Article writing and marketing

Social networking

Teleseminars

Creating info products

I call this my 5 pronged approach to making money on the internet. By combining these 5 activities and marketing methods, you can become known in your niche and will begin to attract people into your little part of the internet.

Choose a niche as quickly as you can. This doesn't mean you have to stay with this niche forever, just for the first 6 months or so. It will take that long for you to make money that can go on without you. This becomes passive income. To get to that point you must spend some time with each of the 5 prongs.

Blogging is the fastest, easiest, and most inexpensive way to create a presence on the internet. Within a few days people will be able to find you and your topic when they do a search on Google or any of the other search engines. Use your keywords in your post titles and your visibility will soar.

Article writing and marketing is a must. Write articles on your topic and you will position yourself as an expert in your field. You can also put your blog or website address at the end of the article so people can see what you have to offer and sign up to receive more information from you. Build your credibility with articles.

Both Facebook and Twitter are the places to be in order to make connections online. You can set up Twitter to automatically tweet your blog posts and every time one of your articles is published. Facebook allows you to create your own group to build a list very quickly. Be seen in these two places and your list will grow.

Teleseminars and internet radio give people the opportunity to hear you and to make a different kind of connection with you and what you have to offer. Use teleseminars to build trust with your prospects.

Creating your own products is a must if you want to make passive income online. Start with small digital products and grow your inventory slowly over time. You will make money while you sleep once you have your own info products to sell.

These are the five prongs of building a successful online business. I encourage you to spend time in each area to maximize your potential for success.