In today's unsure economy with ever-rising fuel prices, wouldn't it be nice to make money from the comfort of your home? The popularity of working from home is on the rise for a myriad of reasons and with the recent advances in technology, the percentage of Americans working from home has doubled in the last few years.



New doors of opportunity are opening every day. If you are looking for an idea, here are some of the most popular ways to make money from home:

Photography - If photography has always been your hobby or passion, then the old adage, ‘Do what you love and the money will follow' may be true for you. Setting up a studio in an extra room or a corner of your home is an easy, quick start up business. If you are low on funds for advertising, make phone calls to private schools and start with children's portraits. This can easily lead into family portraits, weddings, and more.

Child Care - Most states have licensing requirements that involve taking a short course and paying a license fee. If you have the patience and dedication it takes to work with small children, this can be a lucrative home business.

Accounting - Have a knack for numbers? Many individuals need an accountant that will pick up their paperwork and do the work from home. With accounting software programs live online, it is now just as easy to obtain accounting work from large corporations as it is with the mom-and-pop operations.

Tutoring or Lessons - If you have a gift for teaching, it's relatively easy to start a tutoring business. Just make sure you have a college level understanding of the subject you are interested in tutoring. You may even consider teaching English as a second language if you live in an area with such a need. Don't limit yourself to ‘one on one' either. In some situations, especially if you are giving art or music lessons, you may want to teach several students at once. This will help to increase your revenues.

Sell a Product Online - With online auctions like EBay out there, it‘s easy to make money from home by selling online. Once you have a product in mind, do a few test auctions to see how popular it will be. Soon you will find something with enough profit margin to make it worth your while. If you don't have enough money to invest in an inventory, find a company willing to drop ship and you will be able to start this business with little to no investment.

Graphic Design - Are you a Photoshop guru? If so, there are plenty of opportunities for you to make money from home. Build yourself a portfolio and offer your services to printing and marketing companies in your area. Doing piecework is much more lucrative than working by the hour, and if you also have layout experience you can charge by the page.

Web Design - If you can write html code or work with css, you can literally be making a full time income within a few weeks. Start by offering your services on Craigslist or on a work at home forum online. There are plenty of opportunities out there for the web designer and most of them do work out of their homes.

Americans want to spend more time with their families instead of being stuck in a cubicle or driving for an hour just to get to their job. Obtaining full time work from the comfort of a ‘home office' is not only possible, it is becoming the norm. There are plenty of opportunities out there and with a little motivation, you too can make money from home!