The fact is that a lot of people are making excellent online income working at home. And that everyone is not doing the same thing. There are lot of things one can do to work at home and make money online. Basically we can divide work at home business or jobs into two main categories; the first category is where you need a website of your own and the second work at home job is the one for which you don't need to have a website

If you decide to have a website, you can do the following things:

Sell your own product, service or e-book: This is an ideal thing to do. You may have written short stories for kids or a recipe book, you may be making stuffed toys or software, all this could be put up on your website for sale. And when you sell something.... you've made your profits!

Become an affiliate: Another thing you could do is become an affiliate and sell products made by somebody else. To become an affiliate and make money online is the most popular and convenient thing to do. A good affiliate program doesn't just offer products to sell, it also tells you how to do it. It teaches you to build your business online. Be careful that they don't charge a fee for joining the program. When something is sold vide their link on your site, you make your commissions. Simple. Packing and shipping is something you don't have to bother about. It gets taken care of by them.

Become a drop shipper:This can actually be done with or without a website. Drop shipping is a technique used by smart businessmen who want to sell without having to stock the inventory. Its an ideal and easy way to do home business. Many people are interested in selling goods online, but they don't know how to go about these things: 1. Where to procure the goods from 2. Where to store them until they sell 3. What to charge for shipping 4. What to do with the unsold stock

Drop shipping takes care of those concerns for online marketers/home business entrepreneurs. Drop shipping is an agreement between the home business owner and manufacturer or distributor of a product he/she wants to sell in which the manufacturer or distributor--not the business owner--ships the product to customers. This means you can sell quality, branded- products on your Web site with a big profit margin, while someone else looks after product development and delivery

While choosing an item or concept to sell, Be careful of scams, be sure you are choosing the right products at right prices. See that the affiliate program you are joining has an online support active 24X7X365 days

What you need to learn and who will teach you: If you decide to have a website, i.e. owning a shop on the net, and choose any of the above home business' opportunities, what you have to constantly work towards and learn is, generating traffic to your site. If there is any secret to making money online, this is it. The more traffic your site draws, the more sales you will make. There are many techniques to do it. All the info is available online. You got to learn it on your own, may be your team leader or a friend can help you with it. But mostly, you need to be a self learner to succeed. Info is available online free. You just need to read up and learn the ways to promote your business online and apply it to your site. The results will start coming in a few months. Though new, its a very interesting subject.

There are ways to make money online without a website too.

Taking Online Surveys: Its again one of the most popular ways to work at home and make money online. You can join as many survey companies as you can, who will send you surveys in your inbox and pay you for completing them. No special qualifications required. Everyone and anyone can do it. All you need is an e-mail address. Some companies pay you in kind, some in cash. You have to take your picks. If you get 5 surveys in your inbox and want to do only two of them. Go ahead. You will make money for the surveys you have completed. Forget about the rest.

You can also become an online proof-reader, do Medical Transcription, take translation jobs, become data entry operator, take up typing jobs and so on. All these opportunities require some kind of basic qualification. e.g. you need to have done a course in medical transcription, some formal training in proof-reading or translation etc is preferred. Previous experience will stand you in better stead. You will have more assignments or jobs coming to you if you make fewer mistakes, are swift, finish your jobs in time etc. It is advisable that while on training you take up honorary jobs. Once you pick up speed and perfection, you can charge good money and keep your clients happy with the quality of work.

There are many opportunities other than what have been listed above. I have listed the basic ones to give you a basic idea. As you surf the net, you will find what suits you best. What you have to remember is that working at home on internet is hardly a synonym for easy money. You have to work and work real hard to succeed. Long hours. Focus. Patience. The convenience is you can choose your own hours to work. And you work at home. Work is something you can't escape. There are no short cuts to success online either. Hard luck!