The Zillion Business Marketing blog has these suggestions for home-based internet startups requiring little or no initial investment.


Be sure to pick one that matches your abilities:

1. Affiliate marketing-Companies including Amazon, Ebay and others have created affiliate programs offering webmasters and bloggers a commission for merchandise sold through referrals from their sites. Other opportunities include products like AuctionAds, a third party that pays commissions on Ebay auction revenue generated through referrals. (I've used this last one myself with VERY limited success, but in fairness most affiliate programs seem to rely on high traffic volume and multiple sites for best results.) ReferralSense is an Internet resource offering an overview of top referral programs and advice on which ones deliver.

2. Blogging-Ads by Google Adsense and other providers and affiliate marketing as discussed above can be used to generate revenue from a popular weblog or weblogs if traffic is sufficient. Blogger and Soul Cast offer free platforms for the publishing of blogs. Some platforms are easier to monetize than others and blogs that serve a certain niche interest group and are updated regularly seem to do best.

3. Ebay and Auction selling-Stories abound about entrepreneurs who have turned selling on Ebay and other Internet auction sites into bonafide businesses. A bootstrap approach would be to start with items you have lying around the house and then use the revenue from early sales to purchase additional merchandise. Since Ebay charges mainly for commission after the sale, it's easy to start small with the right product. For more on the subject read the Make Money on Ebay blog.

4. E-Commerce-Sell merchandise from your own site or blog. Drog shipping sites like SellerKey present the opportunity to offer a wide variety of products without buying in bulk and Microsoft and others offer inexpensive online store options. PayPal is a great way to get started and even offers a shopping cart experience and takes major credit cards with no upfront investment.

5. Arts & Crafts-If you make your own stuff, you can sell it on line. Options include auctions like Ebay or your own blog or website.

6. Internet research-Do needed research for clients on a subcontractor basis. Creating profiles on websites like Elance and bidding on posted jobs there can be an easy way to get started with a modest investment for membership. You can also create your own website to drum up business

7. Freelance services-This is more general and depends on your experience and abilities but could include anything from writing to programming. Again, think websites like Elance, Freelance Nation, Easy Freelancing, iFreelance and ProCopywriters. There are varying costs involved but these communities can be a good addition to your own site by allowing you to bid on projects and post a profile where clients can see it from day one.

8. Recruiting-Hiring for corporations is another suggestion from the Zillion Business Marketing blog. Site administrator Nima suggests sites like RecruitersNetwork and HireAbility to get started.

9. Consulting-If you've got business or some other expertise, you can market it in a number of ways. One is a website offering your services and rates for hire. Another is a blog where you offer some observations free either as an effort to get hired or simply for the money the blog brings in. With the Internet visibility could also come speaking engagements and the opportunity to market additional materials (books, CD's, videos) in your niche of expertise.

10. Virtual Assistant-This business can combine a couple of the above services and much more. For additional information on how to bootstrap a virtual assistant business see our profile series and Denise Aday's The Effective VA blog.