To be successful in information business, one doesn't have to have a college degree in English or be a published writer. Everyone has specialized knowledge; if you can put it together in a way that is easily understood by others, you will have a ready-made market for those who want and need your information. No matter how obscure you may think your information is, you can be sure that there are people out there looking for it!

Affiliate Program Promotion - Although I see many of so-called "gurus" telling everyone that only real way to make money online is to have your own product, I have to respectfully disagree. There are a whole lot of people quietly working at home, out of spotlight, who are earning significant incomes promoting affiliate programs of others.

The key to success in profiting from affiliate programs is by building a theme-based website targeting a very specific market and promoting only those programs whose products meet needs of its visitors. Critical to this type of business is ongoing communication with customers and visitors, usually through newsletters and updates on new products and information that is available on site.

Joining affiliate programs helter-skelter and trying to promote them individually via inefficient means such as classified ads, safelists, and other forms of ineffective advertising is an exercise in futility. It is this method of promotion that is often used by newcomer online and results in their frustration and belief that earning an income with these programs is impossible.

You may be a beginner to world of online marketing. Or perhaps you're a victim of information overload that has hampered your forward progress. In either case, your best chance for success in your own business is to first choose from one of these three business models.

When you have done that, then you can move forward. Decide which resources you need to get your own business up and running. This will make it much easier to hit "delete" key when your email is filled with those products and opportunities that you simply don't need.

Stay focused on what YOU want to accomplish, and avoid confusion of going in too many different directions. You'll be amazed at how easy it will be to accomplish your goals once you've eliminated so many distractions!

When your funds have grown to point that you feel you're ready to give that home business a go, then you can give up job if you feel you need that time to devote to business. You'll have your working capital, and chances are your business will be in profit sooner.

This won't work, however, if, instead of being disciplined enough to put money aside, you spend it instead.

Even with slowdown in economy, there are still plenty of places that are hiring part-time workers (at least in my section of country). In addition, some of these places offer benefits even to part-timers (Starbucks, for example).

Here's links to some places that offer a part-time income and flexible schedules to their employees. (Some of these companies are regional; you can search websites to see if they are in your area).

http://www1.albertsons.com/corporate http://www.containerstore.com* http://www.costco.com http://www.eckerd.com http://www.homedepot.com http://www.kroger.com http://www.lowes.com http://www.publix.com* http://www.starbucks.com* http://www.ukrops.com* http://www.walmart.com http://www.wegmans.com* http://www.wholefoods.com*

*On Fortune Magazines "Top 100 Best Companies to Work For" this year - for more on this, visit http://www.fortune.com/fortune/bestcompanies

If you don't have money to get your business going - this is one option always open to you for your consideration.

If you're serious about succeeding on your own, you need to do what it takes to reach your goals!