Most Lucrative Home Internet Businesses

Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is a means of taking a percentage of a sale by promoting someone else's product. This can be done by email, websites or advertisements linking back to an original home page. For example, you find a company online selling tax software. You register with them to become an affiliate marketer. They then provide you with a sales code link. Any person that clicks on that link and buys the software will provide a credit to you and a percentage of the sale. You can market this link through many online advertising methods such as search, web pages or by email.

Lead generation is one step removed from affiliate marketing. Instead of taking a percentage of the actual sale, you simply refer the contact information of an interested buyer to a seller. By setting up data forms on different websites, you can collect this contact information in bulk. Each lead is then sold for several cents to several dollars depending on the quality of the lead -- whether they are a likely buyer -- and the type of product or service. If you are able to collect these in bulk, the profits can add up very quickly.

Internet sales representatives are home based business positions that requires less technical skills than the first two positions. You can be an in-bound representative receiving calls about specific products or services. You may also be an outbound representative making cold calls to leads generated by online lead generation firms. Outbound callers usually are better paid because they must convince and convert a prospective client.

Online retail sales providing products that you produce is potentially the most lucrative business because you get to determine the markup. However, it requires an exciting product, a great marketing effort, a professional website and sophisticated delivery system. You may use the services of affiliate marketing, lead generation and sales representatives to boost your sales. Besides the actual product, the remaining processes can be outsourced to consultants.