Sitting in traffic, hour lunch breaks (or less), work overload, stress, no time for family...Does this all sound familiar? I could go on and on with reasons the daily grind of the 9 to 5 job is why most people are seeking a real home based business opportunity. I have been there and done that. I became so stressed from my previous job, not only with the ridiculous deadlines, but also with my long commute, which stole 2 hours or more out of my day for 5 years!

With the pressure to leave the corporate world, I began to research ways in which to start-up a home based business of my own. In the beginning, I took the natural route, which was to use my skills from my previous job to create a home-based business of my own. I am still continuing to use my skills to maintain my self-employed status, however, I was lucky to learn about affiliate marketing. I had no idea the amount of money affiliate marketing generates every year. The last statistic I read, it reached in the billions of dollars! If you are not familiar with what affiliate marketing is, here is a quick definition:

Affiliate marketing is the marketing of other people's products in which you share a portion of the sale.

That is basically it in a nutshell. You earn commission on other people's products. No inventory to manage, no customer support, all you have to do is collect the checks! Now before you get too excited, it's not as easy as it appears to be.

Here are the some of the benefits:

• You can earn a substantial income (sky is the limit)


• You can work from home (in your pajamas if you like!)


• There are thousands of items to promote


• Your business can be run online


• Work the hours you want

The cold hard truth:

• You need a lot of web traffic to make sales (not an easy task)


• You may need to spend money on advertising (can be costly if you're inexperienced)


• It takes a lot of hard work to build a successful online business (technically, this applies to any business)


• It's a continuous learning process (a lot of trial and error)


• You need some technical know-how or at least be able to outsource

Remember, anything worth having requires dedication and most of all persistence! If you're willing, you can find products that you're interested in and figure out creative ways to promote them. Everyone needs guidance so if you're new to affiliate marketing join affiliate forums, chat with others who are involved, and learn from some of the guru's who have written manuals to get you started. Your home-based business is ready for you - go and build it!

For more ideas, tips, or products to help jump start your home based business, visit Self Employed Blog.