This whole business of a "working from home business" can become quite confusing don't you think? Seriously though, there are a lot blind alleys, false turns, and bad directions out there if you are one of the millions who has poked around on or offline looking to work from home. I'm sure some of you have even thrown up your hands in disgust trying to decipher what is real, what's for sale, and what's just plain bad. 

I know exactly where you are coming from because I've been there. Let's get one thing clear. There are three different things going on in this confusing arena. 

1. The first is, people who are legitimately offering work at home opportunities in return for a steady paycheck. Ok. So there are many, many people who are looking for this particular opportunity. Most people assume it surrounds data entry, or other low level office work. While there may be a few jobs like this, it is more frequently used as "bait" to get interested people into buying something. Let's face it; if a company is going to pay you, they usually have to have a mechanism to watching you, or establishing that you are going to hit minimums levels of production. That means active management. That's why you don't see more of these types of opportunities. Many real companies just aren't comfortable with the idea of their employees sitting at home entering data into computers. If you do find one, use caution and do your research. If they ask for money to apply for the job, watch out! 

2. Then there are self-employment opportunities that can be done out of your house. This option encompasses a whole range of "real" jobs that people can make a good living at such as Real Estate Sales, Independent Appraisers, Computer Coding, Freelance Writing, etc. The important part to remember is that there is no boss and no company telling you what to do or guaranteeing your paycheck. You are, in effect, self-employed and responsible for income no matter what the circumstances. Can you do well? Yes. But most people don't. Why? Because they can't work consistently unsupervised. 

3. And of course, Those people's whose work at home business is selling a work at home business opportunity to other people looking for work at home opportunities.- This is the case with a lot of people's whose hypey, overdone sales pages adorn every corner of the internet. These are the marketing guru's who promise "$10,000 a day for posting links" or "get paid big $ for typing forms". Without getting righteous, all I can say is stay away if you can. If not, you'll be a lot poorer without any additional income to show for it. Folks, this sales ploy is as old as desperation itself. Don't fall for it. If you need work, you shouldn't need to pay people to find out more about it. If you do, be afraid. Very afraid. 

So what's the answer?? If you are searching for a work from home business with an enormous upside potential, than affiliate marketing may just be the answer you are looking for. Some of the biggest names in retailing are currently involved in this Billion dollar opportunity including Target, Amazon and many others.