I've been involved with home business in one form or another for a few years now. Two years ago I left my job to "go it alone" in making a full-time living on the internet. Like a lot of people, I've tried various programs and courses, not all of which worked for me.

My foothold in becoming financially independent lay in combining my professional skills as a software writer and my hobby of astronomy. Everyone goes on about finding niche markets so I ended up writing a piece of software called LunarPhase Pro that provides all the information about the Moon that amateur astronomers would ever need, all done in real-time.

So my niche market was amateur astronomy. But, to my surprise, people from other niches started snapping up my software - astrologers, stockbrokers, Wiccan, fishermen, military people, hunters. And they came from all over the world. I even managed to line up some retail outlets to carry the software.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that if you're starting out in your own home business, develop something that appeals to you, something you have direct knowledge of and enthusiasm for. It gives you a running start compared with having to learn the ropes in some system or program you haven't got a clue about.

Investors will tell you to diversify your portfolio and internet marketers talk about multiple streams of income. All sound advice because if one of your investments or internet income streams crashes, you won't go down with the ship.

With that in mind, I started looking around for income streams besides my software. Everything has a shelf life or a sell by date and, while my software is still selling very well, that may not always be the case.

I started monetizing my websites using Google Adsense (if you'd like to find out how, check out my "Monetize Your Website With Google Adsense" webpage) and some other money-generating programs for websites and make $500-$600 per month this way. The websites are pretty much on auto-pilot, so it's effectively free money!

I also became interested in the Home Business market and researched a number of programs that would potentially boost my monthly income. Some were good but didn't work for me (not all programs will work for everyone). Some were just downright lousy.

The rest I signed up with (not too many so that monitoring or working with them became unmanageable) and all provide some level of monthly income (from quite small to reasonably large). I'm not super-rich but I am financially independent. More than that, I'm time-rich. I don't waste two hours a day commuting to/from the office. I set my own hours. I don't have to deal with Corporate politics and BS. I'm not stressed out any more. And I have more time with my family and friends.

The programs I've become involved with are listed at my website. They may work for you. They may not. Each of us has different wants and needs and different skills. You are the one to decide what suits your personal circumstances.

To make things easier for myself so I'd have all the tools and resources I use just a click or two away, I created the Home Biz Toolbar add-on for Internet Explorer. You're welcome to use it but you'll need to come to my website to download it!

There are a huge number of home business opportunities out there, so always research any program that takes your interest. Make sure it's right for you and that it's being run by a solid company. But if you do pick a program, stick with it. Don't be a grashopper, jumping from program to program, wondering why they're not paying dividends. It takes time and commitment to build an online business. Don't put all your eggs in one basket - join two or three programs and protect yourself from the collapse of any one of them.

About the author:

Gary Nugent runs a successful internet business working from his home PC. Invest some time and you can benefit from his experience and make a residual income from the internet using the techniques and information that allowed him to walk away from his 9 to 5 job: http://www.makeonlineresidualearnings.com

The (free) Home Biz Toolbar is available from: http://www.makeonlineresidualearnings.com/HomeBizToolbar