Looks like your looking to make money from home and your trying to find a work at home based business or a work at home job. Struggling to see any difference?  I’m the first to agree there is a lot of confusion about which is which and what the major differences are between a work at home based business and an at home job. I’m slightly bias to starting your own business but I’ll try to explain why it really makes more sense. Many people do both and you can too, it isn’t a bad way to go.

What Qualifies as a Work at Home Based Business?

Just like in the offline world the first major difference in the two is how you get paid and this is also is the easiest way to qualify a work at home based business.  The thing is though, even work at home jobs will often pay you as a subcontractor and use a 1099 form to pass wages instead of a w-2 form like most offline jobs.  The top way to qualify and discern whether a work at home based business is a better option for you is to look at who owns “stuff”.

There are many opportunities to make money taking surveys, I’ve never attempted to use this method but I’m using it as an example of a work at home job.  You get paid to do something.  If you do “10″ of something you get paid for doing “10″ and if you do 19 you get paid for 19.  In order to get paid you have to do the “thing” again and this is one of the best ways to tell a job from a business.

These are common characteristics of a work at home based business:

• Usually not an agreed amount for performing a task.
• You own something, usually a website or an agreement.
• You may make something at home that you sell to others.
• You may provide a service like editing or copy writing and get paid based on agreements you make.
• Your responsible for getting your own customers.
• You may have to purchase a license to resell or distribute with a work at home based business.
• If you offer consulting services, you own a business.

This doesn’t cover everything but I think you can see how your idea could either fit or not.

Why do I think a work at home based business is a better choice that a job?

Well for a couple reasons.  The first one being passive income. You see if you own a web property (website) you have an opportunity to make money into the future for content you create today.  You could re purpose the content into an e-book, you could offer ad space and make money from advertisers.  Regardless of what type of work at home based business you find, you should be able to find good ways of making money in a passive way over time.

Many people are introduced to the work at home online business via turnkey work at home business ideas.  Most of these are direct sales opportunities or affiliate relationships in one form or another.  The affiliate business model has made many millionaires online and it’s probably one of the easiest work at home businesses to start.  You may not care about making a million, but affiliate work at home models can really generate some nice chunks of extra cash.  The opportunities are endless with a home business and if you currently aren’t comfortable starting you own business, maybe finding one of the best work at home jobs is just thing to prepare you for whats next.

Many people, in their search to find a work at home based business, come across a network marketing opportunity that appeals to them.  Network marketing is another work at home business model which not only allows a person to make money by offering products or service, you can also earn a commission from the sales team you help develop.  Network marketing can be a smart way to make money now and build passive residual income over time.  Find a good mentor who can teach you the intricacies of Network Marketing, this helps a ton.

I got an email from the blog the other day in the form of a comment asking “What is the best work at home based business for a beginner to start“….

Well… given the fact that everyone who chooses to operate a business from home has their own answer and rightly so I suppose, it’s a tough question to answer without more information, but I thought I’d take shot at it with a blog post here.

It’s tough to go over every possible work at home business idea that would be suitable for a person who has never owned a business. I also tend to think of online based business ideas when I think “best work at home based business”, but that’s just me. I have found absolutely nothing comparable to the opportunities that the Internet offers and I find these home based business concepts cater to beginners.

It seems so many of the best work at home money making ideas are just about spreading the word and making connections.  I mean the web is a big place and there is a lot of noise, given the noise, if you have an audience you have value to add and to find the best work at home opportunity you need to connect your audience to someone who will pay you.  This can happen in many different forms.

A website is an asset much like a lawn mower.  If you own a lawn mower and you also have people, willing to pay you, who ALSO have tall grass needing cut then you have a good business proposition.  The same holds true with a website on the Internet that makes money every day. You have to have something the guy who is paying wants, I don’t mean to be elementary but it seems so many think the work at home business opportunities online are some how different, and they just ain’t.

There are many business in a box type work at home businesses and they it’s pretty easy to find work at home opportunities that seem real easy to use to make money.  For a beginner though, I wouldn’t recommend buying a thing until you’ve been working from home on the Internet for at least 6 months, because until then you don’t really have a clue what your buying anyway, know what I mean?

Work at Home Based Business Advice

I’ve been making money by working at home on the Internet for a couple years now and I have yet to purchase any information on how to be successful at earning income from the Internet, so that’s all I have to say about that.  Again remember, I only have my experience and that’s all I like to share, better yet I have my knowledge, which means I know, which means I’ve done it or do it.  You can’t beat that. The struggle isn’t to find a work at home based business as much as it is just getting started doing something.

I’d say the best work at home business to start for a beginner would be to simply start a blog or website online, if your ready to do that, get in touch, don’t spend a bunch of money on stuff, or crap, that doesn’t work.  Once you start a website or blog learn how to get traffic to your website for free. Once you do that learn how other people are earning income from home using the Internet and you will be on your way.

There are great opportunities to make money working from home available to the person who has a website with targeted traffic, you likely won’t have a hard time finding work at home money ideas if you keep your traffic targeted to a small topic.

What is a good topic to earn money with on the Internet?

Any topic that has a product or service associated with it is a good topic to earn money with online.  Remember your basically connecting people who have with people who need or want. That said, common sense says pick products worth a couple hundred bucks or so to target your blog to, they will have a better advertising budget.  Another thing, try and choose a topic for a website based on what you know, it’s a whole lot easier to create content when you have a ton of it in your head, know what I mean?

So there you have it, I think the best work at home business for beginners is to start a website and learn how the Internet works, stay away from business in a box type stuff and learn as much as you can about getting traffic and earning a good income by working from home.