So you want to make money online from home? Don't we all! How many of us have spent days at the office dreaming of being able to still be in the comfort of our own home and not get rained on in winter or have to go out in the heat in summer.

Making money online from home is easy with affiliate marketing. There are lots of get rich quick schemes online, and a lot of them are scams.

Affiliate marketing is different. You can make money online at home working in a real industry with real business relationships and contacts. And because all of the marketing is done online, the only non-virtual business equipment you need is a computer. You can keep your home clutter free!

This is no get-rich quick scheme through, let me warn you. It is easy, but it also takes some time and energy to truly learn the business and the industry. You want to make sure that you really understand the industry you are going into because if you don't you will never become really successful.

Making money online from home can be done with affiliate marketing. But what is affiliate marketing?

Affiliate marketing is, to put it simply, an online based marketing practice where one business (the merchant) rewards another (you, the affiliate) for each visitor or sale that is referred through the affiliate's marketing efforts.

Sounds simple enough? Well it is, and it isn't. There is of course a lot more to it than that and there are a lot of factors that you should consider before throwing away your day job to make money online from home.

You need to make sure that firstly you have a website, or you are willing to join up with an affiliate marketing program that will help you sort all of that out. You will then need to understand the payment schemes.

You get paid different amounts and for different actions in affiliate marketing. You make money online from home by placing advertisements on your website and hyperlinks in your content. You will get paid every time people see, click on, register or buy products or services that you are affiliated with and have linked on your website.

But how do you choose which affiliate marketing relationships to build? Well, if you have your own website, you need to do some market research on target audiences.

You don't want to have a gaming website that has advertising banners for arthritis medication. You need to stick closely to your target audience so that you will generate as much interest and thus revenue as possible.

Affiliate marketing is a great way to make money online from home you just need to keep in mind that it is not always easy to get started and it might take some time to make your first pay check. So don't quit your day job just yet!

Do your research and learn as much as you can about the affiliate marketing industry and what sort of options are out there for you.

A great starting point for beginners is http://www.affilorama.com, a free website where you have access to lots of training and forums that will help you learn all there is to know about getting started in affiliate marketing.

Good luck! With some preparation you will soon be making money online from home!