The exponential and continuing growth of the world wide web is opening up a lot of opportunities for people who are business-minded. People who are on the constant lookout for venues where they believe they can make it as entrepreneurs. The very nature of the online world, its sense of community and its exploding popularity make it a very viable business platform, a market place of sort. It’s not very surprising therefore to see thousands of individuals from all corners of the planet try their hands on online marketing and online selling hoping to earn extra cash or make enough money for them to be able to quit their nine to five jobs. The internet has literally changed the very meaning of a home based business. Sure, home based businesses have existed long before the internet was even invented. But today, with the help of the internet, home based businesses are on a new level.The good thing about a home based business is that you are your own boss. You work when you want to and you have complete control over your time and resources. Unlike a regular day job where you get paid the same fixed income whether you work harder or not, a home based business rewards you with an income that is proportional to the efforts you exercised on the business. So the harder you work, the higher the payout. There are no limitations when it comes to the growth of the business. You own and control it so you can build and grow it as long as you want.To be successful with a home based business, you will have to make sure that you have something to offer to people. It doesn’t matter if it’s a service or a product as long as you are offering something in exchange for the people’s time and money.The more popular techniques nowadays of doing business online are via direct online selling, affiliate marketing and blogging. Direct selling is the best path to go if you have your own products or services that you can sell online. The most effective way of selling your stuff would be to set up a website where you display your products and provide visitors with a way of ordering the items. You have to make sure though that you have a payment system in place before you accept orders.Affiliate marketing is very similar to direct selling, the only difference is that in affiliate marketing, you are selling other people’s products instead of your own. You make money by earning commissions on the successful sales you make.Blogging for a living, referred to these days as professional blogging, is very popular nowadays. It’s not uncommon to hear of bloggers earning full time incomes from their blogs. Blogging is a very lucrative home based business if you play your cards right and build a strong online following.Direct selling, affiliate marketing and blogging. These are three home based businesses that you can establish with very minimal costs but with high potential benefits.