There are millions of people just like you and me making money online. Former teachers, police officers, stay at home moms and dads, retail managers and others from every walk of life getting their piece of the pie. The key to starting home based businesses is first understanding your own personal financial situation. If you are looking to replace your current job or income immediately, you need to find another offline job.Starting an Internet business is not much different from starting an entry level position at an offline company. Before you start making the big bucks you have to gain experience and expertise before asking for that big promotion. The good news is that it takes half the time and effort to start making a solid income from home. Oh, and you are the boss.”YOU” decide how much money you make and when to go on vacation. In fact, you can start making extra cash in a matter of days. Just don’t fall into the trap of ” buy my program and make $30,000.00 in 30 days.” You can obtain this type of income at some point but unless your willing to spend that type of money advertising right from the beginning, don’t expect it. None of the legitimate online businesses operate under this presumption!If you are reading this article then I doubt you have that kind of loot lying around the house either. That is why you are reading home based businesses for beginners. If you are like I was then you are here for one of the following reasons.1. You are not making close to the amount of money you would like.2. You are sick of that “boss” whom acts like you are beneath him.3. You are tired of that promotion being given to the big mans pimple faced nephew whom you have to train.4. Not wanting to worry about job security.5. To never again miss one of my childrens birthdays or ball games.If this is the case or close to it then you are in the right place. Let’s look at some things you should avoid at all cost. These are not legitimate online businesses:• MLM: This stands for multi-level-marketing. Not all MLM’s are scams but many are. The basis of MLM is the recruitment of other people under you. Then People under them and so on. Unless you are willing to ask your family and friends to help you then this is not for you. Also, many so called MLM programs are actually pyramid schemes. They have no real product or info to sell. Their base of business comes from you giving them money to join. Then you recruit someone else that pays and then you get a percentage of their membership. This is a pyramid scheme and you can possibly get indicted for “FRAUD!”• Paid Surveys: There are some credible paid survey sites, however, there are ten times more that are not. Home based businesses rarely prosper in this format. Never give your personal information or e-mail to any of these sites. That is the scam. You give personal info, they sell it, and the next thing that you know you are bombarded by spam letters and phone calls.• Data entry: You usually have to buy an expensive package or kit that promises to find data entry jobs for you. The problem is that you have to bid on these jobs and there is not enough jobs to go around, or they only pay you pennies for hours of work. People fall for this one because it sounds like a traditional type of job that your use to.• Envelope Stuffing: The all time #1 blow your money scam of all time. Enough said!Now you are way ahead of the game! There are tons of ways to make money online for “free” if you are willing to do a lot of research. The most common ones are blogging, article marketing, affiliate marketing, and selling digital products from your very own website. These products are usually E-books. What are E-books? E-books are electronic version of a printed book which can be read on a personal computer. All of these are effective home based businesses for beginners, but how do you drive traffic to your blog or article? Internet marketing is the key to starting an Internet business. What is Internet marketing?Internet Marketing: Also known as I-marketing or online marketing is the marketing of products or services over the Internet.You have to have a viable product or information to promote and put it in front of consumers to see online. There are thousands and thousands of “free” products and info for you to promote, you just have to have the right resources and training to be effective. This is key to starting an online business! If the methods are free and the products and info are free then why not get started? Oh yeah, you still need to know how to find and market them.Once you do you will be on your way to starting legitimate online businesses and mastering home based businesses for beginners. Below I will show you where to go so you do not have to spend tireless hours of research to find these products and info, how to market them, and even get a website all “FREE”.