It is heart rending to a new mom to leave her young child in the care of strangers and go back to work after maternity leave. Consequently many moms dream of the privilege of being able to stay at home and watch their kids grow from babies to young adults. But how many actually think of it as a serious option? How many moms actually follow their work at home dreams and turn them into reality?

Multi-level marketing programs and work at home schemes have been around for decades, selling everything from detergents to vitamins. It seems that each day several more appear on the scene - Stuffing envelopes, selling real estate, Amway etc. Do these programs work? Can stay at home moms or dads truly become successful working from home? How does one know which programs are legitimate and which ones are not? Besides the legitimacy factor, there are the start-up costs. If you want to start a real estate business, or sell vitamins or cosmetics from home, the start up costs will set you back a tidy sum.

Inexperienced "would be entrepreneurs" usually start a small home business after attending a meeting or seminar. The offer of help to start a business may be legitimate but many of the businesses still fail. According to the US Small Business Administration, over 50% of small businesses fail in the first year and 95% fail within the first five years. It means that only 5 in 100 small business are slated to succeed. The average small business is doomed to fail from the very beginning. This means that you will lose a lot of money if you start a small business without adequate skills, proper guidance or education. Is it any wonder that parents have become wary about putting their hard-earned cash into small business opportunities?

So what is the answer for parents whose entrepreneurial spirit and work ethics are strong?
Where can they find legitimate, low-cost, work at home opportunities?

Start an Online Home Based Business. You can create your own home based business using your computer. There are several affiliate programs that cost under $50 to join and if funding is limited, there are affiliate programs that are free to join. Begin by building your own website from scratch will cost you hosting and domain registration fees. Easy to use website building software is freely available on the Internet.

Once you have your website, join the affiliate programs of your choice. Affiliate programs or opportunities eliminate the need for inventory, property leases or rent. You can concentrate on finding ways to promote and sell the opportunities or products you have chosen to put on your website. It is even possible to sell affiliate products without purchasing them although I strongly advise that you try to use as many of your affiliate products as possible. Promoting a product you have used is a hundred times easier than one you have only read about.

Putting a number of banners on your site might be very tempting, and when you are inexperienced it may seem like the perfect answer. Unfortunately the average online shopper is smart and educated and wants more than a few flashing banners. They want to read about the products and opportunities you are promoting. They want to learn to do what you are doing and how to do it successfully. This means you have to find ways to educate yourself as well as your customers and prospects about the your products and opportunities.

Starting and running an online home based business is much easier than the equivalent offline business, and although it may be a fraction of the cost, it still requires good work ethics, dedication and education. So, moms who want to stay at home with their kids can start their own online home business do so with the knowledge that it is not that difficult if one goes about it the right way.

For a tiny investment you can become the President of your own home based business and be on your way to online success.

About The Author
Janice Sharman has helped lots of ordinary people start and run their own home based business. For FREE information on how you can start a successful Computer Work at Home Business go to
http://www.computer-work-at-home-job.ws/splash.htm