If we are all honest, most of us would do anything to live a life where we work from home, decide what hours we will work, when we will get up in the morning to how much we earn, right?

Wouldn't it be great to get paid based on how well you perform? Imagine going in to work and because you chose to give more than 100% that day, your boss decided to pay you more money!

Let's face it aswell, life is very short and you only get one chance to live it out the way you want to live it out. Doing a 9-5 job or pulling gruelling 12hr shifts doesn't add to your life it takes away from it.

That is why so many people today are turning to affiliate marketing for extra income. This billion dollar industry over the past year has soared in leaps and bounds with more people spending money around the holiday shopping season. So how you benefit from being an affiliate marketer?

It all begins with Getting Started!

Sometimes the hardest step is the first one we take.

That's no joke, and being an affiliate marketer is no exception. When you set out to start your online career as a successful affiliate marketer, there are going to be many ups and downs that are going to make you want to give up. Let's face it being your own boss, being strict with how you spend your time and balancing your home and work life is going to be a challenge at time.

Don't be put off by that as their will be times when you are making money while you sleep and waking up in the morning to find you have made an extra hundred dollars or two is always thrilling. Keep in mind all the days you have made more than you expected as those times will help you through any rough patches. Believe you can do it, surround yourself with positive people and learn from those who are doing well at it, and do it on a regular basis.

One of the things you are going to want to do right at the start is get good information from an affiliate marketer who is working from home and managing to consistently earn a living from affiliate programs.

Also you will want to set aside time each day even if it is only 1hr to spend learning the ins and outs of what to do and what not to do. It is very easy to rush head first into something and end up on the other side out of pocket and frustrated.

Realize you will need to invest in your business

The phrase " It takes money to make money" is without a doubt the truth, but that is not to say you cant make money online without spending hundreds of dollars. There are numerous ways going about it, but the hard fast rules of advertising have always been the same througout the ages.

If you don't have enough money to buy software like a website creator, there are many free software packages out their though places like download.com which allow you to make a website. Heck even Netscape the free browser comes with a website creator.

So what things will you need to get started?

Well there are no hard fast rules but having a

Website editor like frontpage or dreamweaver
Domain name through namecheap.com
Hosting through hostgator.com or one of the various hosting companies out there.

Internet connection are really some of the main things, I mean you can use someone elses computer if you really need to.

Realize that Affiliate Marketing is a booming industry that continues to grow everyday. A few resources you might want to check out when your first starting out is.

Abestweb affiliate forum
Ozemedia forum
Commission Junction
Linkshare

It takes time, patience and consistency but the pay off is awesome when you roll out of bed at 10:00 a.m.