Are you tired of working in an office, answering to higher management each day? Does the thought of driving in traffic every morning cause your head to ache and your stomach to turn? If so, you might be interested in starting an online business that you can run from the comforts of your own home. All it take is some preliminary research, a few original ideas, time to invest in building it and some initial start-up cash, and you can be on your way to online business success. This guide will provide you with information and tips on how to start an online business.

The best place to start when planning an online business is the brainstorming phase. Determine and make a list of the areas in which you have expertise. Write down your strengths and weaknesses. Get a general idea of the types of websites you might be able to run. Also, determine if you want to build a business around:

1. Providing information
2. Selling a product
3. Selling a service

Keep in mind that making money on the internet does not mean you have to sell products or services. In fact, if you have valuable information to offer, you can build a business around that concept, so when you brainstorm keep this in mind.

Now it is time to do some research, so make sure you refer to your brainstorming list as you do so. It is important to determine what people are in the market for online, so the bulk of the research phase is to determine which ideas and products on your brainstorming list are also in demand in the internet marketplace. You should consult websites like google AdWords or Alexis for the following:

1. Search terms people are looking up
2. Keywords people are searching for
3. Search volume on both an annual and monthly basis
4. Which websites have the highest volumes of visitors per month

The above information is a starting point in determining what type of business has a decent chance to generate money online.

During this phase, you need to decide exactly what your business will be, and how you want to set it up. Do you expect to make most of your money through advertising programs, or do you intend to focus on a product or service you are selling? Once you know this, you can begin to formulate a business plan by doing the following:

1. Determine how much your start-up cost will be - this includes the money for the domain name and the web host
2. What are your overall goals, including those for web traffic and money?
3. Do you need a business license or permit? This all depends on where you live and what type of business or service you are running.

Now it is time to build a website. It is important to make your website professional, but how you design it should reflect the type of business you will be running. If you have the money, you should consider hiring a web designer to build your site. Otherwise, you will need to decide what type of web design program you want to purchase and then learn how to use it.

Now it is time to promote and market your new business! Start by telling everyone you know about it and get them involved with spreading the word. If they have a weblog, have them link to your new site. You can:

1. Spread the word on social networking and other related sites like Facebook, Twitter, Digg and Stumbleupon
2. Post links to your site on related message boards and in related discussion rooms
3. Include information on your site highlighting keywords with high search volume. This has the possibility of raising your website higher in the search rankings on websites like google

Starting an online business can be an inexpensive way to start generating some extra cash. Do not expect to become rich overnight, however, as it will take a lot of time and hard work to build up a reputable online business that consistently brings in new customers and income. Be patient though, as over time online businesses can generate a steady income for those wishing to work from home and set their own schedules.