If you wanted to work from home just 10 years ago your options would have been greatly limited to the staggering number of options you have today. And in a few years from now there will be even more. But lets stick with the present and see some of the most popular methods of working from home and earning money using your computer. These methods have stood the test of time and I believe will be around many years from now.

1. Taking Surveys and paid to complete offers. Consumers have always been at the forefront of influencing business decisions.

With the internet it is now easier to get peoples opinions and companies are willing to pay you to take surveys regarding their product or even pay you to test out a new product or service. For example, people are able to test out new gamer sites or even help companies decide on a new logo all from the comfort of their home. These jobs dont pay a great deal but they are a fun, stress free way to earning money.

2. Affiliate Marketing. This is still one of the most popular ways for a beginner with no marketing experience to earn money. You make money by selling other peoples products.

Just 6 years ago the number of affiliate programs was on a much smaller scale and finding good affiliate programs within your niche was a little more difficult; today however, even your favorite offline company may have an online affiliate program and more niche categories are offered. Thus, finding a product or service you feel comfortable promoting is a lot easier. And with more companies developing their own web presence youll have even more options in the future.

3. Web writer.

If you can write well, and can promote yourself you can earn money working from home. Web writers are in great demand. From ebooks to blog articles someone has to sit down and create it and this is one task many webmasters outsource.

4. Virtual Assistant

This is a great way to earn money. People who have office service skills can sset up a home office and help companies all around the world doing administrative tasks. Virtual ssistants usually specialize in a particular area but there work can be anything from bookkeeping to customer service all from the comfort of their own home.

5. Web store

If you have a physical product like jewelry or special tea you can set up a web store to sell your products from. This works for downloadable products as well. If you dont want to operate your own website you can use eBay to sell your products from.

6. Create a membership site

Membership sites are really big right now and their only going to get more popular. Webhosting is an example of a membership site. But there are a number of ways to earn money from this method. You can create an online dating site that targets a specific niche, a forum site that provides exclusive information, an advertising site for members to get cheap online ad space, or a special online course. There are many possibilities to make money with this model. And the best part is you earn a residual income.

As people become more interested in earning money from home we will see an influx in work at home jobs and news ways to make money will be thought up. But the above methods will always be around because they already have a strong online market.