If you are looking to create real income from home, with a business that will fit into your hectic schedule, you should consider the flexibility of direct sales and network marketing companies. Or if you have a particular skill or talent, you might start some sort of service-based business.

Capitalizing on your own talents, skills or ideas, you can create just about any type of service business. Charge clients by the hour or by the job for things like dog walking, personal shopping, house cleaning, bookkeeping, closet organization, in-home child care, music lessons, math tutoring, landscaping and more. You may be able to start up a personal services business strictly by word of mouth. Start-up expenses may be no more than the cost of of your first batch of business cards.

Direct sales opportunities are typically those that encourage hosting home parties. You may know a friend who does Pampered Chef or Tupperware. These would be examples of direct sales companies. Another type of direct sales business, called ‘top tier direct sales’, would be high ticket cost items, such as Wealthmasters International, Liberty League and Global Resorts. These types of direct sales products tend to work well with online internet sales systems. Direct sales will usually pay quite well on the front end of the sale and offer some type of residual income on those in your organization. Start up costs for the home party companies varies from less than $100 up to about $300. The top-tier direct sales companies have higher points of entry, usually in excess of one thousand dollars.

Multi-level marketing companies distribute their products and services through independent consultants, sometimes called ‘associates’ or ‘distributors’. Commissions are earned for retail sales, but the significant income is a result of residuals on the sales income of your entire organization. Learn how to create a down line of a thousand buyers and you will have created a full-time income. This has been a difficult feat to accomplish in years past, using only warm market prospecting; however the internet offers many new avenues for product sales and business opportunity seekers to enroll with you.

Though some MLM businesses have suffered in the past from image problems, the business model itself is legitimate and the residual income has great potential. Network marketing business opportunities are available in various industries: health & wellness, beauty products & skin care, travel, electricity providers, telephone services - there is even a chocolate MLM company! (No joke) Little to no inventory is required; however most compensation plans will require that you maintain a monthly purchase amount, in order to be eligible for commissions. Start-up costs vary from as little as twenty dollars up to several thousand dollars.