You need to know what you are looking for -

There are a large number of home based business opportunities available for you on the internet. You need to choose the one that suits you the best. You can classify your options into two broad categories, namely product based business & service business. Product based businesses need you to have sufficient knowledge of the markets as well as a business outlook. Do not think that you will have to attend B school in order to be able to run these websites successfully. You can understand how to make these home based businesses generate lots of traffic by following some of the large number of tutorials which are readily available around the internet for this specific purpose itself.

However, if you are not the kind of person that is interested in marketing then it is best for you to consider taking up service based businesses. These types of business demand a lot less out of you and there is not much you need to do initially to ensure that the site survives and starts generating ample traffic.

Defining the task:

As soon as you have decided the business that suits you perfectly as far as knowledge is concerned the first thing that you should do is to define what you wish to achieve and to make a schedule that clearly states the time period that you have given yourself for attaining each of the goals. You need more than a few skills if you wish to successfully run a home based business online. One advantage that you do have is that you can learn about this business on your own using the internet at a pace of your own. This will ensure that you can spend more time promoting your business than learning how to use your website. You will also learn how to upgrade your website as you start generating lots of traffic.

Take good care of any mile stones that you set:

If you set too many goals for yourself at the beginning, you will definitely have a lot of problems ensuring that they all are fulfilled. This may force your entire system to collapse and leave you with nothing. You should tread cautiously when you are starting out and should gather as much information as you can about your home based business. You should identify each milestone individually and work towards them one at a time.

At the end of the day, a tip that you will find the most helpful is quite simple, just start the business.

1. Make music
Get your band together and promote your music without the infamous record companies.  You will most likely still need some help as you’ll need to get a UPC code along with a few other things to make it happen.  And you’ll also need to decide upfront how best to price your music and deal with commissions and fees.  Here is a good guide that provides some details on getting started right.

2. Create a Podcast
If you are not musically inclined but have something to say nonetheless then a Podcast may be the answer.  Once you have your first episode recorded here are the steps to get it online at iTunes.  The final step, of course, is to monetize your Podcast using a service such as Premiumcast which allows you to charge people for listening to your Podcast.  Once you sign up you can also make money referring people to other Podcasts as well.

3. Design an application
Don’t worry if you don’t have the programming skills to write one yourself because there are numerous people out there that will take your idea and make it a reality. Some will want to share the profits and others will take their fee upfront.  If you have the technical skills and are eager to learn I would suggest checking out the courses that Stanford has created.  It is an excellent course that you can find under iTunes U in the iTunes store.

4. Promote iTunes Online
If you have a decent website (Apple will have to review and accept it) you can place links and advertisements for various iTunes products and make 5% of the sale. To do so join the LinkShare Referral Program for free. It is important to note however that you can’t make the commission on items you buy yourself, which leads us to our next tip.

5. Join a Shopping Network
While the Linkshare program above allows you to earn 5% of the sales from invidivuals that click on your links and make purchases there is also a way to earn 3% of everything you purchase along with a percentage of whatever your friends and family buy! Let’s say you spend $100 at iTunes. For starters you would get $3 back. Then if someone you invited to join were to spend $100 you would get 10 cents. You would also get that same 10 cents if anyone in your network (up to 10 levels) made a similar purchase. So make money shopping without any cost to you.

So there you have it, our top 5 tips for making money with iTunes.  Good luck and let us know how much money you make!