We have all stumbled across those ads on the internet - they promise to give us the keys to a golden world where we can earn thousands of dollars a day from the comfort of our own home - it's easy and the secret is ours if we part with $47/$99/$149 and so on.

Have you ever been tempted? I know I have!

To a certain extent these ads do not lie. I have news for you - It really is possible to make a decent living on the internet. But, unsurprisingly it is not going to happen overnight. To establish an income in the virtual world you require the same skills that you need in the real one. If you are prepared to put in the time, effort and dedication then you can achieve this - no doubt.

So how can you do this? I want to give you a few pointers - Some basic ideas on how you can go about building an online income. There are many other ways but these are the most effective.

1. Ebay This is probably the most popular marketplace on the internet. Do you have a garage full of old furniture/records/books? One man's trash is another man's gold - eh, right? EBay is the global equivalent of the humble flea market. There are plenty of people that have established profitable businesses on eBay by buying cheap goods and selling them on at higher prices. The trick is to find a good niche with plenty of demand.

2 Information Products. Also known as E-books, Information Products are one of the most popular ways to earn money online. Do you have hobby? Are you good at explaining a complex problem in simple terms? There are literally thousands and thousands of people that are looking for a solution to a particular problem online. If you can identify a solution, put it in a comprehensible form and then identify its target audience - it is highly probable that you can establish a good online income.

3. Affiliate Marketing Basically, choose a popular online product and market it. Each time a sale is made you collect a commission - It's not uncommon to be able to collect up to 75% on some products. You can market the product by setting up a simple blog and writing articles that bring targeted traffic to the site.

4. Provide a Service Just as in the real world we would call a plumber if the sink was blocked, in the online world if you need a website built you would hire a web designer. If you have the skills then there are plenty of people, who are more than happy to pay for your services. Can you write? Do you spend a lot of time blogging? Do you know HTML and CSS? These are just some of the services that can be offered and good money earned.

So earning money online can be done - and you do not need to re-mortgage the house to do so. Give a few of these ideas a try and you never know, one day you might be able to give up the day job.