Making some legit online money could never be more welcome to more of us than right now. The trouble is that, at a time when job security means you've got one until the end of the month, the world and his cat want to make some extra cash.

Consequently the market is saturated with ridiculous get rich quick schemes, scams and fraudulent web sites. The majority of so called money making opportunities are actually only making money for the people who are selling them. However if you get it right there really is a fantastic living to be made from the Internet. So how, amongst all the trash, do you find the legit online money making opportunities.

Firstly you are already heading the right way because your reading this and, more importantly, thinking about how to succeed. Research and planning are vital if you're going to make a living online. However all the thinking in the world is pretty useless without action. So let's consider the steps you need to take:

1. What motivates you; what are your skills; what knowledge do you have that others may value.

2. Look for an opportunity, make the most of your skills.

3. Examine the business for profitability.

4. Build your own business model. Test, test and test again.

5. Take action and implement your business model.

1. If your looking for inspiration for your business then I strongly suggest that you start by looking inside yourself. Now you may think nobody's interested in what you think or know. But consider this. You know how to do things that I don't. Do you know how to knit or how to plumb in a sink ? Can you fix an outboard motor or train a horse? Whatever it may be I am sure there is plenty of knowledge you possess that others would pay to find out. Developing your own information products based upon your own knowledge could be very lucrative. But don't just narrow your focus to Internet marketing and information products there are plenty of other legit online money makers that could lend themselves well to your talents. How about web designing, freelance writing, paid online market research, online trading of physical products, commodities trading, affiliate marketing etc. The most important thing to remember list all of the possibilities that you think you would be capable of undertaking and then see which are best suited to your skills.

2. Once you have a basic idea of what your interested in doing and what best suits your established knowledge base you need to start considering if it's a viable and legit online money making idea. Search for other similar existing businesses. How do they present themselves and how are they generating there income ? There are load of products out there offering you the chance to earn legit online money but check out the review sites first. Look on article sites for product reviews, forums, social networking sites. Ask others what they think (without giving your idea away for free of course). See if you can approach other business owners for any tips or advice. Remember people are usually pretty friendly and, if they are not willing or able to offer you some support you've lost nothing.

3. If you've decided that you have found the legit online money making concept that is best suited to you then it is time to start getting down to serious business of investigating it's profit potential. Whilst it is important to do something you love and something which lends itself well to your skills and knowledge it's all totally pointless if you can't earn any money doing it (unless you just want to do it for love). Ideally you are either looking for something that has high demand but low competition (the Holy Grail of marketing) or something with a proven record of consistent payouts (such as the better paid survey systems). Keyword analysis and research is a huge subject, too big to do any justice here, but will be an important part of this process. Again research is key. In addition look on any forums linked to your chosen concept and see if others are making money and how. Remember those that are are your potential competitors but that doesn't mean they wont have some sound advice if approached.

4. Having finalised your concept, evaluated its profit potential and investigated the competition for further ideas its time to get your business model finalised. In general terms an online business model will encompass a set of processes that produce a profitable result. Once you're business model has proved itself successful you can then repeat this time and time again for an exponential growth of your legit online money making idea. Obviously this model will vary greatly depending upon your concept. For example, if you have decided that you are going to sell physical products then you may incorporate a specific sales letter or wholesaler as part of your model for success. Similarly if you've gone for affiliate marketing as part of your model you may have a set of promotional strategies that you know work well and that you can repeat for a variety of products. The point is that no matter what your concept your business model should be profitable and repeatable. However it is also vital that your model is adaptable to the ever changing and evolving online market. Any decent legit online money maker will be subject to an ongoing process of testing and evaluation. It is so important in online business to continually develop and test new ideas. Discard the ones that don't work and incorporate the successful ones into your model for success.

5. This may mean a rather stupid thing to say but you certainly wont have a legit online money making business if you don't actually take the plunge and start doing it. So many people spend considerable amounts of time dreaming about the possibility of earning a much better income, endlessly researching and planning but never actually producing anything. It is true that there are a lot of bad, money sapping, scams out there but there are also a vast number that are genuine and represent fantastic opportunities. All too often people listen to there friends and families who, knowing next to nothing about the realities of building a legit online money making business, are more than happy to tell you that you are wasting your time. You certainly will waste your time if you don't act but there are plenty of people with very successful online businesses and, if you persevere, there is no reason why you can't be one of them.

All the very best and good luck.