A lawnmower.

Just kidding.

A computer.

Actually you need more details than that, so here goes - you need to learn to do research.

What I propose is that you either write articles or pay per click and bring customers to merchants who will pay you commission or lead fees (depending on the kind of business). Most businesses with an Internet presence have affiliate programs. Affiliate programs are the business' offer to independent marketers to pay either a certain amount or a certain percentage for an accomplished sale or provision of a lead. This can be a very cheap business to do or it can be very expensive. Let's avoid "very expensive" shall we?

Market to the Hungry

I am not talking about those who have missed a meal here unless you are marketing food items. I am describing a group of people who for some reason REALLY want something. It could be because the widget makes them look trendy and "cool." These are hungry and will pay good money. It could be because they are suspicious of their spouse or steady being unfaithful. Maybe they have a pet that has bit them or someone else and they fear legal reprisal and want to retrain the offending animal. Maybe they have not been on a date in a year and want to know how to crack that code.

As you can see, there are a lot of opportunities to do business out there. The "niche" could also be a subset of people who like to crochet replica steam train locomotives using hay twine. If you go where many people are finding business, you will likely have more trouble getting your voice heard. I heard a statistic the other day that there are more than 14 billion web sites out there. There are virtually an infinite number of different interests that are on the minds of people surfing the net, so as I mentioned above, you need to learn to do research to learn to make money online.

Dig a little deeper

If you don't already have a merchant to work with, I suggest you go to Clickbank and find one. You can browse by category and different criteria, so I suggest you delve into areas that you know something about, even if you do not know "everything" about these things. Then go to your favorite search engine (most use Google) and find a forum regarding your chosen niche. You do this by typing forum+(your niche) and simply use the name of your niche instead of the parentheses and "your niche."

When you have some fora up, go to each and look at the questions and answers being exchanged there. You can learn a lot by finding out what exactly interests people there. If you know what interests the people there, you can target advertisements or articles to those who seem most intent on getting solutions to their problems. You can submit articles for free to dot com sites like Ezineaarticles, Hubpages, and StreetArticles and put links in your articles according to each one's terms. Ezinearticles, for instance only allows you to put affiliate links in the resource box while Streetarticles does not allow affiliate links at all. You have to have your links there going to your own domain and web site.

Just another teaser

You can set up free websites at Weebly, Blogger, and Squidoo. You can find keywords using Google Adwords Keyword Tool. You can get training to use all this at Wealthy Affiliate University where there is also web hosting for members - unlimited for platinum members.

Most of these things and resources are free. Some are not. You can make some money by writing and submitting articles, which can give you some liquidity to pursue those things that cost money without spending any out of pocket.

I hope if you have been considering adding an income stream to your bank account and life that I have given you good, useful information. Be sure if it suits you to like my page on Facebook. Thanks.