One way to get started without any out-of-pocket investment is as an affiliate marketer. Although some affiliate programs will require you to have an established website or blog in order to approve you, many do not. You can set up pages on Blogger.com, Squidoo.com and other free sites where you can publish content and promote products through your affiliate links.

Choose some products you love and would recommend, then write reviews of those products. Or write articles that would be of interest to the people who would want to buy the products you are recommending. For example, you could write articles about improving your golf game and link to golf equipment, DVDs about golf and more. (Note: With the FTC rules that went into effect in 2009, you must disclose that you may receive a commission if customers buy one of the recommended products through your links.)

Selling on eBay requires a little bit of money for listing fees, but it is an inexpensive way to get started selling online. One benefit of selling on eBay is that you can learn a lot about writing good copy and getting people to buy while selling off stuff you have around the house. Try it! Grab 20 or 30 things you want to get rid of. Set up listings for them on eBay and practice your copywriting skills.

Of course, if you can invest even a few dollars in your business, it will be much easier to get started. Your own domain name and web hosting can cost just a few dollars a month.

You can spend weeks searching online for free information, or you can invest in training or coaching that will cut your learning curve and help you make more money faster. That doesn’t mean buying every product that promises to make you rich, but it does mean paying for help that will get you started fast and help you make more money sooner. When you invest, invest wisely.

If you choose to get started with absolutely no money, use your initial profits to pay for some tools that will make it easier to build a successful online business.

Whatever you do, do not wait to start. The best time to start a new business is always five years ago. The second best time is right now.

With RevResponse by NetLine you get paid for each qualified subscription or download request. Just tell your audience about the resources available, and when they request free information, you make money. How much? That depends on the offer, but the minimum is $1.50 per qualified lead and some offers pay much more.

I would not recommend a program I have not personally tried. I signed up with RevResponse at the end of March and had my own co-branded site within 24 hours. As I started referring customers to the site from my blog, web site and email newsletters, my earnings accumulated quickly. I am pleased with the results I have gotten so far, and look forward to earning even more over the coming months.

How much you earn will depend on the size of your audience and how well their interests mesh with the free publications available. If your audience is involved in any aspect of business or technology, chances are there are several offers that will be appropriate for them.

To maximize your earnings, match your suggestions to your audience. Suggesting sales and marketing publications to an information technology audience will not lead to good results. For example, a lot of the people who read my email newsletters have online businesses, so I recommended Website Magazine to them. Others in my audience are in the publishing business, and many of them claimed free subscriptions to Book Business Magazine.

Here is how you can start making money with RevResponse:

First, browse the categories and offers to see which ones would be a good fit. You might want to sign up for an offer to two to see how the process works and discover the quality of the publications available.

Next, sign up for a free account at RevResponse. Within a day or two, your co-branded site will be ready to promote.

Use the tools provided by RevResponse to identify the best offers for your audience, and create widgets to automatically display popular offers on your web site.

Choose a few specific offers you want to make to your audience. You may decide to create blog posts, feature them in your email newsletter, or link to the sign up pages from the thank you page displayed to new subscribers to your newsletter.

Discover what is working for other publishers by reading the blog and forum at the RevResponse site. And ask for help if you need it. I have found the folks there to be quick to respond to my questions and comments. Then, use what you learn to tweak your promotions and make them more successful.

RevResponse can run on your web site or blog along with other advertising programs, including Google AdSense. Why not add it to your site today, and start making more money?