You've made the decision to become self-employed and work from home, but the online jobs aren't as easy to secure as you had initially expected, and your dreams of being a work at home mom are beginning to fade away. Don't let this stalemate prevent you from following your dreams of running an online business. There are still solutions that could help.

Affiliate programs (sometimes called associate programs) are great for moms who need to start earning money but who don't have much time to dedicate to their businesses, especially during those early days when you're still working around small children with big demands.

All you need to join an affiliate program is a business blog that can be set up through Blogger or WordPress, or a business website that can link to these programs.

An affiliate program is a system that many companies use that allows them to advertise their products or services on your blog or website and pay you on a commission or per-click basis (which means that when someone clicks on their link on your site, you earn a commission).

When picking an affiliate program to promote, it's important to do all your research and keep safe; only affiliate with companies that you trust, or that have been recommended to you by other stay at home moms. Always remember that there are a lot of nasty people out there, especially on the Internet.

It's strongly advisable that you affiliate with businesses that are related to your own business products and services in some way. This is because your customers and clients are far more likely to click a link that is related to what brought them to your website or blog. For example, it's highly unusual for a customer to click on a link to buy children's clothing if the service you're providing has no relationship to children.

Be flexible and don't be afraid to join several affiliate programs. Basically, the more links to affiliate programs you have on your business website, the more clicks that could potentially be earning you money.

The best area of your website for adding affiliate links is the home page. This is the page that the vast majority of your website traffic will initially reach. But this isn't the only place that affiliate links could be used for optimum power.

Update your business blog and website regularly, adding new affiliate programs, rotating banners and buttons for the ones you have, and removing any that aren't producing. But don't fill your site with links and ads only! The more quality content you have--such as fresh and original articles, related resources, and helpful information--the more opportunities there are for making a real income linking to relevant affiliate programs.