Imagine being able to earn a residual income and being financially secure? The simple fact is that anybody who is prepared to invest the time and effort can create a residual income and some people have indeed become very rich from their efforts. Here are four ways you can do it too:

1. Sell affiliate products that pay you an ongoing commission. Not every affiliate program does this. Some pay you one time to do a specific thing such as get a click, fill out a lead form, or sell a product.

However there are affiliate programs and products you can sell that will pay you over and over every month for making one sale. For example at Clickbank you can specifically search for products that pay recurring commissions.

2. Join a network marketing business opportunity. This business model offers the potential to develop a very large income. It is considered to be the perfect business model by many people because you can earn a residual income on the efforts of others in your team.

The most successful network marketers are those who are able to teach the people they sponsor to duplicate what they do. Thanks to the Internet network marketing is a truly global business but the web makes training possible with webinars and weekly conference calls etc.

3. Start a membership site. This can be a very lucrative way to earn a residual income because if members feel that they are getting there moneys worth they will keep renewing their memberships.

Memberships could be monthly, quarterly, or even yearly. Some lifetime memberships pay more money up front allowing you to earn money on the back end selling affiliate products to your members.

People have come up with all sorts of crazy ideas for membership sites. For example one guy started a membership site with information on contacting celebrities and has thousands of members earning him over $1 million a year.

4. Build a large number of websites and blogs that continue to pay you long after you have developed them. There are many Internet marketers who have literally hundreds of websites.

Once established and generating daily traffic they usually find someone to run and continually market the site for them, leaving them free to move on to building their next money making site.

These are just four great ways to earn a residual income. There are many more opportunities available and thanks to the Internet it is now easier than ever for the average person to create a profitable home business and secure their families future. All you have to do is take action and be prepared to do the work.