In decades past, work at home jobs were uncommon. There were very few options available for people who wanted to stay at home and still earn a living besides direct sales work. The direct sales field is still one that is ripe with opportunity, but not everyone considers him or herself a salesperson.

Fortunately the Internet has opened up a whole new world of opportunities when it comes to work at home business ideas and jobs. Virtually any job that can be completed on a computer can be done remotely. Today’s most popular Internet jobs at home include:

* Virtual assistant: You do the same kind of work that the average secretary might do: dictation, data entry, etc., except you do it from your desk at home.

* Bookkeeping: Some at-home bookkeepers work for a single company; others keep books for more than one company or client.

* Telephone sales or customer service: Many companies are contracting out their sales and customer service calls to private individuals who work from home rather than to big telemarketing firms.

* Design work: If you are a gifted designer/artist, you can work from home at web or graphic design.

You can break into one of these jobs by either starting your own virtual business, or by looking for these kinds of jobs on employment websites. Today it’s easier than it ever has been to earn a living from home.

When you are looking for work at home jobs, make sure you’re aware of work at home scams, which are all too common on the Web. You can recognize these because the ads often don’t tell you much. They will likely promise big earnings, but will not spell out what, exactly, you will be doing to make that money. Others may require that you pay up front to gain employment. No legitimate employer would ever ask for money in exchange for a job, although there are companies that have membership fees for you to access a jobs database.