When it comes to seeking self employment, you can find almost an infinite number of ideas some of them involving different things like time, money or a very high level of expertise.

However, there are some ideas that can help you achieve the goal of becoming self employed which do not involve any of the above mentioned requirements, that is, they do not demand a lot of time to develop, you do not need a lot of money and you do not have to be an expert on anything.

The first of those ideas is affiliate marketing, which is probably the absolute best alternative for anyone looking to become self employed, because it demands little or no money to start, and you can scale up this business as much as you want, it is only a matter of time, know-how and some work on your part.

The good news however is that given the mechanics of affiliate marketing, you will have to work less than half of what you would have to at a regular 9 to 5 job, and yet you can make substantially more money than any day job will pay you.

Also, since the infrastructure you will need is 100% virtual, an affiliate marketing business can be up and running faster than any other and spitting money for you round the clock in less than a week (this will not always be the case, but it is perfectly achievable).

Bottom line, affiliate marketing is easy, it is cheap, it is fast, and it has a potential for profits as well as a ROI that very few business models can offer to a self employment seeker.

My second favorite is investing online, but not by putting my money in the hands of some big institution, as this will hardly make you enough money to become self employed (unless of course you are rich).

idea of investing online as a means of becoming self employed involves turning yourself into a professional trader, so it will be you -not some fat cat- managing your investment. Nowadays you can find really affordable tools and resources that can either help you become a pro or at least perform like one (which is what really matters).

If you manage your investment through the use of reliable tools and resources to help you read the markets and properly take advantage of its movements, you can gradually and steadily turn a small investment of under $500 into a few $1,000 within a short period of time, and over the long run the compounding effect will allow you to build a small fortune from which you will be able to make a comfortable living self employed.