Many folks have the dream to find a way to make money online or from home (or both). There are many, many ways someone can make money without "a job". Let's talk about one in particular...the stock market. Did your blood pressure just go up? Don't worry. If you know what you are doing, you can make money in the stock market.

Here is what you shouldn't do:

Try to predict the market
Buy high and sell low
Open a trading account and buy random stocks
Ask your neighbors for the latest stock tip (unless your neighbor is Warren Buffet)
Obsess over the market
Buy the stock of your favorite stores (they may be good picks, but you definitely shouldn't choose stocks that way!)
Treat the stock market like it is the lottery
Guess
Panic!

Easy enough, right? There are plenty of people out there who make those exact mistakes when starting out. Avoiding those mistakes are a good start, but only the beginning. You now know how to avoid completely destroying your bank account. But how do I make my bank account a little (or a lot) more happy?

Here is what you should do:

Learn about the stock market in general
Learn how to do technical analysis of stocks
Learn how to read stock charts
Find effective ways to make profit in the market
Start managing risk instead of trying to predict the market
Treat trading as a business
Learn trade selection and strategy
Trade with confidence
Decide how much money you want to make

I realize that those seem like insurmountable goals but it is all possible. Decide that you want to make a change and just do it. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time! Nearly anything worth doing has a learning curve. So start sooner rather than later and instead of regretting the procrastination months down the road, you can look back with more knowledge, more confidence, and perhaps more money. Start making positive changes in your life now. Start reading about the market and watching financial programs on TV. Maybe take a finance class or two at the local community college. Join online forums about stock market trading.

That all sounds great but who has the time? If you are short on time or just chomping at the bit to get started, another option you can explore is an online trading system. You should still familiarize yourself with the market and trading in general but an online trading system may be the boost you need to get started. It wouldn't hurt to make your learning curve a little less steep, would it? Many endeavors in life are made easier by means of a system. Think of the simple example of cake. You want cake. You could take the time to learn how to make a cake from scratch on your own by trial and error. OR...you could get a cake mix (the system), add a few ingredients and a little time (your effort and learning process), and have a darn tasty cake to show for it.

I know that may be a silly example but it shows how you can use a system combined with your effort to produce your desired result. There are lots of people out there who are making a reliable income from the stock market. Want to be one of them? Get started! Want cake? Make a cake and then sit down and start learning about the stock market.