Today’s recession and other financial hardships are not just a United States problem anymore. Most international countries are having difficulties with either their income producing sources or paying their bills. Both the public and private sector is being devastated by the world-wide receding financial picture. Many people are creating an online home based business to avoid personal financial disaster.In spite of the amount of hype all over the Internet or in your email box on a daily basis, creating an online business is not as simple and immediately lucrative that you might think it is. It also isn’t as difficult as some promote in order to sell their products telling you how to set up your own business at home.Granted, if you are brand new to Internet marketing the entire process will seem mysterious and impossible to understand. But, as with any new process or business, all you need to do is take one step at a time and build your online business from the bottom up.Let’s look at the first basic step you need to take: finding a lucrative niche for your home business.The first thing you have to recognize and understand completely is that almost all Internet businesses are either selling information or providing solutions to everyday problems. Even the street-level, big name commercial businesses, like Colgate, Pepsi or Wal-Mart are online providing solutions to tooth decay, satisfying your thirst or offering more bang for your buck.The one very special thing the Internet has done for those wanting to start a home based business is that it leveled the playing field for all. Deep pockets no longer guarantee instant success or any success at all, for that matter.To get your business online, you need to start with finding a niche with members looking for the information you have to deliver and willing to pay for it. You can find niches related to your interests or expertise with basic searches on Google for real interest and simple keyword searches on any of several free keyword tools.One way to determine real interest in a niche is to do a Google search on your subjects and note the number of results returned by Google. Huge numbers of results mean two things: large interest and lots of competition. One thing to look for when you are using Google to search, however, is whether or not there are any ads down the right side of your search result pages. No Ads = No Interest = No Sales. Those ads are pay-per-click and the marketers paying for each click would not do that if there was no real interest in the subject you are considering for your new business.Another way to find lucrative niches is to use any of the free keyword tools you can find with a simple Google search. When your keywords have a high number of searches, you can be assured that there is interest out there.Keywords are terms you use in your sales copy and articles to get listed higher in the Google search engine results. For example, this article is using “home based business” for a keyword. You can find step-by-step videos and PDF ebooks all over the Internet to help you select keywords and learn how to use them.Once you have a topic with a strong possibility of making some income, you have taken the first step toward your own home based business.