Figure out who your market is. The only thing I have for sale personally is a book of poetry and fortunately I don't have to make my living that way, as the market for poetry in this country is paltry indeed. Not even the very best poets make their living from poetry. I do have experience in another area because I help produce shows for a nonprofit organization of dancers that does productions in a number of small towns in the area. We've found that what goes over in one community won't necessarily draw them in fifty miles down the road. So we have to figure out what will sell where and how to give them what they will pay to get.

After you've done your research, get out there and plug your wares. Marketing is tiring and sometimes daunting, but essential.

Along with that is a piece of advice most people don't like to hear: Don't give up your day job. Until you are making a clear profit and are already making enough money to live on, you can't count on your dream to come true. Most people I know who own and manage a successful business, be it from their home or elsewhere, work 12 to 16 hours a day. It's not easy. If you are just looking to earn a little extra pocket money, then you have to decide how much time, effort and money you want to put into it. I can't say how many "bright ideas" I've had that have turned out costing me more than I made, one way or another.

Hope I'm not bursting any bubbles here. I just think it helps to be real about this stuff. A long time ago a restaurant owner told me that most people go into business not understanding that you have to be prepared to lose money for the first three years. I realize that a home-based business is not quite like a restaurant (thank goodness -- most restaurants don't make it past that third year), but it is important to know that it may take more than you bargained for when you first came up with the idea.