A daily nine-to-five only leaves us so much time to do the things we love. If you enjoy getting your hands dirty in the garden now and then, great. However, if your office cubical fills up with eight different species of flora, all of which you can name, you've got a potentially profitable passion on your hands.

Consider Emerson Spartz, who took his passion for Harry Potter and converted it into a six-figure income-generating website when he was 12. Now 20, Spartz's site, mugglenet.com, receives more than one million hits per day, while the lucrative yields from advertisement sales keep pouring in.

If you want to turn your hobby into some green, you have to do your research. Find out how other niche ventures have successfully marketed themselves as profitable businesses. For example, Dana Lande started with her hobby of jewelry making, and with some innovative marketing strategies, she founded a jewelry line that she targeted at her college's alumni stores. Her alumni-themed jewelry line, Dayna U, spread like wildfire. The once campus-based business operation is now a nationally recognized boutique jewelry line called Dayna Designs. Check out past cover stories at brassmagazine.com, and businessweek.com's America's Best Young Entrepreneurs list for inspiration. (You'll find brass CEO/Founder Bryan Sims featured on businessweek.com's 2007 list!)

Once you have a few ideas, plan how you'll target your market and how your products or services are superior to others.

• Take advantage of local trade shows and career fairs to help make connections. Visit tsnn.com to search for trade shows by industry and location.
• Capitalize on promotional concepts that make you stand out from the rest. Read be the word on the street below for more ideas.

So what's in your brand name? Just about everything. Branding is more than a name; it's an image and a reputation vital to your success. Here's something to keep in mind when creating a brand for your beloved hobby.

• It's important to choose something memorable, but to the point. It should relate to your product or service in some way and attract clients with the look and feel.
• Be careful not to mimic the branding of your competitors. You want to avoid any possible legal infringements. Visit uspto.gov for trademark info and resources.
• Stop by brandcoolmarketing.com/resources to read 16 Most Important Things to Know About Building Winning Brands.

With hobbies, you have a lot of options when you start selling. Be creative with outlets.

• Check out your city's local events and see if you can score a booth or tent at a weekly market, fair, or flea market.
• Ask local store owners and vendors if they'll consign (sell on your behalf) your products. Get their valuable feedback on why they will or won't agree to carry your product.
• Consider creating a website with e-payment services like PayPal or Google Checkout. You can make your own webpage for free using services like the Google Page Creator at pages.google.com.

Deciding to make money with your hobby should leave you smiling, not sweating. If your hobby evolves into an all-consuming business undertaking, it's important not to stray from your passion. Instead find practical solutions to meet demands, and stay true to your original goals.

• Try hiring friends, family, or classmates to help you get through busy times.
• Think about sharing the load with a business partner.
• Consider scaling back and specializing your product or service if the demands become unrealistic.
• If you're ready to take it to the next level, check out brassmagazine.com for more articles on small businesses.

Sources: businessweek.com; usatoday.com; law.com; money.cnn.com