Big Break With millions of viewers tuning in, home shopping networks are the perfect place to launch and grow your business.

You hear about it all the time--entrepreneurs making thousands off a four-minute spot on QVC or getting instant brand recognition from a stint on the Home Shopping Network. But if you're still scratching your head, wondering why anyone would want to sell his or her products on a home shopping network, take another look. Your impressions of TV shopping are probably outdated, and it's time to recognize these networks for the giants they've become.

Reaching into nearly 100 million homes and raking in revenue in the billions, QVC and HSN have evolved light years beyond cheesy infomercials and now appeal to an audience much broader than old ladies and desperate housewives. Today, HSN's core demographic is 75 percent to 80 percent women, ages 25 to 54, with a household income of about $60,000. "[Home shopping networks] were kind of a late-night joke that you'd find on Saturday Night Live," says Nick Romer, author of Make Millions Selling on QVC. "In fact, that was my opinion of them in the beginning, like, 'Who would buy anything from there, and how do you trust them?'" However, after finding his own phenomenal success selling arts and crafts products on QVC, Romer changed his tune.