Design, Design, Design
I've found that it doesn't really matter how good your scripts and products are unless people think they look great!
more after the jump..Seriously, you could engineer the fastest, smallest desktop computer in the world and if the case is a cardboard box - nobody's gonna buy it! This is true in RL as well as SL, but you see it more clearly in SL where shoddy design, bad texturing, and low building skills result in what could be a great product not even being noticed and winding up in a freebie box instead of in the bestseller list.
If you are thinking of going into business in Second Life® then you've got to get yourself a designer - unless you are a designer going into design LOL. The fact is, most of us are scripters and design takes a certain flare - we all know that. You don't have to go insane and try to hire well-known designers. Do you have an artistic friend? I bet you do! Nurture the designer in them ;o)
Guaranteed, you will see results very quickly when people begin to notice your products..they won't even realize that the product was there to begin with, they notice the well-designed one. A re-design is a great way to recreate a product you know can do well, but it hasn't yet. If you don't really understand why it hasn't done well, looking at the design can be a big first clue.
Have fun and remember - it's all in the wrist..
~ELQ