Want to sell your own line of bath and body products? That's what this section is all about, but it's kind of a secret. I don't publicize it on my main site because... as you can imagine, many people are interested in this topic. I get flooded with questions as soon as I post anything business-related on my website.

In fact, that's what my next Fast Guide is about, how to sell your handmade bath and body products. It's not going to be about legal stuff (like trademarks and business registration.) It won't cover bookkeeping or management. It will be about selling - the heart of every business.

Since people are vitally, almost desperately, interested in selling their products, it is easy to abuse. The topic of "how to start your own home-based business" provokes a desperate desire in people. They will buy anything that might help fulfill that dream - and usually, the material disappoints. In my opinion, you get any one of these possibilities:

• Too-general business philosophy that is hard to apply to your specific situation (in this case, selling bath and body products.) These books are written by "business gurus" who don't understand or remember what it's like to have a tiny advertising budget, limited time and resources, and a niche product with tons of competition.
• "How to run your business" type books that do cover legalities, trademarks, contracts, management, hiring and firing, and generally everything but how to sell. This is what most people end up with when they go to Borders for a basic business book.
• Lies in the format of "7 easy steps..." or "turnkey work at home businesses." Basically, they want you to believe that all you have to do is use some formula or do some trick, and money will fall out of the sky. This is also a hallmark of the weight loss industry. Many people promise that starting a business is easy. It never is - it is simple, but not easy. Just like losing weight, it takes work. Anyone who says it's easy is just trying to make you buy their books, courses, tapes, or whatever.
• The wrong ideas about advertising, marketing and especially "internet marketing." Advertising and what you think of as "marketing" can be useful, but only when you have the basics of selling down, first. If you run ads willy-nilly with no idea how to sell your products, you'll end up wasting a lot of money. Look, it's not rocket science, but most people have the wrong information about this stuff. It's my job to at least give you an alternative - and probably really enlightening - view of what advertising and marketing really are.

My book will be about selling.

If you want to make money, you must sell. Your money comes from other people giving you their dollars for your products. Everything you do - including advertising, hiring people, and marketing - should be for the purpose of helping that process occur easier and faster.

The instant you lose sight of that, your business is in danger - and far too many people don't ever start with that as the focus. Ultimately, the responsibility to make a profit is up to you, no matter who you hire to do your ad layouts or website. For this reason, my book will be almost exclusively about selling bath and body products.

I don't currently sell my products, but I have in the past. And I was the top salesperson for a bath and body manufacturer for over two years. I quickly rose from knowing nothing to knowing a lot (but not everything.) My knowledge comes from experience on the sales floor, face to face with customers, getting them to spend $30 or more per visit (we measured our average daily transaction.) It is all practical stuff that marches products off the shelves and into shopping bags.

Join The Discussion - Invitation Only

Because this is such an easily abused subject, it's my responsibility to do the best job I possibly can. My book is going to take a lot of research in the form of several motivated "guinea pigs" to test my best ideas about sales, marketing, and advertising for your bath and body products.

Every one or two weeks, I will post an article and a practical experiment in this "secret section." Guinea pigs, myself included, will carry this out and discuss our experiences in my Guinea Pig Yahoo Group. You will benefit from my real life experience in selling products, learning the vital skill of sales, and having a supportive group of people to keep you motivated. I will benefit from having real case studies for my book. If this sounds like something you're interested in, then...

To request an invitation, send email to guineapig@excellentlivingguide.com. In this email, put the following details about you:

• Introduce yourself and tell me why you'd like to start a bath and body business over any other option
• Your business experience, including any sales positions (not necessarily bath and body related)
• Your bath and body business goals, what you'd like to accomplish, how much you'd like to make per year with your business
• How much time you will honestly dedicate to building your business. It doesn't have to be a lot, but you will need to work on it at least 10 hours per week.

Your answers don't have to be long, but this will give me a good clue about how to start the discussion. I hope to hear from you soon. I think we have a lot to learn from each other, and I want to see your business succeed!