> Is there a way to keep from being tied down
> to it like a full time job (I don't care to
> be a weightloss "guru" making
> zillions, just extra income allowing more
> time for family & fun)...
> ideas/suggestions?

Mike, this sounds like a great idea. Being that it's a personal story/plan you followed, there will be an element of honesty that comes through in your ads for it, and this will indeed help you develop just what you're looking for. An extra income that doesn't make itself a full time job.

When we think autopilot around here, most of our minds go to web sites, but you can setup a business making some extra income offline too. It sounds like you already had some success that way, which is great. I would try the online route if you're really looking for a small business on autopilot though.

> Project #2: In an attempt to escape 20+
> years in sales/marketing in S. Florida, I
> decided to go out and "paint
> houses" with a friend from church for
> just "6 months" or so. Instead it
> lasted 6 years (before I moved to Georgia
> recently). Here I sit with all this
> knowledge rolling around in my brain like:
> "the secrets professional painters use
> to make your house look so good" and
> "how to start your own painting
> business without really trying" and
> "how to double your painting business
> income by learning the simple art of Faux
> Finish painting"... wondering if that
> might make a good info product.

This would make a GREAT information product, Mike.

I think that professional painters would be very interested in your product. You could develop your product and sell it via direct mail to good mailing lists, and I think you'd do quite well.

Or alternately, you could try advertising in painters magazines (which I don't know for a fact exist, but I'll assume they do).

The direct mail route would likely be the most profitable, but it would also be more labor intensive. You would have to create the product, the sales letter, and test mail it with a lot of licking and sealing. That can get tiring. But most likely, you would have a success. I have painted a house or two in the past myself, and I know I would have found $200+ a drop in the bucket for the ability to earn more.

Success,

Erik Lukas

P.S. Email me if you're going to go ahead with this and want a partner to take care of the marketing end of things. I'd be more than willing to put some of my own money and time into working on this sort of project (one that's personally interesting to me and has a high probability of success).