I Sold Aloe Vera Before I Ever Wrote About It
Fifteen years on the road, one bottle of skin créme at a time. Here's how that turned into brand positioning work.
Organic Gardens Before It Was a Trend
I grew up around natural living before anyone slapped a marketing label on it. My dad grew an organic garden every year—no herbicides, no pesticides, just an earthworm compost pile doing its quiet work in the corner of the yard. My mom believed in natural remedies long before it was fashionable to say so out loud.
I didn't set out to build a career around aloe vera. I tried journalism. I tried insurance. I tried marketing. None of it stuck the way aloe vera did.
Fifteen Years, One Product Table at a Time
When I discovered aloe vera, something clicked. I started using the products myself and watched them actually work. So I did what any reasonable person does when they find something they believe in—I spent 15 years traveling the country selling aloe vera skin créme at home shows and fairs.
That job will teach you things a marketing textbook never will. You learn what people actually ask when they're standing in front of you, skeptical, holding a sample. You learn which objections are real and which ones are just stalling. You learn how people talk about their skin, their pain, their frustration with products that promised the world and delivered a rash.
I still use the same aloe vera skin créme today. I still drink the juice. Not because it's good for the brand story—because it works, and I noticed.
From the Sales Floor to the Page
Along the way I picked up journalism training and years of writing experience, plus a lot of hours writing advertising and marketing copy. Paul The Writer is a registered business name with the Oregon Business Registry—which is a formal way of saying this is not a hobby.
These days I help small U.S. aloe vera companies do the thing I had to do in person, on a folding table, for 15 years: explain clearly why their product is worth choosing. The difference is now I help you do it in your marketing, your website, and your content—not just at a home show in a county fairground.
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“His writing was always highly creative, thought-provoking, fun to read and informative. He met every deadline I demanded of him with correct word counts, grammar and spelling. Anyone who uses his services will be very glad they did.”
Joshua Woods, Loud Mouthed Media, Portland, OR
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