Read the trades

One way to find manufacturers of products you want to sell is to browse through trade magazines that target that industry. Distributors often advertise in trades.

I recommend: Yahoo! and TradePub.com have lists of trade magazines sorted by topic. The National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors (NAW) publishes a free, four-times-per-week e-newsletter, SmartBrief, with distribution news on what's happening upstream of your business. Modern Distribution Management also publishes a regular online newsletter.

Scan distributor directories

Instead of searching for individual manufacturers, browse through directories of distributors.

I recommend: Find distributors of products from dolls to self-defense items at ezGoo or WholesaleGopher. To locate distributors of particular types of products, use the American Society of Association Executives' directory of associations (entering a keyword in the search box) or search the NAW member list.

Find a finder

If you'd rather let someone else do the work for you, consider businesses that connect you with distributors.

I recommend: USellCorp puts you in contact with drop shippers and helps you build a Web site to showcase your offerings. Worldwide Brands hooks you up with drop shippers.

Take in the whole picture

Before signing on with a distributor, you'll need to know what their wholesale prices are, how they ship, how they charge you, their returns policy -- in short, your costs and the benefits you'll get in return.

I recommend: Learn whether the distributor has generated any consumer complaints by doing a search on the Better Business Bureau Web site.