share files on local network

this is somewhat of a simple task, but i have a complicated twist i want to add to it. currently i share files by going on another computer and logging in from the remote machine to my mac using my username and password. that gets me to my home directory. which is nice. but i want to let ohter people access files w/o giving access to my entire home directory and i deffinitly do NOT want to give out my password. i could just set up a dummy user account, but i would rather not. is there a way i can create a log in name and folder in a generic location (like at the root directory, not my home directory) then the log in name would only have access to one folder and i wouldnt have to set up an entirely sepearate user account. i am proficient in lunix and can set up a shared folder within a folder that is already shared, but how can i set up the initial folder so people can view it as a shared folder from a remote machine? thanks for your help!