Funny thing about my blog.....?

Maybe its just my computer but I have had this problem before.  It seems as though my entries are at the bottom of the blog instead of in a frame-like format with the index on the left and my entries on the right.  If I use a rss feed program it looks just fine but when viewing it on a browser the format is wrong.  Like I said I have had this problem before and it just returned to its regular way after a few days - so I'm hoping that the problem will solve itself.

Latest Grant Project In Progress

My latest client is a woman who is a single mother who is interested in finding funding for operating a daycare service in her home.  Since she has young children of her own she thought that this would be a good business for her to start.  There are some problems though with her specific case because of her location and only in that she is open to almost any location.  So instead of finding local funding programs that she can apply for I'll concentrate more on finding the more national programs.

Grant Myth #1 - There are no grants to pay bills. WRONG!

The best example of this would be utility bills - especially heating bills!  Did you know that just a few days ago I was listening to a local radio program and the guest was a represenative of a organization that helps people with helping to pay their utility bills.  There was no advertising for this program, no announcements, flyers, etc.,....I just happened to be listening when it was announced that they would be one in a few minutes.  The thing that stood out the most about this guest was their genuine interest in people contacting them to find out what kinds of programs were available to them.  What were some of the programs?  Well one program totally forgives the back balance of your heating bill PROVIDED pay a monthly amount for a period of months!  And that was just one of the programs they mentioned!  There is an actual program that will provide an assessment of your home's status as far as making it more heating efficient.  This program also includes repairs and even replacement of your heating system at no cost to you.  That includes the cost of the system and installation!  Again at no cost to you.  This is not just a local program because it is available in many areas!  And again this is just but one example of this kind of program.  Last year alone in my own area over 5,000 people were able to use this program!  There are also funding programs that help with other utility-related bills such as phone and water.

So if you don't think that these kinds of programs exist just tell that to the people that have already used this program!

A Contest that awards over $7,000.00 in scholarship awards!

As much as I talk about grants there are also other avenues of raising funds and one of these are contests!  I list a few of them on my grants page at:

http://members.aol.com/Roseb441702/grelated.com

I have now come across another contest that is aimed at high school seniors.  THE DEADLINE IS MARCH 3RD, 2006!  So that means that you still have time to apply.  What do you have to do?  Write a 75 word essay!  That's it!  They even have a website where you can find out EXACTLY what the requirements are to apply! 

Getting Discouraged?

One of my interests is astrology.  I can read and prepare charts and have done so for myself and others.  I also participate in some of the online discussion groups and mailing lists.  One particular message got my attention because it was from a woman who was seeking advice about astrology as a career.  I was surprised by the number of responses that told her to essentially "forget about it".  It made me kind of angry because they were basically telling her that she should forget about pursuing something that she really likes to do.

So what I did was to find some astrologers who were online and who were (more importantly) making money from their astrology business.  I found quite a few of them and sent out emails explaining the situation and basically asking for encouraging words for this woman.  I got a lot of great information and advice sent back to me.  One astrologer said her business works because she MAKES her business work!

I have also read about a woman that has an astrology reading business because she does reading for people's pets!  Another astrologer got a grant to compose astrological charts of serial killers! 

Lets say you wanted to start your own astrology business.  Number one you will have to have customers.  One of the best way to get customers is to show them that you know what you are doing.  How do you do that?  How about making yourself your first customer?  Do readings on yourself and post your results on your website.  You can also do an offline version of this and put it in the form of a newsletter or flyer. 

There is also related work that you can do.  For example you can write articles for an astrology magazine or publication.  Heck, you can start one of your own and accept advertising from others.  You can design astrology-related art, poetry, stories.........There are just so many income-producing possibilities that you can do!

So don't get discourage - get going!

There have been many devastating disasters....

Unfortunately Katrina and Rita were not the only disasters that have occurred.  In Texas there have been wildfires so severe enough that the President has declared certain areas in Texas as disaster areas.  If your home or business was affected by these wildfires you may qualify for individual assistance in the form(s) of home repairs and temporary housing.

Low-cost loans are also available to cover uninsured property losses.

You can either apply online or call the telephone number that is listed.

"Where can I go to find grant information?"

hey my name is j~ and im from alabama and i had and apointment one time too go see about getting me a grant at the local chamber of commerce and the women told me right off that grants dont exist and i laughed at her and jus told her she was wrong cuzz i felt like she was i know ppl thats got grants and all that stuff soo all im askin is were can i go in north alabama too get a grant ive looked every ware and really dont know were to look can u tell me?

Thank you for your email.

Since researching and finding grants is what I do I can tell you that they do definitely exist and I have noted more than one example of grant recipients on my page.

However the problem with your email is that you don't specify what type of grant you are looking for and you don't even say what the grant is for.  To give you a good example my latest client is a single mother that wants to start a daycare service in her home.  I am halfway through the 30 day period and I have already found at least 3 grant programs that she is eligible to apply for and that is because I know the basic information of what she is looking for because as a client she is required to fill out the basic questions that I ask of all of my clients.  These questions appear here:

http://members.aol.com/Roseb441702/payinfo.htm

When you start looking for grant programs that you will be eligible to apply for you will see that they each have their own guidelines and requirements that have to be met before you can actually submit your request. 

There is no one place that has grants.  It will depend on what you will want the grant funding for.

Do you wish that you could work from home?

A very popular subject was brought up in one of the mailing lists that I belong to.  It was about people who wished that they could work from home and were looking for "work at home" opportunities.  More specifically I think that they want to be able to find a company that will hire them to do work that they can do at home.  While I won't say that this is 100% out of the question - the problem is  FINDING the company.  If this is still the kind of opportunity that you are seeking you will first have to find a legitimate company - the emphasis being that YOU will have to find the company.

I get a lot of comments to this blog

and while some of it is very nice and complimentary some of it is spam.  I like to add the comments that prove to be the most helpful and inspiring so keep them coming!

A Resume Business?

It's not as impossible as you may think!  I just got finished reading an article about how popular the resume-writing business is.  What would you need to start?  A computer, a printer and maybe a telephone.  If you're reading my post now then you already have a computer - or at least access to one! 

Unfortunately it is a sad fact of life that a lot of people are loosing their jobs and have to apply for new ones.  To some composing a resume is a scary thing and something that they just don't want to be bothered with or they think that they might not do a good job and would rather pay a professional to do it.

This is a PERFECT example of a business that one can start at home! 

How do you get customers!  YOU ADVERTISE!  You can advertise both online and off.  There are some methods of advertising that do not require a lot of money - but they do require some "sweat" equity on your part. 

You should see some of the amounts that professional people charge to write resumes and you don't even have to stop there!  You can branch your business into related areas as well.

And there you have it!  A full-blown business that you can start at home!

AOL IS CHARGING FOR EMAIL?

You can find out more by reading this article from the NY Times......

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/05/technology/05AOL.html

Movie Review - "Contact"

This is a movie that I have saved and that I watch over and over again.  I like it because one of the messages that I get from this movie is that you should stay "true" to yourself regardless of what everyone else is doing.  I have also found out that the movie is based on a real life woman who has been called "a pain in the neck".  And that is exactly what Jodie Foster is in this movie and I say "more power to her!"

Jodie Foster plays a woman who was always interested in "little green men" ever since she was a child and she had a telescope to look at the stars and a scanner to communicate with others.  (By the way that doesn't sound like a bad idea to me to have both a telescope and a scanner.  My father used to have one of those big clunky scanners and I have come to miss it!)  Her father dies when she is quite young and she goes on to be a scientist.  We see her as she goes to study the "stars" at a facility that has to do with the SETI (Search For Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence) Program.  (By the way this program is for real and is still in existence!)  Now bear in mind that she is a scientist and the program that she is a part of is being funded.  The funding is cancelled but she doesn't care and says she will "go it alone if she has to" because she has done it before.  What she does is get funding from an organization that provides funding for projects.  The funding she gets lasts for a few years but there is a problem because the area that she uses to listen for signals is leased by the government.  So even though she has the funding to continue to study and monitor signals the area belons to the government and it seems the government was getting pressure from others because they wanted to use the area as well.  Bowing to the pressure the government is "pulling the plug" on her access.  While her program is in the process of being discontinued she hears a signal that is coming from outer space.  Now all heck breaks loose!  You hear a signal coming from outer space so who do you tell?  Jodie Foster's character says "Everybody".  Now the government is involved and with the government comes (of course) politics!  The signal is translated and it turns out to be schematics for a transport system.  Of course now everybody wants to be the one that goes but only one can go.  I won't give away everything in the movie but to continue on......this movie does not have a "black and white" ending.

This movie has a very good cast and I give a special mention to James Woods - he can be quite good at being a pain in the neck!  Of course this movie also relates to grants and I didn't even notice it at first.    I'm not quite clear as to the specifics but I will assume for the purpose of this review that Jodie Foster's character - being a scientist - was working on a pure research project and this is something that she didn't finance herself but received funding for.  When this funding was pulled she sought funding elsewhere and got it from a very large organization that has funding programs.  This is something that is true in real life - as I have said many, many times.  There are funding programs out there for "pure" research - including grant programs from the government.  In fact these are some of the most vied for kinds of grants!

On a personal note I liked the movie because it was one of those "independent" women kind of movies BUT not so independent enough to not to want to have a relationship.  I have read in a review of this movie that the Matthew McConaghy character was really unneccessary but I was glad that his character was included simply because what's wrong with being independent but having a boyfriend - especially one that will stick by you!

I also liked the "politics" aspect of this movie.  Not so much that I, myself would want to have to go through it but the fact that the details of it were just great!  Who gets to ride in the transport?  (And why?), The cost of making the transport, the fact that the signal had to be to be decoded using the signal's broadcast that was heard in not just the United States but outside the United States - which made it a "worldwide" issue - apparently you need permission if you get the signal's broadcast from another county.....and on and on and then this just doesn't become a simple matter.  Religion was brought up, "eggheads" versus military aspects and most interesting of all is that even though Jodie Foster's character "discovered" the whole thing she was slowly being edged out of the whole thing (as the government was getting involved).  It is also very interesting to note that the word "grant" was mentioned near the end of the movie.

Maybe I'm just too "geeky" for my own good.  This isn't a simple plotted movie but I enjoyed it because of all the details and politics that were involved.  (I also liked all the equipement that was being shown). 

So this movie is in my library.  In fact it's one of my inspirational movies.