What Does A Grantwriter/Researcher Eat For Breakfast?

This is usually when I'm in a hurry and need something fast! Sometimes I don't even eat breakfast at all which is something that I really should be doing. See the coffemaker in the background? THAT comes in handy too!

Do You Have A Paypal Account?

If you do you are going to have to be very careful! This has nothing to do with Paypal itself (I don't want to scare you). This has to do with getting email from someone (or something) claiming to be Paypal. You'll get this email saying that it is a very important matter or something like "someone" was trying to use your paypal account or a dire sounding message which is similar. The email supplies a link that you can click to "go to your Paypal account and verify its usuage". DO NOT CLICK ON THE LINK! Run your cursor (but do not click the link) over the link to see if the link's web address shows up. If it does take a very good look at it. You might notice that the link doesn't go directly to Paypal - it goes to somewhere else and that is when you should feel a "red flag" warning. I repeat - DO NOT CLICK ON THE LINK! If you do and you go to a webpage that asks for your account information and you enter that information then you will be giving someone else your account information and they can use that information to get into your paypal account! Here are some good (and relevant) links:

How can I protect myself from PayPal fraud or scams? - PayPal - PayPal is dedicated to fighting fraud and scams. ... A PayPal scam email may include the salutation "Dear PayPal User" or "Dear PayPal Member" ...

PayPal Email Scam - Web Site Version - Prevent and detect identity fraud at Fight Identity Theft.

About Scams, Urban Legends and other False Information PayPal Scam - PayPal account holders have been receiving an email that says someone has paid them money. The name usually used is......

"I Need A Grant ASAP"

i found your page looking for grants or loans -i need a grant asap-the applications where does a person obtain them. thank you.

                                                                    sincerely,
                                                                         Y~

The answer is not as simple as you think. The most important aspect of your comment is that you have not mentioned what you need a grant for. There are personal grants - like for "financial" emergencies as well as business-related grants.

There is no "one place fits all" when looking for grant programs

Coupons

One work at home business idea that I often suggest is starting a "Coupon" club. How many times have you bypassed a coupon either because you don't clip coupons or it was a coupon for something you don't use? Just because YOU can't use it doesn't mean that somebody else can't. So why not take advantage of that fact and start a little business of your own where people can trade coupons. Where does the income come from? Well you can start a newsletter both online and off and charge for advertising. You can allow comments from others on the coupons they use, what products they use and most importantly how they feel about the products they use - all information that would be very appealing to potential advertisers!

You can start locally by designing an attention grabbing flyer about your coupon club to get people interested. And then those that are interested can sign up or contact you for more information. Your going to have to decide on the general way that your club will operate - meaning will there be gatherings, how will the coupons be traded and what coupons will you be dealing with?

Remember that you will be trying to attract advertisers and don't limit yourself into thinking that the advertisers that you seek will be the products on the coupons. How about one of your club members that is going to have a garage sale? What about a member that does babysitting? Your advertiser base can also include those that are not members but are local businesses and others that know about your club and want to advertise. You can also take advertising from those that want to buy something who are having a hard time locating what they want. I remember reading a story where a guy wrote that he was selling his boat. He got a buyer but what was more interesting to him was the fact that he got so many calls from people who wanted to buy the boat. So what he did was buy more boats and then sold them to the people that wanted to buy them.

You can even expand your business by including Ebay where you can find either buyers or sellers who are interested in Ebay. You can act as their middleman (or woman or person). Ebay has a name for this and it is called "Trading Assistants" which is what you would be.

Even though I had often recommended this as a good business to start I was re-reminded of it when I was reading a blog. The blog is called:

Frugal Money Saving Ideas

and I just love the posts. The post that re-reminded me of the "Coupon Club" Idea is linked below:

10 Ways to Save Money - it is so EASY!!!

Just in case you're wondering - yes, I do clip coupons-LOL!

There are still some grant programs available for New Orleans Businesses

Despite the lack of government grant programs to help the small businesses in New Orleans get back on their feet, efforts to help save the area has resulted in a few grant programs being offered by other organizations.

 

While the government does have funding programs in place it seems that the bulk of the grant programs are being used for housing-related programs.  That doesn't mean that there are no grant programs to help assist the businesses.  There are.  But either due to lack of awareness or for whatever other reason, the businesses owners do not want to take advantage of the government loan programs being offered to them because they do not want to take on the added burden of having another loan that they will have to pay back.

 

Just in case you're wondering, New York received much more money for grants to help the small businesses in that area.

A Recent News Story About Grants

A Recent Local News Story About Grants

I didn't even know about this in advance. I was just watching my local news and they had a story about a grants "scam". A couple received a phone call saying that if they paid around $300 they would get a grant for $5,000. Well the couple sent them the information (and the money) that they wanted and they haven't heard from them yet. Then the story continues with an interview with the district attorney and what he said was that the government WILL NOT call a person saying that they are eligible for a grant.

I just wanted to add my own 2 cents here.

Number one - A grant can't be guarenteed. You apply for a grant and you submit it along with anyone else that has applied for the grant. Theoretically speaking the application(s) that best meet the requirements and objectives of the grant program will be the ones that will be awarded the grant money.

So a good warning sign is when someone guarentees that you will get a grant.

Do You Want To Start Your Own Business? Work from Home?

There are stories and examples galore of those who started their own businesses at home. But when I see people posting about finding "work at home" jobs I get the feeling that they want the "security" of working for an employer who lets them work at
home. And I was quite surprised to find some examples of legitimate work at home jobs like the examples I noted before such as the disable woman that works from her home answering telephone calls from stranded motorists that belong to her                               employer which is an auto club. So there are legitmate jobs out there that allows one to work from their home but the problem seems to be in them finding those companies that are legitmate.                              They are out there however.  I'd also like to point out that people have started "unusual" businesses as well! I like the story of the two guys that like to mooch off of other people. However they ran out of people to mooch off of. So guess what they did? They wrote a book about how to mooch off of people and they each now have their own beach house!

There are many examples of businesses that people can start and I listed on one of my pages how one could take one of their programs that they have on their computer and start a business of their own. A woman actually started a answering machine                                message service using the programs that she already had installed on her computer. Another woman took an astrology program and started a business doing astrology readings - but guess what - she added a twist - the astrology readings were for                                people's pets! And we know how big the pet industry is - people love doing things for their pets.

So I don't know what it is. Maybe people are afraid to start their own business or they don't think that they can do it. Just look at all the people who have managed to start a successful business on Ebay! I know of a guy who does yard work in my area and he says that he has more business than he can handle! Starting a day/childcare is always a good business to start because there is always a need for it.

I think the main concern for people is the money and how fast they will be able to make it - of course of which the answer is that it will depend on them.  I think that the most encouraging piece of advice that I can give is that no matter what kind of business you want to start there is already someone out there who is actually doing it or something similar to it - and doing it successfully!

Grants - A Note From Rose

I have seen the responses to some of my posts but I couldn't reply to them since the board now has a new format so I decided to post here.Here are some of my comments:First let's set aside the fact that I do this for a living.Of all the people/posts that have replied in a negative way, I haven't seen one mention anything about the grant information provided by the Idea Cafe itself. They have information on grant programs for those that want to start their own for-profit business. They even have a grant program of their own. Their most recent grant winner was a business in New Orleans. Why I have found these grant programs (besides it being my job to do so) and you haven't - I can't answer that. 90% of all grant information I have found online without having to join anything or pay a "membership" fee.I used to think that calling myself a "Dream Job" Consultant was kind of hokey but I have been convinced that this is EXACTLY what I do. It all comes down to desire and how badly one wants it. I'm not talking about wanting it badly enough to lie, cheat or steal. But I am talking about wanting it badly enough to take the time and effort that is necessary in order to achieve what you want. Not everyone that started their own business started with a lot (if any) of money but they did use what they did have which is their blood, sweat and tears.Unfortunately I can't agree with the statement that investors aren't interested in "small" mom/pop operations because I am dealing with one right now - again - a part of my job.You have people who are coming to these boards because they want to start a business of their own or they want to expand on the business that they already have and that can be done. When one doesn't have the money to accomplish that they work with what they do have which is theirselves. Just because someone has a "dream" about starting their own business doesn't mean that it has to remain a dream.And in closing my main comment to those that want to start their own business but think its impossible is to say that no matter what kind of "dream" job you want to pursue there is already someone who is doing it (or something close to it) who is making a living at it.Asking me to provide you with SPECIFIC grant programs is like asking me to prepare your tax return without paying me for the work and that is something that I will not do.So if you want to continue to tell people that there are no grant programs for starting a business or for for-profit businesses then you go right ahead and continue to tell them that.

What if you can't afford to the fee to apply for tax-exempt non-profit status?

Then you have a decision to make and that decision is how badly do you want it?  The most simple solution is to save up enough money to be able to pay the fee.  IT DOES NOT COST A MILLION DOLLARS to apply for tax-exempt non-profit status!

You can set up a website and ask for  donations.  There is more than one free webhosting site on the Internet.  Use your website to its full advantage.  There's nothing that says that you can't let more people know about your organization WHILE you are applying for tax exempt and non-profit status.

You can sell some things on Ebay.  I am an Ebay member and I have been able to sell on Ebay.

Just because you can't afford the fee now doesn't mean that you won't have the money in the future.  Plan to have the money in the future and in the meantime build up more interest in your organization and bring it to the public's attention WHILE you're applying for the tax exempt status.  Who is to say that you don't get an anonymous donor or two?

The One Thing That You Are Going To Have To Understand About Grants Is....

that there is no one grant program for all needs.  For instance there is no one daycare grant program that is available for those looking for daycare-related grants.  There are many factors that are going to be involved.  For instance is your daycare a non-profit, a for-profit or a combination of both?  Is your daycare in the home or outside the home?  What do you need the grant money for?  Will it be for equipment, starting a specific kind of program or do you want the grant to pay for your daycare building?  Where will your daycare be located?  In some areas the need for daycare is so great that they have programs where both non-profits and for-profits can apply.  Are you in one of these areas?  Who will your daycare be for?  Will it be for toddlers, older children, special needs children?  What kind of programs will you be offering?  Some daycare-related grant programs provide grants for providing certain types of programs.  What hours will you be operating your daycare?  Some daycares have received grant awards because they operate during non-traditional hours.  One daycare got a grant because they operate 24 hours a day!

So you see its not a simple case of applying for a grant because you want to start a daycare.  It is a case of what kind of daycare you will be operating.

I Have A Lot Of Email To Catch Up On.......

But don't worry because I do try and answer ALL the email that comes my way.  Sometimes the same questions get asked over and over again but I still do try and answer all the email that comes my way.  This particular week I have had a lot of work to do and my email box is piling up.

Is It Worth It?

Someone emailed me and asked me was it worth their time (and effort) to look for any grant funding.  Of course my answer to them way yes.  Actually I was quite surprised by the question.  But I do understand that there is a lot of information about grants out there.  Some of it is good and some of it is bad.  Of course there are individuals and businesses out there that want to make a profit from it but what no one seems to realize is that these kinds of individuals and businesses exist in every kind of area there is.

As a matter of fact I encourage people to find this kind of information on their own because there is no better a way to know that these kinds of funding programs exist than to find out for yourself that they do indeed exist.

The only reason that I know that these kinds of programs exist is because I took the time and effort to find the information.  I have used this information to help both myself and others.  And while finding these kinds of funding programs I have found some very surprising ones as well!  There is a grant program to help people fulfill their dreams!  There are numerous grant programs to help people who are having problems paying their mortage, their utility bills and there is even a program in my area that helps with low-cost loans to those who need to get a car for work.  There is another grant program in my area that provides a $25,000 grant for home repairs!  I didn't find this grant program - it came to me in the mail!  I did check it out though and it is very, very legitimate. 

Don't get me wrong you should investigate every program that you find to make sure that it is legitimate but I have been doing this long enough to know that there are legitimate grant programs out there and they are awarding both individuals and businesses and organizations a LOT of money.  One of my pages talks about how "Planned Parenthood" gets sooooo much grant money.  You should read it!  It might just surprise you!

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