Finding Your Bliss

Have you ever heard this expression? What it means is to find the thing that makes you happy. What makes you happy? You want to know what makes me happy? It's working on my computer (of course). A good 90% of my job involves working on my computer whether it be online or off. I took this love of being on a computer and turned it into a career for myself. Notice that I didn't say "job" because it is more than just a job to me.

So what is your bliss? You don't know? What is it that you love to do? Do you have a Dream Job?

You may not think that you could turn your dream job into a reality but you would be wrong. And the same thing applies to finding your bliss.

Let's say that you wanted to help those that need help. You may say that you aren't concerned with money but unfortunately you will need money to help you. Think of money as being a tool to be used to help you achieve your bliss. The more money that you make the more you will be able to help people.

There are some people (and I know this because they have emailed me) who don't want to do anything - so they say. They just want to be able to sit on the couch and watch TV. Do you know that you could make a career out of that? For example, if you like watching soap operas then you can turn that into a business. Of course you will have to be careful about copyright infrindgement but you can still make a career out of this. You could even be asked to write for your favorite show! Did you know that one writer of a TV got their job because they had wrote fanfiction and it was noticed and they now write for the show. You could start a newsletter or blog about your favorite show. How would you get paid? Allowing advertisers to advertise on your blog or webpage, having subscribers and charging for membership.....there are a lot of possibilites!

So what is your bliss?

I'm Splitting This Blog In Two

Since the title of this blog is "Working From Home", I have decided that this is what it's main topic is going to be about. I am going to make another blog that will deal specifically with grants and grants in general. Why? Well the title of this blog has always bugged me because its supposed to be about working from home. And while there are a lot of grant programs that can be associated with this the whole subject of grants warrants having a blog just for it. As I continue to find grant programs for clients I am finding out more about grants in general. Things like the corruption that is associated with it, the different types of grants and things related to them has made me decide to start a blog just for the topic of grants. I haven't decided a url for this yet but when I do I will post it here.

Now I will continue this blog because working from home is not only a very popular topic but it is also what I do. I have seen from my stats that my blog pops up in the search engines when people are looking for blogs that discuss working from home. I guess some of them were disappointed when they found out that this blog isn't about any of those "get rich quick" schemes. It's just a blog by someone who actually works at home.

All of the past grant-related information will stay here but I will post a link to the Grants Blog here.

Here is the link to my new blog:

Grant Basics 101 Blog

No Grants To Start A Business Huh?

I just got finished reading a very interesting website by a student who lives overseas who got a grant that paid him $200 a week to start his own business. He started an online business that helped other students with their college work. Can you imagine getting a check to help pay your living expenses while you're getting your business started?

I'd also like to mention that when he was promoting his business he found that the most successful promotions had to do with putting up posters that promoted his business as opposed to putting ads in magazines and newspapers. Putting up posters (or flyers) is a promotional method that you can do that doesn't require a whole lot of money.

Turning A Bad Experience into Learning Experience

I was listening to this guy talking on the radio. He was the host of an hour long program on one of my local radio talk stations. He was giving out advice about financial matters and in the course of his show he talked about how he lost his house. Losing one's home is a devastating experience but he went on to say that when he lost his house he decided right then and there that it would never happen to him again and he did something about it. He learned more about the foreclosure process and he used his knowledge to help other people who were in the same situation as he once was.

This is just another great example of how another person turned his passion into a business. This also a great example of turning something that you hate into a busines. If you didn't think it was possible to turn something that you hated into a business now you know that you are wrong.

Now you may be saying that well "that guy has a radio show" and what I would say is that you don't have to have your own radio show to get your point across. But it is becoming more and more easier to have your own radio show on the Internet. I have my own Internet Radio station called LaMott Radio that's supposed to be half romantic music and half community news. While the media that I use is Live365 where you have to pay a fee there is an alternative that you can use if you don't want to pay a fee. You can simply start your own by using the recording tools on your computer and create your own podcast and upload that to your website. There is so much that you can do with this, you can accept advertising and the added exposure will give you more publicity and if the subject that you are talking about will help people then that will help you even more.

If you don't know about podcasting then LEARN!. With the exception of paying for your Internet access you can use one of the free webhosts that are on the Internet and that will help to keep your costs at a minimum.

Grants For Starting A Daycare? Is It Just A Myth?

Unfortunately no it is not and the reason why I say "unfortunately" is because finding the answer doesn't seem to come to easily to those that want to start a daycare and are looking for funding for it. I get a very good idea of just how many people are looking for information about funding to start their own daycare business. I also get a very good idea of just how many people are looking for this type of information from the number of emails that I get! Most of them ask the same questions "Where can I get grant money for my daycare" or "How do I start my own daycare?"

Where can I get grant money for my daycare? - First of all let's make one thing perfectly clear - you don't automatically get a grant! You have to apply for it. The next thing that has to made clear is that you just can't apply for a grant just because you want to start a daycare. It will depend on the kind of daycare it is you want to start. Do you want to start a daycare in your home? First you should see if your state has any daycare-related grant programs that you can apply for. I have seen many home daycares get grant money just because they were providing daycare in an area that needed it so badly.

How Do I Start My Own Daycare? - Well that is going to depend on you. If you're wanting to start your daycare at home and want it to be a licensed daycare then you should check your state's webpage to find out the requirements that have to be met in order for you to operate as a licensed daycare. With that being said what do you think you will need to start your own daycare? Getting the license part out of the way you are going to need a plan. Where will you look after the children, what kind of activities are you going to provide, what kind of food are you going to serve them, what kind of plans do you have for a medical emergency. There is also the question of getting the children and how you do that is the same as how any other business operates and that is to let them know that you are open for business.

Even if you want to start your daycare in a separate facility the above advice still applies but you have the added pressures of paying for your overhead which will include rent/lease, utilities and paying for staff.

Almost everything that you need to know about starting a daycare can be found online and that's including everything from having a daycare-related business plan all the way to different forums and websites from others that operate their own daycare.

While you can't be prepared for everything you will have at least enough to get you started going in the right direction.

What Attract People's Attention

Well the number one thing that really attracts people is sex. The 2nd other thing that also attract people is MONEY! Basically if you know how to market money, you don’t have to chase it, it will come to you. And not many people are able to do that online or offline. In fact 90% of the population chooses not be their own boss and are still w[...]



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Dream Job Consultant

That is exactly what I do! At first I thought that the title sounded so "hokey" but when I actually think about it it is exactly what I do!

How did this "career" come about? It started with the fact that I work from home and when other people found that out about me they wanted to know how they could work from home. I also got the occassional snicker or grin because a lot of people still think that working from home involves things like licking envelopes or something that is so mysterious that they don't understand anything about it.

So what does a "Dream Job Consultant" do? In my case its showing people how they can achieve their dream job. Some people just want to be able to work at home but they don't have any idea what they could do. I try to dig deeper and find out what it is that they want (or would like) to do. Recently I was listening to a program where the guest said that one way to find your purpose was to find out what it is that you love to do. Dr. Wayne Dyer has said to find something that will be a service to others regardless of whether its selling hot dogs on the street or becoming a doctor.

I know a lot of people are finding it hard to believe that they could actually earn an income from working from home. But lots of people are doing it and that number of people is growing every year!

Maybe you are reading this entry right now because you want to work from home. The first thing that you should know is that it can be done. The second thing that you should know is that it IS being done. You should also know that basically whatever it is that you want to do from home someone else is already do it or something close to it right now!

Is it possible to earn a livable income from just having a website? The answer is yes. One very good example is with affiliate marketing. In a word it is just putting advertising on your website. When people click on the ads that is when you make your money and people are making a lot of money just using this one method. But remember it simply isn't a case of build it and they will come because you have to put some work into your website and you can't just leave it at that. You have to constantly work on your website but wouldn't it be fun to actually earn a living just by working on your website? If you don't think that people are making a lot of money using just this method then I suggest that you do a little online digging to find and read the stories of those who are making money using this one method. I know of a student that made $1 Million Dollars just by offering advertisng on his webpage. That's right I said $1 Million Dollars!

A lot of people want to be able to work for a company from their home and again there are legitmate opportunities there. There are a few companies that I know of that hire people to work from their homes answering customer calls - so there are legitmate work at home companies out there. You have to be careful though because not all of the companies that say they are work from home companies are legitimate. Unfortunately this is where you will have to do your homework and check out these companies before you decide to work for them

So I hate to be the bearer of bad news but you can really work from home and you can really make a livable income working at home.

Cyber Begging?

I happened upon a very interesting list of websites where people were asking (dare I say begging) for money. I believe this whole thing got started with the "Save Karyn" website. A woman put up a website asking for money to help pay off her debts. She actually got donations of money from her website! I remember reading about a man who also got donations from his website but he was in trouble because he was also receiving financial assistance and the money that he got from his website was considered income. In actuality there was nothing that they could do because the money that he got from his website was considered as donations. Another woman put up a website asking for money so that she could get breast implants and guess what - she got enough money to get them!

It might seem hard to believe but there are some people that have put up websites asking for money and have actually gotten money! Of course there are a number of these kinds of websites on the Internet and not all of them are making money. I even saw one website by a guy who offers to put advertising on his chest for a donation/fee. Others have done the same thing in that they offer advertising on their page for a donation or fee.

It really doesn't take too much to put up a website and do the same thing although I can not vouch for how much money you would actually get. You can get a free website and put your information on it, figure out how you will have your money sent to you (a lot of people have used Paypal). I guess one of the harder parts would be coding your website itself. If you have never done it before it can get pretty frustrating figuring out the right html coding to make your website look just the way you want it.

Do I condone this kind of thing? It's really hard to say. I believe that everyone should work for their money. But having a lack of money has caused people to come up with some very unique ideas for getting money.

Paying For Grant Information

A lot of the emails that I receive mention the fact that the emailer could only find websites where they would have to pay to get the grant information. Although I find this surprising since I don't get the same results when I am researching for grant information I thought I'd address this kind of thing.

First you have to understand that when you are looking for information about grants it is sort of comparable to finding a needle in a haystack. This is especially true when you are looking for grant programs that you are specifically qualified to apply for. In your search and research for finding grant programs and information about grant programs you may find many grant programs but they won't be the ones that you specifically qualify to apply for. So what do you do? You dig deeper! I think almost everybody qualifies for at least one funding program that isn't one of those loan programs where you have to pay the money back. And it might make you angry to find out that lots of people with a bigger income have been the recipient of grant programs - Ross Perot and Donald Trump come immediately to mind.

Another thing that has been bothering me is the whinning and complaining about having to pay for the information. You really don't have to pay for the information if you find it yourself. Another option for not paying for grant information is for one to go to a social service agency. Part of their job is to know of programs to help other people including funding and grant programs. As far as government grant programs go that information has to made publically accessible to the public and it is via the government's website. Information about the government's grant programs is also available in the public libraries. I have even got information about government grant programs from my local newspaper and from listening to the radio.

Why shouldn't businesses and individuals charge you for finding this kind of information for you? I have some words on my grants page that addresses this. In short it says that once you start looking for this kind of information you will see the time and effort that is required and hopefully it will help you better appreciate the work that has to be done to get this kind of information. Now being taken or getting scammed from one of these companies or individuals is a different thing altogether! One of the warning signs is if you are "guarenteed" a grant. No one can guarentee you a grant. You have to apply for the grant and theoretically speaking the application that best fits the objectives of the entity awarding the grant will be the one that will be awarded the grant. So you have to apply for the grant just like everyone else. If you get scammed by one of these companies there are steps that you can take to report them. I have seen many articles of "grant companies" being investigated after so many complaints were received about them. You too can find out about these companies by doing a simple search online.

Grant research and grant writing require a lot of work and are very time consuming things to do. When you start looking for grant information you will find out how true that is.

Answering Some Myths About Grants

You have to have good credit to get grants

No you don't. If you are a US citizen or resident and pay taxes then you are eligible for some of the government grant programs. You could even have filed for bankruptcy - you would still be eligible for some of these grant programs! If you have bad credit then you could still apply for some of these programs.

You have to understand that you don't automatically get a grant. You have to apply for it. I have heard the whole grant process as being compared to entering a contest in that your application has to be reveiwed and assessed to see if you grant request fits in with the objectives of the organization that is awarding the grant.

The government is not the only entity that has grant programs - This is true though the government grant programs seem to award the most in grant monies (but that is not always the case). Organizations, foundations and even big businesses have grant programs.
There is a lot of red tape and paperwork involved in getting a grant - Sometimes yes and sometimes no. A number of the government grant programs require a lot of information and certain specific forms to be filled out but like I said above its not only the government that has grant programs. I have actual copies of grant requests that involve no more than a single sheet of paper that has the grant request on it where you fill in what you need the grant money for and why. The non-governmental grant programs seem to have an easier application process than the government grant programs.

Why do I have to pay to get grant information?

You don't. You have to remember that the government has to make their grant program information accessible to the public. Remember its the government we are talking about and they are using taxpayer money. The government has its own website where you can find out the details of there government grant programs. That includes all the information you need including how to apply for the individual programs. I use this site many, many times and I don't have to pay to use it and neither do you. Now the grant programs by entities other than the government are a little harder to find. You have to seek them out but the majority of them do have websites where you can find more information about their individual grant programs. Even those organizations that don't have a website have an address and a phone number and you can contact them using those.

There are no grant programs for for-profits

Again this is a myth. Big businesses receive grant money all the time. There are even grant programs outside the United States that have grant programs to help people that want to start or grow their own business. Even in the United States I have listed a number of people who have received grant money. Click on this link to go to my grants page to see a list of people who have received grant money.

There are so many myths about the grant process. The only way to show that the myths are wrong are with the actual facts.

How Do You Make Money Online?

One of the things that "really" works is......Google's Adsense. This is where you have a website or blog and you add ads to it via Google's Adsense program. Now if you don't think this works then you should go to their messaga forum and read some of the posts from people who are receiving payments every month. I can attest to the fact that it does make you some money but here is the bad news - you have to work at it! One example of someone who is making enough money for it to be full-time income is a guy that has a handyman website.

Some of the most popular ways that people are making money online is with adult sites, gambling and I know of one student who started a bulletin board and made enough money to put himself through college.

The fastest way to make money is to find out how others are making a lot of money and then do the same thing. The best way to make money is to take something you love and turn it into a business.

Google's Adsense seems to be a promising thing to do if you want to make money online. If you want to know more about Google Adsense you should read their message board - full of posts of people who have asked the question of can you really make money over the Internet. Google also has some examples of "success" stories about people who make a lot of money using adsense.

Tarot?

First I should preface this by saying that I have my own tarot page. Juct click here to visit my Tarot Page.

Now the question is "Can You Take Your Tarot Talents and turn them into a business of your own that you can work from home?" and the answer (of course) is Yes!

The most obvious way is to offer tarot readings over the Internet. What you would need is a website to show off your tarot talents. You should also includ on your website what your rates will be. Are there people who are doing this now? Of course they are. Are they making money at it? The answer (again) is of course they are.

Don't get me wrong because it will involve work. Once you have your website up you will have to let people know that your website is up and you're open and ready for business. You might even want to give away a few free readings just to get started and get your feet wet.

Now I know that there are a lot of tarot readings websites and you might be wondering how yours could make a difference. The answer comes from comparing this to the soda aisle at the supermarket. Of course you have your name brand sodas but you will also see sodas from brand names that are smaller and/or you have never heard of them but there they are just the same. Either they got there by popular demand or the brand makers got them on the shelves themself.

You should also consider that you can generate income from related things to your tarot reading. You could offer a tarot reading course, you can start a tarot reading newsletter or you might even be asked to write a tarot-related article. Since one of the things that I do is grant research I can tell you that I know of a case where a woman got a grant to do the astrology charts of serial killers! So you just don't know where a potential source of income could come from!

Working With What You Have!

I got an email from someone that wanted to exchange services with me. They wanted to provide me with a "bigger and better" website in exchange for me doing some grant research work for them. While "exchanging services" has always been recommended as a beneficial thing to do you should not do it all the time! Remember you're in business and you want to continue to be a business and you won't stay that way for long if you except an exchange of services in lieu of excepting payment for the service (or product) that you provide. If you have a talent or skill then you should not feel guilty about being (and wanting to be) paid for it.

With that being said I want you to take a look at the website that this person was talking about. It is my Grant Basics 101 page.

If you have ever thought of or wanted to have a webpage for your business then you should keep my page in mind. First off it is a page about the grant research that I provide. As you will notice the page has a LOT of information on it. Why? Because there are a lot of misconceptions and myths about the whole grant process and this page seeks to clear at least some of that up. On the page you will find information about the grant process in general, examples of grant programs and examples of people that have received grants - all the kind of general and basic information that one should know about the whole grant process. Now the page doesn't have a lot of pictures on it because the grant process is not pictures it is content, text, paperwork and research and people have to realize this if they want to go through the grant process and come out the other end with most of their sanity left intact. Research is work, work and more work and you are not going to get the information that you seek by just browsing a few pages. You are going to have to dig deeper if you want to find any grant programs that you may be eligible to apply for.

With that being said this same page serves another purpose and that purpose is that it is a webpage! It is a webpage that is seen. It is a webpage that ranks very high on the search engines and it will always be a "work in progress" webpage. But the main point is that it is a webpage that is up on the internet and viewed. Now if you want to have a business online then this is what you have to have - a webpage! If you don't have enough money to buy a domain name and webspace then use one of the free webpage websites - there are more than a few out there. I have even seen people with a business webpage on MySpace.com and that is a very popular website. If you don't know how to design a webpage then you can use one of the gazillion freely available templates that are all over the internet.

Instead of complaining about what you don't have, start working with what you DO have!

The Pursuit of Happyness

I haven't seen this movie yet but I did see the news story about the man that this movie was based on. He was so down and out but he kept on!

I posted a link in my forum about a truly inspiring story about a woman who started an online business - the link is here:

Inspirational Story

My forum is located here

I have always said that the one thing you need to start your own business or even pursue your dreams is desire. The two examples above show that I am right. If you have a dream you should go after it otherwise it might nag away at you until it has eaten you up! People can begin acting or singing careers at 50, 60 even 70 years of age and the same thing applies to being an artist or a writer or almost anything else that you can think of.

If you're feeling down about yourself then I suggest that you see the movie mentioned above and read that inspirational story! They should both make you feel better about yourself and about what it is you want to do.