"I Can't"

I hear a lot of people who say "I can't" do this or that. What about the things that you CAN do? I see a lot of posts on message boards saying this exact thing and the first thought that comes to my mind is that the one thing that they all seem to do have is access to a computer. Now I can't tell sometimes whether or not the computer they are using is their own or whether they are using a public access computer like those that can be used from a public library or such.

If you're using a public access computer that doesn't mean that there isn't no hope for you. Your resources and opportunities are decreased but they are not gone. I'm thinking that you can save up enough money to buy a computer so that you will be able to have one of your own which you can work on at any time of the day and when you feel like it. A good starting computer can be had for under $1000. Now that may seem like a lot of money to some people but you have to look at it as an investment.

If you're working in a job that you hate stick with it until you can save up enough money to buy your own computer so that you can start a business of your own. The fact that you know that you are saving to "invest" in a computer of your own will help ease the hate and stress that you feel from your job.

What if you're not working now? What is it that you want to do? What is your dream job?

There is this sage piece of advice that says that everyone was put on this planet for a reason. What if you don't know your reason? Another piece of sage advice says to "make it up". What does that mean? It means that if you don't know what it is that you want to do - then that is your job for now - finding out what it is that you want to do. What do you do in the meantime? Well its quite obvious that you are going to have to make a living unless you marry someone rich or get some kind of big inheritance. You may have to "buckle down" and get a "normal" job but remember this isn't something that you have to tie yourself too forever. It could be that while working this "normal" job you will find what it is that you want to do.

What if you don't want a "normal" job or you're having a hard time finding a job. Here's another piece of sage advice - Make One Up! What does that mean? It means that if you can't find a job make one of your own! As I have said many times before there are two ways of making money. The fastest way is to find a need and fill it. Many millionaires have been made because they used this exact method! Look around you. Is there a need that needs to be filled? Can you do yardwork, run errands, walk dogs, babysit?

The second way (which I think is the best way) is to take something that you love and turn that into a business. Again, many millionaires have been made because they followed this advice.

I'll use myself as an example. One of the many services that I provide is grant research. What made me go into that field? Because of my work with helping people to realize their dream job(s) the subject of grants came up. There were two sets of people and their views concerning grants. One group said that they were no grants and the second group said there were. Since this was so confusing to me I decided to find out on my own (not realizing that I had already been doing this kind of thing for years) and what I found out was just amazing! The bottom line is that I found out that there were such programs everywhere! And since people didn't believe me when I told them so another career was born! This would be a very good thing for you to remember also and that is just because someone says that it isn't possible doesn't make it true. What's so surprising to me is that a lot of the so-called experts in this field don't know the things that I do. Social service agencies that are supposed to know about these programs don't and will tell anybody that asks that they don't exist. They just don't know about them that's all.

So I decided to take it upon myself and find out for myself and I'm glad that I did that. It takes a lot to go against the norm but if your will and desire are strong enough you can do almost anything!

Another Dot.com Millionaire!

It's so fascinating what one can do if they really put their minds to it! This man is a millionaire many times over! Imagine being able to write a check for $650,000!

Teachers Becoming Part-time Entrepreneurs

Very interesting article about how teachers can earn money part-time. This isn't a scam because you work for yourself and not for a company. You start your own business tutoring others. And who better to tutor than teachers!

MySpace and You

I was watching a rerun episode of Dr. Phil and it was a show about people seeking fame and fortune. One of the guests was a woman who's an actress and model who has a MySpace page with over 2,000 "friends". On her myspace page she has pictures from her modeling sessions and I mention that to say that those pictures aren't as explicit as some of the other MySpace members' pictures are - they look tastefully and professionally done.

The reason why I am mentioning this is because you never know where opportunities lie. A lot of people have used their MySpace pages as a networking resource and the group that comes most to mind are the musicians and their groups. They can have samples of music on their site as well as a list of tour dates and of course MySpace lets you have a blog as well.

I have also seen record companies have a page on MySpace as well as a number of well-known celebrities.

So another good tool to have in your pool of resources is to have a MySpace page. To go to MySpace's main page just click here, take a look around at some of the other members' pages just to see how their pages (and how your page could) look.

Sex!

Let's face it - there is a lot of sex on the internet! The online sex industry makes millions of dollars per year! So it shouldn't come as too much of a surprise that a lot of people want to get in on it. One of the ways that they think that they can do this is with having their own webcam website. You can see my previous posts about using a webcam for your business by clicking here and you can also read about some of the information relating to starting a webcam business on my consultation page.

Even I could do it if I had the nerve but really I don't.

What would you need to start such a business? Well the first question I would ask is how are you going to make money with it? Usually the most popular way is to charge for access to your website with your webcam pictures. This means that you should first have a website that is accessible to all but then in order for them to view your special pages they would have to sign up and pay for membership. Lots of sex sites operate this way. And just as other business-related websites do you can have different options of payment. You can accept checks, credit cards and the like. I have even seen such sites accept cash.

Of course you're going to need a webcam and a website (unless you're doing "personal" pictures or requests only. I have talked many times about the number of free hosted websites that are on the Internet but in this case you'll have to check and see if they will allow such content in their terms of agreement. There are a few free web-hosted sites that will let you have an adult-oriented website for free.

I have also talked a lot about affiliate ads and there are some that are specifically targeted to mature adult material - however Google's Adsense is not one of them - but there are others.

Once you have your site up you'll have to start letting people know that your site is up and ready for business - which means that you have to generate a "buzz" for your site. Doing this requires doing the same methods for generation traffic to any site. There are free ways of generating traffic to your site as well as using methods or products or services that you have to pay for to generate traffic to your site.

Although sex sites are not for everybody you do have to admit that they generate a lot of revenue! - and some people want to be able to get some of that money!

Is Having A Business Plan Important?

I think that having a business plan is very important. It isn't mandatory but I think that it would be a good idea to have one! Even if you're dream job is to be an actress or a singer I still think that you should have a plan in place.

How much monthly income would be your goal? What amount of money do you spend on expenses on a monthly basis? What about your business identity? Does your business have a logo? These are just a few questions that should be answered and those answers should go directly into your business plan.

Now one of the services that I provide is customized business plans but if you want to do this on your own there are tons of resources on the Internet that will help you with making and creating your own business plan. Some of these websites also offer general business plan templates that you can download and customize to your own business information.

Some people think that business plans are so complicated but it has been my experience that you can start out with a simple line on a blank piece of paper that says "I Want My Business To Be............." and then you go on from there.

Having An Internet Radio Station

I don't know if I mentioned it before but I do have an Internet Radio Station:

LaMott Radio

Now the reason why I mention this is because like almost everything else this has the possibilities for another work at home thing that one can do.

I have a background in radio as I used to be a DJ for a number of years at a number of different radio stations with different music formats. I have worked for big band stations, stations that played classic rock and roll and stations that played gospel music! As you can guess a lot of this work was fun and I did miss it. So when I saw Live 365.com I was very interested! Live 365.com is a website that hosts your own internet radio station. You can do a live broadcast or you can do a "canned" broadcast. Your station (as the website's name says) will be live 365 days a year!

If you visit the site you will see a list of the many different Internet radio stations that are out there and the many different types of formats that they have. My Internet Radio Station's format is music to put you in the mood - whatever that mood might be .....

But anyway back to the subject of how this relates to working from home............

Live365's policy is that you can't have paid advertising on your broadcast but you CAN have it on a webpage that you use as your Internet Radio Station's webpage - so just think of all the possibilities that that presents............you can accept advertising, start a newsletter that corresponds to your station and just so many other things that relate to it.

Work At Home Resources

For those of you that are looking for "work at home" opportunities (as opposed to working for yourself or starting your own business" there are a number of websites that list "work at home" opportunities. You should be very careful in making a decision as to whether or not you want to sign up for these kinds of sites.

I realize that a lot of people just want to be able to work from home but they want the security of working for an already established company. But be forewarned there are many posts from others who have been scammed from "working at home" opportunities and you don't want to be one of them.

There are some legitimate "work from home" opportunities out there that I know of and trust.

A High School Education

I have seen a lot of postings that say "I only have a high school education...... You can do a lot with "only a high school education. In fact just because you have just a high school education doesn't mean that you still can't go to get more.

You have to look at what you DO have as opposed to what you don't have. And I think that a very important part of the answer is the answer to "What do you want?"

Do you want to become an actor? It's never too late! Do you want to become a singer? It's not too late for that either! Do you want to be able to work at home making enough money to support yourself. That is not impossible! And with the new and legitimate resources that are out there like Adsense, making money at home is becoming more and more possible! (and profitable)

There are many millionaires out there who have had far less than a high school education!

Look inside yourself! What is it that you really want to do? What is your bliss? Would it surprise (or shock) you to know that there is probably someone already out there who is doing exactly what it is that YOU want to do? - And that they are making money at it!

Making Money With Adsense

I have talked a few times about Adsense and about people making money using Adsense but I have to also tell you that it isn't as simple as putting Adsense ads on your site and then just wait for the money to come rolling in. Of course there are some people that have started making money with Adsense right away. You may be one of the lucky ones that achieve this also but for the rest of you there is some work to be done.

Of course after your site has been accepted by Adsense and you put the ad codes on your site you shouldn't just stop there. Sign in to your Adsense account and start tracking your results. It helps to give your ads a "channel" so that you know which clicks are coming from which sites. Quite simply put a "channel" is a name that you give your ads so that you can track the progress of those ads and the sites that they appear on.

It also helps if your site has a theme! I'm told that Google's Adsense doesn't accept "About Me" sites - meaning sites that just talk about yourself and nothing in particular. Your theme can be almost anything as long as it has a theme. For instance you could talk about where you live and the ads that appear on your site will have ads that have to do with where you live. And that's another thing that you should keep in mind when adding Adsense to your site. Basically speaking Adsense will "crawl" your site and put in the most relevent ads according to the content of your site. For example you may have a site that caters to children so you'll want to be careful about what kinds of ads show up on your site! Adsense has a filtering system that will let you filter ads so you can get rid of the ads that you don't want.

The more traffic/visitors you get to your site the more the number of visitors that will click the ads and the more money that you will make.

Should You Have A Blog?

In my opinion - YES! Knowing that you can make money with your blog should be reason enough for having one! Don't think that you would have anything to say? Well the fact that you can make money with your blog should give you enough incentive to think of something to say.

What's it like having a blog? It's just like having your own diary (one day soon I'm going to review the movie "Bridget Jones's Diary") where you post entries like your thoughts and so on.... The only difference is that since it will be online that will mean than anyone could view your blog. But I think that that is the appeal of having a blog.

Once you have your blog set up - Blogger.com is a good place to set up your blog and what's even better about Blogger is that they encourage you to add Adsense affiliate ads to your blog. If you're still having doubts or want to see what others blogs look like you can still go to the Blogger website and take a look at other people's blogs.

I have been seeing a lot of websites and blogs that talk about making money with Adsense and blogs. As I have posted before there have even been a few people that have made over $1 Million Dollars using Adsense. And once you start getting those checks you want to make more and more money so you find ways to make your blog/website more profitable. That's what a lot of people are doing now once they have had that taste of getting those Adsense checks!

Did You Know That Adsense Has A Blog?

What is adsense? Adsense seems to be one of the most popular ways that people are making money with their blogs and/or websites. Here is a link to some of my previous posts about adsense:

My Previous Posts About Adsense

Basically you put ads on your blog or website and everytime someone clicks on one you get paid. Now how much money you can make varies so very much but the more "clicks" you get the more money you get paid! Just click on the link above and you will see one of my previous posts about some of the money that bloggers have made using Adsense - some have made over a million dollars!

Now you can find out more about Adsense and read about how others are making money with their blogs and websites because Adsense has a blog!

Adsense Blog

Adsense Blog

You can find out more about the Adsense program and read about those that have made a lot of money with their blogs and websites.

It's basically a simple process to sign up with Adsense and start making money with your website or blog but many people have problems or just have some questions concerning Adsense that they need answers to. So this blog should be able to answer some of your questions about how you can make money with your website or blog.

Working From Home Doing Astrology?

I have made a few previous posts about Astrology and doing this kind of work from home. Here are some of my previous entries relating to Astrology and working from home:

Previous Astrology Related Posts

I do astrology readings myself. You can take a look at my Astrology Page and see examples of how I do my work. I rarely give free astrology readings. If a person wants me to do an astrology reading for them then they will send me an email listing their particulars such as their birth date and the longitude and latitude of the area where they were born. They also have to pay me of course before I will send their astrological chart and reading. The usual method of payment is via Paypal although they can also send me a check but they only get their reading after their check clears. I also to Tarot Readings as well.

If you are good at doing astrological charts for people then you might want to think about doing this as an income-producing career. It is definitely a job that you can do from home.

It would be easy enough to set up a webpage - something quite similar to mine - and show your expertise. You can accept payment(s) the same way that I do.

If you're good at doing astrology charts for people then this is something that you should definitely consider.

The "Secret"

Perhaps you have already heard of this but if you have not heard of "The Secret" its basic principal is the law of attraction. You tell the universe what it is that you want and the universe will answer and then you have to be open to receive that answer. Another way of looking at it is that your thoughts become reality. For instance if you think bad thoughts or worry about something then you're telling the universe that you want more of the same. If you use "The Secret" right and think about good things and about what you do want (as opposed to not thinking about what you don't want)your thoughts will manifest into reality.

Now do I agree with this? I absolutely do! And the reason why I am posting about this is that I found the most hateful website that trashes "The Secret". I won't even bring the website any further credit by posting a link to it. But this serves as a good lesson to everyone. No matter what it is that you want to do there are going to be people that are going to trash you. People will say that you can't do it for any number of reasons (the only legitimate reason in my mind as to why you can't do something is because that something would be illegal) and if you believe them then it is going to be true. There are so many examples of this. Harrison Ford was told that he would never be an actor.

Decide what it is that you want and go for it!

How Much Money Can You Make With Your Blog?

How much money can you make with your blog? The answer is a LOT! I've been to a few blogs where they post how much money they have made with their blogs but today I stumbled upon a list of bloggers and how much they made in a year. The amounts will amaze you and yes there have been some that have made over a million dollars in a year with their blog. Here is a link to that list:

List of Blogger Salaries

Once you see this list you will be astounded at the amount of money people have made with their blogs!

You may be thinking that you couldn't make that much but you don't really know for sure do you? One very interesting thing about this list of bloggers is that they are remaining true to their content. In other words when you start your blog make sure that it has a theme and stick to that theme! One of the most often cited tips about improving your blog's traffic is for you to provide good content. Stick to the theme of your content and the visitors will come back again and again to hear what you have to say.

Don't think that you have anything to say? I think you're wrong. Why? Because I have seen blogs that discuss everything from what a person did that particular day to blogs from people that post about their political beliefs - and everything in between.

So one of the ways that you can make money online is for you to start a blog. I recommend Blogger.com as a good place to start. Start posting to your blog and have a specific theme in mind. Once you have a few entries in your blog sign up for Google's Adsense so that you can start making money with your blog.

Do You Know That People Are Actually Making Money With Their Blogs?

Hopefully by now you know what a blog is but just in case you didn't the term blog is short for web log which is like an online version of a diary or journal that one keeps.

With that being said I'll get back to the subject of this entry which is about how people are actually making money with their blog. In fact there are people that have more than one blog which means that they increase how much money they make.

Now you probably are asking how people are making money with their blogs and the answer is that there are many ways that people are making money with their blogs.

One of the most popular ways seems to be with affiliate programs. A popular affiliate program is Google's Adsense. What happens is that you put ads on your blog (or website) and when those ads are clicked by visitors to your site then you get paid (and I'm talking real money here). Before I go any further I should warn you that you should be very careful in which affiliate programs you pick. Since affiliate programs have become more and more popular some unscrupulous ones are popping up. So it would be best for you to start with the popular and secure affiliate programs such as Google's Adsense.

First you can start off with a blog from Blogger. Here you will be able to create a free blog and Blogger even encourages its bloggers to add Google's Adsense ads to their blog. A good tip is that you should have a general subject/theme in mind when you create your blog. The more targeted your blog is the more targeted your ads will be. Even if you don't have a general theme or subject to your blog you should start one anyway and submit it to Google's Adsense program. Having a general blog is better than not having a blog at all! Once your blog is set up and you have made a couple of entries then submit to Google's Adsense program.

If you're having doubts, once you get to the Adsense page you will be able to read stories about people/businesses that have managed to make a very good income from using Google's Adsense program - in fact I think that the amount of income that is being made from some of these people will shock you!

Unfortunately its not going to be just a simple case of starting a blog and watching the money roll in! You have to keep working on your blog and some of the most successful Adsense Bloggers really make it a career of making their blog's income increase.

You should really start a blog. You may think that you don't have anything to blog about but if there is the slightest hint of you being able to make money from your blog don't you think that you should try it? Doesn't the thought of getting income from just having a blog excite you? It should!

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.

MySpace

If you haven't heard of Myspace.com just think of it as a big networking and social site. Basically Myspace gives you your own space on the web. You can have a MySpace website as well as a blog on MySpace.

Now the reason that I am writing about them here is that I notice that a lot of bands have Myspace sites where they post their music, post about their latest CD releases and post about where their bands will be playing. It's a great site to get noticed! So if you have a band or are a lone singer and you don't have a MySpace page you should seriously consider getting one. You don't have to pay anything - registering for your own MySpace page is free. Now if you're new to Myspace then you might have some problems starting to configure your page as you would like it but there is helpful information there.

And just in case you're wondering - Yes I do have a Myspace page:

http://www.myspace.com/Roseb44170

Now even if you're not a band you should consider having a Myspace page simply because of its networking possibilities. Myspace isn't only for bands. You will see that all types of people have a MySpace page - teenagers, older people and just regular people - they all have a MySpace page. And as time goes on people will ask to be added as your "friends" and you can ask to added as a "friend" when you find a Myspace member that you would like to be friends with. MySpace has over a million members now so that means that the site is very popular. You can build up a network of social friends, professional friends and so on. Lots of people advertise about their business on MySpace and you can use the site to advertise and talk about your own business. You can post bulletins about your business, add pictures of your products and/or talk about your services - all to a site that has over a million members!

You can even get famous having a MySpace page! There was a woman on Dr. Phil's show who has a very popular MySpace page.

But the point is that having a MySpace page increases your visibility and shows you (and your business) to a whole new set of people. The more resources you use to show your business the more your business will be seen!

Adsense Consultant?

Just in case you don't know what Adsense is let me give you a little basic info.

Adsense is a part of Google (and I'm sure you know who/what Google is). Adsense puts advertising on your webpage or blog and you earn revenue/money when people click on the advertisements. Basically speaking what you do is sign up for an Adsense account and then you are given coding to put on your website or blog. Now how much you will make will depend on a lot of things like how popular your website or blog is but the bottom line is that you can actually get paid (via check or deposited into your bank account) by having a website or blog.

Now what I find interesting is that people want to join adsense but they are having so much difficulty with it. That is where YOU can come in. If you are fairly proficient with html and adding codes then this is a career that you should consider and believe me a lot of people are having problems with their adsense. You can even show them how to get more traffic to their sites and help show them how to better optimize their sites.

It's not as farfetched as you might think!

Search Engine Optimizer?

Not "Search Engine Optimization" but "optimizer!

What is that? It is a person that knows about how to make your website(s) show higher on the search engine rankings.

This is definitely a career/job that one can do from home but only if one knows what they are doing! I actually just saw a post from someone that is willing to pay someone to optimize their website. Of course they weren't offering a lot in the way of acutal payment amounts but you should know that people that do this kind of work are quite (rightly so) well paid! For example I know of one company that will charge $200 per page as far as to optimizing that page for the search engines. This is a skill that I myself can do as well and if you know about how to make a webpage rank higher in the search engines then this is a skill that you too have.

Basically speaking this is a business that you can start from home. Although it may sound complicated you only need to use your own webpage as your marketing tool. If you know how to get people to your website then you know how to get people/visitors to another person's website!

Have You Ever Wondered What Happens When Government Grants Go Unclaimed?

The government allocates a certain amount of grant monies to the individual states. If that grant money is not used then it is sent back to the government. If the money is sent back too many times then the grant programs that this money is for are re-assessed - meaning that the grant programs could be cancelled altogether!

The Fastest Way To Make Money.......

Untapped Potential

The Fastest Way To Make Money
The Best Way To Make Money

(Subtitled: Inventors, Inventions and Funding)

Part Two

The best way to getting funding is to take what you love to do and find funding for it. Chances are what you love someone else loves it too!

I think that this is the harder of the two routes to take but I also think that it is the most worthwhile of the two routes. When you are working on something that you love, that “love” will show through. There are countless real-life stories about inventors inventing something that meant something close to them, not being able to find the funding, funding it themselves and THEN receiving funding for it!

What if you don’t have the money to fund it yourself? Then you will have to seek the funding from somewhere else. That “somewhere else” will depend on your invention itself. Who would benefit most from your invention? Would it be the government, the private sector or a specific industry? Then that is where you should be seeking your funding.

There is NO way around it – YOU HAVE TO DO SOME LEGWORK!. In its most simplest process compile a list of those who would benefit the most from your invention. Then you have to contact them. The internet makes this a much more simpler and faster process – USE IT! Contact them and find out what is their procedure that you will have to go through to make a presentation. If they are not interested then fine (it’s their loss), go on to the next name on your list!

It is a bother but it is a necessity that you have a presentation plan. You have to have something on paper to present to them! You have to show them why (and how) your invention will benefit them and why they should invest their money in it.

As far as grant-funding programs are concerned, the process is a little bit different. Each program has its own set of rules for applying for funding and you will have to comply with each and every one of them INDIVIDUALLY! You can’t fill out an application for one funding program and then submit it everywhere BECAUSE YOU WILL GET REJECTED!

*As a side note I should also mention that the funding is not just limited to the actual production of the invention. Funding is also provided for RESEARCH! That means that there are funding programs that actually exist to research the viability of a product (or invention)

Singer Wanted!

Did you know that there are contests out there that don't require you to be a professional singer? Indeed some of these contests specifically state in their rules that you can't be a professional singer!

There was one contest going on where the grand prize was $75,000! The deadline was this month and you could send your submissions via email or regular snail mail.

Contests like these go on all the time. Why? Sometimes its a publicity kind of thing and some companies are looking for that next great talent! And you could be one of them. One of the good things about these kinds of contests is that you don't have to be a professional singer!

Inventors And Getting Grants For Your Inventions!

Untapped Potential

The Fastest Way To Make Money


The Best Way To Make Money

(Subtitled: Inventors, Inventions and Funding)

Part One

The fastest way to make money is to find a need and fill it. So how does this apply to inventors seeking funding? The same principle applies. The fastest way to getting funding is to find a need and fill it. The more the need, the more (and faster) the funding!

Where is the “need” today? One is military! With the current war going on and the President’s strong stance in continuing the war, almost anything that will help to win the war or make the efforts to win the war go more smoother is wanted and is needed! That can mean anything from designing better (and/or more effective) weapons to designing better provisions for soldiers (ie food preservation/storage, products to help “in the field”). There are countless examples of big companies getting government contracts relating to the war “effort”.

Where does this leave the individual inventor? It leaves him (or her) to fill in the needed “gaps”. Moreover, there are always gaps. How do I know this? Because I read the newspaper, I listen to the radio and TV. I also research the government’s website on a regular basis. Packed with government grant programs, these websites list what “gaps” need to be filled.

Another “need” is finding an alternative resource of energy! Did you know that there is a government grant program in place that awards $40,000 in grant funding to U.S. citizens. There is special consideration given to individual inventors and small businesses that are U.S. owned for inventions that show promise in the energy-related field? That is just ONE government grant program! Another awards $200,000 for the development of the product!

Flying!

One of the most basic tools that you should have as part of your own/home business itenerary is a flyer!

I'm currently reviewing a flyer now. Although it has many bad points, the one good thing going for it is that there is a flyer! Every business should have a flyer and that includes the business that you want to start.

Getting back to the flyer that I am currently evaluating it is not very professionally done. It is a flyer for a computer-repair business. It is a black and white flyer with a picture of the kinds of work and services that the business does. My most major complaint about the flyer itself is that the content is too crowded together. There are a lot of things that this flyer is trying to say and the only problem is that there is not enough space to say it.

So when you are designing a flyer for your business take into consideration the amount of space that you will have to work with. It is always best to design your flyer first by designing it by hand. Then you can make additions, corrections or take content out.

Your first flyer should be as simple and basic as possible. You can see some of my flyer designs by going to my designs page. Basically speaking your flyer shoud have 3 basic sections. The top, the middle and the bottom. The content should be your basic business information, a picture of some kind and then the content that talks about what your business does.

Now you can design your own flyer or get someone else to design it for you. If you can't afford to have a flyer designed for you then just take the time to sit down at your table and design a simple flyer for your business. If you don't know how you want to design your flyer there are things that you can do that will help to give you ideas on how you want your flyer to look. Using your computer you can design a flyer using the most basic of programs that already have come with your computer. I can design a very professional-looking flyer using the "write" program that came with my PC and you can do that too!

Pictures that you put on your flyer can be as simple or as complicated as you want them to be. I can design a professional-looking picture using the simple "paint" program that came with my computer. Here's a word of advice! Try to use an original picture! You don't want to face being sued because you used someone's picture without their permission!.

Designing your own flyer is one of the things that you can do when starting your own business!

If You Don't Want To Believe Me.......

Here is a quote from The Small Business Informer

Several grants from the government actually go unclaimed each and every year for different reasons. The main reason is that most just don't know the government grants are accessible. Some people are discouraged about the application process for free grants primarily because they've been given incorrect information about the process. Other people don't apply for grants because they are frightened about the unknown.

Of Course Grants Are Not Just For Individuals.....

Government grant programs are not just for individuals of course. Remember what I said about grant programs being put in place to help fill a need or raise the awareness of something? The following is just an example of a grant program for just that reason:

The most recent $3 trillion budget includes $175 million for what Peters called a “congestion relief strategy” that would target congestion in cities, ports, borders, airports, and interstates. Beginning this spring the federal government plans to dole out $230 million in grants for localities to build electronic toll systems to help ease congestion and steer traffic into using “peak-pricing” tolls to spread out traffic.

Basically what this means is that localities can apply for this grant money to help ease the burden of congestion as far as traffic is concerned.

This information came from:

Logistics Management

Grant Programs For The Individual Artist?

Please do not let people convince you that there are no grant programs for the individual artist! There is one grant program that is open to artists in one of the major cities. These grant awards range from $1000 to $5000 and they go to the individual artist. Some of the requirements are that you be at least 18 years of age and you must be a resident of the city. For this particular grant program the deadline is March 15th but you can find out more information about this grant program by calling the phone number that is specified or by going to their website.

One of the interesting things about this particular grant program is that the city itself is providing free grantwriting workshops to help the artists that want to apply for this grant program. The website provides a phone number and the applications are provided online.

So don't let anyone tell you that there are no grant programs for individual artists because they are wrong.

I Want To Be A Web Page Designer...................

I got this email from a young girl who said that she wanted to be a webdesigner. Well she doesn't have her own computer - she uses one at school.

It's not impossible for her to become a webdesigner. First the one thing that she does have is herself! Secondly she does have access to a computer. One of the first things that she should do is become her first customer and design her own webpage. She can get a free webhost from one of the free webhosts that are on the internet. The very next thing to do would be to design her own webpage on a piece of paper FIRST! If she doesn't know what to put on it then she should start with the basics first and that includes a standard, basic form. You can find a sample of a basic webpage form by going to my page. There are also many webpages that have free basic webpage design templates that you can download and use and custom them to your own page's information.

Now there are some basic things that should be put on one's webpage - especially if you are going to use this webpage to generate income! First always include your email address so that people can contact you and include any samples of your work.

After you have uploaded your webpage onto the internet so that everyone can see it then you have to make sure that everyone does see it! What's the best way to do this? TELL EVERYONE THAT YOU KNOW ABOUT YOUR WEBSITE! In fact now is the time to make business cards with your webpage address on it. You can get them designed cheaply or quite simply make them yourself. You can design a simple flyer announcing your new web site!

Another way to get people to your website is for you to make your website as optimized as possible for the search engines. Simply stated this means that you want your webpage address to show up when people are searching for webpage designers. How do you do that? Welll its not easy at first but basically you want to put the right content on your webpage. What is the "right" content? Talk about your webpage design skills, talk about your background and talk about what you can offer your customer - that is a good place to start. Optimizing your webpage for the best search engine results will take time and effort. My webpage visitors are 50% from search engines and 50% from direct links.

You can even start a blog and use that as your webpage! Places like Blogger are good places to start your blog because starting your blog there is a relatively easy process. Just take a look at some of the blogs that other people have and you will get a good idea as to how you would like your blog to appear.

Another good thing about having a blog on Blogger is that you can add Google's Adsense Ads. What are those? Those are ads that are placed on your website or blog and its comparable to having ads in a newspaper. The ads are added by placing a code on your website or blog and the ads that are placed there are relevent to the content that you have on your website or blog. How do you get paid? When a visitor clicks on one of the ads that appear on your site you receive money. When you reach $100 that money will either be mailed to you or you can have it transferred to your bank account. Be forewarned though - In order to earn anything those advertising clicks have to be from legitimate visitors to your site! If you click on those ads yourself it will be considered fraud and you won't get paid but more importantly you run the risk of getting your account cancelled!. How much money could you make using Google's Adsense? One man (who runs a repair site) gets upwards of at least $2000 a month! That's a nice piece of change to be getting monthly!

Once your site is up and on the Internet then you will want to get customers. My very first paying job was as a web designer and the customer was a neighbor of mine. Simply put I showed him my website and he was impressed enough to hire me right then and there.

"I'm Looking For A Grant..................."

"I'am looking fro a grant for personal reasons, paying off bills, and starting a business!!!!"

You say you're looking for a grant for "personal reasons" but you don't say what those reasons are. You say the same thing about paying off bills but you don't say what kind of bills. You say the same thing about starting a business but you don't say what type of business..............................................................


I suggest that you go to my page that has basic grant information on it. I have answered questions similar to the one you have asked above and have posted my answers there. These same answers apply to you as well. You can not apply for a "general" grant. It will depend on what you are specifically seeking a grant for. Go to my page at http://members.aol.com/Roseb441702/payinfo.htm and answer those questions for yourself. Only then will you know exactly what type of grant programs you can start looking for.

Billions of Dollars!

Terry Newborn, a researcher for Government Publications in Washington, DC, reported, "There are billions of dollars in grants and loans earmarked for people previously identified as credit risks. Public and private funds are now available for them to buy homes, cars, start a work at home jobs business, consolidate debts,and any worthwhile purpose." In addition, he reported new financial resources have been committed to help the unemployed get job training re-enter the job market or perform work at home jobs.

Fractals?

I just downloaded a program that lets you create and make different varients of fractals. If you don't know what fractals are they are those differents shapes that you can create using mathematical formulas like for instance snowflakes. With this particular program I can start with a snowflake design and then make different varients of it.

Now how does this relate to working at home? Well I'm going to tell you. First of all I remember happening upon a website where custom fractals can be designed for customers so that's one work at home idea for you. But the first thing that struck me about fractals and how they can relate to working at home is that a lot of fractals look like pieces of jewelery. You could design a piece of jewelery but you can also design different varients of that one piece of jewelery. What if you start a business where a customer has a specific kind of jewelery in mind that they want designed? You could specialize your jewelery as one of a kind. Even if you don't know how to actually design the jewelery itself you could design the jewelery using a fractal program and then sell it to the customer or to a jewelery maker.

You could set up a website to show your work and offline you could design flyers that talk about your work and business. There is a market for one of a kind jewelery out there and you could tap into that.

Designing jewelery is just one example of what you can do with a fractal program that you can turn into your own work at home business.

Taking Something You Love And Turning It Into A Business

I just got finished reading an article about someone who took something that they loved to do and turned it into a business.

What is their business? Board Games!

It's kind of ironic because I can be just as much a computer nut as anybody but there's nothing wrong with playing a board game amongst friends. And apparently a Lot of people feel this way too - so many do in fact to keep this business running and profitable.

A man took his love of playing board games and turned it into a business. Now he had a regular job but he enjoyed playing board games with others and so he decided to turn his love into a business. He first started out of his basement selling the board games but when his orders started to grow he started using a warehouse to house his supply. He distributed flyers (one of the ways that I recommend that a person advertise their business), he had good word of mouth advertising and he also takes orders online. He just recently decided to open his business to the public and allow "walk-in" sales. Before that he was getting his orders by phone and online. He doesn't just sell to individuals - he also sells to schools, recreation centers, etc., He not only sells board games but he also sells the pieces to board games (so the customer doesn't have to buy a completely new game just to get the pieces). Oh, and he doesn't sell any computer games - just board games - including chess and checker sets as well.

So the next time that you think that your idea couldn't possibly make it as a successful business, I want you to remember the above story!

A Scholarship For Bloggers?

Yes that's right! There is a scholarship for blogging students!

You have to meet the requirements though and some of them are that you have to (of course) be a student, maintain a certain grade average and give your permission to have your name and blog published.

Other than that your blog has to meet their requirements as well.

There are many scholarship programs that are available to students and this is the newest kind of one but it does just go to show you that there are many funding opportunities for students and if you think that you don't stand a chance of being eligible for them - you're wrong!

Can You Sing?

If you can, you stand just a good a chance as anybody to win a chance to sing in a commercial! Not only that but you will also get a cash prize of over $50,000!

Companies have all different kinds of contests and this one is no exception. The deadline to apply is in March. For this particular contest all you have to do is send in a 30 second music clip of yourself! You can not be a current or past professional preformer and no felony record. You can send in your clip either by email or regular snail mail but you have to make the due date which is in March.

Contests like this happen all the time and you should keep your eyes and ears open!

How Would You Like To Work From Home?

http://jobs.aol.com/article/_a/10-more-jobs-you-can-have-at-home/20050808184809990053

This article has the same opening line that I have in my blog's description and its about jobs/careers that one can do from their own home.

The number of people that are working from home is increasing and you might be surprised to know that a lot of people are working for an employer but they are doing the work from their own home.

Many times I have said that there are legitimate "work at home" opportunities and by legitimate I mean actual employers who run legitimate businesses who hire people to work from their homes. In most cases you will need a computer but they all don't require it.

The link to the article above just proves my point more and that point is that you can work legitimately from home!

FEMA has denied yet another request for aid

In Colorado, farmers have been hard-hit by the snowstorms. There cattle have suffered and they need aid to help sustain their farms and ranches.

However FEMA has denied their requests for aid.

There are some low-cost loan programs that the farmers can apply for but the problem with this is that it is financial assistance that they need and not more debt - because even though it is a loan program the loan has to be paid back. Plus there is the added problem of not knowing whether or not those loan programs are in place or when and if they can apply for them.

It has been my experience that when people are seeking information about government grant programs it is the grant program information that they are seeking and not information about the loan programs - the main reason being that you have to pay back the loan and with grant programs you don't have to pay that money back.

There are still grant programs that exist for farmers even if it doesn't seem that way!

Are Grant Programs "Fading" Away?

~~~~~~~~~~in reply to a message that was posted ~~~~~~~~~~

I don't think that it has "faded away" in the overall sense because there are many sources of grant programs besides the government . It is always difficult after the funding source that you have been using has itself dried up but that just means that that particular source has dried up. There have been new funding programs that have been created during the time that you were using your funding source so there really wasn't a need to seek others when you had the ones that you were using. There are also grant programs that go begging for applications because none were received - so either the funding money is rolled over into the next year's program or the whole program is scrapped!

Providing funding for educational services has always been a top priority for the government and other entities such as foundations and organizations and there will always be grant programs for it!

The Money Is There!

Here is a quote that I would like you to remember everytime you feel that there is no money out there to help finance and support your non-profit organization:

Every year more than $200 billion is given to nonprofits in the US alone.

Grants and Daycare - Let's Try This Again......

Unfortunately there is just no one place that has a grant program for someone that wants to start a daycare. It depends on the TYPE of daycare that you want to start.

There are grant programs for non-profit daycares just as there are grant programs for for-profit daycares and there are some grant programs that may be open to both. The government grant programs website lists grant programs that are open to everyone to apply - that means non-profit, for-profit and even individuals. You may also be eligible for one of the "entrepreneurial" grant programs that are out there if you want to start a business.

It is just not as simple as "I want to start a daycare so where can I get grant money". It will depend on the type of daycare it is that you want to open.

So before you start looking for grant programs answer a few more questions about the type of daycare it is that you want to open.

Inspirational Quote

Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.

Confucius, 551-479 B.C., Chinese Thinker and Social Philosopher

Can You Make A Living With Ebay?

The answer, of course, is a resounding YES.

There was a show on CNBC about Ebay and it profiled some of the people that were actually making a living using Ebay to buy and sell.

Now I'm sure that I posted about this already but it is well worth repeating!

One woman sells clothing on Ebay. Actually she buys clothing (sometimes at a discount) and then sells it on Ebay at a higher price. And yes she is making a living at it because it is the only thing that she does! A farm family also uses Ebay in their business which consists of selling movies! And it feels very good to them to be able to keep their farm when so many other farm families are losing theirs!

If you have a computer you can access Ebay and it is free to sign up even if you don't buy or sell anything. They have message boards where you can ask questions and these message boards also contain tutorials and help for those that want to know about how to make their buying and selling on Ebay more successful!

Don't think you have anything to sell? I had some old coins from Germany and I put them on Ebay just to test how I would do and I did sell the coins at a profit to me. It was a small profit but I hope you get my meaning here. Look around your house - is their something that you can put on Ebay to sell? How about a book or some clothing? It's best to start with something small because remember you will have to ship the item to the buyer.

What about getting paid? Well when you place an item to sell you are given space so that you can talk about your item and in that space you can say how you want to take payment. It may surprise you to know that lots of people sell on Ebay and will only take a check or money order as payment (and yes people are paying using that method). You can also use Paypal to receive payments.

People have started businesses just buying and selling on Ebay! People go to flea markets and buy things cheaply and then sell them on Ebay. And that is just the beginning! You can gain a reputation as a good source for certain items and people may start to contact you directly and ask you about items. You can get more creative and seek out these specific items and then sell them to the buyer(s) and from there your reputation will grow even more!

I have also seen people selling their services such as writing (and they sell their own publications as well), graphic designing and just so much more than I can mention!

So if you seriously want to work from home you should definitely check out Ebay!

Inventors and Funding?

I have been asked to write an article about inventors and funding. This will not be a hard article for me to write because there are many funding opportunities for inventors. Right now President Bush is talking about finding alternative methods for oil and this is just one of the paths that is open to inventors. Another avenue is the military. The government is always looking for inventions that will help make the miltary better. This can be anything from designing new kinds of weapons to designing better durable uniforms! The government spends a lot of money on this and they will continue to do so!

The government is not the only source of funding for inventors. Most notably I'm thinking about if you can make a product better then you stand a good chance of receiving funding for it.

However one thing I want to repeat about getting funding - be it for inventors or anyone - and that is there is a process to it. In more cases than not you have to go through the application process. A grant is not guarenteed! You have to apply for it. Now I have been involved with some funding that requires nothing more than submitting a simple proposal but they are not all like this.

There is a lot of untapped potential out there (waiting to be tapped!)

The Need For More Grants For The New Orleans Area

There is a proposal for a number of new grant programs in the areas that were hard hit by Katrina. One such program would bring in over $1 Million Dollars in grant moneies for those small businesses in the area that were affected. While this is good news for those that want to continue to do their business in the area, the proposal has to be approved first. Of course there is much dissappointment at the number of grant programs that were and are still available for those in the area. While there are still a number of loan programs available the people affected by hurricane Katrina don't want to incur more debt because they have so much that they have to pay for now. There are still grant programs available for both individuals and businesses in the affected areas and some of these programs have been started by entities other than the governemt because of the need to bring back the businesses to the area.

Sex & Mrs. X - Movie Review!

I just got finished reading a post from a woman whose husband left her for a younger woman and it reminded me of this movie. In the post the woman said that she had no job skills but she also mentioned that she would be able to do "light" work for donations/money.

"Sex & Mrs. X" is a movie about a woman whose husband left her for a younger woman. So she decides to throw herself into her work - which is reporting. She interviews a woman who provides a service to women to help them find men to marry. On the surface it seems kind of sleazy but once you find out more about it you find out that it really isn't. What I found fascinating was the story behind why the woman got into that kind of business in the first place. She explained that she had been in love with a man and he left her and she wanted to know why and she began to learn and thats how her business started. I won't give away the ending but I will say that it has a happy ending and if you'd like to find out more about the movie here is a link

Sex & Mrs. X

That is really a good example of taking a negative and turning it into a positive - even if it is only a movie.

You may think that its a crazy idea but just look at all the escort services that are around. There is a woman whose career it is to teach women how to find their inner godess! Another woman teaches bellydancing and what about the books that teach things like how to be a better lover, etc., You may think that "hey nobody's asking me to write a book" but how about you write an article? Circulate it. Let it be seen. Put it on a webpage so others can see it. When you garner enough interest in it opportunities will come.

It's Never Too Late To Start (or maintain) Your Career!

A very popular soap opera actress recently died. She kept working well into her senior years. This kind of dispels the myth that you have to be young in Hollywood to have and sustain a successful career.

I also belong to this mailing list that has to do with acting as a career. One of my most favorite actresses is Tyne Daly. She's probably best known for being in "Cagney and Lacy" series a while back. She is always working and she is definitely not in her 20's. Again this dispels the myth of having to be in your 20's to have a successful acting career.

I get a lot of email from people who dream to be actors and singers and I don't see any reason why they can't pursue this. Eddie Murphy said that the best piece of advice that he could give aspirees is to not take any advice!

It's NEVER too late to start your career (or dream job)!

For Inventors Seeking Angel Investors!

I saw yet another message post by an inventor who posted that he was seeking an Angel Investor. I didn't know whether or not I should have replied to this post but when I saw the amount of $25 Million Dollars needed from an angel investor it just struck me as to how that is a LOT of money! I'm sure other inventors seeking angel investors would like to know whether or not the original poster got any kind of response - whether it be good or bad.

I have seen so many people posting looking for investors and they think that it ends with just them posting a request. I'm a firm believer in "never say never" and "nothing's impossible" and there have been instances where an inventor will post a request and receive a response (both good and bad) and it's not impossible to get a respnse this way but it does give me pause for concern. I'm sure that a lot of inventors don't know of any other way of finding (potential) investors other than posting their request on a message board.

One of the best ways to find an angel investor is to find someone who had an angel investor and find out how they did it. There have been instances where an angel investor found the inventor instead of it being the other way around so again - never say never. But there is more that the inventor should be doing than just that. It would be great if you could just invent something and then by some magic you automatically get an investor. But it just doesn't always work out that way.

I Have An Internet Radio Station!

Number one - there is nothing wrong with "tooting your own horn". It's something that I would advise everyone to do!

Number 2 - While I didn't start this radio station with the intention of making money at it I have had a chance to read posts from others that have their own Internet Stations and one of the topics that has come up is how they can make money at it. That's when my "professional" vibe kicked in. Now why would I want to have an Internet Radio station? Well the most important reason is that I used to be a DJ for a lot of years back in the 80's and 90's and to be quite honest I miss it! When I was working as a DJ it wasn't just "DJ" work that I did. I did a lot of production work like making commercials and I was even the producer for a talk show! But besides that I did sales and I even worked on and repaired the equipment. All of this experience has just added to my skills and it brings back memories when someone posts and asks how they can make money with their Internet Radio station. Now there are a lot of seasoned pros that have their own Internet Radio stations and they have offered their tips and examples of how they are making money with their Internet stations. The most often cited way is that they have advertising on their web pages that relate to their Internet Radio stations. Now take note here because I said they have advertising on their webpages and not on their station broadcasts. To make a long story short it isn't allowed if you have a certain kind of station.

But for me this started out as a pleasure kind of thing - something I love to do - and since I'm always talking about taking something that you love to do and turn it into a career then I should go on to say how you can turn it into a successful business.

• Number one - if you haven't done this kind of thing before it may be quite frustrating for you. Most of the people that have their own Internet station has had experience relating to it in one way or another. I should also add that this is not a free service! There is a monthly/yearly fee involved. (By the way my station is on Live365.com).
  

  Basically you first have to decide what kind of format your station will be. Personally mine is a "community" station for my local area with music filling in the gaps. The basic technique is picking out your music and uploading to your space so that it can be added to the playlist. Since the music that I play originates from various forms (ie vinyl, cds, tapes) I simply have to convert it to the right format before I add it to my playlist. The same thing applies to the "spoken" stuff that you want to add. For me I record it and then upload it to my playlist. Now since I have a radio background I can do some creative producing to the stuff that I add to my playlist. This kind of skill can be used to form your own production company where you can do things like produce jingles and professional recordings for others.
  

• Like I mentioned above a lot of the broadcasters rent out advertising space on their webpages - another good source of income.
  

• While it's not "money-making" a lot of the broadcasters also receive free music - BUT you can turn this into a moneymaking thing. I'm not talking about accepting money for playing certain music (I think that's payola and I think that is illegal) I'm talking about building up a reputation as a legitmate radio station where you will come under the radar of those in the business - people who are anxious to get their music played. You can turn that into your advantage by creating a newsletter for your station - accepting advertising and the like!

There are many ways that you can take this and turn it into a money-making career!

A Career As A Graphics Artisit? Is It Still Possible?

The answer, of course, is YES! There are many, many people that want to have a career as a graphics artist and you would think that with so many people wanting to do so that the market for this type of work would be flooded. In a way it is. But compare it to the many people that want to have a show business career. Even though there are so many of them there are still those that manage to have a career at it.

I guess it would be perfect for someone that wanted to have their own career as a graphic artist to be able to have their own business as one and be able to work from home doing it. Guess what? There are people that are doing it successfully from home. For example just watching a program recently I saw an example of a graphic artist that has his own business from home. How did he get started? He got an idea for his art by watching a movie. He started designing his art - yes, from his computer at home - and then he started advertising his art in as many places as he could find. Interest in his art grew and then he started getting PAYING jobs for his work. For example his work was shown in galleries, he was commissioned to do work for buildings (meaning his art was painted on the buildings including walls and such). He even got commissioned work from individuals.

Now this all didn't happen in a day! It takes time to build up any new business or career. But he decided that it was something that he wanted so badly (and in his words it was a "passion" of his) that he took the necessary time and effort. Now he has the career of his "dreams" working as a graphics artist from home in his own business.

Yes there are many out there that want to have a career as a graphics artist and there are people who are actually doing it! (and successfully too!) Just think about how "perfect" it would be to be able to work from home doing something you love and being paid for it! Yes it is possible!