posted by admin on Oct 3

Show Me the Money….

For some reason, this time, the same story I had heard numerous times, got to me. The person had paid a lot of money to someone to write a grant for them and all that they got was a CD and a book with instructions. We got connected because of an ad in craigslist.com, this person was going to pay again to hire another grant writer. I spent the amount of time necessary answering questions and ’splaining so this individual could understand that unfortunately, there are not many grants available for individuals. Government funded projects are awarded to non-profit, education and public organizations, who then disburse them in ways that will benefit individuals. Foundations can only fund non-profits (501(c)3), education and public organizations.

If you are one of those individuals looking for grants to start a for-profit business you need to look at the Department of Commerce’s Small Business Administration, which gives you the real facts about grants for business start-ups. There are great pointers and templates for business plans in this website. The SBA provides guarantees on loans and works through banks to assist individuals with funds for business start-ups and expansions.

The complete listing of government benefits with a explanation of programs can be helpful to understand where some of the federal grant money goes. An example of grants that benefit individuals and are administered by governmental entities and non-profits is the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) American Dream Downpayment Initiative. The program helps eligible individuals with down payment, closing cost and rehabilitation assistance that increases home ownership rates. ADDI locations throughout the United States can be found here.
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posted by admin on Oct 3

“What do you mean I am a Technology Immigrant?” I asked my son, “Yeah Mom,” he responded, “my generation was born with the computer – I have always worked with a computer – that makes me a Technology Native”…My son encouraged me to start this “blog” and after reading all I could on this technology trend, I became interested enough to start “findmegrants”. I am using Word Press, a free software for blogs that has templates you can choose from and “how to” instruction throughout the software.I had to learn a little html language to be able to set up the links, but Word Press “how to” pages gave me the code and indicated where to place it. It was a lot harder for me to grasp the concept, than I am making it sound – I had to read the “how to info” several times and bug my son for jargon translations before I got that ahaaaa moment.In order to put pictures in the site, they need a “URL” number and I used “flickr”, the free picture website. When I wanted to make changes to the picture, I was sent to another free website – “picnik” to crop, adjust, add color…just so you know, I took many credit hours in college to learn how to do this in the dark room…amazing – now it is done in a matter of seconds.Now why blog? – There is some money to be made – I think… After I read Steve Pavilian’s article,“How to Make Money From Your Blog” very carefully taking the time to go to the highlighted links I really began to understand how Google Adsense works. He also gives great advice on personal development, which is perceptive. Successful blogs, according to Steve are based on blogging about information that gives “value”. “If my writing doesn’t change people’s thinking, actions, or awareness, then my value isn’t being transferred well enough,” says Pavilian. Read the rest of this entry »