Help for Small Business Owners

Free Help for Small Business Owners
http://www.komando.com/smallbusinesscenter/

http://www.sba.gov/

http://www.smallbusiness.com/wiki/Main_Page

http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/r-index

http://smallbusiness.aol.com/

http://www.microsoft.com/SMALLBUSINESS/hub.mspx

http://smallbusiness.officelive.com/?p1=CJ


Community created to help you do your job better.
http://www.officearrow.com/


Google also offers great tools for everyone including business
http://www.google.com/intl/en/options/

Working from Home

Well I did it! I purchased a "9 Easy Steps" from Shawn Casey. If I can create a few streams of income even if they are small to start with, then maybe I can make it working from home.

I know right now it's tough on Ebay, but that will pass with Tax Day. In the mean time I can rebuild the store so Mothers Day sales from EBay can be another stream that perhaps will help to keep me afloat.

Now I just have to get going which is harder than it sounds. Staying home creates all kinds of opportunities to procrastinate: cooking, cleaning, going through the never ending piles of paperwork, coupons and rebates take extra time as well. The surveys have not paid off yet; so far its just a time investment. The email boxes which are overflowing and the new types of networking and job hunting online are taking time as well.

I'll have to make appointments for each item to stay on task. That will have to be incorporated into my list/spreadsheet. So far I feel like I'm playing catch up with things. Seeing things done on the list will give me a sense of accomplishment. Less TV time would be a plus and a daily walk would be good for my health.

Getting it together

Today started with my internet down so after rebooting, first the computer, then the modem, and after a lengthy call to the ISP where they reset the modem and had me reboot the router. It just seems that everything is more complicated than it should be.

I built a spreadsheet to help my organize all my loose ends. I have pages for errands, bills to pay, education (since I am offered some certifications free for working as a temp), EBay listings to reduce my clutter and relieve more stock in hand, jobs t(o apply or follow up), survey companies (to make a couple of bucks), and I'm debating the ebook idea so they got a page too.

I know I need to focus but right now my direction is a bit unclear so I will try to get as much as I can done and track my progress with each item. That way evaluating will be easier and I can rule out items as I go. Plus memories fade all too quickly.

Ebooks

ebook download link

http://rapidshare.com/

http://www.filefactory.com/

Publishing ebooks

Wondering if I should publish some ebooks to get another stream of revenue going
http://www.lulu.com/

The theory being if I could get additional streams of income going maybe I could forstall the disaster looming of not having a job. I know that I cannot live here on what I will receive from unemployment. The math just doesn't work. By working as a temp I increase my income and also increase the length of time my unemployment benefits will last.

Free Lance Writing is another Option to consider. Perhaps bedtime reading should be all those books on that topic I aquired over the years.
http://www.freelancewriting.com/

First I will add to the EBay store to help clear the office and make some cash.
http://stores.ebay.com/Jewelry-and-all-that-Jazz
Update: The store is now closed but I do sell on eBay from time to time

Slicing food costs

Part of the whole living while unemployed involves reducing costs. A typical day with me working away from home in another city was eating out (sometimes breakfast, lunch and dinner). This was expensive and not very good for me either.

I had started to clean up my act (due to some bad blood test results) by making breakfast peanut butter on whole wheat toast and lunch a can of soup or frozen lean cuisine, with some additional fruit (grapes, apples or clementines) or veggies (mostly cherry tomatoes, celery, baby carrots, or slices of peppers). I grant there were still cookies and other treats in the picture but we had removed fast food from the mix pretty painlessly.

Now I'm here at home most of the time and fancy myself a great cook so there have been significant changes again. First I have to use what is here (I have a huge pantry area in my basement) and determine what I will replace. Of course necessities like bread, eggs, milk, and toilet paper need to be taken care of as needed.

Right now I'm wondering if Extra Virgin Olive Oil is a necessity or should I just use up all the various oils I have on hand first. I happened to run into Tarragon Wine Vinegar last week so while Balsamic is nearing empty it's not pressing.

I have spent times in my life being poor and times being maybe not rich, but comfortable. While its easier to be comfortable the "poor years" taught me to always know where the clearance is even in food stores. I visit those spots when I shop even in the comfortable times. Once you have bargain hunted and "scored big time" you will understand.

There are tons of blogs out there on cooking more for less money. You may want to try these:
http://www.5dollardinners.com/2009/03/menu-plan-monday-march-16th.html
http://www.recipezaar.com/bb/viewtopic.zsp?t=288541

My recipe blog often has economic recipes but certainly these dinners for under $10 qualify
http://bluesbabys-rants.blogspot.com/2009/03/meals-under-10.html

and if you are willing to try to become a Coupon Queen you may want to look here:
http://bluesbabys-rants.blogspot.com/2009/03/amazing-coupons.html
http://www.dealseekingmom.com/

Best Sites for the Unemployed

Unemployed (or Preparing to Be)? These Sites Could Be Your Best Friends
We found a battery of new sites and services--such as LinkedIn JobsInsider, Recessionwire, and Uberi.com--dedicated to providing the kind of cost-cutting, job-search, and moral-support tools that can be invaluable during lean times.
Mark Sullivan, PC World
Mar 9, 2009
http://www.pcworld.com/article/160925/unemployed_or_preparing_to_be_these_sites_could_be_your_best_friends.html



"Simply a one-stop shop for job seekers."Walter Mossberg, Wall Street Journal
With the familiar look and feel of general search engines, Indeed makes it easy for you to drill down by keyword and location to jobs that fit your requirements precisely. You may save your searches and have jobs delivered to you by email alert, MyYahoo, or other RSS feed readers
http://www.indeed.com/

In writing this post I discovered Clusty Jobs, powered by Indeed.com. Not sure how it differs. It will bear some investigating. Clusty provides search and clustering of over 500 websites and job boards, the top 200 newspapers, hundreds of associations, and company career pages. Search for a job with an optional location in the search box above or select a state below to see the 200 most recent jobs by state.
http://jobs.clusty.com/