If you want to make a donation to Accion International in honor of the Great Blog Off, use this link.

You might also want to take into account a monthly donation or gift of stocks. Here is a list of donation possibilities.

This Great Blog Off has been very informative and interesting for me.  I learned a lot about Accion International, and I’m glad I did.  Since I spend my time helping people start businesses, this charity is definitely one I’ll be donating to.

I hope you enjoyed the Blog Off.  If so, please let me know.

Tags: Accion, b5media, business channel, Great Blog OFF!

Share This

Share This

Share This

If you aren’t convinced that Accion International is a great organization, read some stories of microentrepreneurs who have been helped by the resources and people of Accion.

For example:

• Vasanti Amin, of India, who owns a small tea and snack shop.
• Karoline Peters, a restaurant owner in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania
• Luis Pillar, who opened a grocery store in Ecuador to provide for his family,
  
• Ronis Rosa, a automobile wash employee now a automobile detailing business owner in Milford, Massachusetts

This post is part of the b5media Business Channel Great Blog Off! Find out more about the Blog Off here: http://www.b5media.com/b5media-blogs-for-a-cause-and-raises-money-in-support-of-charity/

The Business Channel is supporting Accion International for the Great Blog Off. You can make a donation directly to Accion (http://www.accion.org/b5media). Donations are tax deductible.

Share This

Share This

Share This

I’ve found some really great information on the AccionUSA website! This page lists business training and consulting services that partner with Accion to help small business owners in the U.S.

For example:

StartupNation

The Beehive Entrepreneur Center

MicroMentor

Association for Enterprise Opportunity

This post is part of the b5media Business Channel Great Blog Off!  Find out more about the Blog Off here: http://www.b5media.com/b5media-blogs-for-a-cause-and-raises-money-in-support-of-charity/

The Business Channel is supporting Accion International for the Great Blog Off. You can make a donation directly to Accion (http://www.accion.org/b5media).  Donations are tax deductible.

Tags: Accion, b5media, business channel, Great Blog OFF!

Share This

Share This

Share This

AccionUSA is a part of Accion International. This organization helps small businesses across the country with small loans. They have special programs for minorities and women, to help them get loans.

Here’s the information on these loans:

• Loan amounts range from $500 to $25,000
• Annual interest rate as low as 13%
• Loan terms up to 60 months
• Loan types include installment, balloon loans, and lines of credit
• Loan purpose ranges from inventory and equipment purchase to business marketing, payment of licensing fees, and other expenses associated with building a business
• Money in your hands (or loans disbursed) in 10 business days upon receipt of your completed application and all supporting documents
• Flexible application documents—less than banks require.

In addition, they have the Capabilities Fund to help people with disabilities get loans.

Wow! They could give the SBA a run for their money!
This post is part of the b5media Business Channel Great Blog Off! Find out more about the Blog Off here: http://www.b5media.com/b5media-blogs-for-a-cause-and-raises-money-in-support-of-charity/

The Business Channel is supporting Accion International for the Great Blog Off. You can make a donation directly to Accion (http://www.accion.org/b5media). Donations are tax deductible.

Tags: Accion, b5media, business channel, Great Blog OFF!

Share This

Share This

Share This

Filed under: Estates

Today’s home is in the small town of Garrison, New York in upstate New York. The four-bedroom home won me over with the living room that has a 30-foot ceiling and a fireplace with a tall wood surround. There are plenty of fireplaces in this home including one in the formal dining room, one in the mahogany-paneled library and one in the master suite. The home has four bedrooms total and the herringbone wood floors give this home a cozy feel. It sits on over two acres with gardens and landscaping, an in-ground pool and a stream with a little bridge. It is listed at $2.25 million.
%Gallery-23198%

Continue reading Manitou Manor, Estate of the Day

Read

Share This

Share This

For those who love having checklists for nearly anything, Second Gear brings you Check Off.

Check Off is a Mac OS X To-Do checklist that is both easy and intuitive to use. To get it up and running, you just need to download the installer and run the setup file. After that, Check Off is easily accessible through the Mac OS X tool bar.

If you are the type who wants everything to be organized, you can group the items with ease or use the Finder-like labels for easy task visualization. Also, you’re not limited to a few lines of text as a reminder. Each item has its own note where you can put more specific instructions.

Bring your reminders everywhere using your own iPod through the notes feature. While it could have been great if this program was made available to Windows users, Mac users will find Check Off a great help with their checklist needs.

Requires Mac OS X Leopard. Success with Tiger and Panther isn’t guaranteed.

Share This

Share This

Share This

I don’t wait for moods. You accomplish nothing if you do that. Your mind must know it has got to get down to work.
- Pearl S. Buck

Image credit: Pic by Dora Pete from stock.xchng

Share This

Share This

Share This

Share This

Share This

Share This

PimpYourWork.com

You’re team leader? Great!

But sometimes, it’s frustrating dealing with members of a team when:

• You’ve to repeat instructions at least twice.
• They need constant assistance.
• They leave it up to you to make all the decisions - even if they could make it themselves.

What now? What SHOULD you do?

• Listen.  Become a genuine listener when trying to figure out what goes wrong.  Is it unfamiliarity with the topics or technology surrounding the project?  Is it lack of exposure to learning materials?
• Analyze.  Maybe the problem isn’t with the people, it’s with the process.  See if there’s a way you can make your workflow smoother and more efficient.
• Engage.  Let your team become engaged in working on projects together.  Find out what interests them and incorporate these interests into your workflow.
• Encourage.  Even if they are doing things wrong, you need to throw in some encouragement with the criticism - or else they’ll think they’ll never get it right and they’ll act that way.
• Educate.  Hand over some great learning materials while encouraging them to look for additional resources.  Also, show them examples of high quality output - otherwise, how are they to tell the difference between excellent and excrement?
• Show consequences. What are the consequences when a team member performs poorly?  Whenever your team members give poor quality work, tell them how this kind of performance affects both him/her and the team.  When people know that their own performance affects their own situation, they are more prone to listen.
• Reward.  People know they did well when they’re rewarded.  Even if it’s just rest-time or a family-sized pizza, your team needs to get that ‘pat on the back’ for a job well done.

What you SHOULDN’T do:

• Spoonfeed them with the information they need.
• Do their jobs yourself.
• Assume that you’re 100% of the problem.
• Assume that your team is 100% of the problem.

This post is part of the b5media Business Channel Great Blog Off! Find out more about the Blog Off here: http://www.b5media.com/b5media-blogs-for-a-cause-and-raises-money-in-support-of-charity/

The Business Channel is supporting Accion International for the Great Blog Off. You can make a donation directly to Accion (http://www.accion.org/b5media). Donations are tax deductible.

Image credit: Pic by Daniel Wildman from stock.xchng

Share This

Share This

Share This

Oakland fire ruins buildings - 8 left homeless - San Francisco Gate
(06-20) 19:00 PDT OAKLAND — A six-alarm fire raged through a block of East Oakland on Friday afternoon, heavily damaging four buildings and driving eight residents from their homes before firefighters brought it under control. With flames as high as

River Valley Chamber Newsbrief Might 2008 - Sun-Journal
May 17 Rumford Hospital Auxiliary, Yard sale at 209 Lincoln Avenue, Rumford. Call Barbara at 364-3648 for more details. Upcoming Chamber events The 6th Annual Franklin Savings Bank, Rumford Rotary, River Valley Chamber Golf Tournament will be held on

Banks Trimming Limits for Many on Credit Cards - New York Times
The simple money that led Americans to depend on credit cards to pay their bills is starting to dry up. After fostering the explosive growth of consumer debt in current years, financial companies are reducing the credit limits on cards held by millions

Minimum wage soon to rise, again; Businesses worry about added expense - MLive.com
John W. Adkisson | The Flint Journal Sarah Reen (right), 18, of Swartz Creek grabs a sleeve of cones as Brigette Baker (back), 16, of Gaines Township works the drive-through window at Dairy Queen in Swartz Creek. The minimum wage is about to go up

Ford speeds up shift to producing small cars - Detroit Free Press
Ford Motor Co. fired its second warning flare in two months Friday, saying it would further slash production of its massive trucks and SUVs — while making more small cars, crossovers and fuel-efficient powertrains — as U.S. demand for larger automobiles

Higher airfares change the way business travels - Marketwatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Last year, trainers for Le Gourmet Gift Basket Inc. made more than 900 flights on business trips as far away as China to help establish new franchises. This year, the small Denver-based company anticipates to cut its number of

Business start up advice from startups.co.uk - startups.co.uk
Startups.co.uk is your number-one on the internet resource for starting a business. Whether you are a budding entrepreneur ready to start a business for the first time or you are an established entrepreneur looking to do it a second time, we have all the news

Retail biz- Large & small can co-exist - Central Chronicle
Retail business in the country, which has been dominated by the unorganized sector — individually-run grocery stores, garment shops, medical stores etc.-is changing. Many of the known massive Indian companies have entered the fray and many have decided

Nearly 19,000 Iowans sign up for federal disaster relief - Des Moines Register
Nearly 19,000 Iowans have registered with the Federal Emergency Management Bureau for disaster assistance in the wake of severe storms, tornadoes and widespread flooding, federal officials stated Saturday. There have been a total of 18,970

Chamber Will Honor 3 Small Businesses: C&H Group, the Boise Weekly and - Blackenterprise.com
Jun. 21–A small company that helps businesses manage transitions to new ownership, the Boise Weekly newspaper, and an employee-assistance company are all winners of this year’s Small Business of the Year awards. The Boise Metro Chamber of Commerce

Share This

Share This