Here’s an opportunity to help your favorite business; Nominate them to win some money. Or, if yours is your favorite business – nominate yourself by applying for a grant. Intuit is awarding over $100,000 in grants! Your votes determine which 10 local businesses will win.

This January and February, one business a month will win a small business grant worth $35,000. Each Grand Prize small business grant includes $25,000 worth of local radio advertising on the Westwood One network, $9,500 cash, plus $500 in Intuit products and services. Plus, four other monthly winners will win small business grants, too – each worth $5,000.

Last year, one of TaxMama’s students won – Julie’s Tax Service!

This year, please feel free to vote for your TaxMama, too!

No related posts.

Fighting a neighbor’s poisonous secondhand smoke can prove a double nightmare in condos, apartment houses or co-ops. Association boards, property managers and building owners typically refuse to intervene – and worse. The secondhand smoke victim is often denigrated by board members, attorneys, fellow neighbors and by the smoker(s).

Taking the matter to court is a lengthy, expensive and daunting prospect. I therefore took the road least traveled by secondhand smoke victims.

I wrote and published a book: SECONDHAND SMOKE CRIMES: When Neighbors Poison You, Your Family & Pets by Dr. Joyce Starr , to throw at the smokers, condo board and judge. The reaction was swift and positive.

A writer’s pen may be the best sword  (solution) in a life-threatening situation. The book captured their attention after a year of repeated complaints were ignored!

Numerous websites discuss the dangers of secondhand smoke. But chain-smoking abusers and their defenders rarely visit those sites!

Hopefully, my experiences and book will help safeguard adults, children and pets who suffer from secondhand smoke in multi-family buildings.

Dr. Joyce Starr

Image Credit: Say NO to second-hand smoke – hsufehmi on Flickr

No related posts.

Tickets are selling at a fast clip for the upcoming Joe Jobs Expo on January 15, 2009. A limited number of tickets remain the afternoon session at the job fair. The morning session from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. has already sold out. The afternoon session is from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. and tickets are available. The Joe Jobs Expo take place at the Pacific Palms Hotel & Conference Center in Industry Hills.

Job seekers have to pre-register online at JoeJobsExpo.com to reserve a spot at the Expo. There is a $5 admission fee that can be paid online via credit card during pre-registration. It also covers parking, a 26-week Sunday newspaper subscription and a donation to the Boy Scouts of America.

Participants can also receive discounted room accommodations at the Pacific Palms Resort for the evenings of Jan. 14 and 15, if they identify themselves as Expo attendees. Attendees unable to pay online may register and the pay the $5 admittance fee in cash at the door.

One of the Expo’s title sponsors is the Los Angeles Stadium project. That project will bring 18,700 new jobs – 12,000 of them union construction jobs – to the San Gabriel Valley and surrounding areas. Expo job seekers can also find leads to employment opportunities provided by other organizations and companies not associated with the stadium project.

More than 40 organizations and employers will exhibit at the Expo, including the Los Angeles Newspaper Group (LANG), the Los Angeles Clippers, the San Gabriel Valley Economic Partnership, Best Jobs Magazine, Sukut Construction, Clark Construction, the Hunt Construction Group, Young & Associates and others.

The East San Gabriel Valley Regional Occupation Program is providing 15 to 20 laptop computers for attendees to use to search for employment opportunities.

LA Works is conducting two seminars (interviewing skills, networking) at each of the Expo’s two sessions.

Best Jobs Magazine is offering a short orientation that runs throughout the day and that advises job seekers how to take the fullest advantage of the services and resources offered at the Expo.

Working Wardrobe, based in Costa Mesa, plans to offer a free (work attire) makeover to one lucky job seeker.

Other exhibitors also are determined not to let job seekers leave the Expo empty-handed by offering free samples of products and free or discounted tickets to entertainment venues.

The Expo’s tie-in with the Los Angeles Stadium brings it the kind of attention that is difficult to ignore. Los Angeles Stadium decision makers, local government officials and various media outlets are planning on covering the event.

Register as a job seeker for the Expo afternoon session at: www.JoeJobsExpo.com

Contact: Tom Daley
Office: (626) 732-3800
E-mail: Media@JoeJobsEXPO.com

Image Credit: CV Checking – The Careers group on Flickr

No related posts.

It seems that every second ad on the radio is stating how you can get out of debt for next to nothing, pay pennies on the dollar and “Hear the secret the credit card companies don’t want you to know!” Before you try out any these “life saving” opportunities, check out the Money Matters website – courtesy of our own Federal Trade Commission.

These article talks about what to be suspicious of when dealing with a debt relief firm and does so in a clear and distinct manner. The Money Matters website has a wealth of information and is definitely worth a read.

No related posts.

Rentoid is a commercial enterprise that we thought fitted nicely into the criteria of We Found A Solution, to quote from their about us page:

“You know that Nintendo Wii that you’re thinking of buying? Expensive, isn’t it? Wouldn’t it be easier and cheaper if you could just rent it from someone instead of spending all of your hard earned cash? Just type what you want to rent, along with your location. Rentoid will find someone willing to rent it to you.”

The site originally started in Australia but they seem to be getting traction across the planet – I searched for a tent to rent over the weekend and would have been well satisfied if I lived in England or the City of Melbourne – not so good for Los Angeles, but a site like this lives and dies on the user community; as it grows the service will no doubt get better and better.

I like how the site makes it easy to search what is available to rent and also encourages you to list your items – it’s a way to make money from “stuff” you aren’t using – win / win all round. They have a well written and user friendly Rentoid FAQ and seem to be getting a bit of press. We wish them the very best of luck.

Thanks to Jason and his innovative “I wear your shirt” campaign for bringing this onto our radar.

No related posts.

BOINC stands for Berkley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing – parent to the more familiar SETI – Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence – it is a way of harnessing the unused computer processing power on the planet.  Run by the University of California, the program requires you to download a simple application that taps into your computer’s power when you are asleep.

BOINC allows you to choose projects that appeal to you ranging from identifying genetic markers for disease to improving climate prediction.  the more people that sign up, the faster our scientists can solve the problems.

We Found A Solution is all about helping you and your local community but this idea helps the greater world community and we’re always in favor of that too.

Thanks to Leo Sunshine for putting this on our “Radar!”

No related posts.

If you’re discarding business suits and other appropriate office attire that is still in good condition, consider giving it to organizations that help low-income people obtain clothing for job interviews.

Some national charities: CareerGear helps men; Dress for Success helps women with business clothing. Also, look for local charities (e.g., Wardrobe for Opportunity in the Bay area) that accept clothing donations. Other ways to help include making financial donations and holding suit drives to collect business clothing.

This post originally appeared on Barbara Weltman’s Big Ideas for Small Business blog.

Thank you Barbara.

Related posts:

1. Do You Love a Business? Here’s an opportunity to help your favorite business; Nominate...

I was searching for an image to accompany Rosalea Hostetler’s post: Do Something Nice For Others – and came across this image.
 
I think it is brilliant and so easy to do – click on the image to see a larger version – I love the tear off strips with comments like: Wish you were here, You have nice eyes, Smile, I am glad to know you, Good job, I appreciate you, Thinking of you, etc.

What other words would be good for a flyer like this? Let us know in the comments below and if we collect enough we will create a page where people can print and download the flyer and post it themselves – wouldn’t that be something nice to do!

No related posts.

If you are facing foreclosure, one tactic you may wish to consider is to ask the Lender to produce your mortgage note.

Over the last few years, mortgages were sold from one firm to another, sometimes many times, and the original documentation may have gotten lost in the process.  If you can persuade the Judge to halt proceedings until the Lender can prove they actually own the mortgage then you can buy valuable time in some cases, up to a year.

Google “Produce the Note” to read more.

Submitted by Jordanna Fineberg

No related posts.

CheapTweet scans Twitter for the best deals, coupons and sales that people are tweeting about.

How does it work?
CheapTweet lets users rate deals by saying It’s Cheap (it’s a good deal) or It’s Lame (it’s not a good deal). Deals move to the Cheapest Tweets section if they get enough votes.

CheapTweet also uses the power of Twitter. If lots of people talk about a deal, CheapTweet tracks that too and that contributes to a deal getting on the Cheapest Tweets list. Spammers beware though, we’re filtering you out.

CheapTweet and Twitter are both free services – you can sign up for a free Twitter account here.

No related posts.