Free Information For Government Grants
Filed under: Archives, At Work, Finances, Free Stuff, Governmental Grants
Finding Federal government grants for a business endeavor can be difficult. There is Federal grant money available to businesses, however, finding the right website, can take a considerable amount of time. I’m going to provide you with the free link, to the website, which lists all grants available through the Federal government. It all starts with a short story.
Years ago, we expanded our business, and began wood recycling. Friends mentioned that we may be illegible for Federal grant money, since wood recycling was a “green” type business. Thus, I began my research, to find Federal grant money, to subsidize the wood recycling part of our business.
I spent hours researching online. Many of the sites would offer Federal grant sources, for a fee. Granted (no pun intended ), these individuals had spent many hours compiling this information, but I knew, there had to be a Federal site that would offer available grant information, for free. And……….there is. (Keep in mind, with the Federal, State and city governments, this data is free public information…you just have to know where to look)
The name of the site is Grants.gov. Here’s a free link to it: Grants.gov
On the “Grants.gov” site, the information is ever changing. Sure, you can bookmark the site and check it often, but, by registering, you can get emails (on almost a daily basis), of all Federal grant opportunities. To register, you first need a DUNS number (from Dun and Bradstreet), and you must also be registered with the CCR (Central Contractor Registry). By clicking on the following link, you will be taken to: Grants.gov-Get Registered.
Once you are on this page, you can follow the links to Dun and Bradstreet, the CCR (Central Contractor Registry), and acquire information of how to gain access to email alerts. This process will take a little time to complete, but if you’re interested in finding potential Federal grant money for your business, your efforts could “pay off”.
When the emails listing the available grants begin arriving in your inbox, Grants.gov, provides a link to each grant opportunity.
If you find a grant that is suitable for your business, and are not comfortable with the application process, you might consider hiring a “grant writer” to complete the application.
After researching hundreds of Federal grant opportunities, what I observed was that most Federal grant money is only available to individual states and cities. There are grants available to individual businesses, however, you must meet the criteria. My research for Federal grant money, also lead me to a State program, that offered a tax incentive program for wood recycling businesses.
If you are anxious to see what grants are currently available, there is a link on the Grants.gov homepage on which you can click. This will take you to a list of the current grants. Keep in mind, grants are only available for a predetermined period of time. When applying for a Federal grant, time is of the essence.
Our wood recycling business “took off” pretty fast, so I gave up on my search for Federal grant money.
Even though we have since closed our wood recycling and composting operations, I continue to get updates from Grants.gov. One never knows when another opportunity will “knock”.
To read a tutorial on using a tub grinder for wood recycling, click here.
Tags: amount of time, business endeavor, central contractor registry, city governments, daily basis, dun and bradstreet, duns number, federal government grants, federal grant money, federal grant opportunities, Green, money, public information, type business, wood recyclingPicasa – Free And Easy Photo Software
Filed under: Archives, At Home, At Work, Free Stuff, Saving Money
If you’re looking for a free and easy photo editing software program, you’ve come to the right place.
If you’re looking for a photo software program, that lets you:
1) Remove red eye
2) Crop photos
3) Import photos
4) Create slide shows
5) Email photos
6) Create a collage
7) Adjust color of photos
8.) Add special affects to photos
9) Order prints onlne
10) Export photos
+ much more….
Try Picasa.
I’ve used Picasa for over a year now to organize my photos, and love all of the features it includes. It’s easy to download, easy to use, and best of all, it’s free.
Just click on the following link for Google’s Picasa software. It’s part of the free Google Pack.
How To Get A Split Screen On Your Computer
Filed under: Archives, At Home, At Work, Free Stuff
If you’re on your computer, and you’re like me, you’re spending lots of time “surfing the net”. Wouldn’t it be great to be able to see two or more websites, at the same time? Wouldn’t it be great if you could “split” your screen?
Well, you can.
In order to use the split screen, (which is called an “add on”), you must first be using a Firefox toolbar. If you don’t have a Firefox toolbar, it can be downloaded for free. Then just add the Firefox addon Split Browser.
Once your toolbar is in place, just click on “Tools”, “Add-ons”, “Extensions”, and then “Split Browser”. Once the Split Browser add-on is activated, you’re ready to start splitting your screen.
You can split your screen either vertically or horizontally. You can also place your cursor on the “split” line, and make one “screen” either smaller or larger than the other, by dragging.
After activation, you will also end up with a “Split” category at the top of your toolbar. From here, you can choose to “Close or Collapse All Split Browsers”, “Gather All Split Browsers as Tabs”, plus several other options.
To split your screen, all you have to do is place your cursor on the top, right, left or bottom edge of the page, When you get to the correct area, you’ll see a small arrow (inside of a rectangle). Click on this arrow, and another browser window will open. To get information into this browser, you can “drag and drop” links, bookmarks, or a site from your “Navigation” toolbar, etc. into this new window.
You can split your screen as many times as your RAM and your screen will allow.
For more detailed information, “right click” on the “Split Browser”, and click on “Visit Home Page. This will take you to the instruction page of “Split Browser”.
As I write this article, I am using a split screen. The ease of incorporating links onto this page is awesome. I’ll definitely be using this feature, as I continue to surf the web, and work on my blogs.
Try it, and let me know what you think.
Tags: blog, blogsLife Saving Tips
Free E-Book
Sponsors