While “energy efficiency” can revolve around matters of insulation and efficient appliances, some people want to create their own electricity. Those wanting to install solar electric systems legally and safely will needphotovoltaic training. For example, if a solar panel system is installed in a home and improperly connects to the power grid, it may send out electricity over the power lines in the event of a power outage. When that occurs linemen sent to repair the lines could be injured or killed by handling cables they were told were not “live wires”. This creates danger for the linemen and liability for the home owner operating such a system.

In my own experience, I once had a home that – except for heating and air – was solar powered. It gave me a return on investment above CD’s at the time. Had I known someone with the proper energy management training to help me investigate the possibility of geo thermal heating and cooling, I might have been able to slash my electricity bill even further!

Will “Green” training be a good investment? In my opinion it can be if you can find a way to weatherize homes efficiently and demonstrate genuine savings. I wouldn’t put all my eggs in any one “renewable energy” basket however because promoting just one alternative may not be in the clients best interest. Proper training in the field at large however could help you guide customers through options that would otherwise be bewildering.

Thanks to Green Training USA for sponsoring our blog today…

You can read them all at: 10 Ways for Female Entrepreneurs to get Funded

Perhaps the most important insight in my opinion is the fact that the person seeking funding must not only know the “business” and it’s numbers inside and out,  it’s dangers and ways to mitigate the risk, but also… after knowing all that… still be able to say why the business idea excites them and they still have a passion for it.

That sounds a bit like having a passion for Bird Watching yet be able, at a moment’s glance, to dispassionately dissect your favorite creature on the whim of a bystander with money to lend.  If your passion can survive that, you deserve the money!

When I started college, I had no idea what I wanted to do. I knew that as soon as I graduated, I would want to be able to get a job in this poor job market, and I wanted to struggle as little as possible. I thought at that point that if I majored in business, I would have a better chance of finding a job, but I wasn’t very good with the accounting side of business. After a few years of taking general business classes, I knew I would need to focus my studies on a part of business that didn’t have anything to do with accounting, so I chose marketing. I have always enjoyed learning, and that did not change when I took my upper level marketing classes. I learned about retail marketing techniques, research marketing,
and consumer behavior. All of these classes were great, but I still didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do with my degree once I graduated.

A few months before I graduated, I started to look for a job where I could apply the skills I’d learned in college and be happy at the same time. This proved to be more difficult than I had expected. I searched during my last semester, and when nothing came up I continued to search through the summer. About five months after I graduated, I started to get desperate. I looked everywhere and applied to countless jobs, but few replied and I got very few interviews despite my great track record in college and my high GPA.

Finally, I found a listing on Craigslist that looked promising. I got the interview and fell in love with the job, the atmosphere, the company, and the people I would soon work with. When I got the job, I was ecstatic, and I couldn’t wait to start. Even now, months later, I’m still excited to work every day, especially since I get to work from my own home most of the time.

I love this company because it stands for such a great cause. The purpose is to educate readers about various financial situations and the options these people have when they are in these situations. Many people learn their financial habits from their parents, and if their parents have made poor financial decisions, it can be very hard to break the cycle. The mission for my company is to help those people make informed financial decisions to prevent unnecessary debt and other financial problems.

I really feel like I’m working for a good cause, which makes me happy while I’m working. I have been able to help get the word out about this website by writing articles, like this one, and I know that I’m doing the best job I can. I continue to publish articles, and I am able to stay motivated even on days that I am not able to publish because I love what I am doing. ”Do what you love. When you love your work,
you become the best worker in the world.” — Uri Geller

Elise Brown is an author who writes guest posts on the topics of business, marketing, credit cards, and personal finance. Additionally, she works for a website that focuses on educating readers about pay day loans.

It’s created by people who are succeeding in their own businesses and want to help YOU get going.

StartUp Britain is a new campaign by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs, launched on 28th March 2011. Designed to celebrate, inspire and accelerate enterprise in the UK, it has the full backing of the Prime Minister, the Chancellor and HM Government.

This is a response from the private sector to the Government’s call for an ‘enterprise-led’ recovery.

It allows entrepreneurs, artists, etc., to tell the world their plans and secure pledges for funding.

Here’s one project – a pen – that wanted to raise $2,500 but has pledges for over $250,000 already.

If you’re trying to raise capital for your product or idea, it’s possible that this could be a place for you to start.

My only caveat?

Will you be giving big money outfits their next idea?

It really doesn’t matter if you’ve protected your intellectual property… it might be the way for you to get your business going and then not only find the initial buyers but prove there’s a MARKET for your ideas.

One great project could link you with well healed companies ready to “buy you out” at a healthy price or give you lifetime royalties or hire you as a “consultant” (or all the above).

Check it out…

It’s Kickstarter

Here’s what they have to say about themselves…

Kickstarter is the largest funding platform for creative projects in the world. Every week, tens of thousands of amazing people pledge millions of dollars to projects from the worlds of music, film, art, technology, design, food, publishing and other creative fields.

A new form of commerce and patronage. This is not about investment or lending. Project creators keep 100% ownership and control over their work. Instead, they offer products and experiences that are unique to each project.

All or nothing funding. On Kickstarter, a project must reach its funding goal before time runs out or no money changes hands. Why? It protects everyone involved. Creators aren’t expected to develop their project without necessary funds, and it allows anyone to test concepts without risk.

Each and every project is the independent creation of someone like you. Projects are big and small, serious and whimsical, traditional and experimental. They’re inspiring, entertaining and unbelievably diverse. We hope you agree… Welcome to Kickstarter!

It’s a new program that’s coming online but the idea is interesting.

What they teach:

You dream of a family-centered life, but you also have to support your family. Which is why it’s so important to consider that question before you take the leap. StartUp Yours will teach you everything you need to know to build a business that contours to fit your family & your life.

Funding:

You dream of a family-centered life, but you also have to support your family. Which is why it’s so important to consider that question before you take the leap. StartUp Yours will teach you everything you need to know to build a business that contours to fit your family & your life.

The course hasn’t started yet so there’s still time to sign up… Maybe it’s the environment you’ve been looking for to start a new business?

Note: I’m not affiliated with the course. Just thought some of you might like it. Saw it in a friend’s Facebook feed!

Sometimes cooperatives are associated with hippies or other subcultures that for one reason or another don’t commend themselves to people thinking about starting a home business or work at home business.

Here’s an example of a modern cooperative that’s in a field most people don’t associate with “cooperatives”… a taxi company called “Union Cab”. (Though it’s not really “unionized”… every worker is an “owner”.

(By the way, a cooperative can be in any field … even large scale manufacturing … there are fewer limits than one might imagine as long as folks can get along!)

I linked to their Rider Rewards program because I considered it innovative.  If you ride the cab alot, you get to prepay and get a discount… pretty cool.

As a cab company, some workers are paid on a commission basis for fares received during their shift. Others are paid hourly. This is in addition to other benefits the worker owned company provides such as health and dental benefits paid 60% by the cooperative.

When the company declares a “gross profit” (the term they use is “surplus”) over the cost of operations, payroll, benefits, etc. at least 20% is paid out to the workers in cash as bonuses. The rest is plowed back into the business as operating reserve, capital for expansion, etc.

Cooperative businesses aren’t free from the laws of economics… they operate within the same realities as other businesses.  Corporations though have stockholders to compensate and the management pays themselves more than the leader of a similarly sized cooperative. Cooperatives can pay their workers more (in theory at least) because the workers themselves receive what would go to outside investors or “management”.

The person starting a cooperative won’t have the potential upside they’d have in starting their own business where they alone can set payscales. On the other hand,  when there are many people to share the burdens of ownership, management, etc. it may increase the odds of success long term and make the process of growning a business less stressful than would be found in a sole proprietorship. Everyone – as an owner – gets to “worry” about how things are going!

If anyone knows of any home business entrepreneurs working as part of cooperatives, please leave a comment.

Check this out from Inc. Magazine

1. Candy

2. iPhone Apps

3. Health Care Technology

4. Affordable beer and wine

5. Custom software

6. Yoga products and service and variants (like Christian substitutes)

7. Technical and Trade school as people look to retool themselves for earning money

8.  Repair Services

Read them all at Inc. Magazine

I just heard about the “Open City” project there.

Once a month, a local gathering place hosts an “Open City” meeting. About 100 people come to meet, eat, great and talk business.  It’s become an “incubator” for new business because 25% of the people who are there are already in business and the rest are toying with the idea.  This project has been going on since 2007 in fact.

Hoping to nudge these latent entrepreneurs along, Claire Nelson and Liz Blondy launched Open City in 2007. They had both recently started businesses — Nelson owns the retail shop Bureau for Urban Living and Blondy runs a dog daycare business called Canine to Five — and were keenly aware of how much their success had depended on the advice and encouragement of other business owners.

Nelson and Blondy designed Open City as a forum for providing that mentoring on a broader scale. Each meeting features a panel of speakers on a particular theme (see a list of this year’s topics here), plus lots of time for participants to talk about their business ideas and share information and advice.

As a result, they’ve seen numerous small businesses start and some expand.

Some of the businesses not only employ local people of course, but they also make it their business to be “sourced” by other local manufacturers and, in the case of restaurants, local farmers.

It makes me wonder… “Is there an Open City project or something similar we could set up for home business people?”

Starting Saturday January 8th, two of my favorite online marketers are going to begin a series on how to ”Grab the Low Hanging Fruit” and start making real money online.  Each Saturday for 4 weeks, they’ll show you how to

1. Start where you are right now

2. Tweak what you’re already doing for maximum results

3. How to stop wasting money on the trash that is being hyped all the time on the internet.

4. Plus full access to  all of Markus Allen’s huge backlog of tips, tricks, and internet marketing strategies.

Unfortunately this is for absolutely serious marketers only. If you’re budget winces at the price of a $7 ebook, don’t bother clicking the link.  But if you’re already earning decent money monthly BUT YOU WANT TO FINALLY GO FULL TIME ONLY, check out this Teleseminar…

So what are you waiting for? 

Make 2011 Your Best Year Ever!