Free Business Startup Resources from Bloggers Fighting Poverty in Our Own Backyard
Read more about: Entrepreneurship, Start Up Resources + Ideas
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‘Poverty’ is something I normally associate with third world countries. But these last few weeks of economic turmoil have made me realize just how fragile our situation here in the United States can be. Actually, it’s everywhere. I have, and encourage everyone, to loan through Kiva to help people facing poverty far worse than what we face in industrialized nations. But for Blog Action Day today, I chose to highlight the very real chance of poverty in our very own neighborhoods - and also to highlight the excellent free resources that can help every single person in this country to earn enough to avoid it happening to them.
People ask me about why I am so dang passionate about helping people start a business or become self-employed. While I find it fascinating, rewarding, challenging, and intellectually stimulating, the biggest reason is because of my past: I have eaten at the Salvation Army, lived out of my truck for 6 months, and when I started my first business, I was a single mom living in my parent’s basement.
- Poverty in America
In other words, I have intimate knowledge of what many families are facing today. And I don’t want anyone to have to go down the road that I went down. Technology has made it possible for nearly anyone to get the knowledge they need to start a full time business or a side business. And a huge portion of our economy is driven by tiny “personal businesses” that earn less than $50K a year. In fact, 78% of small businesses fall into this category. But that $50K is the difference between having a home or losing your home.
Of course, there are plenty of entrepreneurs going after (and receiving) venture capital, SBA loans, and have their graduate degrees from fancy universities that gives them a huge leg-up as they start their own businesses.
My focus has always been on the other kind of “entrepreneur” out there:
The laid-off professional who has no choice but to create work, otherwise their family doesn’t eat
The stay at home dad or mom who is finding that their skills are out of date, but his/her family cannot live on one salary anymore
The high school dropout that is smarter than most of us with a degree, yet doesn’t think they can go anywhere because they don’t have the right education
The single mom on food stamps, who longs to make a better life for herself and her kids, but can barely make rent even with two jobs
These people may or may not be born and bred entrepreneurs - but they all have one thing in common - they face a life of low wages, even poverty, unless they can find a way to break out of their current situations. And in this economy, they aren’t just the people on the ‘other side of the tracks’. These people probably live next door to you.
These are the people that need free resources the most. My personal passion is driven to find a way to get business and startup resources to the people that have one choice = entrepreneurship -or- poverty & homelessness in America.
Sparkplugging is not the only one helping them out.
All of the blogs below have dedicated themselves to providing high-quality small and home business advice and educational resources for FREE.
Business Startup and Home Business Blogs (No MLM BS or Scammy Crap Here!)
- SmallBizTrends
- Freelance Switch
- Essential Keystrokes
- IttyBiz
- Freelance Folder
- 2 Minute Commute
- InventorSpot
- One Person Business Blog
- AnyWired
- Duct Tape Marketing
- Search Engine Guide
- How to Change the World
- Entrepremusings
- Escape from Cubicle Nation
- AtHomeMomBlog
- IndieBusiness
- Kristie T’s Home Business Blog
- Thinking Home Business
- SmallBizSurvival
- Home Office Warrior
- Erica.biz
- Instigator Blog
- Successful-Blog
- eCommerce Diva
- WAHM Talk Radio
- Internet Marketing Sweetie
- Get it in Writing
- The Wealth Spa
- O Coaching
- Startup Spark
- Changing Course
- Chief Home Officer
- Enterprise Nation
- TaxGirl
- BusinessPundit
- Inspired Business Growth
Bloggers aren’t the only ones helping out with free resources :: Check Out These
Big Businesses & Government Agencies Embracing Web 2.0
- Business.gov & the Small Business Administration
- SCORE
- Visa Business Network on Facebook
- AOL Small Business
- Microsoft Office Live Small Business
- Free Quicken Online
- Office Depot Business Resource Center
- HP Small & Medium Business
- Dell 360
- StartupNation
Let me help you get you started. Here are some of the most popular articles on my blog for people new to starting a business:
Top 10 Internet Home Business Ideas You Can Start and Run in Your Underwear
10 More Work at Home Internet Business Ideas You Can Do in Your Fuzzy Bunny Slippers
Ask eMom :: What is the Best Way to Start a Home Business Online?
8 Ways to Get Venture Capital Attention from Guy Kawasaki
How to Leave Your Job & Take the Freelance Plunge in 6 Months
10 Free Resources to Start or Grow a Home Based Business
I hope I didn’t leave any blogs out - if I did, please leave it in a comment and I will add it to the post. Any omissions are purely because after researching this post for 4 hours, I had other things I had to do.
Photo credit Michael Fitzpatrick
Sparkplugging Founder Wendy Piersall is dang passionate about helping people start & grow a business while maintaining life balance (somehow). 
Dawud Miracle has one focus: to help you get it. The it? How your website, and blog, can change the way you do business. You can find out more at 
Teresa Morrow manages online book publicity and event promotion for authors, speakers and writers with her company 
I’d like to think my blog belongs in the list above. I do my best to help the very same audience - those people who trying to make a living from home. I’m passionate about helping those who need the income, or need to break free of the cubicle they’ve felt chained to for years. But hopefully, people who need the help, and need the information can find it here or at any of the blogs above. Sometimes, all anyone needs is encouragement and resources. I hope everyone who reads this post finds both.
DazzlinDonnas last blog post..Microlending To Fight Poverty Lets Everyone Be Part Of Solution
Great post and list of resources, Wendy! Feel free to add my blog to the list - one of the reasons I started blogging was to help out budding small businesses with free branding, marketing and PR advice. Writing a “how to get started guide” with links to posts on your blog is a good way to help these folks out. Have to get going on that one!
@wiredprworks on twitter.com
Barbara Rozgonyis last blog post..Twitter PR | 5 Ways to Measure Rank, Reach, Results
Excellent points Wendy. I know that there is so much poverty in my own community - we see it everyday.
I think one of the biggest challenges is giving people with desire and drive access to the resources they can use to help themselves. Your list is a great starting point.
Excellent post Wendy. It is sad to see how much poverty exists in the US. One of the charities we donate to is Feeding America (formerly known as America’s second harvest) http://www.feedingamerica.org/
They help feed the poor and starving people in the US.
We are very blessed in this country, but it’s certainly not a poverty free country.
Hi Wendy,
Thank you for including my site! One of my goals is to help people make their first money online. I know that information overload makes it hard for people to even know where to start, and I hope blogs like yours and mine will help those people.
-Erica
Erica Douglasss last blog post..Why I Became A Blogger
Great post! It’s the cyber equivalent of the ‘teach a man to fish’ ethos.
Kates last blog post..If anyone has 5 minutes . . .
Thanks for the link. I’m honored to be included in such a great list of bloggers!
Arunis last blog post..Give A Man A Fish, He Eats For A Day…
Thank you for including me on your list. As someone who actually lives in a third world country (I`m originally from Canada), I find the poverty overwhelming here, but at the same time, I think it`s important that people look to their own country and even town to help.
Too many people feel that they have to do something big to help, like donate a school in India or send a shipping container of food to Africa. You can start by volunteering at your local soup kitchen, donating one bag of powdered milk or a can of formula to a needy family. It doesn`t mean you have to start big, every little bit helps.
I am glad to hear about your perspective on who you are helping. There are lots of single income families who just need a couple of hundred extra dollars a month and that would keep one of the parents at home in order to be with their kids. Now that is what I am passionate about.
Kurt Henningers last blog post..Does Advertising Have to be Expensive?