Effective Cost Free Strategies for Struggling Single Parents to Achieve their Goals

Being a single parent in a bad economy has to be the greatest challenge of all. You are not only challenged in being a great parent in providing for all the needs of your children, but you are also challenged in accomplishing your own career goals at the same time.

When time and money are limited here are some great strategies to get you on the path of success to create a better standard of living for you and your family.
1. Consider offering free board in exchange for services.
Nannies and babysitters are too expensive for most single parents. If you have a family home with a spare room or rent a home with a detached studio you can offer a prescreened babysitter, nanny, cook or cleaner free rent in exchange for their services. For instance: you can come to some arrangement where the person you offer free rent too in exchange for services could be responsible for dropping off or picking your children up from school 3 days a week, prepare meals, do laundry or even assist in helping your children with their homework. There are many college students that have experience with children and require accommodations; here you provide a need in exchange for a need.
2. Connect with other single parents at your children’s school, events and meetings.
You can find other struggling single parents who have different schedules, where you can exchange days and times in dropping off and picking up each others children and taking care of each others children on certain days of the week after school hours. You may do Tuesdays and Wednesdays while the other does Mondays and Thursdays. You can even agree to take turns in having sleepovers at each other homes in the event either of you need to travel for work or need time out to attend social events.

3. Summer camps, little leagues and events can be expensive when on a tight budget.
Getting together with other single parents to entertain and educate your children can be achieved without this cost. You can arrange your own little league at a local park or an outing to local zoos. You can arrange and exchange times when each parent involved will take each others children to planned events.
4. Exchange your own services in exchange for others services.
For example a single parent who is skilled in bookkeeping can exchange these services in exchange for needed home repairs. The opportunities are endless. It is just a matter of reaching out and connecting with other like-minded single parents who are in a similar situation. This creates a win-win situation for both parents involved.

If you are seeking to connect with others to achieve your goals, you need to visit http://www.cluehut.com where it is free to join and you can meet other like-minded individuals where together you can achieve each others goals.

Success Comes to Those Who Don’t Know How to Quit

Do you remember the last time you saw an advert, book or movie for Harry Potter, watched or purchased an item from Disney, or switched your lights on? It’s amazing how we enjoy these things, and so many other things on a daily basis, and yet they all started with a dream. A dream a person had for their life, and refused to give up on the dream, until their dream was fully realized. If you have ever felt or feel like giving up, these three real life examples demonstrate the power one has in realizing their dreams, when they don’t give up on them.

Thomas Edison, Inventor: Invented the phonograph, motion picture camera, and the electric light bulb. Edison was quoted as saying it would take a matter of a few weeks to invent the light bulb. In reality, it would take him almost two years of 6,000 failed attempts, in his experiments of the different carbonized plant fibers, looking for a carbon filament for his light bulb. During one of his experiments, Edison’s laboratory was destroyed by an explosion. It was at this time we would think it would be all over for Edison, as he did not have the capital to build a new laboratory. It was his dear friend Henry Ford who heard about the explosion, who believed if anyone was going to find the answer it would be Edison. It was this faith, Ford had in Edison, he would loan Edison the money to build a new laboratory. Shortly, thereafter Edison would invent an entire lighting system rather than just a single light bulb.
Edison succeeded where others had failed. Edison chose to look at the big picture and created a lighting system including wiring, plugs, and connectors, to operate more than one light bulb at once. Thomas Edison’s achievements include holding a world record of 1093 patents for inventions.
His most famous quote: “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
Walt Disney, Disneyland: Walt Disney was raised on a farm near Marceline, Missouri; he became interested in drawing at only six years of age, selling his first sketches to neighbors when he was only seven years old. At 16 Disney was sent to France to drive an ambulance for Red Cross, the ambulance was covered stem to stern in Disney cartoons. It was at the age of 21, Walt had started to create “The Alice Comedies”, half way through the production, he ran out of money, and went bankrupt. Walt had discussed his financial problems with his brother Roy, who suggested they pool all their resources together; in the process of pooling all their resources together, they obtained a loan for $500 to set up shop in their uncle’s garage. Shortly after they received an order from New York and expanded. Walt’s life long dream was to create the “Happiest Place on Earth” which we now know as Disneyland. He had drawn up plans for his huge Disneyland fun park, and was turned down 302 times before he got financing for his dream: Disneyland. Today, due to his persistence, millions of people have shared in ‘the joy of Disney’.
J.K Rowling, Harry Potter: Joanne Rowling was born and raised in England, Rowling started writing fantasy stories when she was 6 years old. Her first story, Rabbit, was filled with interesting characters such as a large bee called Miss Bee. Eventually, she graduated from school to become a bilingual secretary due her parents persisting she would make a great secretary. However, Rowling while working as a secretary found it difficult to remain attentive, and often would write ideas for stories, rather than taking company notes.
A few years later Rowling would marry and have a daughter. Unfortunately, her marriage ended in a sad divorce, where Rowling found herself unemployed and collecting welfare to survive. This caused Rowling to feel a great sense of failure and unworthiness, as a result she admits to suffering from major depression, to the point she even contemplated suicide. The only reason she did not commit suicide was due to her daughter, as she asked herself, “who will take care of her and how will this impact the rest of her life.” What’s amazing is Rowling in suffering such an array of difficult circumstances was able to somehow find the strength within, to go back to her childhood dream, and that was to write the Harry Potter story. In writing her first manuscript she would often go to the cafes to write, as the cafes kept her and her daughter warm during England’s cold winter months. Rowling in completing her first manuscript had submitted her manuscript to a number of publishers. Her manuscript was turned down by many, who told her it would never sell due to a lack of demand for such a book. Despite, these rejections, Rowling refused to give up, she kept sending out her manuscript, and it was a smaller publishing house based in London that agreed to publish the first Harry Potter book.
Her writings in the summer of 2000, had reportedly earned over $400 million for her first three Harry Potter books, which have been printed in 35 languages and sold over 30 million copies. She is now known as the most successful writer in the world with the most sales, in the shortest amount of time.
A great quote: “Keep on going, and the chances are that you will stumble on something, perhaps when you are least expecting it. I never heard of anyone ever stumbling on something sitting down.” ~Charles F. Kettering

Do you have a dream?
Do you lack the money, connections or all the skills required to achieve your dream?
Then Clue Hut is for you, it’s Free to Join.
Start achieving the success you deserve today!
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The Great American Dream in Today’s Market has Merely Become Just a Dream for Most. Is There Light at the End of the Tunnel?

The “American Dream” means that all people despite their circumstances can succeed through hard work, and that all American’s can live happy and successful lives.
Nowadays it appears very few are achieving the “American Dream”, therefore not all people no matter how hard they work can achieve their “American Dream.” Is there away, is there hope that the “American Dream” can once again become available to anyone who is willing to work for it?

It was a recent conversation I had with a dear friend of mine I gained a very good insight as to why so many young American’s are faced with the extreme difficulty in achieving the American dream they watched their parents, their grandparents and all those surrounding them during their childhood achieve.
America has undergone so many cultural and economic changes in the last 20 years that have resulted in so many struggling to achieve their American dream, and the only ones that seem to be achieving their dreams nowadays are those with access to wealth. Wealth allows one to obtain an Ivy League education, creates valuable connections and provides the capital to make ones dream a reality. As a result we can now say that the American dream has become a privilege rather than a given right to each and every hard working American. This is obvious to me from the conversation I had with my friend Clarence who is now in his mid 80’s, immigrated to California in the 1950’s from Jamaica.
When he arrived in the golden state he obtained a job at Kodak located in Palo Alto, a now very prominent Silicon Valley suburb. He would work for Kodak until he retired devoting over 30 years of his life to Kodak. Clarence now enjoys his life on a great retirement package with a nice home completely paid off. He said, when he came to America there was a balance that does not exist today. He said, “I remember paying cash for my first car now people take five years to pay off a car- that is crazy!” “I paid $8,500 for my family home in 1962 and today it is appraised at 1.6 million; I can’t believe it for this small old thing on a 5000SF lot.” He went on to say “when I worked at Kodak and bought this house my children went to great schools, we were able to have vacations twice a year; we weren’t rich, but were comfortable where we were able to afford a nice life.” He recalled a friend who lived down the street from him who in 1965 worked as a train conductor, on a train conductor’s income he was able to buy and own 3 rental homes.

I assume you the reader in reading this story are as shocked as I was in hearing this story, as nowadays most of us can’t even afford a condo in Silicon Valley with a Masters degree let alone three homes on a train conductor’s salary.
Clarence said “Times have changed; I would never have had the life I lived or live now if I was faced with the same circumstances in today’s environment. I would never have been able to own this home I live in now nor send my children to the same school that still exists today. Everyday, I hear people who are constantly living in fear they will lose their job and not be able to find another one, we didn’t have that fear back then, we knew our jobs would always be there, and if they weren’t we would find another. We were all so happy, unlike today I can’t help, but notice all the people living on the streets with no place to live and no job. My heart cry’s for all those who are trying so hard, some working three jobs just to get by, working so hard and never even get to enjoy life the way my generation did. Something has to change, we need to bring back stability, we need to correct the balance, if we don’t we are just going to see more and more people living on the edge of survival and never enjoying this great country I was blessed to have enjoyed.”

I agree and assume many of you would agree with Clarence in that never before has the need for great change been as great as it is today. I, like Clarence had realized quite some time ago so many are so full of passion, hopes and dreams for the future, yet are stuck in a rut as to how they will ever be able to achieve their American dream, as they don’t have the Ivy League education, the wealth or the connections that seem to be the only way one can get a break. It was here I created http://www.cluehut.com as I learned in reading 1000’s of success stories that started from nothing, whose creators faced the same challenges in achieving their American Dream did so in connecting with other like-minded individuals. We have access to a great source of power when connecting with others, as we not only share the same dream, but can combine each others resources, skills and talents, where together we can achieve each others dreams and goals at a much faster pace with a greater level of certainty.

Samuel Jackson- From Drug Rehab to Successful Actor and Producer

Samuel Jackson was born in Washington in 1948 to a single mother who worked as a factory worker; Samuel Jackson only saw his father twice until his father had died of alcoholism. It was after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. Jackson and several other students held the Morehouse College trustees hostage on campus demanding the school reform its governance. Jackson as a result was charged, convicted of a felony and suspended from the college for two years in which time he worked as a social worker. Jackson would return to the college to graduate with a BA in Drama in 1972. After graduation Jackson played many roles in various stage plays and appeared in several television films and made his debut in “Together for Days” in 1972. For the next 10 years Jackson would act in various stage plays in New York City where he became addicted to cocaine and alcohol. Through the support of his friends and family Jackson in 1990 made the decision to enter rehab as he was unable to function or play any acting roles effectively. Through rehab Jackson had successfully overcome his drug addiction, it was not surprising Jackson was offered to play the role of “Gator” a crack addict in the film “Jungle Fever” he played the role so well he won the best supporting actor award at the Cannes Film Festival in 1991. With so many ups and downs Samuel Jackson is an actor who has not allowed his difficulties to define him, but rather learned from his difficulties so as to become an asset in the entertainment industry. Samuel Jackson has been honored with a star on the Hollywood walk of fame and has appeared in over 100 films and is now a highly recognized actor and producer.
Do you seek a break in the entertainment industry? Do you lack the connections in making your dream a reality? Visit: http://www.cluehut.com where it’s FREE to join and browse opportunities for aspiring actors to connect with others who can make your dreams a reality.

Demi Moore- From Troubled Childhood to Best Paid Actress In the 1990’s

Demi Moore endured a very troubling childhood. Her father left before she was even born. Her mother and stepfather were both alcoholics who fought and beat each other frequently. Moore’s stepfather committed suicide in 1980. Moore suffered from cross eyes which were corrected with two surgeries as well as kidney dysfunction. She would train with John Casablancas which led to her first debut in 1982 in the film “Parasite.” Moore did not become recognized until her role on the soap opera “General Hospital” in 1982-1983. However, it was the commercial success of her role in the film “Ghost” Moore was given better roles: “A Few Good Men”, “Indecent Proposal”, “Disclosure” which resulted in Moore becoming the highest paid actress to reach 10million per film and became the best paid actress in the 1990’s. Moore would take a break from acting to raise her three children and would return to the big screen in “Charlie’s Angels” in 2003. Demi Moore has shown that no matter how turbulent ones beginnings maybe, ones dreams of becoming a successful movie star is possible despite ones circumstances.
Do you seek a break in the entertainment industry? Do you lack the connections in making your dream a reality? Visit: http://www.cluehut.com where it’s FREE to join and browse opportunities for aspiring actors to connect with others who can make your dreams a reality.

Jim Carrey- Called Worst New Star to Land 20Million Per Movie Role.

Jim Carrey started his career in 1979 doing stand up comedy at Yuk Yuks in Toronto where he rose to become a headliner in 1981. Shortly after his 19th birthday he received a positive review in the Toronto Star which raved that Carrey was a “genuine star coming to life.” Shortly thereafter Carrey moved to Los Angeles and started to work at the Comedy Store where he got noticed by comedian Dangerfield, who signed Carrey to open Dangerfield’s tour performances. [Carrey would turn his attention to film and television and auditioned to be on NBC’s Saturday Live but was not selected along with not being selected for many following auditions. Carrey would not give up on his dream of becoming a successful actor and as a result would work smaller roles. He got his first break when he starred in the 1994 comedy “Ace Ventura”, it was totally trashed by the critics and Carrey even earned the nomination as the worst new star, but the fans loved “Ace Ventura” against the critic’s reviews and therefore made Carrey a superstar. It was in the same year Carrey would play leading roles in the “Mask” and “Dumber and Dumber”. Then in 1995 Carrey played the “Riddler” in Batman Forever which was a huge success, so successful Carrey earned 20million for his next film “The Cable Guy.” Jim Carrey proved that even when rejected and labeled the worst new actor, one can prove their critics wrong by throwing so many following great successes right back in the critic’s faces.
Do you seek a break in the entertainment industry? Do you lack the connections in making your dream a reality? Visit: http://www.cluehut.com where it’s FREE to join and browse opportunities for aspiring actors to connect with others who can make your dreams a reality.

Halle Berry- Retail Sales Worker to Winning the Best Actress Award.

After graduating from high school Halle Berry worked in the children’s department at a large department store. During this time Halle would enter various beauty contests in the 1980’s leading to her winning Miss Then-All American in 1985 and then winning Miss Ohio in 1986. Halle would pack her bags and leave to reside in Illinois to pursue a career in modeling and acting and landed her first project on the “Chicago Force” television series followed by a role in “Living Dolls” and then a recurring role in “Knots Landing.” Unfortunately during this time Halle lapsed into a coma from a diagnosis of diabetes mellitus type 1. She was not without her difficulties, however despite her difficulties she went on to play the role in Spike Lees “Jungle Fever” where she played “Vivian” a drug addict in 1992, this led to many other roles placing her in the spotlight as a great actress where she would appear in world renowned films including the James Bond film “Die another Day”, “Cat Woman” and “X-Men.”

Do you seek a break in the entertainment industry? Do you lack the connections in making your dream a reality? Visit: http://www.cluehut.com where it’s FREE to join and browse opportunities for aspiring actors to connect with others who can make your dreams a reality.

Free Tools in Building a Successful Startup

One of the greatest challenges for startups is having access to the tools and connections to experts who can make a startup successful.

Microsoft provides all this and more through its BizSpark a global program with an MSDN License. The Bizspark program gives access to early stage startups solutions with no upfront costs including:
1. Microsoft full-featured software development tools
2. Connections to investors and incubators, technical support, training and other development resources
3. Free exposure to investors, potential customers, partners and media press.

Over 30,000 startups from over 100 countries have joined BizSpark. The most amazing thing about being a BizSpark member your startup not only has free access to all Microsoft software which includes Visual StudioVisual Studio ExpressVisual BasicVisual C++Visual C#, Windows ClientWindows Phone, ASP.NETInternet ExplorerSharePointSilverlight, Windows AzureSQL AzureAzure AppFabric, Office, SQL ServerWindows Server, and patterns & practices.NET FrameworkArchitectureData, but your startup will also have access to marketing, effective partnerships and mentorship from industry experts, be connected to over 2000 technology veterans, entrepreneurial experts and resource centers who can assist your startup in overcoming the challenges of creating a successful startup.

For more information about the BizSpark program provided by Microsoft visit: http://www.microsoft.com/bizspark/

If you lack the capital, connections or all the skills required in creating your startup you should also visit: http://www.cluehut.com where it is free to join and browse 1000’s of opportunities where you can connect with others, where together you can create a successful startup.

Overcoming Business Rejection

Firstly, you are not alone when it comes to rejection! The truth is everyone experiences rejection, more than you would think as we rarely if ever mention how many rejections we have received and therefore when you are rejected you feel you are the only one. This is the greatest misconception! I can’t tell you how many rejections I’ve received over the years, so many in fact still to this day I am waiting for that one Yes, so believe me rejection is apart of life and we have to accept rejection as apart of life as we will all continue to experience it no matter what we do.

The main reason why we feel so horrible after experiencing a rejection is we believe our worth is measured by how much people like us. This is established in our childhood, where our culture taught us that if we are nice to people they will like us. Therefore, we learned our self worth is based on others accepting us and this is why rejection can be so hard to deal with as it is embedded in ones sub-conscious mind to be accepted.

The fact is many highly successful people experienced so much rejection it’s hard to even comprehend just how much they experienced. The key to their success was their ability to let rejection roll off their backs and keep marching on. Take Colonel Sanders of KFC, he received 1092 rejections before he got his first yes from a restaurant that would sell his chicken. Then there is Walt Disney who received 302 rejections from loan applications in getting a loan to build his Disneyland. This proves that it is in one’s ability to not allow rejection to get them down, but to stand strong in one’s vision will eventually lead to a yes. Thomas Edison said this beautifully when he quoted, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
Think of each rejection as one more rejection closer to getting a yes! How many times have you heard and learned of where people who found great success in a certain field never in their life thought they would be doing what they are doing? It was through all their rejections they were directed into the direction they were called to be in, however, they wouldn’t have arrived at their successful destination had they not received the prior rejections to get them to where they are now. And this in a way is how rejection can be a blessing in disguise. So never give up and keep marching on to that YES!

Here’s to your business success! If you have a business goal or dream? Lack the capital, connections or all the skills required. You need to join http://www.cluehut.com it’s FREE where you can connect with others, where together you can achieve your goals and make your dreams a reality.

Tips in Dealing with Business Rejection

Regardless of the business or dream you desire to achieve, you are likely to be rejected more often than you are accepted.
The problem is when you take a rejection personally; you become hesitant to seek out new prospects or opportunities due to fears of being rejected yet again.
Success takes great persistence and one’s ability to leave rejection behind, and keep on going.

How does the average person react to rejection? Not very well, research suggest the following:
44% give up after the first rejection
22% give up after the second rejection
16% give up after the third rejection
10% give up after the fourth rejection.
That means 92% of people give up after four rejections, leaving only 8% of aspiring people who are persistent enough to not let a potential yes slip away.

Here are four barriers to overcoming rejection.
1. Failure to listen. People fail to learn about customer needs because they are too busy talking and not listening.
2. Attitude drop-off. People begin to think they’re more important than their customers.
3. Poor planning. Loss of persistence can usually be traced to a lack of planning. A common problem: People set goals that are so large and long range that after a short time they lose faith in their ability to achieve those goals.
4. Burnout. This comes from repetition, boredom, lack of challenges or a combo of the three.

Here are four ways to deal with rejection:
1. Developing good work habits and making them second nature. The better your work habits, the better you’ll handle rejection.
2. Maintaining a positive mental attitude about being successful. The stronger your belief in yourself and your abilities the more persistence you’ll develop.
3. Learning all you can about your competition so you will be able to provide customers with value-added benefits.
4. Keeping up with changes in customers’ businesses so they can react quickly and correctly to those changes.
Try to understand that rejection doesn’t have to be final. It can be used as a way to make improvements to your approaches and proposals leading to greater success.

Here’s to your business success! If you have a business goal or dream? Lack the capital, connections or all the skills required. You need to join http://www.cluehut.com it’s FREE where you can connect with others, where together you can achieve your goals and make your dreams a reality.