Keep A Grandma (and a whole lot of other folks) Off Of Welfare!!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) October 22, 2011 --

I am a small business owner. I work a full-time job, and a little over a year ago I opened an online Gourmet Gift Shop. I have been looking for a business of my own for years, and after ventures into several independent sales venues, stale conference calls, and webinars promising I would be living on TOP of Donald Trump in six months by joining their team and selling their product (which included investing a few hundred to a few thousand dollars of my own funds) I desperately needed a reality check. I am regular folks, and while I'm humbly grateful for my job, it's not what I want to do for the rest of my life, nor is it enough to truly live on. Yes, I admit it. Even in these hard economic times, I want to do more than "get by." I want more for my family. I want to take a big load off of my sweet husband's shoulders, weighed down by the misery of watching his amazing business ruined by this evil recession. A business he built from dirt up. I want to pay my bills and debts, and I want to give to others. In other words, I want to live the American Dream.

So I researched and searched, and searched some more. I humbly share I have a real talent for sales and "working with others" so I was also being approached by people and even some friends who were into MLMs and genuinely wanted to put my talents to good use for EVERY ONE on the pyramid! But nothing felt right. One day I was on Craigslist and there it was. An ad offering the opportunity to open my own online gift basket and floral shop. Now, I am a "girly-girl" and that ad just snatched me right up. When I found out all I needed was 1.97 to get started I bit and Jo-Ann's Gift Basket Potpourri was born. To say I love my business is an understatement. It's been and continues to be a hugely rewarding experience.

It has also connected me to so many other small business owners. They have all types of businesses and offer all types of services. Some have actual storefront shops, many offer services and shopping online, and all are devoted and have big dreams for their ventures and their patrons. I have been honored to meet and come to know these people.We are all annoyingly excited about our businesses, and squeal with glee over new business cards arriving and "LIKES" on our Facebook business page. We share ideas, successes and failures, what works, stories about our families. I've gotten many great suggestions from them I've used in my business and hope I've done the same for them.
Many of you reading this are sure to know a family member, good friend, or acquaintance who is the owner of a business like I've described. Most of them are probably your friends on Facebook or connections on Linkedin. You see their ads every

day in their "statuses." They may ask you to "LIKE" their page, share their businesses with your friends, hand-out their business cards, give them a recommendation. Some of you do, many of you don't. Those who don't are missing a huge opportunity to do good. To make a difference in the struggling economy by effecting it in a personal way. To make a difference in another human being's life in a BIG way.

We are at a time in our country when it has never been so important to support each other. So many people have lost their jobs. With no jobs to be had many are turning to the self-employed market to make their living. Many with jobs are doing the same thing because it just costs too much to live. Whatever the reason, the small business owner and direct sales population is having a boom. Free ads on many of the social networks and other venues like Craigslist are often our only method of advertising in the first year of business. Many of us spend hours creating our own ads and interesting ways to grab people's attention to our business. Ninety percent of us are offering a product and or service you use already, maybe from one of the "Big Guys." Those are fine. But will the owners of Wal-Mart, Starbucks,Cover Girl or 1-800-Flowers ever meet you in the street, look you in the eye, and say "thank-you." It's just a thought.
Whether it's the Green Bean Coffee Shop in downtown Greensboro, Kakes By Kelly in Walnut Cove, NC, or Jo-Ann's Gift Basket Potpourri, when you buy their product, walk through their doorway, shop at their online store, or click "LIKE" and "SHARE", you have done a great service for their business and local revenue. You may be their first customer, the one who is their biggest sale, the one who brings them ten new patrons!
You may even helped-out a friend.

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