Jeff Herring, also known as The Internet Article Guy, is our featured guest for May’s SMARTSTART|Giving 60-Second Spotlight. We are grateful to Jeff for creatively using his 50th birthday to raise money for SMARTSTART to donate to Kiva.org. What a way to celebrate! Have a listen as Jeff explains what he did and why and you’ll see what we mean.

Thanks Jeff! (Visit Jeff’s web site at www.JeffHerring.com )

John L. Herman Jr. considers himself a failure expert — that is, not someone who fails at business, but someone who understands why a business fails. He consolidated the lessons learned in Hermanisms: Axioms for Business & Life.

Herman is a really interesting guy. He completed a business degree at Towson University, graduate work at Johns Hopkins University, and a stint in the US Air Force before taking on the corporate world.

His many years of experience (which exceed mine but not by much include working with a thousand companies that were losing money.

When you have (more…)

My niece has just returned to Uganda for a second season of working with a team of young people on local community projects. In her first report from the front lines she filled us in on what’s been done since she got there.

In Jinja they helped build a pig house as one of the income generation projects for a woman with AIDS. They also repaired the roof, fixed the door and patched up the mud hut for a woman named Ruth who is very ill.

So ill, last Friday night she planned to commit suicide but (more…)

Dorothy Canfield Fisher said “A mother is not a person to lean on, but a person to make leaning unnecessary.”

Many of the entrepreneurs we are supporting through Kiva.org are mothers. They are prepared to work extremely hard to provide a better life for their children, not unlike our own mothers. Many of our “givers” are mothers too and they are (more…)

Like many of you, I enjoy being a “bedroom entrepreneur”! (That’s a fancy term for those of us who work from home in a spare bedroom converted into an office.

It has a rather nice cachet though, don’t you think?) And I know Alex likes it too; he runs his business from a converted bedroom also — a fact most of you probably already know. Let’s face it, it’s hard not to like the 17-second commute… no pantyhose or shaving required!

Of course this past month (more…)

Ordinary people can do extraordinary things. It’s a simple thought, but a powerful one. I remind myself of it often, particularly when facing extreme challenges.

You see, I was called to serve in a roundabout and unexpected way hence the label “The Accidental Philanthropist” in recent media coverage of the birth of our “giving” story.

But the vision I share with Alex for the future of SMARTSTART|Giving is no accident; it’s a deeply inspired business strategy that began with “divine intervention”.

Actually, I believe it’s been a series of divine interventions, each uniquely designed to better prepare me to take on this important work.

How else can you explain the shift in circumstances that brought me face-to-face with former President Bill Clinton last November so I might have an opportunity to show him why Alex is the best person on the planet to lead the global marketing of philanthropy? (Time Magazine cover is a mock-up on Alex’s “vision board”)

And who could have predicted our innovative micro-fundraising program would be on the agenda for a meeting with Oprah Winfrey (thanks to Alex’s friend (more…)

How many times have you heard the phrase “money can’t buy happiness?” What if I told you new research released earlier this year proves money can buy happiness… if you give it away.

(Of course, if you’ve joined us in SMARTSTART|Giving, you’ve likely already experienced that.)

Jeanna Bryner, staff writer at LiveScience, recently put out an article (summarized here for you)

Our first history-making live micro-fundraising call took place March 28, 2008 and we welcomed “mystery guest” Greg Link, President of CoveyLink, as our debut interview.

At CoveyLink, they define leadership as producing results today in a way that inspires trust. Doing that consistently amplifies the speed with which you are able to work and influence in the future. Trusted people simply have greater influence!

It’s easy to see why Greg was the perfect choice for our first live call interview. He believes, as Alex and I do - if you’re going to be up to something, why not be up to something great?

Behind every great success story are those who (more…)

Birthday boy Alex Mandossian got the surprise of his life when Teleseminar Secrets (TSS) Alumni presented him with a really big check for $2,547.32 as the first donation to SMARTSTART|Giving at the 2008 annual TSS reunion party in San Francisco! Just their way of saying, (more…)