Newsletter Vol. 9, 2009

First and foremost, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your custom and support throughout the year, and to wish you a wonderful Christmas and a prosperous 2010. It's been a big year, but we'll save our wrap up of 2009 for our first Contact Point News edition in 2010. In this issue: Want to make a difference this Christmas by providing finance to a micro-business in Rwanda? Another amazing internet-based solution. Client Spot: The Natural Source [with a special Christmas 30% discount for Contact Point clients]. Contact Point client hits Nine MSN and The Courier Mail for their story on making shoes out of Cane Toad skins! Contact Point is moving office to South Melbourne! (and Christmas / New Year operations) Best wishes, Heather Maloney	Contact Point News - helping businesses keep up to date with changes in internet-based technology and how it can be used for business growth.
Want to make a difference this Christmas by providing finance to a micro-business in Rwanda? Another amazing internet-based solution. I'm very pleased to tell you about an online organisation that enabled Contact Point to make a loan to an entrepreneur in Rwanda via a revolutionary new website called Kiva (http://www.kiva.org/). It's a great use of internet technology! From the Kiva website you can lend to someone across the globe who needs a loan for their business - like raising goats, selling vegetables at market or making bricks. Each loan has a picture of the entrepreneur, a description of their business and how they plan to use the loan so you know exactly how your money is being spent - and you get updates letting you know how the entrepreneur is going. The best part is, when the entrepreneur pays back their loan you get your money back - and Kiva's loans are managed by microfinance institutions on the ground who have a lot of experience doing this, so you can trust that your money is being handled responsibly. We just made a loan to an entrepreneur named Assiya Ngendahayo in Rwanda. They needed to raise $900 (you can loan as little as $25.00) and shortly after we contributed to the loan, the full amount was raised. It's finally easy to actually do something about poverty - using Kiva I know exactly who my money is loaned to and what they're using it for. And most of all, I know that I'm helping them build a sustainable business that will provide income to feed, clothe, house and educate their family long after my loan is paid back. This Christmas, join me in changing the world - one loan at a time. --------------------------------------------------------- What others are saying about www.Kiva.org: 'Revolutionising how donors and lenders in the US are connecting with small entrepreneurs in developing countries.' -- BBC 'An inexpensive feel-good investment opportunity...All loaned funds go directly to the applicants, and most loans are repaid in full.' -- Entrepreneur Magazine Back to Top
Client Spot: The Natural Source We've been delighted to work with the new owners of The Natural Source range of Australian products to create a website to showcase and sell their products. The website (http://www.thenaturalsource.com.au/) was launched just a couple of weeks ago, and sports the Contact Point Shopping Cart and Online Administration System with a few unique features such as the Beauty Tip of the Week and Product of the Week. We're looking forward to working closely with The Natural Source to improve their search engine ranking. You probably know that I don't often recommend products through Contact Point News [and never receive a kick-back for doing so] but having tried a few myself, and with my penchant for Australian, organic / natural products, I am very happy to recommend The Natural Source products. Robyn has been kind enough to provide a special offer to all Contact Point News recipients - if you use the code 'contactpoint' at checkout, you will receive 30% discount off the cost of the products in your shopping cart. They even have a body cream with crushed Australian diamonds in it, to make your skin sparkle! This is for Christmas orders only (they have lots of nice hampers too), so you have to get your orders in by the 15th December! Back to Top
Contact Point client hits Nine MSN and The Courier Mail for their story on making shoes out of Cane Toad skins! In the last edition of Contact Point News we included a Client Spot about the new Karine Emanouel website. We were delighted to see that Karine managed to make her way into main stream news on 25th November by appearing on the Channel Nine Morning Show. You can read the story "Toads for your Toes" and watch the short video of the segment here: http://today.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=975646 Well done Karine! Back to Top
Contact Point is moving office to South Melbourne As the next step in the growth of our business, we're very pleased to announce that as of the 14th December Contact Point IT Services Pty Ltd and eNudge will have a new address: 68 - 72 York Street, South Melbourne VIC 3205 Our telephone number will remain the same for the moment. We look forward to seeing you at our new premises some time in the New Year. Contact Point is not closing for Christmas or the New Year, except for the main public holidays, but we may take a little longer than usual to respond! Again, we wish you a wonderful Christmas and New Year celebration, and a prosperous 2010. Back to Top
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