In Which We Humbly Ask You to Help Avid in less than 5 minutes!

4 Quick Things to Help Avid 

Through free clicks, small donations, and formal investments, you'll help us get this project moving forward!

I humbly ask you to take a few minutes to explore the following ways to support Avid:
1. Vote for us in the Pepsi Refresh Everything Project grant contest
...& then SPREAD THE WORD!

Time: 2 minutes/day throughout April; Cost: $0

Pepsi is giving grants to individuals, businesses, and nonprofits once a month--we're up for a $50,000 grant that would (obviously) help us immensely! Throughout April, you can vote once a day. If our Facebook fans voted once a day all month, we'd exceed 16,000 votes! There's strength in numbers, and every little bit counts.

Don't feel like signing up through the Pepsi site? No problem. You can log in through your Facebook page by using this application: http://apps.facebook.com/pepsirefresh/

2. Say something nice about Avid Bookshop on Intuit's "Love a Local Business Page"
...& then SPREAD THE WORD!

Time: 3 minutes; Cost: $0

Intuit is choosing 5 small businesses per month to receive grants; the grand-prize winner will win a $30,000 grant! The more folks who nominate Avid by saying a couple of nice things, the more chances we have to win a grant.  For details, visit the Intuit site at http://lovealocalbusiness.intuit.com/fan?b_id=17114. (You can log in via Facebook by exploring the links in the bottom, right-hand corner of the Intuit page.)

3. Make a donation to us on IndieGoGo.com
...& then SPREAD THE WORD!

Time: 2 minutes; Cost: $1 - ? (any amount appreciated!)

IndieGoGo is a site where creators and entrepreneurs make project profiles explaining their vision, set a fundraising goal, and then raise money to help reach that goal.  There is no minimum donation!   Visit http://www.indiegogo.com/AvidBookshop and check out our amazing VIP perks.  Thanks to numerous friends and Athens businesses who've contributed great prizes for our donors at every level!

4. Let me know if you're interested in making a formal investment rather than (or in addition to) a donation.

Time to email: 2 minutes; Cost: TBD

I'm working with a local bank to create a community lending program whereby individuals can lend money to Avid Bookshop with the bank's help. (Entrepreneurs from Greenlight Bookstore in Brooklyn did this and I'm hoping to emulate them.) If you're interested in learning more, send me an email.

As always, THANK YOU. It's not the most comfortable thing to ask for assistance and money, but, as my writer friend Laurel Snyder says, "Everyone here wants to see new indies succeed. We understand you gotta work it."  Here's hoping you understand.

Have a lovely month of April--I hope that 30 days from now we'll be able to announce some very good news.