According to MSNBC Reports, Sales of home and gardening supplies rose 2.7 percent in April.

"In January, the Garden Media Group reported that sales in gardening were expected to surge this spring as more people turned to gardening as they continued to heal from the tragic events of September 11th.

"The latest report on consumer spending released by the Commerce Department today, indicated a jump in retail sales by 1.2 percent, the largest increase in six months. Building materials and garden supplies rose 2.7 percent, on top of a 1.7 percent gain in March.

"This strong showing came despite the fact that there was unseasonably cold weather and a late Easter. Consumers, whose spending accounts for two-thirds of all economic activity in the United States, also snapped up cars, building materials, garden supplies and health care and beauty products during the month of April."

Talk

Jordan Ayan, the founder of Create-It! Inc., talks about the benefits of networking in his book Aha! 10 Ways to Free Your Creative Spirit and Find Your Great Ideas.

He says, "Among salespeople, small business owners, entrepreneurs, and home-based workers who need to expand their client lists, networking is a crucial part of a fully creative lifestyle. Networking is using your people skills, your interpersonal intelligence, in pursuit of your creative goals. It is an especially effective way to meet others when you want to get involved with increasingly higher level people in a field."

Here are just a few of the benefits Ayan believes networking provides:

• Inspiration for new ideas
• Motivation to try again
• Approval or feedback to validate your ideas
• Compliments and encouragement
• Criticism and/or constructive suggestions for change
• Connections to other people who might be interested in what you have to offer
• Wisdom and philosophical understanding that you did not have
• Leads to a new job, new business opportunity, or new romance
• Brainstorming power to help you break through blocks
• Psychological support and encouragement
• Financial assistance

Source: Ayan, Jordan. (1997). Aha! 10 ways to free your creative spirit and find your great ideas. New York: Three Rivers Press.