Finding the right opportunity is often daunting, but referral services can help.
Cooking schools like Peter Kump in New York have established referral services.
Internet referral services are, in effect, transferring money from car dealers to the consumers who used to pay the most.
And the referral services use their own power to make sure dealers keep prices low -- the contract effect.
Several sites, including Autobytel.com and CarPoint.com, provide referral services, handing off the shopper to a dealer for final negotiations.
Some online referral services also take a different approach, a model called "lead generation".
Inside will be offices for county agencies, classrooms, private areas for phone calls, and information and referral services.
In those 10 years, the Defense Department and the services created a network of child care centers, family care homes, after-school programs and referral services.
Looking at all car buyers, the economists find that those who use Internet referral services save about 1.5percentt on the cars they buy.
Wendy Miller-wholiams, who coordinates local food bank Fair Frome, describes the fridge as a "lifeline" for some, particularly during weekends when referral services are closed.
POINTING out that the referral services are not involved in setting rents, Mr. Gerstein cautioned that some people listing apartments "try to make a profit on it".
