Sunday School: How to be Famous!

Good morning!  Welcome to Sunday School!  Today I wanted to share some of the awesome resources that I use on a daily basis to keep Crochet Dynamite moving forward.  These are the small business tools and resources that I have used (and am still using!) to make my site grow!  I know that quite a few of you Dynamos have small businesses and blogs, so I just thought I'd pass on some of the best tools that I've found so far...

I suppose you're wondering when Oprah, The Super Friends, Queen Elizabeth II, Liberace, Justin Bieber and I were all hanging out.  Well, it was at our book club last Tuesday, if you must know...

Okay, I'll admit, that picture is pretty ridiculous, but according to Derek Halpern at SocialTriggers.com that's all it takes to inspire other people to think you're more famous (and, surprisingly, give you business cred) than you actually are (although you probably shouldn't just grab random people like I did, and he does suggest interviewing them and asking their permission... LOL!!!).  If you aren't familiar with SocialTriggers.com, it's an amazing resource filled with marketing research and how to use it to your advantage, whether you want more readers or more sales conversions, or more fame...

While I'm talking about that ridiculous collage, I should also mention my favorite photo editing site, PicMonkey.com.  It's simple and intuitive.  I can edit my pictures, including airbrushing and teeth whitening (not that I need any of that), re-size them so the files are nice and small, and collage them to make myself laugh...

(Once again, not a celebrity endorsement of Crochet Dynamite... Just Jaime goofing around with photo editing software, and my favorite of the Ryan Gosling 'Hey Girl' pictures...)

Karen Gunton's site, BuildALittleBiz.com, is chock full of real-life advice for us tiny business owners. The information that she shares is informative without being intimidating.  She really understands the areas that those of us that are small now, but have big dreams, need support in.  I look forward to her weekly email 'Toolbox' which is an awesome collection of small biz tips, ideas, and inspiration...

Startup Princess is another great resource for women entrepreneurs.  It's a coaching buisness, but there is a ton of useful information on the magazine-style site.  I watched an interview with Michelle McCullough a couple of months ago and found her so inspiring.  The site has a lot of information about social networking and building your brand, and it's a great place to find a business mentor (if you're interested in that sort of thing).

Okay, enough business, I've got to send you over to this week's Hot Crochet Link Love over at Crochet Concupiscence (if you haven't seen it already!). My Heart Trivet pattern is linked, but really you should go because Kathryn always finds the greatest articles, so even if I wasn't included I'd send you over there...

And a giant THANK YOU!!!! and many, many e-hugs to everyone who has bought my books this week, sent in crochet donations, or wrote to me comments to let me know that you're keeping my family in your prayers.   It was a very close call with my grandma this week, and while she's not completely out of the woods yet, the antibiotics seem to be working and we have hope that she'll be able to be up and walking in a few more days. 

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday weekend!  My love and best wishes go out to all of our veterans and those that are actively serving (and a little extra love to my active duty cousin!).

xoxo