My day job outside of the home is in the Development Office at Northwest Indian College. The development office’s focus is on fundraising for scholarships and endowments for the students. We organize a couple of large events each years and also do other “typical” fundraising such as direct mail. We are currently planning our 4th Annual TL’aneq – Gathering for a Celebration event if you would like to attend!
I’ve been thinking about the impact that supporting people has on others. The American Indian College Fund recently started a new campaign titled Help a Student, Help a Tribe:
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4ew7I0gmVs[/youtube]
The impact that one student can have is tremendous. The student from NWIC who is profiled as part of the AICF campaign can help stop 1,800 kids from being dropouts. That is a huge number! The difference one person can make can be measured and success can be the outcome.
This has definitely spilled over from my job into my online craft community support. I have also been supporting free (here is my inspiration for doing so – Sister Diane’s January update) and I’ve been thinking about how to take it a step farther. I love being able to buy an awesome Craft Sanity magazine (link is to the print copy) and know that doing this helps Jennifer continue to be able to put these magazines together. She isn’t a huge business, with financial backing, she is someone who has knowledge to share (in the form of writing and collecting stories, as well as photography, tutorial writing, layout, etc.). Supporting Jennifer allows her to reach more people
One thing I would like to do for February is to gift Sister Diane and Tara Swiger’s “Busting the Blog Myth” class to someone. Leave a comment on this post to be considered – tell me how taking this class would impact your business and online work.Â
From Sister Diane’s post: “Busting the Blog Myth: How to make a blog that actually markets your business (without being gross). It’s a four-day intensive, starting on February 20, that aims to help each participant dig deep into how blogging can best work for their businesses.”
The contest will run from today, Monday February 13, through Thursday, February 16. The winner will be picked using random.org and I will notify them (and post here) Friday morning.
This is so sweet! I can’t wait to see who wins!
What a nice idea. I think it’s great that your work inspires you and spills over to your personal time. I haven’t starte a blog or business yet but have an idea and was thinking about lauching them together and just building slower. A class would sure help me start off on the right foot and build a stable base and maybe prevent some battle scars.
Nice to discover a new blog. Thanks for sharing about your work and life.
What a thoughtful idea! Thank you
This is an awesome idea.
I’d like to take this class to help me with the early stages of website planning, focusing my idea, and figuring out how to make it all work the way I want it to work!
Sounds like fun and has gotten me thinking a lot about what I’m doing/wanting to do/should do! Thank you 🙂 I started my blog as a complement to my shop and it seems my shop is now a complement to my blog… It has grown with a mind of its own, time to figure out what the heck I’m doing!
I so want/need this. I am a disabled housewife/grandmother and have been wanting to try, but fear and uncertainty of how to start has taken over…. I have a website, and even know how to code, but blogging – Oh MY!! HELP!!!
Busting the Blog Myth sounds inspiring and chock full of strategic info… perfect ingredients to launch a blog, which is what I am working on right now! (I have already done 2 personal blogs, for trips I was on… and I also blog on a large newspaper-like blog (for which I have generated lots of page views – that benefit someone else, LOL) … but none of these was to promote my stitch-related sites, so that’s what I’m working on right now, and I feel like i need a little bit o’ hand-holding and a little bit o’ butt-kickin’! 😉
What a generous offer! It looks really, really good and I wold’t mind being the lucky winner. I have a blog that is going through a major change and I am happy to get more inspiration. Thank you
When I started my blog in October, I never expected it to change my life. Suddenly the world was in my living room. I realized getting in touch with people, not companies or organizations, was soooooooo simple.
I decided to start my own crafting-arty-company-shop and I let go of blogging. Concentrating on my business plan, getting a good focus on where I’m heading,… The blogging will be part of it but I’m still not sure how, all that blogging seemed so over the top until today…I walk into your world…get inspired and feel so connected. We all have things in common. Social media will create a wave, possibilities of empowering others. True heartfelt connecting is the business of tomorrow. Go for it!
What a wonderful idea – I’m an educator, too, and have seen first hand the ripple effect of helping one student learn and grow.
I’ve taken Diane’s “Tune-up” class for blogs, and have become so much more confident and competent in my blog writing. I’m looking to take my crafty enterprises to the next level, and think that this class will really help propel me into the future. I have some great ideas, and need to get a little more education and support to make them a reality.
Wow. This is great. Thank you!
This is a great idea. I have been business blogging since 2009 and it has never been what it could be. I worry about being too personal, I worry about not being personal enough. Are people reading to get to know me or do they just want business? How can you tell? Am I writing enough? How do I keep up with it when I am SO busy with the business of actually producing hat I don’t have time to blog. Is my blog actually DOING anything for me?
This is so nice of you!
For the past year or so, unrelated people have been telling me I should be a painting teacher… I am in a community college, and they just don’t teach technique in the available classes. Fellow students are asking me to do this for them…
So it has been stewing in my mind how I could reach more people than just the few I am helping in the class. I’m thinking my lessons could be online with a blog to direct people to the download. I could blog about things that would be helpful to the beginning student, but not a big enough subject for a lesson… then have the instructional videos available as well.
So, I’ve set up a blog, made the first video, but don’t really know how to get followers, or make it into a business. I have the most wonderful friends: that’s how I got the link to the Busting the Blog Myth class… and to this page as well. <3
Thanks again for doing this for someone – You're awesome!
I can’t seem to get my comment to work but I wanted to say this is a great Idea. Very very exciting!I have wondered how to make the blog most effective.
I hope I’m not too late to enter. I am a recent stay at home mom and have been really striving to get my new side hobby/job off the ground. I think this course would guide me in the right direction.
It looks like I’m a day late to enter the contest (drat!), but I wanted to post to say that this is such a wonderful idea. Sometimes I focus so much on building my own business that I don’t truly consider other people who are trying to do the same thing. And perhaps if I help support someone else, then eventually it could come back around and help me. But even if it doesn’t, I know how I feel whenever I make a sale or get a nice comment on my blog or get support in some other way; why wouldn’t I want to help give someone else that same feeling? I think I’m going to focus a little more on others and not just stay so focused on myself.