BlogWritingCourse

This slogan, sassy as it might be, is a popular one on homeschool t-shirts and bumper stickers.  It speaks volumes of the attitude and importance these families give to schooling their children at home.  It also shows that they can be an opinionated lot. I’m not passing judgment, because I happen to be one of those homeschoolers with a lot to say. 

I’m not sure why homeschoolers have so much to say.  Maybe it is because we are continually in “learning mode.”  We are always learning…and it doesn’t stop at 3:00, either.  Maybe it is because we are so enthusiastic about getting to watch firsthand as our children become the people they are going to be.  There just isn’t anything more exciting than watching your son or daughter develop their individual personality.  Or maybe it is because we never get a word in edgewise.  The flies on the wall in our house had to buy earplugs. 

Whatever the reason, we are a wordy lot.

But thankfully, there is a tremendous outlet for all those words….blogging!  So far, I am finding enough verbiage to fill four blogs, and I still haven’t run out of things to say.  But I’m not the only one.  Homeschool blogging is a niche that is growing daily, and now includes entire social networking sites devoted to it.  Homeschoolblogger.com is a host site specifically for homeschool bloggers. Homeschoolblogbuzz is a great homeschool blog registry site where you can see the most recent homeschool blog posts across the net. And there are some wonderful homeschool blog carnivals taking place on a continual basis.

Homeschoolers blog about an incredible variety of things.  Of course, many of them talk about what is going on in their homeschool and with their children.  Others offer up advice and resources they think will be helpful to other homeschoolers.  Some homeschool bloggers closely follow the politics of homeschooling and report news of laws and controversies related to a family’s right to school at home.  There are also homeschoolers dealing with unique homeschooling issues, such as teaching special needs children, or handling families who are entirely unsupportive of their choice to homeschool.

One of the most wonderful thing about homeschool blogging is the community.  Sometimes homeschoolers can feel a bit marginalized, even in a homeschool-friendly area.  But similar-minded homeschoolers have a way of finding each other across the blogosphere, and connecting in a powerful way.  I have found some great new friends as a result of my homeschool blog - - ones I might have never gotten to know if I had just read their messages on a forum or mailing list.  Blogging breaks down barriers and allows you to truly feel acquainted with your fellow bloggers.

If you are a homeschooler who has been thinking about writing a blog, but didn’t know where to begin, I’d like to suggest a terrific course for newbies.  Blogwritingcourse.com is an eight-week online teacher-led class.  There is someone holding your hand every step of the way from creating and designing your blog, to learning about blogging safety, to writing quality content, to building your readership.  This fun and easy course lit the blogging fires underneath me, and I know it could do the same for you.  So sign up today, and get started blogging!  Come on..you know you have something to say!

Until next time,

The most asked question by new bloggers is always…”How can I drive traffic to my blog?”  We’ve talked about many traffic-building ideas in this blog, but today we are going to explore one we haven’t yet covered.

One of the easiest, most painless, and free ways to increase traffic to your blog is by participating in a blog carnival.  For those of you unfamiliar with blog carnivals, the best way to explain them is to compare them to well…a carnival.  Just as a carnival travels from town to town, blog carnivals travel from blog to blog.  And just as a carnival draws a crowd…so does a blog carnival!

A blog carnival begins with a host - - a blogger who is willing to oversee the carnival, choose the topic and date of publication,take submissions, promote the upcoming carnival, and ultimately gather the submissions and publish them in a single post.  The host, though, is reliant on submitters - - bloggers who are willing to follow the guidelines of the carnival and submit a blog post from their blog that corresponds with the carnival theme.  Finally, you have the readers - - folks who are interested in the carnival subject and enjoy coming to a one-stop-shopping destination where they can read posts related to that subject.

You can see that the possibilities for blog promotion are tremendous with a blog carnival.  The host benefits by having submitters become familiar with his or her site, by networking with like-minded bloggers, and by receiving lots of hits on his blog following the carnival posting.  But even carnival participants can see spikes in traffic after their post has been featured in the carnival.  A carnival is a chance to showcase your work, and without much effort, readers will be flocking to your site to see more of what you have to offer.  A blog carnival directly links to one of your posts, so readers who have never heard of you before will click on your link to see what you have to say about the topic they are interested in.

Blog carnivals can be on almost any subject.  If you would like to find a blog carnival that matches your interests, go to Blogcarnival.com, which is a directory of all ongoing carnivals.  Not only is it a great way to increase traffic for your blog, but it is also a terrific outlet for meeting people with similar interests.

If you would like to learn more specific ways to grow your blog, sign up for our eight-week online blogging course, where you will cover all aspects of blogging from building a blog to writing quality content to promoting your blog.  This instructor-led course will guide you every step of the way toward creating a successful blog.  So….step right up!

Until next time,