Marketing a blog is a sticky issue when you are using them in education, I would think. While a blog I might wish to write on educational technology and culture might require marketing, someone writing a blog for his first grade class might not want to really market beyond the families of his students. In the latter case, all one needs to do, probably, is send the link home with the kids and showcase it on "Back to School" nights.
I am considering writing a blog on the changes we are seeing in education. If I do that, I would certainly want like-minded and well informed (and perhaps not like-minded but at least well informed) people to join the conversation.
This article (on a blog) goes through the steps rather nicely. The first thing is to choose the name of the blog carefully. You can all see that this step is something I unfortunately missed with this blog. I do have someone in my household who is very good at titles, though, so I will take advantage of that resource. Investing in a domain name is probably a good idea.
The other really important tidbit I found in this article is something called "permalinks," ta dah! These allow someone to bookmark a particular post rather than having to search the entire blog for that one thing they recall reading a few months ago. I'll have to go look into that. Blogger is supposed to have this already included, but I don't see it, so if anyone knows how to apply it, I'd love to know!
The full article is here: http://www.tech-recipes.com/rx/1064/how-to-market-your-blog-and-keep-your-readers/
Finally, here's an article I found on "unusual" ways to market your blog. http://www.problogger.net/archives/2007/06/07/5-uncommon-ways-to-market-your-blog I didn't really find them that uncommon, but they do go beyond the way you set your blog up.
I have really enjoyed these assignments, and I am looking forward to seeing what you all have found in your searches. I think I may begin that new blog. I'll have to start thinking about it!
Thanking you for all the sharing you are doing! I have truly taken advantage of all your hard work! You are so on top of things :) My whole mindset about blogging in the classroom was more focused on using them with my students. I never really thought outside of the box like you as far as communicating with others outside of the classroom! I am going to give that a thought now however because I am sure I can learn from others and that others may be able to take from me as well :)
ReplyDeleteNo problem Tori! I am really excited to be working on something new, and right now I have the time as I am in-between semesters.
ReplyDeleteI went to the tech recipes and read their info. Most of it seemed to be about how to make a better, more atrractive, effective blog. The key nugget that I took away regardgin marketing, was the reference to digg as a place from which people could be referred to your site.
ReplyDeleteCool--I've seen references to Digg, but haven't yet checked it out--thanks!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Tori - never really have thought outside the box! I have just considered using blogs for my classroom, as a means to communicate with parents and students. This was an interesting post...
ReplyDeleteI am sure that I will want to open up some type of blog for mass consumption at some point and time. The problem is in finding the time to manage one. In spite of all of the helps to set up an efficient blog, you still have to take the time to be on top of the blog - it is only fair to those who are following it :o}
ReplyDeleteSheryl, you are so right. It's all a matter of having the time. I have noticed, though, that when I put up two posts close together, the first one is ignored. So I will have to plan to space the posts out, as well. Perhaps one a week unless you are posting on breaking news?
ReplyDeleteI think we are all trying to come up with an effective marketing plan. You bring up a lot of good points. All blogs should be appropriate to its readers. I had a hard time coming up with a name for my blog. As I continue to work with blogs I’ll look into finding more appropriate title for any future blogs I create for a classroom.
ReplyDelete