When I started blogging, I didn’t really know what I was getting myself into. I started off because my Delta tutor, Marisa, suggested it as a good way to reflect. So, my first blog posts were about the things I tried out and ideas for tasks. During my first year of blogging I didn’t really blog much (compared to now I mean) and I wasn’t really that active in social media either. Now, two and a half years later, I know a few more things and that’s what I am going to share today.
Firstly
If you are going to blog and want people to read your blog posts, you also need to promote your work. I mean, yeah sure, your blog may be you reflecting on your work, class experience, writing about tasks so you don’t forget them and so on, but you are also blogging because you want people to read you (aren’t you?). You want to share your ideas and learn from others through their comments. If you wanted your blog to be private, then why have it at all? Why not just write in notebook, like back in the good old days when we only had notebooks?
So, once you have written something and pressed the publish button, what next? Well, you share/promote.
Where?
Facebook for starters. I share all my rambles on Facebook (luckily, Facebook doesn’t disown you if you are a prolific blogger like me :p). Apart from your personal page, you can also share your posts on Facebook group pages. I share mine on two.
You can also add hash tags on your Facebook entries because they do show up if someone searches for something you have has tagged (and anyway, urban legend says hash tags are good, so just add’em , will ya?). The TeachingEnglish- British Council also very often publishes teachers’ blog posts.
Google+
I also share my post by pressing Google+. If I am a member of a Google group and my post will probably interest the people in that group, then I share in that particular group. I am a member of the #Tleap group, so sometimes when I write something about EAP, I share my post with the group.
This platform often “falls off my radar” cause well, people do not really share their blog posts there. I have posted a blog post from time to time as part of a discussion, but I don’t really share stuff on LinkedIn. You should know though that WordPress allows you to automatically publish your posts on your own LinkedIn profile page once they are out.
I must admit this is my go to place to share my posts. First of all, I tweet my posts for a few days. Not just once. The life span of a tweet is not that long. I mean your followers will only see it for a few minutes and then it’s lost in the abyss.
A few more thoughts about blogging
I think it’s necessary to always thank people who share or retweet your posts. It’s nice of them to be sharing, and you should be saying thanks. I also think that if you read something and think it’s good, you, too, should be retweeting and sharing their posts as well.
I reply to comments. I ❤ comments. I enjoy reading them. If someone is going to write something in response to a post they read on my blog, I find the time to reply. I may not do it the same day, but I really try to reply to everyone. Also, comments give me a sense of who reads my posts and what the people reading my posts are interested in.
Blogger vs. WordPress
I started off on Blogger but after almost two years of blogging on Blogger, I moved to WordPress. The move is easy. The bad thing is that you lose all the nice comments and documents and PPTs you shared on Blogger do not get transferred and there is a bit of a formatting issue. I like the widgets on WordPress and how easy it is to embed things. I do miss the font options Blogger had.
Inspiration
I like blogging about the things I am interested in, so I share tasks I like, good and bad teaching moments and of course any other wacky idea that comes to my mind (:p). I have also found that I often tend to be borderline personal, but I am OK with that cause I like approaching blogging as if it is diary or journal writing. Articles or other blog posts also inspire me. This is why I also enjoy taking part in blog challenges and chains. It makes me feel like I am part of a community. YouTubers are also a place where I get ideas. The #youngerteacherself and my most recent #monthlyfavourites posts have come from/been inspired by YouTube!! I ❤ YouTube. Finally, some of my posts are more lifestyle-ish cause, hey, I am a woman and I do like me my girlie stuff.
Photos
I now take my own. I know ELTpics is also a great website where you can find pics. I haven’t got myself round to doing that yet.
Final thoughts….
Blogging is a commitment. It takes time. I also think it walks hand in hand with social media.
My Elt Rambles 
Great post – I agree about sharing. I keep a list of tweet sized teaser sentences with a link to the appropriate post and use a scheduling app to post the links to twitter, LinkedIN, Google Plus ( because of course google loves google) and over the 4 years I have been blogging my page views have gradually increased from 20 a day if I was lucky to sometimes now over 1000. It’s not too time consuming if you are consistent but it can really reap benefits. Great advice. Thank you.
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Hi!
Thanks for leaving a comment. I, too, have found that only if you share and share some more will you blog post be read. What scheduling app do you use? I have never really looked into that. Posting and sharing does take a lot of time and an app may be a bit more effective, especially since I blog all day long :p
Thanks again.
Joanna
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I use hootsuite, the free version. For twitter, LinkedIn and Google, then do Facebook separately scheduling in advance. I have 2 blogs, one for my Sage bookkeeping business and one for Forever Living. I definitely get referrals and new customers through my activities. I found your blog through my Neice Sandy Millin sharing it on fb.
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Thanks so much for the info. I will look into the app. Two blogs eh? That sounds like a lot of work.
Sandy is really nice and always supports us teachers 😀
Thanks again!
Joanna
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I have a day job, selling installing and training in bookkeeping software for our IT business http://www.siliconbullet.com then a Network Marketing job as a Business owner with Forever Living at http://www.siliconforever.co.uk Over the next 10 years I’ll gradually reduce the day job as my network marketing team grows. Sandy is lovely, I am proud to be her aunt !
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Hi Joanna, of course I have to comment on this post 🙂 First of all, yay for blogging! Although I currently need to spend less time living at school preparing lessons and more time doing personal things like blogging!
Secondly, I agree with you about commenting – I don’t always reply promptly, but I think it’s important to always reply. I love it when people do it to me, so I feel I should reciprocate.
Finally, I definitely need to get better at promoting my blog – as a newbie teacher, I feel nobody cares but perhaps I’ll do a few more tweets next time. I already use Hootsuite so perhaps the above idea wouldn’t be so hard for me!
Anyway, keep up your blogging hard work!
Rachel 🙂
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Hi Rachel,
Yay to comments, blogging and living at school 😀
Your blog posts are great and not just for newbie teachers. When I blog, I , too, think that no one will really wanna read what I have to say, but some people actually do, so that’s great. And even just writing a post and expressing myself is so cool and liberating!
As for comments, I learn a lot from people who comment. Like today! Now I will be looking into three apps. Of course,replying or thanking/ sharing, can sometimes be hard cause stuff happens, but I do try my best. I know you do too (I know most of us do).
Thanks again for leaving a comment.
Joanna (your blogging buddy :D)
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I’m really glad you mentioned about multi-tweeting (I’m just gonna call it that…!). I’ve always wondered how socially acceptable it is to tweet about the same blog post several times; I feel like I’m spamming people’s feeds… but from the comments here it seems this is perfectly OK… so I’ll try that and see if I can up my reader figures! Thanks for the tip! 🙂
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Hi Clare!
Multi-tweeting. I love that!!!!! I think it’s OK. Think about how many tweets you miss out on? I mean, you are not going to tweet your posts every five minutes, are you? A couple of times a day in my mind seems fine.
No one has told me off….. yet ;p haha
Thanks for leaving a comment.
Joanna
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Hi Joanna!
I first started reading your blog mostly because of the Delta section, the course I might be interested in taking, but I keep discovering so much more at every turn, it’s great! I guess having an online portfolio of my own teaching materials and resources has been my initial reason for starting a blog (plus sending the link to a couple of colleagues who, on a number of occasions, have used some materials I made and liked them) You’re right though, we all want to be read or followed, and there is nothing better than a lesson plan shared 🙂 Thanks a lot for posting your insights about blogging and some online etiquette tips!
Gosia
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Hi Gosia!!
Thanks for stopping by. First of all, you should do the Delta and let me know how it goes!! And, yeap, share your lesson plans and posts more. I have seen your blog (I follow it). I will let you know in a comment when I use one of the lesson plans. At the moment I am only teaching BE online and the material is in company material!!
Thanks for reading and leaving a comment 😀
Joanna
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Hi Joanna,
I said in one of my posts that my preferred marketing/promotional strategy when it came to my business (the language school) was sitting there and praying clients would call. I don’t know why, but I really hated that aspect of the job and felt completely miserable at having to promote my services, even though I knew the clients would get value for money! When we started teaching kids in a new neighborhood, during the recession, it made financial sense for us and the teachers to go to the elementary schools on the first day of school and hand out flyers to kids and parents – we literally couldn’t afford to hire anyone at that point to do that. I hated it and felt terribly uncomfortable.
Anyway, with blogging it’s pretty much the same. I tweet once (maybe twice) and that’s it. It’s not that I think my writing is totally dull or worthless; I just cringe at the thought of promoting my work. Luckily, there have been several wonderful readers who have done the sharing for me (you included!), and I am very grateful for this. I try to always thank them! 🙂
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Hey Vedrana,
I know where you are coming from regarding the business. I totally agree. It was hard for me to promote my work as a language school owner as well.
Tweeting a blog post a few times though is much easier at least for me!!It doesn’t feel like ‘promoting’ or ‘selling’ a service (like the business was for me) maybe that’s why I am more open to multi-tweeting 🙂 And , yes, you are right, thankfully lovely colleagues share the posts as well. So, it’s all good!!!
Thanks for leaving a comment 🙂
Joanna
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Hi Joanna, This post of yours was perfect timing. I’m just starting a summer project and need to start blogging & posting & getting the word out. I’m running a fund-raising conversation project and want to offer a free intro for anyone who shares my post. How do you know when someone shares a post in fb, g+ ? Do you get an alert? Thanks again for your help last summer during the TTO event :o) Sabrina
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Hi Sabrina!!
Well, if you share something on Facebook and then someone shares it, it appears in the notifications. When someone else shares you post on Google+, from what I have seen, you get a notification in the bell thingy as well (look at me being all tech savvy :p).
You should start blogging!! It’s fun. Let me know if you need any help, OK?
Thanks for stopping by.
Joanna
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