Managing Your Time

Blogging and social networking do take a commitment of time. To be effective you really need to be posting and interacting with your communities at a minimum of once a week. I have read that every-other-day is optimal. I'm still working on that.

For efficient blog reading, you'll want to set up a blog reader which will "collect" all the latest posts from the blogs you follow into one place where you can scan through them quickly. I use Google Reader Feedly, though others are available.

I have a filter set up on Google Reader Feedly to group my favorite blogs together. I "follow" hundreds of blogs. Obviously, I'm not able to keep up with reading that many. When I log on to Google Reader Feedly, I first read through the recent posts on my favorite blogs. (My favorites include blogs of personal friends, family, and a few that I read regularly just because I find them especially helpful or inspiring.) When I have time I scan through posts on other blogs I follow. You can also set up your filters to sort the blogs you following into categories-- so you could group all the homeschooling blogs together in one group, and maybe another group would be homemaking blogs, or gardening blogs, or whatever you are interested in.

Linking Your Blog to Other Social Networks

Related to building a following, I have found it helpful to have my blog linked to other social networks. Every time I post on my blog, both Twitter and Facebook automatically announce my new post. Many, many more people are hanging out on Facebook and Twitter than are going around reading blogs, so that garners more readers for me than if I just depended on my blog followers alone.

My first recommendation is to sign up for Networked Blogs and have it linked to your Facebook account. You can then set it up to feed to your blog's Facebook page (if you have one) or your personal Facebook page. It usually posts title, the first picture, and the first few lines of text from your post. I have found that often people will leave a comment on Facebook instead of my blog, so be sure to follow up on those comments, too.

You can also set up a TwitterFeed account to have your blog posts automatically feed to your Twitter account. This posts the title of your blog post and a link. Use catchy titles. I've noticed in my Feedjit box that Twitter does bring in readers.

Design

In 2009 when I helped some of you set up your blogs in Florida, I recommended customizing the background using a design from Cutest Blog on the Block or similar sites. Since then, Blogger has upgraded their template options, so it's no longer necessary to use outside coding to have a customized look that reflects your personality. A specially designed header is still a nice touch, but not as necessary as it was previously. Look for the Template Designer tool under the Design tab on your Blogger dashboard.

Your blog design should:

• Reflect your personality.
• Look professional.
• Have an easy-to-read font, especially for the body of your posts. Save the fun fonts for titles.
• Not be too cluttered.
• Leave off the music.

Have fun!

Content

In my experience, blog posts should:

• Be warm, personal, and real. 
• Be professional.
• Include personal anecdotes, not just "business."
• Be relatively short. Around 400 words is considered "ideal."
• Include a picture.

Typically, blog readers won't take the time to read lengthy articles. I've gotten the best responses on posts that offer trivial glimpses into my personal life -- activities my family is involved in, decorating and kitchen tips, craft projects, even the weather! I try to maintain a professionalism by not over-sharing with too many intimate details or controversial topics.

Have fun with it. Post about things you are sincerely interested in.  If you're just blogging as a sales tool that will be obvious, and you probably won't get many followers.

It probably goes without saying to use good grammar and spelling. Avoid "text typing" and abbreviations. Spell out words such as Sonlight, Instructor's Guide, and Language Arts. Not all of your blog readers will know what SL, IG, and LA refer to.

I like to include a snapshot I've taken whenever I can. I keep my camera handy and snap pictures often with the idea in mind, "I might want to blog about this." Alternatively, you can find royalty-free pictures on stock photo sites.

It is helpful to add some labels to your post, especially if it's a post you would like search engines to find. I like to have a Labels gadget on my sidebar to help people find the topics they are interested in.

Blog Post #1

This is the first post on your blog. It is the one that feeds your homepage on Sonlight's website. You'll want to be sure to update it regularly to keep it current. You can do that by clicking on Edit and then the "Publish Post" button when you've made any changes. Be sure you don't ever delete this post.

For visual appeal you could include a personal picture... maybe one of your family, or local scenery. I pasted in my blog header. I also included my head shot in this post, since my Blogger profile is more of a scenery picture.

Include your contact info:

• Email address (linked, so they don't have to copy it)
• (I don't list my phone number as I don't like to have it "out there" on the internet, but you can invite them to email you if they would like a call.)

Also links to other social networks:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• link to blog (yes, that's here... but when it shows up on the Sonlight page, it's not "here")

I also list links to some of my blog posts that have to do with homeschooling that I think other homeschool parents might find helpful.