How to Promote Yourself

I received an e-mail from a blogger who is unsure about how to promote themselves as a math blogger.

As I was writing a reply, I thought that there might be some other people who were wondering the same thing. We've already covered this before (see #7) but maybe since the blogging initiative we might need a refresher.

I've found that the best way to promote myself is to be proactive.

1. Set a blogging goal for yourself so that you are consistently putting out new material. Tell yourself you will blog once a week or four times a month, etc. It took me about two years to get a regular following of blog readers. Don't give up, even if you're sure that no one in the world is reading your blog. Keep going. When you do start to get followers, you want to have something for them to dig into and read.

2. Participate in the blogging world by reading and commenting on other people's blogs. By putting yourself out there people will start to click through and find your blog.

3. When you feel like you have absolutely nothing to say, share a resource or write about something that happened in class. People will either give you advice on how to make it better or steal your idea because it's already good. My blog followers majorly picked up when my posts went from random ramblings and venting to sharing a resource, idea, or activity.

4. Add pictures to your blog posts. By doing this, you add visual interest as well as giving a peek into your classroom. Reading about an activity is always more enjoyable if you can see how it actually played out.

5. Don't try to be anyone but you. Don't mimic anyone else or say what you think is the right thing. Write about what is important and interesting to you. Write about what matters. Write with your own voice and your own style.

6. Participate in a meme like #made4math or #myfavfriday. This motivates you to actively blog as well as becoming a regular contributor to a meme that serveral groups of people are reading. Here is a list of other math blog memes for inspiration.

7. Read Kate's post.

Good luck!