The face of social media has grown more personal and personally, I like it!
Pinterest has become a major traffic source for many bloggers.Learning to leverage the potential of Pinterest is something we have discussed here on Homeschool Blogging before; however, also be aware that Pinterest is a great way to connect the real you with your readers.
When you pin something to the various boards on your page (see my boards HERE), you are showing your readers/followers what matters to you. It’s a little slice of you they may not see on your blog. Plus, you have the opportunity to drive traffic to your blog and other blogs you love.
Instagram is another more personal side bloggers can offer to readers, but with less traffic potential. However, I definitely think Instagram deserves a serious consideration by bloggers everywhere, especially in our niche.
Why?
Because homeschoolers are always interested in what a typical day looks like in someone else’s homeschool/life. We are always learning and growing via interaction with other homeschoolers, so I use Instagram to offer a look into my daily life that is very difficult to capture via blog posts.
Take a look at the screen shot above. That was a photo I took with my iPad and put on Instagram and then linked to my Raising Arrows facebook page last week. A whole dialogue started with followers surrounding that posting and readers got to see what I had been working on that day. I did end up doing an entire blog post on the subject, but my Instagram and Facebook followers got to see it first (my Raising Arrows facebook page is linked to my Instagram account so I can post there as well).
I still have much to learn about using these two social media forms for the good of my readers and blog, but much of how you learn as a blogger is simply by doing, experimenting and tweaking.
Blogging with Amy has a great post on using Pinterest and iHomeschoolNetwork offers a couple of link ups that are aimed at connecting homeschool bloggers on Pinterest and Instagram. You can find me on both listed as amyarrows. Can’t wait to see you there!
