I keep reading advice about starting my own blog. As I read, I get more and more overwhelmed when I think about all of the competition and options out there, but then I remember what I say to my students when they feel the pinch of uncertainty–“It’s your world and I’m just livin’ in it.”
I’m not even sure what they think I mean by that and to be fair I am not sure what I mean all the time either, but it usually gets a chuckle and then some sort of movement in the right direction. So, hey, it’s my world and…
To start, I need to really pin down my audience. Like who is this for? The obvious answer is that this is my blog so I am one part of the primary audience, but who am I? Who do I represent?
I am (1) a high school English teacher, (2) a dog dad, and (3) an emerging writer who just realized I want to get paid to write. That’s the dream man, to get paid to write is incredibly freeing, validating, and a bit of an existential nightmare. It means that someone values my effort and is willing to pay me for my thoughts, which is paradoxically nice and alienating.
That mini-rant leads back to the question of who is my audience?
Keeping in mind I don’t want to be overly broad, but “real talk” my audience is anyone who wants to read what I have to say.
I would say that my primary audience includes:
- Homeschool educators and traditional teachers who want high school English and curriculum ideas and articles;
- English teachers who are also writers at heart;
- Other emerging writers with which to commiserate;
- Compassionate friends and family members;
- Curious and enterprising students who tirelessly investigate their teachers and their online presence.
I don’t want #5, but that’s the reality of the times in which we live!
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