Do you have a love-hate relationship with your blog as a teacherprenuer? Well, my friend you are not alone. So many teachers and homeschooling parents who are building online businesses see blogging as a necessary evil; one that they would rather avoid! But it doesn’t have to be so stressful or hard. If you want to build your confidence and revenue, this post shares the best resources for teacher bloggers. Hang in there, you got this! π€
**This post contains affiliate links to Amazon and other affiliate partnerships. I will earn a commission if you choose to use these links. There is no additional cost to you, and the full disclosures here give more details on what you can expect.
A Growth Mindset is the BEST Resource for Teacher Bloggers
Before we dig into the list of resources that will help you improve your blogging skills, let’s tackle the area of mindset. YOU are your best resource as a teacher blogger
No matter how many great resources you consume, if you struggle with imposter syndrome or other negative mindsets about blogging, you will continue to feel inadequate with blogging.
We must use the same growth mindset strategies for ourselves that we recommend to students in the classroom!
Here are a few things to keep in mind as you map out your growth plan:
- Blogging is not dead! With the explosion of video content, it seems that marketing in written form is taking a hit. But don’t believe that hype! Your teacher blog can continue to help build your brand and connect with fellow teachers all over the world.
- Your blog will continue to evolve as your business grows. I like to view my blog as a beautiful plant; the more I nurture it, the more it will grow and change as my business grows.
- Comparison will only steal your joy and motivation. As you get ideas and inspiration from other teacher bloggers, be careful not to fall into the comparison trap. You have no idea where he or she started in their blogging journey and whether or not they have a team helping them manage their site. So, don’t compare your work to theirs.
It’s much easier to build your blogging expertise and skills on the strong foundation of a healthy mindset. I have a full post on overcoming your blogging doubts that can help.
Now you are ready to grab some effective resources.
Using Mangools to Boost Your SEO Teacher-Blogging Game
Raise your hand if you like spending tons of money on ads for your blog posts! Exactly, not a single hand is raised. π€£
We all love getting lots of blog traffic organically, but that requires ranking on Google’s first page. And my favorite resource for teacher bloggers to use for high-ranking blog posts is a SEO tool called Mangools.
I started using Mangools for my teacher blog as soon as I began blogging and my blog posts started showing up on Google’s first page within the top 3-5 slots.
But here’s an even BIGGER bonus: I also use Mangools when titling my Teachers Pay Teachers (TpT) products and writing my product descriptions.
Since Mangools is a SEO tool that helps you rank higher in search, it works with TpT’s platform as well. #WinWin π
This is why it’s the first resource I recommend to teacher bloggers who want to improve their SEO skills.
Blogging for Teachers: Your Step-by-Step Guide
If trying to wrap your mind around SEO is already overwhelming you, then I recommend this step-by-step course called Blog by Number.
Suzi Whitford has a collection of free and paid courses showing you how to do everything related to blogging including:
- how to find ideas and topics for your posts
- knowing how to format and set up your blog
- writing tips if you don’t feel confident as a writer
- clever ways to title your posts
- lots of cheatsheets, swipe copy, and checklists
I’ve taken several of her courses and free webinars, so I could go on and on about her content. She gears her teaching towards moms who want to start blogs, but I’ve been able to apply all her ideas to my teaching blog.
Plus, it may be easier to have all your resources in one place. If that resonates with you then here’s her Blog by Number course you can check out.
She’s one of my top picks when it comes to resources for teacher bloggers.
Improve Your Blog and Marketing Images with Canva Pro
Next in the lineup of resources for teacher bloggers relates to images.
For our visually addicted society, a picture truly is worth a thousand words. And it can be such a time leech to create eye-catching images for your blog. These images will then be shared on your social media platforms, including Pinterest, so it’s worth the time and money to get it right!
This is why I recommend using Canva Pro. Not only do I polish up my blog images, but with just a few clicks, I can then repurpose those images for all my social media platforms.
As you can see from this video, the Magic Resize tool can save so much of your time! Not only that, but you can also use Canva Pro to make:
- animated GIFS
- pins for Pinterest
- videos to use on your blog or Teachers Pay Teacher video previews
- make your TpT cover images
- grab diverse stock images and clipart because we need to be making inclusive materials that represent all people
- and activities for your own personal classroom
In addition to all this, Canva Pro allows you to add virtual assistants (VAs) to your account at no additional cost, so they can do all of this for you when necessary.
Resources That Help You Make Money Blogging
Ok, so let’s be really honest with one another. Most teachers want to start a blog so that they can make more money. And there’s nothing wrong with that desire.
Maybe you want to use your blog to promote items that you sell on Etsy, Teachers Pay Teachers, or Shopify. But if you don’t have your own products that you’ve created, you can still make affiliate income through your blog.
In this section, I have my favorite resources that you can use to make money as a teacher blogger.
Amazon Affiliate Marketing Course for Bloggers
There’s so much more to making money online than just throwing a bunch of random links all over your blog and hoping to get rich!
That’s like throwing spaghetti at a wall and hoping it sticks.
Regardless of your personal feelings towards Amazon, they have an affiliate program that’s beginner friendly and allows you to make money. So I recommend starting with this amazing course by Carolina King and Suzi Whitford (who I mentioned above) called Powerful Strategies to Monetize your Blog with the Amazon Affiliate Program.
And I can tell you from experience that their strategies are so effective!
These bloggers have built online businesses to help moms and they also both happen to be Amazon affiliate gurus! I took their course-which comes with a private Facebook group–back in 2018 and increased my Amazon affiliate income by 82%!
Carolina’s teaching style is approachable and easy to understand, so you don’t have to worry about feeling intimated or overwhelmed by the ideas they share.
Share-A-Sale Affiliate Program
Maybe promoting Amazon just isn’t your thing and I completely understand that feeling. Please do not feel like you have to join the same affiliate programs as other teachers.
You can make affiliate money by partnering with thousands of other programs and businesses. One of the easiest ways to do that is through the Share-A-Sale affiliate program, which is completely free to join.
Here are some of my favorite aspects of Share-A-Sale (SAS):
- You don’t need tons of followers or lots of blog traffic to get started. They are willing to work with bloggers who consider themselves to have “small blogs.”
- There are so many “merchants” or companies to join. Through Share-A-Sale, I joined Erin Condren, Circuit, Oriental Trading and The Dollar Tree. You just search their database and apply for them through SAS.
- All of your links, banners, and information is stored on one dashboard, even if you have affiliate relationships with several companies. I love being efficient and organized!
For most of these companies, you can share your affiliate links on your blog and on your social media platforms. Of course, you need to read the terms of use on each one.
Overall for me, other than Amazon, SAS is the most beginner friendly, easy-to-maintain affiliate program ever!
How Will I Know How to Use These Affiliate Links?
When it comes to making affiliate money on your teacher blog, I highly recommend sharing products you have tried and naturally like.
I do NOT share anything I don’t have experience with because I know that teachers work hard for their money and I don’t want to promote anything shady or low-quality!
Plus, my sincere experience and excitement is my greatest marketing feature. I truly love Erin Condren teacher lesson planners! I’ve used them for years and have tried other planners, only to go back to my EC planner.
That makes it easy for me to naturally talk about them, and your sincerity will be felt and seen by your audience.
See how that works?
If you love it, you share it, and earn a commission. Boom-Bada-Bing!
Not only that, but all of the strategies I learned in the Blog by Number and Amazon affiliate courses above, I use them to know how to use affiliate links that I have with other companies.
Other Affiliate Programs That Are Great for Teacher Bloggers
There are also tons of independent affiliate programs that aren’t included in a collective database like Share-A-Sale. But they make great affiliate programs for teacher bloggers to join because most of these companies are places teachers like to frequent anyway.
Here are a few examples you can checkout:
- Target
- Wal-mart
- Michael’s
- Classroom Friendly Supplies
- Highlights Magazine for Children
- ABC Mouse
- Splash Math
- Google Adsense
- Vooks
- Good Sensory Program
There may be even more out there that I don’t have in this list. If so, please feel free to share them in the comments section below.
When you visit the website of any service or program you love, just scroll to the bottom of their homepage and look at the fine print to see if they have an affiliate program.
Then sign up and start sharing what you love on your teacher blog!
Meera Kothand’s Blogging & Email-Listing Building Books
If you like to read and take notes as you learn, then I HIGHLY recommend any and all books by Meera Kothand. I’ve read all her books about blogging and email-list building because her tips are practical, realistic, and not just a bunch of fluff!
Each of her books also come with checklists and journal pages that help you implement the strategies that she recommends.
Here’s the list of topics she’s written about:
- The Blog Startup: Proven Strategies to Launch Smart and Exponentially Grow Your Audience, Brand, and Income without Losing Your Sanity or Crying Bucketloads of Tears
- But I’m Not An Expert!: Go from newbie to expert and radically skyrocket your influence without feeling like a fraud
- The One Hour Content Plan: The Solopreneurβs Guide to a Yearβs Worth of Blog Post Ideas in 60 Minutes and Creating Content That Hooks and Sells
- The Profitable Content System: The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Creating Wildly Profitable Content Without Burnout
- 300 Email Marketing Tips: Critical Advice And Strategy To Turn Subscribers Into Buyers & Grow A Six-Figure Business With Email
Her content is full of honest, easy to understand resources for teacher bloggers. And no–she is not paying me to say any of this! I truly love her approach and ideas to grow a blogging business.
An Easy Way to Save Money on Your Blogging Resources
By the way, all of these books are completely free using Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited Reading Program. I’ve been using Kindle Unlimited for years because it saves me so much money on books.
You pay $9.99 a month to read as many books as you want that are available in e-book form and can be downloaded through the Kindle app.
You can get a free 30-day trial using my affiliate link HERE. That way you can see how you like Meera’s books and Kindle Unlimited at the same time.
Don’t Throw Away Your Confidence to Grow as a Teacher Blogger
Now that I’ve shared my favorite resources for teacher bloggers, I want to circle back around to the mindset thing.
I say this all the time: YOU are the special sauce in your business. As you explore some of these resources that I’ve shared, remember that you are a professional who is capable of doing amazing things.
These resources are available to enhance the skills you already have! If you’re scrunching up your face and wondering, “what skills?!” then let me remind you of all the hard things teachers do on a weekly basis:
- take assessments, then use the data to make strategic decisions (aka lesson planning)
- organizing and juggling a hundred different things every week
- staying focused on a primary goal (getting students to a certain point by the end of the year)
- building community and establishing relationships with lots of different personalities
Do you see where I’m going with this? All the skills you use in the classroom as a teacher are useful for your teacher blogging journey. They can help you make money online and build a profitable teacher business!
If you’ve already tried any of the resources in this post, please let me know in the comments below. I’d love to hear about your experience with them!
Happy Teacher Blogging π¦
