6 Simple Reasons Why You Should Create a Blog or Podcast This Year

In this post, we will discuss 6 reasons why you might want to create your own blog or podcast.  For more information on this topic, please visit our blog at www.BuildYourEDUBrand.com.

Why should you create a Blog or Podcast?

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So you want to create a blog or podcast this year?  The first question you should ask yourself is … Why?

Blogs and podcasts aren”t that difficult to set up and they can lead to many lifelong adventures and friendships. But there is always the question of “why do it” that needs to be answered.  In this post, we are going to take a look back at the history of TeacherCast and learn why I not only decided to create my own blog and podcast series but how it has helped me and my family through both the highs and lows of the last 10 years.

To Help Other People

Way back in 2011, I was a Music Educator in a nice sized high school.  The opportunity came up for me to teach some after school professional development classes.  I started doing a ton of research on the topics of my classes and I put together a series of emails to send to my teachers showcasing where I was getting my inspiration so they could also learn how to better help their students.

What I quickly found out was that the more you give teachers … the less they end up doing.  I needed to come up with a single place to send teachers where they could find information to the questions they were seeking in bite-sized chunks so it wouldn’t overwhelm them.

This was the genesis of what would become TeacherCast.

Now might be a good opportunity for you to determine what you are good at and passionate about and see if there is an audience for your skills and talents.

To Build a Professional Learning Network

Once I determined that my friends and coworkers were my target consumer, I next created a series of courses that were marketed to their particular courses.  This way, I was giving them the professional development skills they were seeking, but at the same time, was packaging it in a bow surrounded by their content area.

To do this, I created the TeacherCast Podcast where I built a network of educators from around the planet that I not only had on the show as guests but that I could reach out to anytime through Social Media to ask questions and get advice from.

Over the last 10 years, these resources as well as the online resources my guests have created on their own blogs and podcasts have been invaluable to both TeacherCast and all of the teachers that I have worked with.

To Support Your Family

One of the goals in creating the Jeff Bradbury Show Podcast is to help teachers not only Build their EDU Brands but to help them create an additional source of revenue so they can support their families and their hobbies.  Let’s face it, we can all use some extra cash lying around.

The creation of a blog or podcast provides you not only the opportunity to build your own PLN, but gives you the opportunity to work directly with companies as a conduit to their audience.  Trust me, there isn’t a science to this and there is a lot of luck behind getting sponsors.  If you are lucky enough to make a few dollars from your blog or podcast enjoy it and consider investing it back into the business to help you get additional sponsors and revenue.

To Build Your Own Personal Resource

If there is one thing that I have said about TeacherCast is that it has one primary function in this world.  It is serving as a handbook for whatever projects I happen to be working on during any given time.  This is of course why it has no singular topic or focus.  Don’t get me wrong, I completely advocate for creating a single topic resource when creating a blog or podcast for yourself. I have never been able to focus only on one thing at a time and so… TeacherCast grew and grew.

When thinking of a Content Strategy for your own blog or podcast, it’s not just important to keep in mind what you want your audience to know, but how you want to be able to find the information you need for your job, hobby, or passion project.

To Archive the Internet

Are you looking to build a blog but not really interested in spending the time it takes to write blog post after blog post?  There are several great resources freely available to help you curate the internet.  Applications such as Wakelet provide a great resource for you to not only curate but share the content that you are finding each day as you prepare for your classroom lessons and believe me … other teachers would appreciate you putting them all in one place and tweeting them out.

Because You Love Meeting People

One of the things that Podcasting has taught me is that I’m not floating out in the ocean alone.  There are educators all over the planet that are teaching the same students that I am teaching, having the same difficulties that I am having, and struggling the same struggles that I do.  It has also taught me one more thing… I can always reach out for help and help will be there for me.  I love podcasting so much that I have a few shows now on Apple Podcasts and would love to have you check out all of my shows and choose to subscribe to the ones that spark your interests.

Are You Ready To Start Your Own Blog or Podcast this year?

Are you looking for help in creating your own blog or podcast?  Or, perhaps you already have one and are looking for support in Building Your EDU Brand?

No matter what your mission is this year, I am thrilled that you have decided to visit TeacherCast this year and would love to connect with you to help you on your journey.

If you are interested in working together this year or picking my brain to help you get ahead in the game, I’m here for you.  Please visit my Contact Page and sign up for a time on my calendar and don’t forget to check out the other resources on this very topic over at www.BuildYourEDUBrand.com.

About the author, Jeffrey Bradbury

Jeff Bradbury, creator of TeacherCast, and father of the famous @EduTriplets Thanks for checking out TeacherCast today. Please take a moment to find me on all of my Social Media channels!