This document outlines a 5-step process for teachers to find their voice and build an online platform: 1. Understand your power to influence and decide your values and priorities. 2. Choose your preferred social media platforms and topics to share based on your strengths and interests. 3. Develop realistic habits such as scheduling posts in advance to consistently share your message outside of classroom time. 4. Focus on building relationships and highlighting other educators rather than selfish promotion or arguments. 5. Start small by committing to one daily habit, such as blogging or podcasting, to make an impact.

1. 5 Ways to Find
Your Voice,
Share Your
Passion, and
Build a
Platform
@coolcatteacher
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2. Outline of Today’s Presentation
Finding your voice! – 5 Ways
1. Understand your power to influence
2. Decide your “to be” and “not to be” list
3. Decide your “to do” and “not to do” list – Platform choice
4. Decide your “to do” and “not to do” list -- Topic Choice
5. Decide on realistic habits to make the world a better place.
5 Ways to Find Your Voice, Share Your Passion, and Build a
Platform

3. yearsTo get to 50 million subscribers

4. yearsTo get to 50 million subscribers

5. yearsTo get to 50 million subscribers

8. yearsTo get to 50 million subscribers

9. daysTo get to 50 million subscribers

10. daysTo get to 50 million subscribers

11. M arketing
A rts
R ecreation
E ntertainment

12. Gerry Brooks
• An example of a principal gone
viral
• Also see: “Snow Day”
• https://www.youtube.com/watch
?v=0ZJwgXkTz_c

13. Ron Clark
• Instagram

14. Snow Day
Parody

15. Modern
Marketing/Communications Mix
•Traditional
•Digital
•Social

16. What does this mean for schools?
•The new, easier way to get the
attention and resources you
need. (or attract attention your
school doesn’t want)

17. “The Sexiest Teacher on Twitter”

20. Email Open Rates
• 2002: 37.3%
• 2005 26%
• 2011 17%

21. Banner Click Through Rates
• Mid 90’s 3%
• 2000’s .5%
• 2010 .1%

22. “Email, banner, and search
engine results are going
down except for those who
have a social component”
Gary Vaynerchuk
@garvyvee

23. What is
popular?
Youtube 1 billion
active users
Google Plus 375
million (2016)
Voxer -- ?? (they
don’t tell us)
Flipboard??
Installed on 300
million devices
with 7 million
magazines ??

24. TREND: Video is an important way
to get out your message

25. TREND: Facebook Video is Gaining

26. ”Just” a teacher is all you need to
impact other teachers!

27. Mass MediaFROM
The Age of
Social MediaTO
The Age of

28. Marketing-Induced Consumer-to-Consumer
Word of Mouth Generates more than
2X
The Sales of Paid Advertising

29. Customers Referred by
Other Customers have a
37%
Higher Retention Rate

30. 73%Of Millennials feel it is their responsibility
to help friends and family make
SMART PURCHASE DECISIONS

31. 10%The percentage of a population holding an
unshakable belief to convince
the rest of the population to
ADOPT THE SAME BELIEF.

32. Brand Advocates are
70%
More likely to be seen as a GOOD SOURCE
of information by people around them

33. A WORD-OF-MOUTH
recommendation is
the Primary factor behind
20-
50%Of all Purchasing Decisions

34. Social MediaYOU
May not be on
ChildrenBUT
Your
ARE

35. Social MediaYOU
May not be on
ParentsBUT
Your
ARE

36. Social MediaYOU
May not be on
CommunityBUT
Your
IS

37. • Personally
• Your Classroom
• The Causes You Love

38. M arketing
A rts
R ecreation
E ntertainment

39. Step 2: Who do you
want to be?
Design your own strategy. Let’s do this!

40. I want to be
encouraging to
teachers. We need
great men and women
to help this profession
and I want
to be one of them.

41. Examine our
“to be” list
before
we make our
“to do” list
hat tip – Angela Maiers

42. Why do I share?
• Because it is my calling
• To be helpful
• To be inspiring
• To be a counterbalance to all of the negative stuff
coming at teachers
• I LOVE IT.

43. Examine our
“not to be” list
before
we make our
“not to do”
list

44. I do not want to be
someone who plays
king of the hill. I want
to make a bigger hill.

45. Perspective
I do not want to be someone
who uses influence for selfish
things but to shine the
spotlight on the amazing
teachers out there.
If I have a spotlight, I’m going
to grab a mirror and shine it
on all the other great
educators out there.

46. Not to be!
I do not want to be
someone who argues,
acts unkind, or lets the
trolls or critics get to
me. I will be bravely me
because I’m terrible at
trying to be anyone
else. Problems are an
opportunity to teach so
I will be transparent
when it fits with my
purpose.

47. Not to be!
I do not want to be a
teacher who shares on
social media while I
should be teaching. I’d
be a hypocrite. So, I’ll
schedule my tweets
and posts on my
personal time. When
I’m at school, the focus
is my students!

48. Not to be!
I do not want to be
someone who ignores
my family while helping
people “out there” who
don’t need me as much.
I will focus on those
relationships with
people for whom I can
be the only one to do
that job. (i.e. be a Mom
and wife.)

49. What is your not to be?
Why?
(page 2 – Step 2A and
2B)

50. Step 3: What do I
want to do?
Choose your platform

51. How Will I Share?
• In ways that have the most impact
• Follow the trends
• Listen to friends
• In ways I can do outside class time
• Scheduling Tools
• I must be a great teacher or I’m a hypocrite.
• In ways that suit my strengths and interests
• I play with stuff and reflect on what happens!!!
• I will always be ethical and disclose all relationships but I will only
recommend companies and products that I would recommend anyway.

52. When Do I Share?
• Mornings between 6am – 7 am, I schedule posts, etc.
• I set blog posts to Tweet and go out automatically
• I automate everything I can!

53. My Key Places (in order of priority)
1. Facebook
2. Twitter
3. Pinterest
4. Tumblr
5. YouTube
6. Flipboard
7. Instagram
8. Slideshare
9. Linked In

54. TREND: Twitter Growth is Slowing

55. TREND: Education Tweets
Dominate Twitter

56. STRATEGY: Be Strategic About
How I Use Twitter

59. My Essential Twitter Tools
• Commun.it – Following, Responding, Trying not to miss
anything (now buffer does this, so I just stopped using.)
• Hootsuite – Reading, Following, Scheduling for Twitter
Chats
• Bufferapp – Scheduling Posts, Analyzing Successful
Posts, Understanding What Resonates with Teachers
• Twitter App – For following and conversing sometimes
• SumAll – To track Stats of all networks

60. What are your key
places to share and not
to share?

61. Step 4: What do I
want to do?
Choose your topics

62. What are the topics I want to
share? I want to be:
• Helpful
• Humorous
• Inspiring
• Entertaining
• Improve people’s lives
• Learn & ask questions

63. I am fascinated by people.

64. What are the topics I am currently
not talking about
• No politics
• I share about my faith
on my personal
Facebook only – have a
fanpage for professional
Facebook shares
• Focus on what unites
us, not what divides us.

65. Step 4: What do I
want to do?
Choose your topics
Page 3 – Step 4 – What do you want to share or not
share?

66. Step 5: What realistic
habits will I have?
Choose your habits, choose your results.

67. Strategy: Upload Video Directly to
Facebook
TIP:
Make sure you
have a Fanpage
for your school
or you

68. Use the Scheduling Tool

69. Use the Scheduling Tool

70. What is your ideal day?

71. When will you set appointments
with yourself?

72. Start off by picking ONE habit
• I blog every morning from 6 am – 7 am.
• I podcast on Tu and Th from 4-6pm
• Our habits make us. Pick one habit

73. You are a busy teacher. You cannot do EVERYTHING but you can do something.
What is that ONE THING you’ll do consistently to use your voice for good?
What days of the week will you do it?
What time of the day will you do it?
Write the next 5 times down that you will do this new habit and put them on your
calendar:
_______________________________
_______________________________
_______________________________
_______________________________
_______________________________
If I can choose only ONE thing to share and ONE place to share on a weekday basis it
would be:

74. Do something today that your
future self will thank you for.

75. You are all influencers…

76. @coolcatteacher
5 Ways to
Find Your
Voice, Share
Your Passion,
and Build a
Platform