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Do you remember that trending audio that goes, everything is content, everything is content. Don't forget to film it. Well, I'm here to tell you that that audio was not lying. Everything you do as a teacher printer is content. And I'm going to prove it to end today's episode. So teacher authors, go ahead and reheat that cup of coffee, because I'm your host, Cassandra Foster. And we're about to get schooled in socials. Welcome back to schools and socials. Now that I've probably got that annoying Instagram audio stuck in your head. Sorry for that. By the way, it's time to chat about how things as simple as your life in your teaching experience can be powerful pieces of Instagram content. Now you're probably thinking, but Cassandra, I'm just a regular person, I don't do anything cool. Or over the top, not taking fancy vacations. I just go about my day. How is that supposed to be content? I'm here to tell you that even what you think of as the most typical, non exciting day of running your teacher business has moments that are worth sharing with your audience. And that is because most people want a peek behind the curtain. They want to see how the sausage is made. How does this seller that makes those amazing. Insert topic here resources, make the magic happen to you. It's just another day in the office, just another day of managing your business, but to your audience that is powerful behind the scenes content that can help them connect with you and hype them up for your resources. So here are some things you can share about in your day to day in your stories from your life, that can be content. Number one, your daily routine. What does the day in the life of a TPT seller or teacher printer look like? To you? It's just another Tuesday. To your audience, it can inspire them and show them how your business works, creating trust a key factor that people need in order to purchase from you. Number two, your to do list. What are you working on that day, I try to share what I'm doing especially on work days, and also include non work related tasks such as dropping my kid off at preschool or doing the laundry. One sharing about your non work related tasks helps to humanize you to your audience and helps them get to know you to sharing about your work tasks can get your audience interested in what you're doing. So maybe you tell them you're outlining a new Math Resource. And now their interest is piqued and they want to hear more about it. So they jump into your DMS to ask so even if your to do list seems trivial. It has power. Number three, what your life outside of work looks like. Once you step out of the office for the day or you finish teaching if you're still in the classroom, what does your day look like? Some social media managers aren't fans of having people share their personal lives. Their argument is that this is a business show it should be focused on the business parts of your life, but I highly disagree with them. Especially in our world of education. Teaching is hard. Teaching can be lonely. Teachers want to feel connected to other educators. So by sharing small glimpses into your life, even if you aren't still in the classroom, you allow them chances to connect with you chances just strike up a conversation with you and grow that trust, which like I said before, is a must for your audience members to become customers. So really, something as simple as sharing you making your morning coffee can be a powerful way to grow your know like and trust factor with your audience.

Ready to take your Instagram to the next level, but maybe not so sure about where you should start. No worries.

I've created a free resource just for you. The DIY Instagram audit will help you tidy up your IG account so that it can reach its highest potential. Fill with checklists, tips and brainstorming pages. The DIY Instagram audit will help you take a deep dive into your current account so you can see what's working and what's not allowing for you to easily make tweaks to your strategy to meet your goals. Once you've completed your audit and implemented the suggested changes, you will feel confident that you're on the right track with your Instagram account. You can grab this freebie right now in the show notes and get started today. Now I've worked with and talked with two very different groups of teacher printers. Those of you You who are still in the classroom and run your business part time, and those of you who have taken on your business full time. And I'm here to say that no matter which group you fall into, you can use your teaching experience as content, you will either just talk about it in the present, or as it happened in the past, I want you to hear this loud and clear. Even if you are no longer in the classroom, your experience is still valid and deserves to be shared with your audience. I've talked with more than one teacher printer who has transitioned out of the classroom, and feels like they don't have anything to talk about on their stories anymore. And that just simply isn't true. So let's jump in to how you can use your teaching experience as content either if you are in the classroom or not. For those of you that are still in the classroom, you have a unique opportunity to showcase your resources in the wild. What I mean by that is showing them in a natural classroom setting. Now I'm not advocating for you to create content during your contract time or risk your position with videos of your students doing activities. What I mean here is that you have the unique ability to show off how your resources work, have some digital resources. After those contract hours, pull up those beauties on your smart border projector and get to filming. Do you sell organizational resources show exactly how you use them in the classroom. You know, you perfected the setup of your 10 drawer cart, show it off. Did you do a cool, experiment with your kiddos, recreate part of it and film it in your classroom after hours. There are so many great and ethical opportunities to showcase your resources with just having a classroom for you to be in. Besides just your resources, you are interacting with students and teaching the material that you probably create resources for each and every day. Use that experience by sharing some of the things you try in your classroom to better teach a subject or have better classroom management or better organization, etc. Keep your audience up to date on how those strategies are working. Sharing this type of information can also be inspiring to your audience and can help spark those one on one conversations with teachers who might have tried it that way before or who have other strategies they might suggest for you. Or even those teachers who are just so desperate for a new idea to help them with insert classroom problem here. Any chance you can take to make your social media marketing, more social is going to benefit your business in the long run. Now, like I said before, if you are no longer in the classroom, your teaching experience still applies here. And here's how to share about a strategy you tried. And it works so well. You just want other teachers to know about it, or share about a strategy that failed miserably and how you bounce back from it. Again, you never know who you're going to inspire, or what might spark those all important one on one chats with your audience members, you could also share how an experience while you're in the classroom led you to create a certain resource, because you best bet there are other teachers out there experiencing that same pain point or barrier. And now you have just shown them the perfect solution. Also, don't be afraid to share about your expertise. Like don't be afraid to say that you taught for 20 years in the third grade, or that you were a board certified teacher, or that you started out as a middle school ELA teacher and then figured out special education was your calling. And here's how you knew to make the change. PS. That's a true story from me right there. And to go along with that. Don't be afraid to openly ask your audience about their current teaching experiences as well. This is a great way to balance bringing your expertise to the table and using it for content. And acknowledging to your audience that just because you aren't in the classroom anymore, doesn't mean you will lose touch with what they need. So I started off this episode with a silly and potentially annoying reminder of an Instagram audio. But I hope by this point, you can see how your life and your teaching experience it makes for great social media content, especially in your stories. Something as simple as sharing your morning coffee order. And something as in depth as discussing why you change teaching positions all have their place and can work as powerful pieces of content to connect with your audience and grow their trust in you. Now I have a challenge for you. I want you to come join us in our schools and socials Facebook group. And I want you to drop one idea of how you're going to use your life or your teaching experiences content in the pinned post that you find there at the top of the page. Even if you aren't over the moon about your idea, you'll get the chance to see others ideas too. And that might just inspire you to get sharing All right, cool coffee friends. Thanks so much for listening. If you're loving getting schooled in socials, make sure to subscribe so you don't miss an episode. Also, I would love it if you left a review so that other teacher authors like you can start getting schooled in socials too. All right, I'll see you in the next episode.