I love books and education, but I’m a big believer in on the job training. When I first started to write this article, I was focused on all the things I've learned in the last few months about blogging and self-marketing. Then it occurred to me that I've had this website address for a LONG time, as in January 18, 2001. Ever since then (actually my whole life), I've been doing a lot of on the job training.
Before I started this website, I dabbled around with a free web page, using Front Page Express. That's when I first got the idea to have a website of my own. From there, I graduated to Front Page 2000, subsequent upgrades and Expression Web - all WYSIWYG programs that would show you the HTML coding if needed without having to know how to code. It was a fun and easy outlet for my creative side. All those programs seem to have fallen by the wayside in favor of do-it-yourself templates provided by the web hosting company of your choice or straight on coding. Well, as geeky as I can be, learning to code just ain't my thing. I really prefer writing, photography and other creative outlets. The thing is, being able to do all this stuff (even without coding) requires a lot of on the job training.
So, what have I learned thus far?
As a new blogger, I'm finding that getting people to actually read and comment on what I write isn't easy, so I have to market myself. Since I don't have a marketing degree and I'm not making any money from this venture, I'm certainly not going to pay anyone to do it for me. Thankfully, our oldest daughter has a marketing background, so I can ask her questions, but I can't exactly afford to boost posts on social media platforms or do any kind of paid advertising, so I keep plodding along with my on the job training.
I've learned how to use the site building tools and templates provided by my web hosting company. They also have some marketing and analytics tools that I’m learning to use. Lots of do-it-yourself on the job training goes along with those as well.
I’ve also figured out how to link my blog posts to my Facebook page and I'm currently utilizing a free service to auto-post to FB when I have a new blog post published. I get 10 free uses, then I have to decide if it's worth paying for it. All that is giving me more on the job training. Of course, it helps when the auto-post thing actually works correctly - which it hasn't.
Another thing I’ve learned is how to link FB to Instagram or Instagram to FB - I haven't totally figured out which way that relationship works. That led me to changing my Instagram page to a business page. Now I’m learning to navigate posting there and how to automatically post from FB to Instagram - which isn't working - apparently it goes the other direction only. Sheesh! So much on the job training that my head hurts when I think about it.
Since social media is a great way to self-promote, I've also started a Twitter account. Now that I have FB, Instagram and Twitter, I'm experiencing even more on the job training. (All I see on Twiiter is cat photos and videos. Really?) I'm still trying to get the hang of the whole hashtag thing too. Ugh! Tweeting is for the birds! #OnTheJobTraining #SelfEducation#Twitter
None of this is really new to me - I started on the job training before I even got my first job. How else do you get experience? There really isn't another way other than on the job training.
Now, let me get back to it. I still have a lot to learn. #LearningToTweet #LearningInstagram #Learning
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