The Business of Homeschooling
Explore the business side of homeschooling. As the number of homeschoolers continues to grow, the art of marketing to homeschoolers increases in significance. We take a look at the demographics of the homeschool market and homeschooling businesses. Also of interest is the relationship between the homeschooling market and corporate entities.
The Business of Homeschooling:<br>The Homeschool Market
Homeschool Speakers & Vendors Association
The Homeschool Speakers and Vendors Association (HSVA) was originated and founded by Steve Clark, a homeschooling dad from Louisville, KY. From 1998 to the present, Clark also spent over 2000 hours working in homeschool booths and speaking at homeschool conventions all across the US and Canada. After meeting hundreds of other speakers and vendors at these conventions, Clark saw that there was a great need for an association that would provide support and assistance, mainly in the areas of compiling convention information and developing marketing resources. After brainstorming the idea with other vendors and speakers, Clark and his wife, Katrina, launched HSVA in 2003.
Marketing to Homeschoolers: Specialty Retailers Find a New Niche
If you’re looking for a perfect niche market for your specialty toys, you might try homeschoolers. Since they are outside of the mainstream, they tend to be more skeptical about mass-marketed products and more inclined to make unorthodox choices, as a scan of homeschooling websites and a survey of five homeschooling moms revealed.
Reaching the Homeschool Market
A look at what homeschoolers buy and different ways to reach the homeschool market.
Homeschoolers: Who Are They And How Do You Market to Them?
Maureen McCaffrey Williamson examines the homeschool market and shares several resources for contacting with the homeschool market, including mailing lists of homeschoolers, periodical available for advertising, and more.
Parents Educating at Home (PEAH)
Parents Educating at Home (PEAH) has as its goal to network with businesses and organizations to raise the awareness of home schooling in the community. They work to manage and communicate discounts and savings that home schooling families can receive as well as continually work to obtain additional discounts both nationally and locally on behalf of the homeschooling community. In order to become a member, you must pay a fee.
Product Reviews on Homeschool Blogs: How to Get Them
How to get bloggers interested in your products so that they will write product reviews on their homeschool blogs -- have an outstanding product first of all and give bloggers incentives. Find social media savvy homeschool bloggers on Twitter and G+ using two special hashtags.
Homeschooling Alone: Why Corporate Reformers are Ignoring the Real Revolution in Education
Would-be reformers of the current educational system, including corporate altruists nor philanthropic foundations, have shown much interest so far in homeschooling's increasing popularity. Instead, they've focused on the promotion of charter schools and school vouchers. In this article, Greg Beato details some of the efforts of big business to reform public schooling, taking a look at corporate sponsorships, grants, and scholarship programs. It examines the dichotomy between those who criticize the system as an Industrial Age artifact and simultaneously push for more standardization and regimentation. Homeschoolers have provided an alternative that offers positive results in academics and other accomplishments. The article continues by looking at the future of the relationship between business and homeschoolers, from increasing scholarship opportunities to partnerships between homeschooling groups and corporations.
Marketing to the Homeschool Audience
The homeschool niche is unique and has its own quirks. This youtube video shares ten tips for marketing your product or service to homeschool parents.
PR Mama Perspective: Understanding the Homeschool Market
Get tips on how to understand the homeschool market, how to do market research on a home business budget, and whether or not you should buy advertising.
What is a Media Kit and How Do I Make One?
A media kit is a document you provide to potential advertisers and other parties you are interested in working with information about your value as a partner. It is meant to reflect your reach as a blogger. A media kit can be as simple as an ad page with basic blog and social media numbers or as complex as a full-blown demographic study of your readers printed and bound. Whatever kind of media kit you choose to create, remember to be clear and concise.
Featured Resources
As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. We get commissions for purchases made through links on this site.
A Little Way of Homeschooling
This book is a compilation of the experiences of 13 different homeschoolers and how they incorporated an unschooling style of teaching in their homes. This book addresses the question of whether a Catholic can happily and successfully unschool. This home education approach is presented as a sensible way to access the mystery of learning, in which it operates not as an ideology in competition with the Catholic faith, but rather a flexible and individual homeschooling path.
Climb Inside a Poem for Children Big Book of Poems
The poetry anthology, Climb Inside a Poem: Original Poems for Children, uses the writings of contemporary children's poets, whimsical illustrations, and an expansive big book format (14"x 18") to create a 36-page poetry playground. The children's poems crafted expressly for this collection are written by acclaimed children's authors.
Creative Home Schooling: A Resource Guide for Smart Families
For a comprehensive guide to home-based education, that does not promote any particular curriculum or religious view, this is one book parents should buy! Parents will appreciate practical advice on getting started, adjusting to new roles, designing curriculum that is both child-centered and fun, and planning for social and emotional growth. Parents will turn to their favorite chapters again and again. Features interviews and tips from many homeschool parents as well as long lists of resources...
Morning by Morning : How We Home-Schooled Our African-American Sons to the Ivy League
Home schooling has long been regarded as a last resort, particularly by African-American families. But in this inspirational and practical memoir, Paula Penn-Nabrit shares her intimate experiences of home-schooling her three sons, Charles, Damon, and Evan. Paula and her husband, C. Madison, decided to home-school their children after racial incidents at public and private schools led them to the conclusion that the traditional educational system would be damaging to their sons’ self-esteem...
They're Your Kids: An Inspirational Journey from Self-Doubter to Home School Advocate
For many people, their schooling was uncomfortable, tedious, and sometimes a waste of time and energy. This book offers the idea that the public school system is tragically flawed and that we are able to do better for our own children. Sam Sorbo, mom of three and wife of actor Kevin Sorbo, took the leap into homeschooling and found the joy and success she was seeking. Included are strategies for working parents, those who are scared to take the leap, and anyone who wants the best for their child...
