Homeschoolers are actually not the easiest marketing targets in general. You might think that we are such a specific subset of the population that we basically have a marketing bullseye on our foreheads, but the truth is that people homeschool their children for such a wide variety of reasons that figuring out where we are coming from can be a full-time job in itself. The one thing homeschoolers DO have in common is their belief that by homeschooling, they are providing a customized education for their child.

The number of homeschoolers has grown seven times faster than the number of students attending public schools over the last couple of decades. What does this mean for public libraries? Homeschooling families have always turned to libraries to supplement their educational needs, so as homeschooling increases nationwide, the number of homeschooling patrons will increase as well. There are several steps your public library can take to become more homeschool-friendly.

With podcasts you have a chance to reach a new component of the homeschool audience that you might not reach via newsletters, blog posts, or social media. This video details three advantages to marketing through podcasts.

Advocacy is for everyone. Any concerned parent can become an advocate for homeschooling freedoms. And so can you. This series of five articles will walk you through the steps you can take to become an effective advocate for homeschooling in your community.

Homeschoolers are commonly heavy users of their local libraries. Libraries can become educational hubs for homeschoolers by providing programming, information, and events. Homeschoolers can help libraries by advocating for libraries and urging lawmakers to support these vital institutions in their communities.

A transcript for an appearance by Celeste Land on the Kojo Nnamdi Show where she discussed the homeschooling movement. Celeste is VaHomeschoolers' Director of Government Affairs. The program touched on the many and varied reasons why families choose homeschooling, from concerns with the school environment to a desire for a tailored educational approach or a wish to keep the family at the center of a child’s upbringing. The show also addressed a common stereotype of homeschoolers by pointing out that while many families that choose home education consider their faith to be a very important part of their lives, homeschooling families come from diverse religious backgrounds, and religious homeschoolers do not necessarily choose homeschooling for religious reasons. A great example of how to interact with the media for a positive discussion about home education. Also available via podcast at Homeschooling Goes Mainstream.

A more complex understanding of homeschooling is emerging in the mainstream media these days. No longer is homeschooling either all good or all bad. Simultaneously, there is a growing appreciation that most homeschoolers do a fine job raising and teaching their children, but that there are a few parents homeschooling children in order to hide abuse.

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.

Every child is asked a thousand questions in his growing-up years. If that child happens to be homeschooled the tally rises to a million fairly quickly! You know how it is--you can't go through the check-out line in the grocery store without you and your children being riddled with questions. Homeschooled children are questioned by friends, by relatives, by people at church, by strangers, and occasionally by a TV reporter or a legislator. And sometimes well-meaning friends and relatives can't wait to get your children alone so they can find out what they really think and feel. You will be doing your children and yourself a great service if you teach them how to handle questions in a graceful, confident, knowledgeable way.

The "guilt-by-association" smear tactic is the easiest and most common method used by opposing political campaigns to damage the public's perception of a candidate. Even raising the question of an unsavory association, whether real or perceived, can be devastating, and the candidate often never fully recovers. This "guilt-by-association" smear strategy is now being used on home schooling families.