As I mentioned recently, I’m going to Oklahoma City this fall to participate in a panel discussion on garden blogs. Yes, these professional writers, accustomed as they are to newspaper, magazine, television, radio, and even marketing work, are a bit intimidated and confused by blogging–so I’m told. Some are downright misinformed. So, along with Mary Ann Newcomer (who suggested my name), and David Perry, I’m going to attempt to educate them. We’ve got one hour, including time for questions.
Yeah, right.
I think, all by myself, I could talk for a couple of hours on blogging, especially if I got into what software to use and how to set it up. Obviously my fellow panelists and I have got to distill our collective knowledge into the most essential points, and present them concisely. So I’m asking you, my fellow garden bloggers, to think back to when you first got started. If you could start over, what would you do differently? What do you wish you had known right from the beginning? What is the least someone needs to know to start garden blogging?
Don’t be shy, but do be thoughtful. And thanks for your help!
About Kathy Purdy
Kathy Purdy discovered the joys of writing in fourth grade, when she started corresponding with a former classmate. She's been writing letters ever since, first on looseleaf, then electronically, and now as weblog entries. That makes you, the blog reader, her pen pal. Her first independent (though frustrating) attempts at gardening were made in high school, though the gardening bug didn't bite hard until her mid-thirties, when she found herself mistress of a rural home on 15 acres. • USDA Hardiness Zone:4 • AHS Heat Zone: 3 • Location: rural; Southern Tier of NY • Geographic type: foothills of Appalachian Mountains • Soil Type: acid clay • Experience level: intermediate • Particular interests: colchicums, narcissus, cottage gardening, NY native plants, gardening with/for children
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Twitter: @wdcgardener
An hour is WAY too short for this important section – it is probably too late for the GWA OK City schedule, but I’d have recommended breaking into into a few different sessions:
1. How to start a Garden Blog – go into the techy stuff there
2. Making a Few Dollars off your Garden Blog – whether direct income from the blog or by marketing your other writing works with the blog
3. Garden Blog Problems & Issues – including: copyrights issues, linking to/from issues, building traffic and reader loyalty, getting good comment submissions, deciding on topics to cover, keep the creative juices flowing, etc.
This last one is what a seriously hope will be the focus of your limited session – as the other 2 topics will quickly eat up all your time and bore the hell out of those established bloggers in the room .
However, is this sessions is created for and direct to those who are NOT currently blooggers, but are Garden Writers considering doing one — then the main things I’d cover would be to:
A. Think of WHY you are blogging – just don’t blog to blog – as said in others’ comments – it needs to be a personal passion
B. Establish a niche and identity – PLEASE include a profile and some basic facts – like planting location, zone, etc. SO frustrating to read a blog and think – is this Hawaii? New Mexico? Germany? Hard to relate to a blank persona.
C. Take your OWN photos – lifting photos – esp. without sourcing them is not Kosher
D. Have a sense of humor – your blog can be serious in general, but don’t take it all as life or death — if someone leaves a negative comment or rant, roll with the punches
BTW any more room on that panel
Looking forward to seeing you in OK City!
Yes, let’s not forget that the original question was what tips do we give garden writers who are just coming to the blogging scene. Not every garden blogger is going to have the same goals for her/his blog as a garden writer would. For that matter, not every garden writer would have the same goals. I can definitely report at the panel discussion that commenting is a hot button with many blog readers, so that they should think about their commenting policy before they start blogging. But I would never tell any blogger that there was only one “right” way to deal with comments. Blogging is all about putting the publishing power in the hands of the writer. You are the publisher. You set the policy for responding to comments (assuming you enable them)–even if that policy is “whenever I feel like it, and I don’t feel like it very often.” And you don’t need to apologize for it. You, especially, OldRoses, don’t need to apologize or “try harder.”
Oh dear! I’ve been blogging since 2000 and only now I find out there’s no Pulitzer. I’m going to have to seriously rethink my motives!
What I love about blogging is it is anarchy, a dictatorship and democracy all in one. Just like gardening.
hmm, i just wanted to say, since everyone is responding with ideas about comment etiquette… i just try not to take anything personally. the thing about blogging is, it’s an awful lot like journaling. i think a lot of people just do it for themselves. so, when i comment, i don’t take people not responding to comments personally. if i leave a comment, it’s because i wanted to, not because i was hoping the blogger would acknowledge me. i guess what i’m trying to say is, you don’t sound anti-social oldroses… i wouldn’t worry about anyone’s expectations. if someone is reading and enjoying your blog enough to comment on it, that might be enough for them. i wouldn’t sweat responding so much, as if you hadn’t returned someone’s phone call. and as a new blogger, i’m still stumbling through the tools and such so i often don’t even realize when someone has commented.
General blogging tip: One of the best features of the blogging format is the ease of including photos, links to photos, links to other people photos, links to other people’s blogs, links to encyclopedic information about gardening, etc. Links, links and more links.
Garden blogging tip: Find a way to keep the blog active in the winter.
As usual, I’m a day late and a dollar short, but my take on comments is that I get to have my say on whatever (garden) topic in my post and other gardeners (readers) have their say in the comments. I don’t always have time to answer everyone’s comments nor do I feel that every comment requires an answer. Now that I know that a response is expected, I will try a little harder.
I’ve read all of the comments in this thread and the perspective of most of the commenters was as commenters. How about bloggers? Does every blogger expect comments? I certainly don’t. But perhaps that is because my blog is my garden journal. I write it mainly for myself. Occasionally I do ask for feedback. Now that I have been blogging for a few years, I enjoy looking back to see what was going on at a particular time of year or in a particular bed or even with a particular plant. I seem to use my blog as a reference work. And when I look back, I’m not looking at what others wrote but what I wrote.
Gee, re-reading what I just wrote, I realize how anti-social it sounds. I guess I get my “socializing” done through my activities as a Master Gardener and a volunteer with Rutgers Gardens. My blog is a record of my thoughts on those activities and my gardens.
I do welcome comments, read each one and enjoy them all.
Hi Kathy,
As a newbie to the garden blogging world I have been encouraged and inspired by yours and other generous bloggers sage advice, for which I thank you.
I started blogging this past February when I was recovering from foot surgery and although I’m busy juggling two careers of garden designing and painting, I make time for writing about my passions – home and garden.
Writers don’t write books without expecting comments from readers and critics and I don’t see why garden bloggers would. As Colleen in Gardening Online stated ” Garden bloggers are not writing in a vacuum. ”
If you can’t respond to comments then at least, as Colleen said, leave a message acknowledging that you appreciate and welcome them.
Dear Kathy,
Like David, I never realized I might be considered rude or unappreciative by not responding to comments (tho I don’t receive many — perhaps my lack of thank you’s is why).
I also receive a fair number of queries — how do I grow X? Where can I find Y? If I can answer without too much research, I do, but having put forth some pretty major efforts in this regard, replying via personal email, and then hearing nothing, I’m less likely to do somebody’s legwork and eyework now.
If reading my essays comes through as “work” for which somebody needs thanking, I’ve failed.
Comments are always welcome — a pleasure. I am especially interested in those that add some kind of information or insight, but don’t feel obliged to answer. My blog is non-commercial. I put a ton of effort into it. Seems in doing that, I’m doing my part.
Thanks for opening us all up about this and have a ball in Oklahoma!
Pam, there’s no such thing as too late with this thread. Many people have subscribed to the comments and will know when something new is added.
I may be a day late and a dollar short with this discussion, but in answer to Bill, yes, I always check back when I’ve left a comment to see whether the blogger has answered it. It’s a gal thing, I guess.
It manages to catch most spam, Annie, but that one got through. I marked it as spam and the next one should get trapped. Sorry about that. But, yeah, nothing’s perfect.
Twitter: @Annieinaustin
Whoa, Kathy – after we just got done praising the comment notification system, an email arrived announcing a new comment on one of your 2006 posts – unfortunately the comment turned out to be porn… guess there are no perfect solutions, are there!
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
Opinions were solicited and I provided mine. I make no rules for anyone, ever. And I certainly to do not advocate absolutes in any form.
Regarding politics on gardening blogs (it is garden writers thing right?) my opinion is just this:
opinions aside for one sec… how did you come to decide you weren’t a gardenblogger? i thought you were because that is how i discovered you… off gardenrant. not to be contentious about it, my comment was intended to be tongue in cheek.
i was simply amused that you took the time to drag scooter over into the thread, just to complain about politics creeping into gardenblogging. i didn’t mean to impugn your choice of subjects. i love your blog because it is what it is. and frankly, i had a suspicion you were being ironic since you haven’t ever seemed married to any subject. please don’t be offended, i apologize.
Very well reasoned and stated, TCC. Thank you.
My apologies for the implications. Dave
Opinions were solicited and I provided mine. I make no rules for anyone, ever. And I certainly to do not advocate absolutes in any form.
Regarding politics on gardening blogs (it is garden writers thing right?) my opinion is just this:
These days we are a people divided and the vast majority of commentary EVERYWHERE is impassioned, knee-jerk anger. It isn’t presentation of facts or context. It isn’t even analysis. It is usually irrational and ad homin demagoguery, appealling to emotion and fear and prejudice. This kind of thing was boring and unpleasant in 5th Century BC Athens (from where we get the word) and I find it boring and unpleasant today. That’s all.
Even a broken clock is correct twice a day. These days the polar camps are so consumed with hatred of one another (maybe for good reason, maybe not) that there is very little said wich is even reasonable (on any side of an issue). Like I said…. boring, unpleasant.
Write about whatever you want. But if you consider yourself to be a “garden writer” and position your blog to be a “garden blog” is it unreasonable for the reader to expect to find content that has SOMETHING TO DO WITH THE GARDEN? And then, is it unreasonable for the reader to expect rationality and reasonableness? I’d non’t think so. That’s all.
I do not consider myself to be a garden writer. Do not come to my blog to read about gardening. My blog is little more than a collection of essays on history, life and how our ancient antecedents (and their antics) are still with us… often in the garden.
Write about whatever you want. My opinion was solicited and I provided it. Demagoguery is boring to me… and waste of my time.
Well, I don’t like to get into politics on this blog if I can help it, but it is funny that Hank doesn’t want to see politics on garden blogs, and yet he is a frequent commenter at Garden Rant, where every other post is political.
If I remember that I commented, I try to go back to see if there is a response. I am more likely to remember if I was asking a question or teasing the blogger a bit. Some blogs have a comments feed, but that subsribes you to all comments, not just one post’s comments. I wish all blogging software had a subscribe to comments function.
bright,
I tend to take absolutes and rules suggested for me by others, especially others I don’t even know, with one of those giant blocklike cowlicks of salt sold in feedstores.
I see from your site that you have built something that uniquely reflects you. For me, it’s all connected too. Nuff said.
BTW, thanks for your visit and kind words…
PS: Took your comments suggestion under advisement, gratefully.
oh my goodness! is the county clerk startin’ something? believe you me, scooter and bush are always in my garden. i blog about them and it and then go work in the garden or else i’d probably be off trying to arm myself… i can prune this bush with impunity! humbly, you’re just limiting your guest list overmuch to old swedes.
Twitter: @Annieinaustin
What a fascinating thread, Kathy – who knew that a discussion of commenting on blogs could get so emotional!
It amazed me that some people read only the original post . And if anyone is still keeping track, I do check back where I’ve commented, and also appreciate your notification feature.
That panel might be extremely lively.
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
Twitter: @C_Vanderlinden
I was just going to say what Kenny said, but he beat me to it
I usually don’t bother checking back unless it was a really interesting thread, but I always think that for the readers who are considering commenting that it’s nice to see that the blogger takes an intrest in comments.
Bill, I think that people will return to get the answer for questions that they left in site comments. And that if there is a discussion of interest that will also result in return visits just like with a forum. This thread is a perfect example.
Some sites make it easy and encourage return visits with a subscribe to comments plugin such as the one below. If the discussion is compelling enough people will return to look for new comments regardless, and it’s always interesting to see how others respond and build upon previous comments.
One thing that hasn’t been mentioned but can be important is that comments are spidered and become part of the content of your site. I have a few posts that the search engines love not so much because of what I wrote, but because of the volume of relevant comments that were added by visitors and continue to be updated over time.
Here’s my advice for what you should say:
“Mellow out. It is blogging. There is no Pulitzer. It’s supposed to be easy and informative. We are supposed to behave and act like civilized people. We’d all RATHER be gardening. Blogging is a complementary activity.”
And then I say:
“If you’d rather blog about your garden than actually WORK in your garden, go blog about Scooter Libby or something. Garden bloggers are like gardeners… we are different.”
But that’s just me.
Also, I HATE IT when people get political in their garden blogs. Neither George Bush nor Hilary Clinton have ANYTHING to do with my foxgloves… regardless how much anyone might wish they would.
Something else I was wondering about responding to comments – do most commenters actually return later to see if their comment elicited a response? I have always assumed not, and that has been one of my excuses for not responding. Also that is why I tend to respond by email if there is a question, etc.
My self I usually do not return to check on responses to a comment I have left. Do you?
I’m just catching up with all these comments.
Kathy, if this thread of comments is any indication, it should be quite a lively discussion in Okla City!
I’ve got a lot of thoughts, but will put them together for a more complete comment, soon.
Just wanted to come back and say how much I’m enjoying this thread of comments — this is really great stuff! I’m enjoying reading everyone else’s perspective on comments and blogging and all that jazz…
While it may seem that this has fallen along gender lines, we also need to remember that there are a lot more female garden bloggers than there are males…I’ve visited plenty of blogs run by women that don’t respond to comments either. This thread happily got some great input from several of our male bloggers.
i was so interested in this observation i had to check it out. i wonder if anyone has actually done a study to see. besides this one… oh… and all the ones listed in the comments
and david, as a comment-junkie, i love your disclaimer. but it is a mite wordy. if it were me, i’d cut everything between “afterward” and “i love”. now, i feel all meta commenting on your comment disclaimer in someone else’s comments !
Twitter: @C_Vanderlinden
Wow…I subscribed to this thread to see what everyone else would say, and the discussion about comments has been wonderful! I may have been a bit harsh in my initial post….I don’t expect a blogger to respond to every single comment…that takes a lot of time and effort, and it’s almost impossible to keep up if your blog generates a lot of comments. I think two really good solutions have been presented: 1. for those who are actually using their blogs as “digital columns” just turn comments off and be done with it. Have a clear e-mail link so that (as in print publishing, since that is what this method is most akin to) readers can write to you and you can respond directly, if you see fit. and, 2. Have a general statement about comments. Even something as simple as “Your comments are appreciated” or “I enjoy reading your comments” is wonderful. While it may seem that this has fallen along gender lines, we also need to remember that there are a lot more female garden bloggers than there are males…I’ve visited plenty of blogs run by women that don’t respond to comments either. This thread happily got some great input from several of our male bloggers
Layanee, thanks for the understanding. I do feel bad thinking that my lack of responses had previously seemed a bit careless. Your comments are always so kind and encouraging. I’d hate to have left you or anyone else with the impression that they weren’t as important to me as they really are.
Kathy, great advice on adding a note to explain the comments feature on a given site. Here’s what I added based on your counsel and the overall input of all of you so far:
Notes on Comments: Comments are encouraged and very much appreciated, and on this particular blog should be considered more akin to notes left in a guest book at a national park or cabin, or even a wedding, where visitors leave little snippets of themselves, glimpses of how their visits affected them, rather than some sort of RSVP awaiting a response. More often than not, your comments will not generate direct replies from me, and it is hoped that you will not feel any more slighted for this than you would if you left a note in the guestbook during your stay at a lodge and no one tracked you down in reply afterward. For the time being, this is the way it needs to be for me and I ask you to try to understand. I still need time . . . to just be with my garden and be there for my kids and neighbors and friends . . . and myself. Blogging in this manner is a very time intensive process, what with the need to shoot, edit, resize, write, edit the writing combine into an entry, post . . . And given that I have a pretty demanding day job in addition to this little passion, I’ve come to the realization that I can only do so much. I encourage you to leave comments freely and often, and to never feel offended in the slightest for doing so without expecting a personalized response. I love reading them, and love the back and forth that they often create with others.
If you ask a direct question of me, I will try to answer. And if you leave your comment with a way to reach you, I may sometimes even reply by e-mail. Thank you.
Spiteful and/or derogatory comments will be removed immediately.
Too wordy? Too cool and distant? I’m certainly willing to edit to get closer to the truth.
The biggest thing that I wish I had done from the start was to use my own domain. The small investment will provide you with a lot of flexibility down the road if you decide to switch blogging platforms or have any aspirations of taking your blog beyond a purely hobby activity.
As far as responding to comments, it looks like a gender based theme running through the responses with the guys being a little less, well… sensitive to the idea of responding to commenters.
Add me to the list that doesn’t respond to every comment. If a question is asked I try to respond to every single one. If someone shares their own gardening experiences or leaves a compliment, I don’t always respond. Not to be rude, and those are some the comments that I appreciate the most, but it’s hard enough to keep up with things as it is. Plus I see enough of myself in the blog posts, I like for the comments to feature the site’s visitors.
Twitter: @layanee1
Kathy: Thanks for your feedback! Concerning comments, as I stated, I am fairly new to blogging and while the comments were not the initial focus of my blog which is to share gardening information, joy, successes and failure with other passionate gardeners just as you stated, the comments are always welcome and and important method of feedback. If a blog elicits a comment then you know that others have really connected with your photos or text and that is gratifying! Also, I do agree that it is important to know where someone is gardening…I will take a look at my front page and include that info. Also, most of us have ‘day jobs’ at least I think we do and blogging takes place where you can fit it in that day. For some, early morning and others evening. I find it is much better to read blogs and post than watch the mindless tube…so thanks to all who post and read!
David: I have often commented on your sensitive text and really gorgeous photos and now I know why you do not respond! That’s okay now that I know!
I would also like to mention that quite often I do not even read the comments on other people’s blogs. So all readers don’t feel the same about comments.
Rick–looking forward to meeting you. Dave–I explain feeds and readers here. If you’ve already read that, and it hasn’t helped, let me know and I’ll try to improve the explanation. It is a topic I plan to cover in my handout if not in the panel discussion proper.
The dialogue about responding to comments is interesting. I don’t usually respond to comments at my blog unless there is a question or point to be clarified. And I respond by email about as often as I do in the comments section. So sometimes there may be a response but another reader may not be aware of it. It never really occurred to me that readers were actually expecting a response from me in most cases.
I was going to advise you to completely skip over all the technical details of blogging, but then I see in your comments that there are people who might actually be interested in this. Shows how out of touch I am.
David P.–it is a lot of work to do a blog well. And sometimes you get a post up, and then you’re swamped with work, and couldn’t respond if you wanted to.
As far as one’s attitude toward comments, there may be some gender difference to figure in as well. Some male garden bloggers that I have discussed this with had never even considered the social aspects of blogging. Most of them already had a strong background in print media and thought of comments, at best, as letters to the editor. Whereas for myself, one of the big reasons I started blogging was to find other people as passionate about gardening as I am, and to share my hard-earned experience gardening in a cold climate.
The rules, protocol, etiquette–whatever you want to call it–are still being developed, and are probably different for an economics blog than they are for a gardening blog.
If you’re feeling uncomfortable, why don’t you just modify your comment form to say, “I really appreciate your comments, but I won’t always be able to respond. Thanks for your understanding.” Then people know what to expect. Your blog should fit in with your personality and other commitments. I don’t think you should change your approach to comments because of others’ expectations, but they should know how you and your blog operate.
Looking forward to working with you on the panel discussion.
and thanks for adding that subscription feature kathy. i clicked on it when i commented initially because i didn’t know what it was, but it is a great tool for those of us who like to come back and read responses. those month long conversations are great; they remind me of the letter conversations you read about philosophers and fictional characters having.
Oh yeah…edit carefully. If you add a 3rd point at the last minute, go back and change your lead sentence to read: “THREE main things…”
From the “Do as I say, not as I do” category!
As a reader, the two main things that keep me coming back to blogs are:
1) frequent updates
2) a sense of the blogger’s personality that comes through in the writing
3) Good, concise writing (say everything in as few words as possible. Readers at a computer screen have itchy clicker fingers!)
You might also explain in your talk about “readers” and “feeds,” something I don’t really understand myself. Some people, I gather, subscribe to a feed and get an automatic update whenever something new is posted. Others, like myself, bookmark blogs we like and check back every so often–thus the importance of regular updates. I tend not to check if a blog goes weeks and weeks without an update.
Eeeek. I do allow comments and love it when someone leaves them, yet I respond to them rather infrequently. I had never considered for a moment that this was considered an insult to any one. Truth is, it’s hard enough to find/make those several hours each week it requires to shoot, edit, write and then post, and since I have to date merely been doing it as a labor of love and actually have a day job, I had not considered that there were rules about how I must show up if not to be considered careless or unkind or a snob or…
I guess I had always considered the comments more like a guest book at a national park or cabin, or even a wedding, where visitors left little snippets of themselves, a glimpse of how their visit affected them.
Now I’m a little worried that I may have been coming off as uncaring, when that is the last thing on Earth I would have intended.
Kathy, I did appreciate your comment that there are, as should be, as many different approaches to blogging as there are bloggers.
OK, you’ve all got me thinking…
Kathy:
I am considering going to Okla. City so I’ll be in the crowd if I go.
My best advice for blog start-up;
*If it’s for fun . . . use Blogger.
*If you’re serious . . . use wordpress.com, or wordpress hosted on your own site(domain name considerations), same with typeface.
Layanee, I have seen you commenting on other blogs and I am glad to have you visiting mine. Your blog reminds me of one thing I always like a gardening blog to have: at least a hint of where they are located. About all I could figure out is that you are in a warmer climate than mine, because you can grow corylopsis. And you don’t live in a desert. Never mind. I just found it on your About page. The word “About” didn’t look clickable at first. But I’ll leave my comment as a tip for other garden bloggers: we all want to know where your garden is, so we can compare it with ours.
Bright, I love comments on my blog and on the blogs I read. Because I installed a plugin that allows readers to subscribe to comments, I notice people do come back to respond to what someone else wrote, sometimes months later!
Terri, a blog is just a website based on the date. The two can have exactly the same content, but a blog is usually more personal and changes frequently, and a typical website is more static. Usually. Typically. A lot depends on your personal style and your goals in starting the blog (see comment 7 above). If you want personal feedback, you need to write in a personal style. If you’re after income based on search engine results, you’ll probably worry more about incorporating keywords into your posts.
As far as software goes, the big three of blogging are Blogger, Movable Type/Typepad, and WordPress.org/WordPress.com. Blogger and WordPress.com are hosted by the software makers. You don’t have to pay a thing, but they aren’t as flexible in design. Movable Type and WordPress.org are software that you install onto server space that you rent from a web host. (It is hard to write this stuff without resorting to jargon. A server is a computer that “serves” web pages to your browser.) You are free to modify the design as much as you want, but it requires an investment of time, and if you don’t know what you’re doing, you can wind up with an unusable mess.
I have never used Typepad myself. It is a fee based service using the essentially the same software as Movable Type, and they take care of the hosting for you, similar to the free ones.
While those are the “big three,” there are many others out there. Just recently I learned of Squarespace. It appears to be competing with Typepad, and it looks like it creates a very professional looking website, which can have many different parts to it.
Robin, I think when many people think “blog,” they are thinking of those angry, argumentative, or whiny blogs where people are blowing off steam. As Bright said, passionate people are the ones driven to blog. I don’t know where else I could meet so many people passionate about gardening, so conveniently. (I suspect I will meet many such people at the GWA symposium, but it won’t be convenient!) If the garden blogging community was as confrontational and troll-ridden as some other blogs I’ve seen, I would have dropped out of blogging long ago.
I’m glad to have you as one of my faithful readers, and I regret not having something new for you to read every day. I know I think of more to write than I have time to . . .
Colleen and Genie, I value the garden blogging community very much, but I think there are as many ways to approach blogging as there are bloggers. Some writers aren’t looking for a community; they have one already, whether in their local region or through a society. To them a blog may be an extension of their professional presence elsewhere: yes, they’re just writing a column. Others, truthfully, are writing more for search engine eyeballs and ad income. They are writing to attract readers who are looking for an answer to a specific question, and will click on an ad that helps solve their problem. I can’t write that way; it sounds too much like an encyclopedia, but they are making a lot more from their websites than I am!
I don’t want to limit any writer to a certain kind of blogging, but if they aren’t interested in responding to comments, then they should disable them, so that no one expects an answer.
Your point about photos, Genie, is so on the mark. When I started blogging, digital cameras were expensive, low-res, and therefore rare. So were pictures. Somewhere along the line that changed, but I didn’t really sit up and take notice until I read another garden blogger who said she didn’t bother reading a garden blog that didn’t have pictures. That woke me up in a hurry! A garden blog without pictures is like sitting with a friend in your kitchen and telling them about your garden, without ever taking them outdoors to see it!
Twitter: @layanee1
I’m also new to garden blogging. Formatting and set up are important and if I can do it, anyone can. It’s just a matter of picking the host which will serve you best. I think that it is a bit of a unique category in that garden bloggers readily want to share their own gardens and benefit from the collective knowledge of other gardeners. I would absolutely agree with Colleen that feedback is very important and acknowledging that feedback vital to the connection which we are trying to make. One reason that I started to blog about my garden is that I am a gardener first and many of the blogs I read are written by professional writers. It just lends a different perspective.
Good luck with the conference and have fun!
i’m thirding and fourthing what’s already here. i just started blogging recently as well. i don’t know that i’m consistent enough to be a garden blogger, but my feelings are similar to genie’s and colleen’s. i love the participatory aspect that allows conversations to occur in the comments beneath posts. i don’t know if everyone reads them, but many times, i feel the discussions can be even more interesting than the posts themselves. more specific to garden blogging, i feel like this somehow makes up for the fact i wasn’t raised on the farm or in the woods. i benefit from the wealth of available knowledge. more macro than that, robin is right that blogs do tend toward reactionary. i think as we blog longer that will start trending down, but who knows… i think it’s largely passionate people who are driven to blog about something in the first place. have fun at your conference… i can’t wait to hear how it goes!
I just created my first blog about two weeks ago, so I’m very “green” so to speak. So I’ll go ahead and be the humble newbie looking for expert advice about blogging. Here are the things I want to know as I am just starting out…
So far my main issues have been customizing and formatting my blog. And also learning that type of information that belongs on a blog versus a website. I use an online service, but I’d really like to have more control over the overall appearance. Is software available that gives you more freedom to customize your site, or is an online service the better way to go. I’m used to using (basic) website software that allows you to change just about every element on the page, so from my experience so far I find blog sites more limiting.
And then there is the pesky task of learning how to write for a blog versus other forms of writing. After reading Colleen’s comment about garden columns on a computer, I went back and started rethinking my writing style. What resources do you all suggest if you’re just starting out?
So these are my concerns as a newcomer. My 2 cents is probably only worth about half a cent, but I got some good pointers from all your comments!
When I started reading blogs one of the first things I noticed was how ANGRY so many of the bloggers were! When I finally decided to just focus on reading garden blogs (mostly, anyway) I was happy to see that there is an overall positive and humorous tone.
I try to do the same–keep it positive. Occasionally, yes, I do have a bit of a peeve. But for the most part, I don’t think people want to read how upset or angry others are.
My $.02 worth anyway.
I think you do a great job of combining info and personal experience. That’s one of the reasons I read your blog every day.
Robin
I second Colleen’s comment, and extend it — I also think it’s key to make an effort to show up at other spots around the blogosphere and help continue the dialogue at other sites. I admit I sometimes fall behind there…life does get in the way…but it’s so important.
In terms of garden blogging, photography is key, too. So many folks (especially newbies) don’t know all the plant names, so without good, in-focus photographs, it’s hard for folks to relate and/or apply lessons learned by a blogger to their own plants.
Good luck with the session — can’t wait to hear about it and to read the other comments that come along with this post!
Twitter: @C_Vanderlinden
The biggest point I would like to hammer home to them is the fact that blogging is totally unlike print in that at its best, blogging becomes a dialogue. My biggest pet peeve when I read blogs is when I see that people have taken the effort to comment on a post and the blog author has made no effort to even acknowledge comments. A few garden writers already have blogs, and they’re little more than garden columns on a computer. It’s a community, not a lecture hall.
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