Wednesday, November 26, 2014

BATB: The Advice

BATB = Blog About the Blog, and welcome to the first of an intermittent and continuing series of posts about...the blog.


In common with other bloggers we receive lots of emails inviting us to attend various functions. We would love to be able to attend each and every event, launch, or gathering that we get invited to but if the schedule clashes with our day jobs then we simply cannot go. And we only have so much time off from work every year that only a precious few weekday events get that special treatment of chipping off our annual leave.

Saying that, with the right timing and location combined with an interesting function, every so often we do make it.

At one of these events we attended recently the host of the party asked me for one piece of advice with regards to blogging as he intends to start one of his own soon. To which I replied:

Just be yourself and share your passion with consistency. Like minded people will naturally gravitate towards you and if they keep liking what they are reading then your followers will grow in time.

As soon as I said that I cringed a little bit inside. Not because it was untrue but because it sounded like a cliche. But he did only ask for one piece of advice and that little statement does hold a lot of truth and can be expanded if needed into a multitude of other related advices. 

His reply back though a little more surprising. He said my advice sharply contrasts with an advice given to him by another blogger, and that is to be as scathing and vitriolic as possible, to not hold back on the things that you say as readers like those sort of things.

I repsonded that we are not that sort of blog hence not the direction and tone that we tread. And then I asked who this blogger was and he said that it was... [snip - like I'm going to reveal that!]

Ahh, I recognised the blogger instantly. It's one of those garden bloggers that I call 'The Wannabe Journalists'.

The type of blogger that has chosen the platform of gardening to illustrate their writing skills by trying to create and expound issues which in turn provoke and engage readers. In the process of doing so, they hope to catch the attention of mainstream media and land themselves a column, article commissions, or perhaps even a full time journalistic job.

To be honest I rarely read such types of garden blog. They can be entertaining at first, and initially effective in provoking thoughts and bringing issues to attention but their steam tends to run out quickly. But why?

First, these sort of blogs are often, especially once you start dissecting the personality of the blogger and their writing, not really about gardening per se but about...issues. Second, once you look closely some do very little gardening or just do a mundane, minimal, and repetitive set of gardening tasks. And yet they have a lot to say about it. Third, some don't even have gardens at all, and yet they write about gardening. Not a requisite I know but it certainly helps if you have one, whether big, small, borrowed, or in pots...

A few years ago, when I started detecting members of this group of garden bloggers one of them managed to spin so many issues and posts about one tomato plant growing on a windowsill. Creative writing perhaps?

Going back to the party I followed up my query with a suggestion saying that he needs to make a decision first which direction to take. If he wants to take the direction the other blogger has taken then go for that advice.

Blogging can be a very personal thing and corporate blogs that tread this path rarely get as much interaction as those written by individuals for personal reasons. Often the personality of the blogger is in parallel or directly reflects the content of the blog and garden blogs are no exception to that.


In real life, people who constantly spout drama, conflict, and dwell on 'issues and tissues' may be entertaining at first but quickly become toxic and to be honest quite boring and eventually are best avoided. Life is too short to let people that drain energy hang around you for too long. 

Perhaps I can say the same with garden blogs? One based on conflicts, issues, criticisms, and controversies may be informative and thought provoking at first but without the solid backing of a product (i.e. a garden, especially for a garden blog) or a feel good passion that others can have an affinity with then such a blog will rarely persist.

And going back to that particular wannabe blogger, did he create a critical blog or a more personable one, well lets just say I'm still reading it...

Mark :)

32 comments :

  1. BATB is off to a good start with excellent advice. Too many issues-based or controversial posts can be annoying. Mostly I enjoy photos of your latest adventure or your gardening progress. It is fun to mix things up now and then with a critique or thought-provoking post as needed.

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    1. Hi Shirley, glad to hear that :) it's true that every so often it's good to mix things up a bit, a little spice here and there never did harm

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  2. It is an interesting advice. I think personal blogs are the ones that really are good.

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  3. In Australia we have a term for people who are artificially pompous or controversial. It starts with W and refers to the fact that they may enjoy it but no one else is really interesting in what they are doing.

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    1. That made me laugh Missy! I know what W word is...

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  4. I think you gave the would-be blogger good advice, and I agree with your opinions about the other type of blogger. I much prefer blogs with a true connection to gardening and a friendly tone. Making friends with other gardeners and learning about personal experiences are my reasons for reading and commenting on blogs.

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    1. Same here Alison. Issue laden blogs can be handy at times, fascinating even but when it becomes the core of it and in constancy it's a different. Much better to learn by sharing rather that via constant provocation.

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  5. Good advice certainly, and can be simplified even further for me: make it something that you'll be proud of, something that you'd want to read yourself. There are blogs that I read (or skim) for information, but the ones I enjoy the most are personal.

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    1. So true Alan, and you've said so perfectly :)

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  6. I hadn't really thought about the dichotomy but, you're right, it's evident that there are 2 camps out there. Like you, I've mostly gravitated away from the preachy ones - while I don't mind dialogue about real issues of interest to me, I don't like grandstanding for its own sake. What I value most about blogging is the opportunity to share what's important to me about my garden and the process of gardening and "converse" with others with like interests. Frankly, most of my local friends are not gardeners and don't share my passion so real exchanges with people I know care about it as much as I do is of great value. If I need a lecture, I'll take a class.

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    1. There are two broad camps Kris, and sub camps and crosses in between. Preachy blogs definitely belongs to the 'other camp' and were not fans of them either. Your last sentence makes a very good point :)

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  7. "to be as scathing and vitriolic as possible"...you're talking about me aren't you!! Rude!

    Hahahaha, no. There are the formulaic bloggers and the real bloggers, we all know which we are/want to be and which the others are. For one group it's our passion and the other, well, they try...

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    1. Definitely not you Loree, you're sweet as pie but with a little bite :))

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  8. What an astonishing piece of advice (the vitriol bit - not yours)! I can't say I have come across many blogs written like that. Perhaps I live in a sheltered blogging bubble. I do know a blog/website where criticism is taken to a level that seems to have the writer writhing in ecstasy at his/her own cleverness but frankly reflects poorly on them rather than providing any genuine, helpful and healthy critique. Or so I think and I rarely read it for that reason. But then perhaps I'm not the readership they're after. Interesting piece, Mark.

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    1. Astonishing isn't it David? The blogger who gave the other advice at the moment blogs intermittently as the person is currently dealing with personal 'issues'. The 'tomato blogger' has said goodbye to blogosphere a year or so ago and is now a freelance journalist for mostly broadsheet papers (the tomato formula did work for him).

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  9. There's too much conflict and too many issues out there already without them running over into gardening blogs. Gardens and virtual gardens should provide us with a sanctuary. It's possible to be stimulating and inspirational without being provocative. I think that you provided sound advice to a would be blogger and am glad to read that he has followed your advice .

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    1. You hit the nail on the head there Anna. It is possible to be informative and convey constructive criticism without resorting to provocation.

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  10. Excellent post, guys, because I think we do all wonder when we start blogging what tone to take and if anyone is reading - or was that just me? ;) Much better to be true to yourself and you find like minded bloggers. One thing I heard in early blogging days was that statistically a lot of bloggers run out of steam after the first year and give up. That was like throwing down the gauntlet to me and I was determined to carry on - six years now! For me, blogging is a way of keeping in touch with virtual (and some real) gardening chums so falls into the category of being a gentle pursuit. xx

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    1. Six years, that's fantastic Caro, and growing strong still too :)

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  11. "to be as scathing and vitriolic as possible"

    Rupert Murdoch has made a fortune doing just that here in the US. Unfortunately.

    Surely gardeners are not fooled by the poseurs. We know our own, don't we?

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    1. We know our own indeed Gail, but you'd still be surprised...

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  12. That's a really interesting way of seeing it. I think you offered sound advice to the novice blogger - at least it certainly rings true to me. The blogs I enjoy the most are the really personal ones - the ones about trials and tribulations, with thoughtful reflections on the outcome. I started blogging partially because I have so many questions, and writing seems to help me untangle my thoughts. I also had this urge to share interesting or useful things that I discovered along the way, whether anyone else was interested, or not. I really do it mostly for me, and its varied content reflects the fluttering butterfly quality of my mind - so not much consistency there, I'm afraid. :)

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    1. The lack of consistency is not obvious Anna, rather a fine mix of things to form one cohesive sense that is uniquely yours :)

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  13. A very thought provoking post. I guess I have enjoyed my blogging over the years. I try to take care in what I say, but if you lose a regular visitor its hard not to worry that you may have inadvertently offended.

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    1. It can be baffling Alistair but you always hope to recover quickly, if not unaffected at all :)

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  14. I love that word vitriolic. You just know if I did a Blog it would be highly acidic and critical of that group of Prima Donnas that we all know. I shall extract more info from you even if that means strapping you down on top of a fast growing bamboo xx

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    1. You'd be a fabulous and a very entertaining blogger Don, go for it! :))

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  15. I like this new series! I have come across similar blogs and quickly lost interest, I know what you mean.

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  16. Well said! I have always said that gardeners as a group are nurturing, creative folks. Not to say there are not lots of different personalities! But I can't see a real gardener who constantly spouts vitriol. I suspect any plants they attempt to grow quickly shrivel and die.

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  17. Yours was great advice! You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. On the other hand, who wants a lot of flies buzzing around and vinegar is a great organic herbicide.

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  18. I've come across garden bloggers that were entertainingly opinionated, but none that slipped over into vitriol. Just lucky, I guess. In my experience, gardeners are the nicest, most generous people on earth.
    In the world of restaurants, the sniping and backbiting is intense. You would think feeding people would be a nurturing activity. Go figure.

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