Gardening Blogs

If done right, a blog can be a valuable tool for promoting your nursery, garden center or landscaping business.

By Tim Wood, copyright 2006

What’s the big deal about blogs? That is the question I have been asking myself for the last three years. In case you don’t know, a blog, or Web log, is a chronologically organized Internet site that allows you to publish your views, news or photographs free of charge and without any special Web design software. The author of a blog is called a blogger.

When blogs first came on the scene, every business magazine seemed to be hyping the benefits of blogs and blogging in a tone reminiscent of the dot-com industry’s heydays. All of the talking heads chanted in unison, “You must have a blog.”

Why? What’s the big deal? Why should I care what a blogger thinks or writes? Why should I want to start a blog?

In a quest to discover the value of blogging, I combed the Internet, reading all sorts of blogs: political, news, celebrity, garden. I quickly formed the conclusion that blogs were for people that had way too much time on their hands. Who has time to sort through countless blogs to find something useful and interesting? And why should I waste my valuable time publishing a blog, especially if only a few people will ever see it? I quickly dismissed blogs as waste of time.

In all fairness, I did discover that blogs have some advantages over a typical Web site. You do not have to be a graphic designer or webmaster to publish a blog. You do not need to buy any special Web design software, like Adobe Dreamweaver or Microsoft FrontPage. All the tools you need to get started, including the server space, can be found at Blogger (www.blogger.com) or a similar blog-hosting service. It’s so simple to create a blog site. Perhaps that’s why there are so many worthless blogs out there. The other interesting aspect of blogs is that they are­ more dynamic and more up-to-date compared to Web sites. While Web sites can be stagnant and dated, blogs, by their nature, are more timely and current. And lastly, blogs allow visitors to post comments about your entries or articles. This interactivity allows for the possibility of meaningful conversation. Yet even with these advantages, I failed to see the necessity to start a blog.

 RSS brings a blog to life.

Then one day it all clicked — I discovered something that prompted me to change my tune and start blogging. I came across an article about FeedBurner (www.feedburner.com). FeedBurner is a free service that turns a blog into RSS format (Really Simple Syndication). In layman’s terms, RSS allows you to create timely news items, such as a blog, and have it automatically show up on a subscriber’s browser home page. If you have a customized home page, such as MyYahoo, AOL or Google, that has up-to-date news, weather or stock quotes, for example, then you already are utilizing the benefits of RSS. I have a customized browser home page that I developed with MyYahoo. I love MyYahoo and the ability to choose the content that shows up on my computer screen. It is RSS that makes this customization possible, and FeedBurner makes it possible for me to publish a blog that is something more than a lonely diary hidden on the outskirts of the “blogosphere.”

Of course, many people do not have a customized home page, but not to worry. FeedBurner also allows people to subscribe to a blog and get clean-looking updates via e-mail. Each time I update my blog, my subscribers receive it as an e-mail. Another interesting thing you can do with FeedBurner is to generate code that allows people to insert your information automatically, such as a blog update, into their Web site. While most webmasters may not be interested in having your blog articles magically appear on their Web site, there are many Web site owners who are happy to get good, free programming for their site. It helps them keep their site fresh and relevant, and it does not cost them a dime.

It allows me to get my information out to a wider audience. In my opinion, RSS (and RSS tools at FeedBurner) is the key that unlocks the power of blogging. It brings a blog to life by delivering my content directly to people on a regular basis.

 How I created my blog.

I started my blog by going to Blogger, a free blog-hosting site maintained by Google. After signing up for an account, I choose a ready-made template, chose a color scheme and filled out my profile. The profile tells my readers about myself and lends credibility to what I write. My blog address is plant-quest.blogspot.com, and it’s titled “The Plant Hunter.”

I use my blog to publish regular features on new and interesting plants, and I share stories about my plant-hunting trips. It took me less than 20 minutes to set up “The Plant Hunter” and start blogging. To post an update, you simply click on the “create post” button. From this screen you paste in a short article that has been written in Microsoft Word. You can compose your article while in the post screen, but I strongly recommend that you compose in your word-processing program — it allows more time for editing, it imposes self-control, and it results in a better article.

Images improve the appearance of a blog, and they help you tell your story. Blogger makes it easy to add low-resolution images. With a few clicks of the mouse, you can upload images off an existing Web site or from your hard drive. One more click, and your blog is published. It’s that easy.

After I set up my blog, I went to FeedBurner. Here, I simply entered my blog address, and FeedBurner generated the code that allows people to subscribe to the blog. To promote my blog I added the code to my Web sites, www.springmeadownursery.com and www.colorchoiceplants.com. If you go to these Web sites and scroll to the bottom of the page, you will see the results of this code. You’ll find subscription buttons for MyYahoo, AOL and Google. When a Web site visitor clicks on one of theses buttons, it automatically creates a header for “The Plant Hunter” to their home page and lists three links to my latest updates.

For those who do not have a customized home page, but do have a newer version of Internet Explorer or Firefox, there is an orange button that sends the feed to their toolbar alongside their favorite bookmarks. If someone would rather have the blog updates sent via e-mail, there is a place to type an e-mail address. I designed our Web sites with Microsoft FrontPage, so it was easy for me to add this code to my sites. If your Web site is outsourced, you’ll need to e-mail the FeedBurner-generated code to your Web designer for insertion.

 Is there a blog in your future?

In many respects, building a blog is the easy part of the process. Making your blog relevant and useful requires more time, thought and effort. Certainly, many people find my blog useless, but hopefully my target audience feels otherwise. Plant enthusiasts and avid gardeners are my target audience; the early adapters that can influence a wider audience of gardeners. If you start a blog, you’ll need to determine your target audience and make sure the information you’re providing engages them — otherwise, it’s all a waste of time. Have a clear plan, and make sure you’re providing useful information. Consider building your blog around a consistent theme.

For example, a garden center might create a blog called “Note for the Garden” and put out a weekly post on the plants that are at peak in the garden. A landscaping company could post a weekly maintenance schedule. Avoid being overly commercial or self-serving. Your audience won’t appreciate it, and it will kill your blog. Stick to your theme, and realize that no one wants to read your advertisements or your random musings about the meaning of life. If you make it useful, people will want to subscribe.

Do some research, and find out what other garden blogs are all about. Visit the Web site voices.gardenweb.com to sample hundreds of garden-related blogs. Here you can glean ideas for a theme, layouts and content. Ask yourself (co-workers, friends, and so on) what you like and dislike about the blogs. To get an even better feel for blogging, you might consider subscribing to several blogs. This is a tactic I learned when we started an electronic newsletter. It didn’t take long to realize which newsletters were worthwhile and which were downright annoying. You can learn some very valuable lessons from this exercise and use them to make sure you never annoy your subscribers.

Be aware that if you start a blog, it’s a time commitment. Experts recommend that you post approximately once per week. Personally, I think it all depends on the blog and its theme and content. I try to post twice a month. In reality, my posting frequency varies, sometimes more and sometimes less. The point is I don’t want people to forget about me, but at the same time I don’t want to wear out my welcome either.

The length of each post will vary, as well. There are times when I post a brief announcement about an upcoming speaking engagement. There are other times when I post full-blown articles. Realize that you don’t have to reinvent the wheel to write a blog. If you’re like me, you have plenty of useful content already saved on your computer. With a little modification you can resurrect some old content that you wrote for a newsletter, sales sheet or Web site. Just make sure you update your old content, edit it to the appropriate size and make sure that you remain within the theme.

 Get the word out.

Blogging takes time and effort, so if you expect to get a return on your investment, it is critical that you develop a plan to promote your blog. You need to get the word out if you expect people to find you and subscribe. The blogosphere is vast, and it is easy to go unnoticed. It is estimated that there are more than 50 million blogs, and approximately 7,200 new blogs are created every hour. You will need to promote your blog if you have any hope people finding you.

Your Web site is the best place to promote your blog because your web visitors already have shown some interest in your subject matter. Your blog also is a great tool for promoting your Web site. I utilize plenty of hyperlinks in my blog articles that take subscribers to my consumer Web site, www.colorchoiceplants.com, in order to build traffic there. Your blog and your Web site should work together to get your message out.

Utilize your e-mail signature to promote your blog. Microsoft Outlook and other e-mail programs allow you to customize your e-mail format so that every e-mail you send out has an automatically generated signature (or footnote) at the bottom of the page. Utilize this to guide people to your blog. I am convinced the e-mail signature feature is one of the most powerful, yet underutilized, marketing tools available today. My e-mail signature lists my company name, telephone number, address, Web sites and blog address. To me, it is a matter of simple courtesy to provide this information to the people I e-mail. I wish other people would catch on because I regularly find myself wasting valuable time e-mailing people back to get this basic information. I strongly recommend you create a standardized company signature and put it on every computer in the office.

It also is helpful to let other bloggers know about your blog and ask them to mention it in their blog. With a little hard work, your blog just may build a following. After approximately six months of serious blogging, I now get an average of 50 new subscribers a day. FeedBurner provides you the statistics that track your subscriptions and hits. This helps to determine if your blog is growing in popularity or dying on the vine.

Surprisingly, I’ve found blogging enjoyable. It allows me to write in a more casual voice than typical. It’s easy to write because I have a passion for my subject matter. But I don’t blog just for the fun of it; I alos blog because it makes good business sense. Consumer advertising is very expensive, and blogs (as well as Web sites) are relatively inexpensive.

My blogging goal is share my enthusiasm for plants, create credibility, and drive traffic to our web site. It is a way to promote our products in a way that engages our audience. Print ads and Web sites are static and lifeless, and banner and pop-up ads are, at best, annoying. Blogs give subscribers a sense of belonging, and the comment feature empowers them by giving them a voice.

If your blog is good, your subscribers may even become advocates, sharing your views with friends and generating word-of-mouth awareness for your products. If done right, blogging can be a valuable tool for promoting your nursery, garden center or landscaping business.

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