How to build a GARDENING blog that's bigger than Boing Boing

How would I know? Do I look like someone who's built a blog as big as Boing Boing?

Never fear. Lack of experience is not about to stop yours truly. Nobody reached Everest's summit until Hilary and Tenzing decided to go for a walk and someone needs to put gardening blogs on the map. Who better to do that than...alright, I'll do it! I'll give it a shot anyhow...

As I sat scratching the dandruff from amongst my hair follicles, I felt led to enlighten the world that gardening is not only a non-spectator sport, it's a game the whole family can play. My friends had all started their own blogs, or were major comment contributors to some of the big names, and when I told them that I too would start my own many a cheer was heard...until I told them that GARDENING was going to be my theme!

"Gardening?" "Who's gonna read a friggin gardening blog?"...well, gardener's of course!

Gardening is one hobby that nearly everybody on this planet has been involved with in some form or another. Maybe your mother regularly cut roses to freshen a room, or you bought your girlfriend a long-stemmed gerbera to improve your chances. Perhaps, just once or twice, someone called you a pansy!! Now how did they know what a pansy was? And how did you know? Because deep inside every one of us lives a little gnome eagerly desiring the great outdoors. To cultivate, propagate, rejuvenate, aerate, and compost!

So, what's the strategy behind writing a gardening blog that usurps Boing Boing as Technorati's favourite bedfellow?

Start by telling everyone that you're not a gardener. Works for me. Sure, I love to garden and I enjoy getting my hands dirty but I'm not a Master Gardener with letters behind my name that resemble the caution label on a bag of potting mix. I'm just passionate about my hobby. POINT #1 - YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE AN EXPERT.

Live near the most isolated capital city in the world - Perth, Western Australia. Busselton, the thriving metropolis that I live in, has a population of nearly 25,000 and growing. When the world talks about gardening, Busselton's reputation is not one that commands a heap of respect, in fact, I think they think we live under a heap! POINT #2 - IT DOESN'T MATTER WHERE YOU LIVE

I tell it how it is. Some bloggers got upset when I mentioned that I actually HATED some plants. Apparently I should have said that I liked them less than others. Hate was a strong word to use. Nah, honestly I really hate these plants. Well it's not the plants I hate, more the way some "gardeners" overuse them in their designs. POINT #3 - CALL A SPADE A "SPADE"

Never be afraid of the big guns. Sure, they may have more qualifications, more experience, better networks, written more gardening books etc. But they're not GOD! And who else is there to keep them honest? Pick your fights. Stay humble. Keep your sense of humour. POINT #4 - ALWAYS START A BRAWL WITH A GOLIATH

Write interesting, informative and witty posts as regularly as you can. One day I'm gonna do that. POINT #5 - BE BORING AT YOUR OWN PERIL

The more specific you become, the more potential readers you alienate. So stop posing with all that Latin stuff. Nobody speaks latin anymore, not even people from Latin, wherever that is. POINT #6 - KEEP IT REAL - SIMPLE!

But the best part of my strategy is to slowly heat my readers up like they're being cajoled by global warming, and slowly but surely, they'll come to enjoy my blog. They won't admit it straight away. But after some time, a few rants and raves later, they'll start to read a post once a week. Then once a day. They'll begin to comment. Then they will subscribe to my feed, link to my blog and then I'll have them...HA, HA, HA (evil laughter sounds)...

And then Boing Boing will want me to link to them...But I won't!!! (more evil laughter)

This is a post I wrote expressly for Problogger's Group Writing Project. If you would like to contribute, follow Darren's guidelines and start posting.

Posted by Stuart on September 18, 2006 8:43 PM | Permalink | Check to Subscribe to this Comment:

Comments

I thought you would get a kick out of this. Try Googleing “what does busselton have to attract people”.

I would be willing to answer this if you would kindly have your local chamber of commerce send me a ticket so I can fly there and check it out.

Posted by: trey | September 19, 2006 1:13 AM

Try it without the quotation marks!

Posted by: trey | September 19, 2006 2:51 AM

These American's are taking over everywhere!

That's very impressive Trey...

Posted by: Stuart | September 19, 2006 8:45 AM

Ha ha ha ha. So is it working?? ;)

Posted by: MamaDuck | September 19, 2006 9:19 PM

(Found you through ProBlogger.)

Stealth in blogging (your last paragraph)...much like a Venus Flytrap. Nice strategy!

Posted by: Northern Girl | September 20, 2006 12:05 AM

Points well made! I of course can kill a blade of grass and a goldfish in one swell swoop...I'm not allowed to touch the plants at my house :\

Posted by: Jersey Girl | September 20, 2006 12:51 AM

I disagree completely with #6. My advice is to be a specific as possible. Stay focused. Be regional. And if you don't know, find out (or ask). I read blogs because, unlike books, they can show a slice of gardening life at the microclimate level.

Why would I waste time reading someone who doesn't know anything and doesn't care that they don't know? I think of gardening and blogging both as great experiments in finding out.

Posted by: M Sinclair Stevens (Texas) | September 20, 2006 2:05 AM

MamaDuck - so close I can almost taste it. Only a few million readers short but the gap is closing.

Northern Girl - isn't it though. And the best thing is - nobody's on to my plan yet! Shhh!!

Jersey Girl - stick with me and we'll turn you into a green thumb in no time at all.

M - I agree in part with your comment however, if you're too specific and too localised you find you have two problems on your hands.

1). You run out material and your blog ends up becoming a weekly, then fortnightly, then monthly etc posting affair and your readers will soon lose interest.

2). Being too specific alienates a whole group of people. For example, if I only discussed Australian natives local to Busselton then my audience will be so small that I may only get a few readers from time to time.

Remember that the title of the post was to build a GARDENING blog bigger than Boing Boing!!

Posted by: Stuart | September 20, 2006 8:19 AM

Heck;
Forget gardening, I'm trying to build some bigger than Boingboing and my field is Landscape design . . . . . oh well.

Posted by: Rick | September 20, 2006 11:22 PM

Not sure how you refer to a Grevillea without the 'Latin' so I guess I'll just continue :D !

Posted by: Corinne | September 21, 2006 8:44 AM

I got a few laughs out of the bingbong post. I am working on my own gardening blog and am never sure what to post. I have been gardening for years and won't even pretend to know it all, but like you, I love gardening, getting my hands dirty and even the physical labor of turning the soil and weeding the ground is somehow satisfying.
This year I have tried my first raised bed garden and like everytime I have started something new, I have problems. I hope to have a better knowledge of the raised bed tips and tricks by next year's season.

Posted by: Crystina Lawrence | June 7, 2007 3:49 AM

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