10 Basic Tips for Starting a Blog Using Gardening as Metaphor

When thinking about which metaphor would be most fitting when talking about blogging the first thing that came to my mind was gardening. Like gardening is blogging about striving to create something with a purpose even if the creation is the only one. Something which only grows when handled with the proper respect and care and something which you may create yourself for yourself, but which you inevitably will only enjoy success with if the environment plays along and which you hope will be enjoyed and appreciated by others as well. Changing the approach somewhat have I chosen to take a look at how to start a blog using gardening as a metaphor. I will be doing so by basing this post on a post about beginning a garden. Using the metaphor should hopefully prove helpful in explaining things in a new way as well as opening up the concept to new people. At least that is my modest aspiration.

The gardening article used as basis for this article is Ten Steps to Beginning a Garden. I read a lot of gardening articles before finding one that I liked enough. In fact I liked this one so much that I decided to use extensive quotes, which I furthermore believe helps demonstrate how the metaphor works in detail. However, using this approach and listing all points also results in a few of the points being real stretches I’ll have to admit. Since this is not only an exercise in communication, but also about reflection is it perhaps the inconsistencies that could prove the most rewarding though. They will challenge you to think about not only what I have written, but also if it makes sense and what I could have written instead.

1. “Get an idea. Is this going to be a vegetable garden? An herb garden? A flower garden? If you choose to grow flowers, do you want annuals, which you must replant each year but which give color most of the summer? Or do you prefer perennials, which have a shorter bloom time but come back year after year? You can mix any of the above — after all, it’s your garden. Just one bit of advice: Start small. ‘Tis better to succeed just a little, than to fail grandly.” Every good blog starts with a good idea or at least an idea that lets itself mold into a good one as you get going. When thinking about starting a blog you need to contemplate what to blog about and your purpose with it as well as the depth and breadth. You can blog about something very specific, about more specific subjects or you can mix it all together. Starting small will allow you to keep up with what you do. Trying too much too soon may mean you never really get off the ground.

2. “Pick a place. Almost all vegetables and most flowers need about six hours of full sun each day. Spend a day in your chosen spot and watch how the sun moves across the space. It might receive more sun than you think. But don’t despair if your lot is largely sunless; many plants tolerate shade. … Put the garden where you can’t ignore its pleas for attention — outside the back door, near the mailbox, by the window you stare out when you dry your hair. Place it close enough to a water spigot that you won’t have to drag the hose to the hinterlands.” Choose a blogging platform. If you are ambitious and have the necessary experience or are prepared to learn things the hard way should you consider doing everything yourself. If you are unexperienced or unsure what suits you then don’t hesitate using a hosted platform. Work your blogging into your daily life, but in a positive way where you enjoy thinking about it. Make sure that working with it is so intuitive and easy as possible by setting up the software you need, bookmarking things you need often and by having all utensils within reach.

3. “Clear the ground. Get rid of the sod covering the area you plan to plant. If you want quick results, you can dig it out, but it’s easier to smother it with newspaper. A layer of five sheets is usually thick enough; double that if your lawn is Bermudagrass or St. Augustine grass. Spread a 3-inch layer of compost (or combination of potting soil and topsoil) on the newspaper and wait. It’ll take about four months for the compost and paper to decompose.” Simply starting to use your blog out of the box will almost inevitably give you problems later. After having picked a platform you need to prepare it by finding and tweaking a theme and design that suits your blog just as you should look into which plugins could prove useful for you and your audience. It may not be possible to reach perfection before launch, but that’s alright. Some things are meant to take time, but still only work out if the basis is good enough.

4. “Improve the soil. Invariably, soil needs a boost. The solution is simple: organic matter. Add a 2- to 3-inch layer of compost, decayed leaves, dry grass clippings, or old manure. If you dig soil (see Step 5), till the organic matter into the soil. If you decide not to dig or are working with an established bed you can’t dig, leave the organic matter on the surface and it will work its way into the soil in a few months.” If you aren’t already reading blogs and educating yourself about the Blogosphere this is a good time to start. You may know a lot of things and be able to translate your knowledge into great writing, but you should still get to know more about what you are getting into and who you could end up working with or competing against. This may indeed take some time, but believe me it is time well spent.

5. “Dig or don’t. Digging loosens the soil so roots can penetrate more easily. But digging when the soil is too wet or too dry can ruin its structure. Dig only when the soil is moist enough to form a loose ball in your fist, but dry enough to fall apart when you drop it. Use a spade or spading fork to gently turn the top 8 to 12 inches of soil, mixing in the organic matter from Step 4. In vegetable gardens and beds of annual flowers, turn the soil only once a year in the spring before you plant.” You can start a blog without ever having interacted with other bloggers, but I recommend following your reading and education up with commenting and perhaps even contacting your future colleagues as that will help you later on. Especially commenting is a great way to get into blogging as it is all thrills and no upkeep. Take care though as you rarely will be able to rewrite or delete your comments once you hit submit. If your comments are to serve as preparation for blogging you shouldn’t consider them less important that you would a blog post.

6. “Pick your plants. Some people pore over catalogs for months; some people head to the garden center and buy what wows them. Either method works if you choose plants adapted to your climate, your soil, and the amount of sunlight in your garden. You can even surf the Internet for plants to purchase. Here are a few easy-to-grow plants for beginners. Annual: cosmos, marigolds, impatiens, geraniums, Calendula, sunflowers, and zinnias. Perennials: Russian sage, lamb’s-ears, black-eyed Susans, purple coneflowers, phlox, pansies, and daylilies.” Regardless if you strive for perfection with every post or you simply write whatever comes to mind you need to start writing at some point. Write from your own experience, based on what you read or search the internet for ideas. Make sure you pick subjects that suit you and identify and develop your own style and tone of voice when writing. There are more kinds of posts and you well advised to mix them. Mix long and short with original content and link posts to make sure you don’t end up with empty spaces or too much in one place. Soon you will discover what fits you and your blog best.

7. “Put them in the ground. Some plants, such as pansies and kale, tolerate cold, so you can plant them in autumn or late winter. Tomatoes and most annual flowers, on the other hand, are touchy about cold, so don’t plant them until the danger of frost has passed in your area. Midspring and midautumn are good times to plant perennial flowers. … Some plants, such as lettuce and sunflowers, are easy to grow from seed. You can sow them directly in the garden. Be sure to read the seed packet for information about when to plant, how deep to plant, and how far apart to plant the seeds. If you’re an adventurous beginner, you can get a head start on the growing season by sowing seeds indoors before the last frost date.” When publishing your posts you should consider when you do it as well as how you do it. I am not sure how much difference it makes, but some days are better than others and even the time of day should play a role according to some experts. There is a lot of debate as to how often you should post. It really depends on how often you will be able to post, what you are writing about and how extensive your posts are. Picking a frequency that you can keep up is said to better than simply posting when you can just as you should never be tempted to post simply for the sake of posing. If your personal schedule doesn’t quite match your blogging strategy can you take advantage of the possibility of scheduled posting that most blogging platforms offer.

8. “Water. Seedlings should never dry out, so water daily while they are small. Taper off as the plants get larger. New transplants also need frequent watering — every other day or so — until their roots become established. After that, how often you need to water depends on your soil, how humid your climate is, and how often it rains. … Water slowly and deeply, so the water soaks in instead of running off into the street. To minimize evaporation, water in the early morning.” Make sure that your blog is set up to ping the relevant sites so that your new posts are listed where people can find them. Setting up a site-map is a way to make sure that all your posts are indexed in the most important search engines. When someone comments then make sure to answer when it feels right. You do not have to comment on every comment, but it helps each post grow when you and your readers add to it through the comments. Internal links will also help as they create more opportunities for symbiotic growth and external links will help as they make others aware that you posted something it could be worth checking out.

9. “Mulch. To help keep weeds out and water in, cover the soil with a couple of inches of mulch. All sorts of mulch are available, from pine needles to cocoa hulls to bark chips. For a vegetable garden or bed of annuals, choose a mulch that decomposes in a few months. For perennials, use a longer-lasting mulch, such as bark chips.” To facilitate growth should you not be afraid to contact other bloggers that may be interested in what you have written to tell them about it. Just make sure you do it in a way that you yourself would appreciate and don’t do it to often. Being in good standing with your blogging community will not only promote positives, but will also dampen negatives. There are also a number of sites and services that let you and your visitors promote your content. It may seem awful complicated and practically impossible to reach the top spots of these sites, but it could be worth a shot. Participating in Blog Carnivals and memes could also prove very rewarding, but may have to wait until your blog have some substance. Using SEO is also a advice given by many and it certainly cannot hurt at least making sure you aren’t making any big mistakes in that regard.

10. “Keep it up. Your garden is on its way. Keep watering when needed, and pull weeds before they get big. Fertilize with a dry fertilizer about halfway through the season. If you use a liquid fertilizer, fertilize every month or so. And remember to stop and smell the — well, whatever you grow.” Persistence is certainly a major factor when talking about blogging success. Keep working on every point mentioned and adding to it. Remember that every plan and idea can be expanded and clarified, that every basis, design and set of functions can be improved, that you never learn out, that engaging with colleagues is rewarding, that considering what and how your write never lose importance, that publishing something is a major step, what promotion is important if you want to reach out and that you may have to add to the mix to take your blog to the next level. Make sure that you not only realize what you are doing, but also appreciate and enjoy it. If you don’t then you may as well just cover your back yard with pavement and forget about it.

The reason I even started thinking about what blogging was like was The Metaphor Project: What’s Your Blogging Metaphor? posted by Liz Strauss at Successful Blog. If you liked this post chances are you will like the other contributions as well so do check out Liz’ Blog to see her listings of entries.

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