Day Six of Blogging 201
Our assignment today is to get involved with social networks. I must admit that is something I have been resisting. Courting publicity seems quite alien to me. Yes I know that’s crazy … Why blog unless you want other people to read it? You may well ask!
When I first started blogging I wrote anonymously, too fearful to use my own name. After a few months I felt comfortable starting a new blog as my real self. I didn’t tell anyone about it. I didn’t connect with anyone. I just experimented. I tested various WordPress themes, I wrote experimental posts and added photographs to see what I liked. Then when I was happy with my own blog I started reaching out to other bloggers by liking and commenting on their posts and recently by joining in with some link parties. It has been a slow process!
I don’t know if my reticence has anything to do with my being English or if (like so many other new things) it’s just fear of the unknown. But I forced myself to get over my fear and to contact people I’ve discovered online.
Anyway that’s their choice and says more about them than me I think. I don’t take it personally. Link parties are very much like a real life party I feel. There will be people you would like to talk to and others that you’d rather steer clear of and that’s fine.
Since I have been blogging a very strange thing has happened. I have discovered that I actually like connecting with new people. I enjoy finding out about life in another garden, another town, another country, another continent. There are differences and there are similarities and I find all of that fascinating.
So I am learning to be more social. I love sharing my knowledge and my photos so it’s up to me to find out what readers want to know and figure out how to deliver that information. Here are some of the networks I have started using to connect with others and help to grow my blog.
Pinterest. I love this because it’s so quick and easy to set up. I have already set up 21 boards on which I have pinned some images that I found online and 1 board for Country Garden UK. Now I need to start connecting with other Pinners but I haven’t figured out how to do that yet!
Google+ When I have published a post on my blog I add it to my Google+ page. Again it’s quick and easy but I’m not sure what to do next. There’s obviously more to it… but what?
Share Likes I share other bloggers posts in my side bar on the right of this page. I use the POSTS I LIKE widget and I have set it to display images rather than text. Scroll down this page a little to see it in action.
So I feel that I am making progress. It is early days I know. And I will figure it all out!
Plan for the next 30 days
What I would really like to do now is share your posts in a special weekly event.
To start with I wondered about showing a photo of a STAR PLANT in your garden or a park or garden that you have visited. It doesn’t have to be rare or unusual just looking good that week.
It could be a wildflower or weed, a tree, shrub or climber, annuals, perennials or bulbs even seed heads.
You could just submit a photo or write a short post/story about your chosen plant.
So at the end of the 30 day challenge days we’ll have 4 posts of images with links to your site.
I would really appreciate your thoughts on this idea and I have a couple of questions.
Which day of the week would you prefer to see the post published?
Would you like some tips for taking better photos?
Thanks very much! Please get in touch. Your ideas and suggestions are most welcome.