Blogging has become a favorite past-time of mine. And last week as I was asked how one goes about blogging. As I talked about it, I realized that there were a lot of similarities with farming. I can almost hear people screeching a needle across an old album – and no, it wouldn’t be in a good way like DJ Khaled would do a scratch. It would be a stop everything no matter what horrific sound it makes. So I’ll explain.
Thinking about what makes blogging and farming successful, I came up with a few things each that I think are pretty similar. The order of things may differ to some people, but my guess is a lot of people would agree with several of the components I put on here and I haven’t tried to prioritize cause that is far too hard!
Keys for Success in Blogging/Advocacy
- Medium – For me it’s WordPress & Posterous, others Blogger, Tumblr, etc combined with other tools
- Good start – Ideas & content
- Environment – friends & neighbors to support you,
- Climate – Both mental & physical states that encourage writing & sharing
- The right tools — laptop, camera, Twitter/Facebook/YouTube, etc
- Network – audience, people to brainstorm with, other bloggers to link with, etc.
- Sustainability – engagement with others through commenting, guest posting, visits in real life, breaks from blogging, ways to grow the blog, etc.
- Source of inspiration – #blogchats on Sunday nights starting at 8 pm central and great friends & strangers who comment
Keys for Success in Farming/Agriculture
- Medium – Land with fertile soils to plant the seed in
- Good start – Viable seed for the desired crop(s) & pest control plans
- Environment – Water and fertility to feed the plants components
- Climate – Sunshine & the right temperatures
- The right tools – hand tools, tractors, herbicides/cultivation, etc
- Network – good retailers & suppliers, marketing outlet, extension, consultants, customers, etc.
- Sustainability – marketing plans, conservation of resources, transition planning, etc.
- Source of inspiration – generations of farmers before helping feed the 2 percent of Americans not in agriculture
Something that crosses over both things? Whether you are blogging, farming or a farmer blogger, you need to be willing to do the hard work across a few areas to find the right balance of several things to yield the results you want. Focusing only on your blog’s content or only on your farm’s soil will leave with missed potential in so many other areas. You really need to have a multi-prong approach in order to be successful.
How about Labour as another component. Just the pure willingness to but your heart and soul into what you’re doing and taking the time to do a good job at everything?
I really enjoyed this post! It’s a super cool idea!
Thanks for stopping by my blog & leaving a comment! Sure is nice to meet another person with a passion for agriculture & you are spot on with labor! It is a personal commitment to do both!
Other similarities – dealing with storms, be it literal or critics. Sometimes the best thing is making a ditch, diverting too much and doing the best we can.
Love that DJ Khaled reference! 🙂 I think you are right- farming and advocating both take a lot of work and strategic thinking to be successful. Thanks for all the effort that you put into your blog, JP!
-Sarah
Thanks Sarah…. I sometimes wonder whether the rap / urban references fly under the radar and avoid being noticed but you & Al always seem to catch them! Thanks for the encouragement!