Blogsworth - Comment Follow Up

Firstly a big thank you to all of you who've helped to make this my most successful post to date, especially to everyone who stopped by to Comment. There were so many good points raised, I feel the best way to answer and thank you all is to write a follow-up post today rather than just responding to you in there.

I always love it when someone picks up from where I left off and writes a post over at their place. For me that adds to the value of my blog, not in dollars and cents, but I think it adds to the respect, friendship and sense of community we have here. That's invaluable. So thank you Stuart for not only responding over at your place, but providing lots more information on further 'valuations' available within the blogosphere and for sharing your experiences when it came to the crunch of an offer being made for your blog. The fact there are several valuations out there, all coming up with very different answers shows it's hard to measure the worth of blogging in pure monetary terms. And of course, which calculation is the right one?

Another couple of metrics often used to value a blog are its traffic and subscriptions. Some of you already show things like your Feedburner subscriptions and Our Friend Ben came up with the astounding fact that something like 70,000 unique visitors a day (which would include subscriptions) is needed for advertisers to consider supporting a blog. If true, I suspect that's way out of reach for most bloggers, not just our gardening blogging community. Only the really popular topics (e.g. technology, sport, news) could support that kind of traffic perhaps? It would take a great deal of hard work, not only to write the kind of good content to constantly attract that amount of visitor numbers, but to also market it (as I suspect the creator of the metric I highlighted has done to accrue that kind of value, Tina). And imagine how much time it would take to respond to the comments - assuming you still were doing that! As Zoe said, would it change from a fun hobby into a chore?

Nancy and Frances made the observation that their blog in Blogger had a value, but their WordPress (WP) migrated blog was worth nothing. Now the metric I referred to is very much link based and I suspect whilst you migrated your content from old to new, the links themselves didn't. I did have a go at using WP for a while a couple of months ago and noticed this with my migrated content. It could be the links measurement may be biased towards the way they work on Blogger too? Also if I remember correctly WP is a bit more 'picky' about the use of links in posts, thus any link based metric will be biased against WP blogs. Can any WP bloggers confirm or expand my limited understanding of WP's offering? I also understand the metric I looked at was based on Technorati's data gathering, so if you've not registered your new blog (Frances, Nancy?) or existing one (James, Helen, Gail, Karen, Chaiselongue, Slice of Life, Blossom and Garden4Life?) that could be the reason why your valuation's a big fat zero. Remember, new blogs are also unlikely to a have value, simply because there's been insufficient time for a value to accrue, unless you've been posting lots of times a day with each post containing lots of links!

For those of you with blogs showing a monetary value (like Flighty, Constant Gardener, Mr. McGregor's Daughter and Happy Mouffetard) it's insufficient to make a living, assuming you want to and could realise its value. Cameron and Shirl's not for selling theirs anyway and Tyra's not going to go down the route of trying to monetize her blog by putting adverts on there. I wonder how many blogs actually make something substantial from their adverts anyway? If I see another advert for a flat stomach, I'm going to scream! Then of course there's all the other things that blogging gives us that are invaluable - fun (especially the quizzes eh Philip?), friendship across the world (Linn), frolics, freedom of expression and lots more besides. Deb recently told us about a marvellous example - a blog especially for members of her family. A great way for everyone to keep in touch and to share, especially if distance separates them. In hard business terms it has no value, but to Deb and her family it's priceless. I think it's just what blogging should be about.

BTW my blog's not up for sale - after all, I don't think any buyer would be up their allotment and finding stories to share keep on popping into their head. If they didn't it wouldn't be Veg Plotting any more. There's too much of me in here anyway. I'm not considering monetizing my blog either. Though if someone paid me to blog or write elsewhere, I might consider it depending on what's being offered! But enough about money and metrics, let's all get on with the priceless aspects of blogging shall we?

Comments

  1. Amy2 December 2008 at 17:14

    What a fun follow-up post VP! The comments on your Blogsworth post were certainly interesting.

    I don't understand how someone can sell their blog to someone else, when so much of who they are is wrapped up in that blog. You would think that the readers wouldn't stay once the author has left. Hmmm...I still have a lot to learn about blogging!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous2 December 2008 at 18:10

    What a great follow up on your post, VP. I hadn't seen it originally and plugged in my URL. The amount shown is a bit unclear - is that a per year/month/forever value? I'm not at all interested in monetizing my blog, but the discussion in your posts are most interesting :-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. VP2 December 2008 at 18:18

    Hi Blossom - I've still a lot to learn too! I suppose it all depends what people want out of blogging. I know of a couple who would like it to make money for them. Not sure how successful they are. And I think it'd be difficult in the gardening sector as it's more niche. I just like the fun of it.

    Nikkipolani - hi! Not sure what it means it's a bit vague :( Thanks for the positive feedback on the discussions :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous2 December 2008 at 19:28

    I have no real interest in the so-called value of my blog(s), and I would never entertain selling them!
    I blog purely because I want to, and enjoy it as one of my interests.
    I suppose that I could call my blog my online plot! xx

    ReplyDelete
  5. Sol2 December 2008 at 22:06

    Hey VP, where do you register your blog? Not that I want to make money, mine is purely to document my crazy life. And most importantly, to give back to the people whose blogs I read.

    I started blogging, because I found so many things in other peoples blogs, that told me, I wasn’t alone with some of my ideas. I found out, * where to start with my allotment. *That People give everyday bits of know how on their blog and I feel it is shared for a common goal. * And that people are reaching out into the ether ,that is the blogging world, to say 'you know what, chickens in a city garden isn’t so silly'.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Mr. McGregor's Daughter3 December 2008 at 15:04

    I'm still being a curmudgeon & refusing to consider adding advertisements to my blog. Applying the University of Chicago's cost/benefit analysis, it's just not worth it for me. So much of the general blogging information doesn't seem applicable to our little garden blogging niche. And that's just fine with me. Keep on making VP as idiosyncratic as always; that's what we love about it.

    ReplyDelete
  7. VP3 December 2008 at 15:14

    MMD - I don't think you're a curmudgeon at all, just wise. I'm interested in your CBA refence, is there a website link? Idiosyncratic - that's one of the best compliments I've had, EVER :D

    ReplyDelete
  8. VP3 December 2008 at 15:17

    Flighty - online plot, that's so true! Don't lose it ;)

    SOL - If I remember correctly you go onto the Technorati site and 'Ping' them (there should be a link to this) to tell them you're there. After a while you can get statistics about your site in terms of links etc. If you need more info, let me know...

    ReplyDelete
  9. Mr. McGregor's Daughter3 December 2008 at 23:03

    I left this comment on my blog before I realized I should leave it here. A Federal Court of Appeals Judge in Chicago, Richard Posner, was also a law professor at the University of Chicago, where he pioneered the law & economics school of thought. His big thing was the cost/benefit analysis. His blog is here. See also this site. I hope that helps.
    Yes, idiosyncratic is a good thing. You're welcome.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous4 December 2008 at 00:31

    Good follow on post VP - I went and pinged Technorati - I always do what I am told ;)
    K

    ReplyDelete
  11. VP6 December 2008 at 11:16

    MMD - thanks so much for taking the trouble to reply to my question over at yours. I'll certainly be taking a look at that information.

    AG - Good for you! ;)

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

I love hearing from you and welcome thoughtful conversations :)

Comments aiming to link back and give credence to commercial websites will be composted!

Your essential reads

That blue flower: A spring spotter's guide

Image
Spring is a prime time for blue flowers and my daily walks currently have several from the same plant family* lining the local footpaths. As I walked past the Donkey Field the other day, I overheard some children ask their parents** what the pictured blue flower was. It reminded me it's often mistaken for those other familial blues and this time was no different, as they said it was forget-me-not, instead of the green alkanet it actually is. As well as similar flowers, most of these plants are hairy in their nature, flower around the same time, and favour damp, shady places. Many of them are great for pollinators too, especially bees and this week's warm weather has certainly drawn them to these flowers. This makes it even more likely for these plants to be mistaken for each other and it's a great opportunity for me to put together a spotter's guide in case you find the same flowers on your outings. Staying with green alkanet, the key features which set it
Read more

Jack Go To Bed At Noon

Image
Last year this rather exotic looking flower appeared on mine and several other allotments for the first time. Having been stumped (again) by Mr Allotment Warden as to its identity, I rushed home to find out what it was. It's salsify, aka the marvellous Jack Go To Bed At Noon - named as such because its flowers always close by midday. Here you can see both open and closed flowers - making it seem even more exotic and alien than in the first picture. I think this must be the cultivated version because the flower in my Francis Rose Wild Flower Key looks exactly the same in form, but is bright yellow in colour and called meadow salsify . Its other common name is Goatsbeard, which must be a nod to the fantastic dandelion-like clock which forms the seed head. With 'parachutes' like those shown above, who knows how far our plotted plants came from. I rather like the photographic dissection of the seedhead found in this link . Salsify is edible: its lateral shoots and fl
Read more

Red Nose Day - Gardening Jokes Anyone?

Image
The nation goes ever so slightly bonkers on Red Nose Day - hurrah! Previously, it's been very easy to join in - usually via a dress down day at work plus lots of people up to mad things at the station and in the office. Everyone smiling for once - it's a real feel good day and all in a good cause. This year's different - every day's a dress down day for me now - my friend L suggested yesterday that perhaps I could have a dress up day instead and whilst that's a good idea, I confess that ballgowns and tiaras don't really feature in my wardrobe: scruffy student's always been my favourite look. So my Red Nose Day contribution for this year is to compile a list of gardening related jokes. For each one (clean ones only please) you leave in the comments below, I'll make a donation of 50p to the cause. Here's a few for starters just to get you warmed up: Q Why do potatoes make good detectives? A Because they keep their eyes peeled. Q What did the grape
Read more

Salad Days: Mastering Lettuce

Image
I've decided one of my salad challenges for this year is to grow as many lettuce varieties as I can, ready for the publication of my planned Factsheet* later on. The idea is to grow as many of the Tried and Trusted lettuce varieties last year's Salad Challengers helped compile, then provide a visual guide and as many lettuce facts as I can muster. So far I've found around half of those listed**. Then naturally whilst I was out searching - because such is the way with seeds - a number of other varieties found their way home too ;) A couple of weeks ago I sowed 22 varieties***. Just the simple act of sowing them has me intrigued. Why are some lettuce seeds black and others white****? They split into about half white to half black in my sample and as far as I can tell it's nothing to do with whether they're a type of cos, iceberg, or whatever. I sowed them indoors and popped them into a propagator on the windowsill. The soil's too cold outside for sowing
Read more

VPs VIPs: Derry Watkins of Special Plants

Image
Last week I had the pleasure of visiting Derry Watkins at her home, garden and nursery - the acclaimed Special Plants - just a few miles along the road from me. I first met Derry at one of her open garden days last year and was keen to find out more about her wonderful garden and running an independent nursery. She specialises in tender perennials and regularly goes on plant hunting trips to find new treasures, particularly in South Africa. As well as running Special Plants and opening her garden under the NGS scheme , Derry holds day courses at her nursery, hosts Special Tuesdays from April until September, lectures and has written a couple of books. How did you find your way from Connecticut to the UK? I'd started a biodynamic vegetable garden in Connecticut and we used to have people come along at weekends to help out. A particular young man turned up: he returned many times and at the end of the summer I married him. So it was all down to love? Isn't that the
Read more

#mygardenrightnow: heading into summer with the Chelsea Fringe

Image
Ahhhhhh, that's better! I love walking through dewy grass in bare feet, not that there's much in the way of grass on my back lawn this weekend. My wild and woolly lawn has morphed into meadow of sorts this month, which even NAH admits looks attractive*. It's also proved a great source for my Flowers for mum project so far, yielding self-sown perennial cornflowers, lamb's ears, and lemon balm in addition to the blooms you can see. These originated from elsewhere in the garden, the ox-eye daisies must have blown in from the A350 nearby. * = he got very stroppy about the weeds aka self-sown foxgloves in the lawn one year, so he's come along a bit since then. Skimble's demanding to say hello to you too. He does enjoy the patio when it warms up. If the embedded video doesn't work try this link instead. The Nectaroscordum are a revelation. I planted the bulbs around 2 years ago, but it's only this year they've bloomed properly. The bee
Read more

The Resilient Garden

Image
  Part of Tom Massey's Resilient Garden at RHS Hampton Court I've been pondering VP Gardens a lot lately. Last year's drought conditions set me off initially, then our harsher than usual winter combined with this summer's flip and flop weather means the thinking continues. It's a huge topic which I freely admit I'm struggling to get my head around. Tom Massey's Resilient Garden  at Hampton Court recently  tackled this topic brilliantly and was a timely interlude which gave me much food for thought. There he encapsulated the detailed research he'd found which informed both his show garden and book of the same name. I think it's one of the most important show gardens I've ever seen. It's clear the way I garden needs to change so that I have my own resilient garden. I haven't worked out the exact details yet, but Tom's book plus a couple of others (see below), alongside the rainwater management handout from the show garden's  sponso
Read more

Testing Times: Tomatoes

Image
  I've run a couple of tomato trials this year. The first is a revisit of the biochar trial with Oxford University I attempted some years ago (with a different organisation this time), and the second is a trial of a water gadget called Plantsurge which I was given to try at Malvern Spring Show earlier this year. Most of you have probably heard of biochar already and the claim that this inert, carbon-rich material can help soil fertility and plant health. The RHS information in the above link says results can be mixed, with reduced effects found in alkaline soils. This may help to explain the lack of difference I found in my previous trial as VP Gardens is on a lime-rich soil. Plantsurge is a different beast altogether. It's a strong magnet which is attached to a hosepipe as shown in the photo above. It's claimed that it softens water, with the result more like watering with rainwater. The higher nitrogen found in rainwater is thought to be beneficial to plants. Gardener
Read more

Chelsea Fringe 2014: Shows of Hands - Episode I

Image
The gloves NAH used to build the raised bed . The effects are L to R, top to bottom:  Original photo, Warhol, HDR, Green tint, B&W, Posterize, Boost, Cross process and Sepia Welcome to Shows of Hands - my Chelsea Fringe project for 2014! As you can see I've been having a bit of a play around in Pic Monkey for my first contribution. You're welcome to join in between now and 8th June 2014. The idea behind this year's project is to highlight the tool most precious to a gardener: their hands. How do I take part? It's simple. All you need to do is take a photo of hand(s) in a gardening context and then share it via your blog or other social media (such as Twitter or Facebook), then make sure I know you've done so. I've set up Mr Linky below for your blog contributions. The Chelsea Fringe photo on the right sidebar links to this post, so you can easily find it again when you're ready to add your contribution. If you share your photo on Twitter,
Read more

Make Use of Mildew

Image
On my garden patrol this morning I spotted some powdery mildew on a couple of my new Verbena bonariensis plants. I suppose it was almost inevitable as I prefer to grow my plants hard - this means no water for them unless they look absolutely desperate. This approach means plants root themselves more deeply and have a better chance of survival during spells of dry weather like we've had lately. However, it also means I run the risk of problems like today's, especially with any garden newbies planted late in the season. We've had a good drop of rain overnight, so this should help my plants survive. I'll mulch them later today to help lock in the moisture as it's water stress which encourages the mildew to take hold. I've also removed the infected leaves and sprayed the rest with a milky drink.* I'm also pleased to find there's a use for my infected leaves. Oliver Ellingham at Reading University has started a PhD - sponsored by the RHS - researchi
Read more