Every Dot Connects

My hometown, Austin, is more than just the “live music capital of the world.” Seems it may also be the garden-blog capital.

In a special feature for the Statesman, garden blogger Pam Penick said an informal survey turned up 10 local blogs devoted to home gardening. Given Austin’s mild climate, long growing season, and a tech-savvy population, it’s not surprising that our “green thumbs” would share their passion for planting and pruning online.

Penick has enjoyed the conversations with fellow bloggers. It’s “the Internet’s version of the garden club,” she said, “but one not limited by geography, climate, or exclusivity.” The bloggers recently extended the conversation offline, organizing visits to each other’s gardens.

Now, if you owned a local nursery or related business, how would you respond to this proliferation of garden blogs? Here’s what I would advise: join the conversation. Not as a retailer but a participant.

Subscribe to the local blogs. Read them regularly and post a comment that adds something valuable to the discussion. Don’t hide the fact that you’re in the business-in fact, you should post the URL of your Web site if the comment form includes a place for it. But don’t use the bloggers’ comment area to solicit customers.

As you build relationships with these bloggers, however, they will come to trust your advice. And the next time they need seedlings or supplies, they’ll be much more likely to visit your business because they’ve already made a connection with you.

Not only that, they’ll probably share their visit to your nursery with their readers. An endorsement from a well-read blogger can send a lot of traffic your way. How much? Well, some of these local blogs have a loyal readership in the thousands.

What are you waiting for? Join the conversation. You may enjoy it so much you wind up starting your own blog.

More from Every Dot Connects

• Austin Business Bloggers
• Get Ready for a Blogging Blitz
• Links for 05-31-07