February 28, 2022, prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less), write about the farm life. Where is the farm and who are the farmers? What are they farming and why? How is the farm life? Go where the prompt leads! Click here for details.
How To Farm Your Blog – by Hugh W. Roberts
“Have you tried farming out your blog posts instead of cluster-publishing them?” asked the blogging genie.
“Farming them out?”
“Yes, another word for scheduling. Instead of publishing too many blog posts and overwhelming your readers, farm them out by scheduling them over a more extended period. Your readers won’t feel swamped.”
“I like that idea.”
“And don’t forget to farm out the posts you want to reblog. Instead of reblogging them the same day the original post is published, allow them to grow and farm them out a week later. After all, farming and blogging are all about growth.”
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Written for the 99-word flash fiction challenge hosted by Charli Mills at the Carrot Ranch.
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Notes
The definition of a cluster-blogger is somebody who publishes many blog posts within a short timeframe and then does not publish the next batch of blog posts for many days/weeks or months. It can result in making readers feel overwhelmed.
Scheduling blog posts in advance and leaving at least six hours between the publication of blog posts decreases the sense of overwhelmingness, resulting in a more manageable and enjoyable reading experience.
Click here for information on how to schedule blog posts.
Enjoyed this piece of flash fiction? Then you’ll love Glimpses
Glimpses
28 short stories and pieces of flash fiction take the reader on a rollercoaster of twists and turns.
Paperback – £4.99
Kindle – £0.99
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Hugh's Views & News 
This was really helpful,thank you for this.
You’re welcome.
A wonderful collaboration between blogging and farming, Hugh. Well done. And, your post is so helpful. ❤
Thanks, Colleen. I hope it’ll help, especially those who feel pressured to publish even though they’ve nothing to say.
That’s a great point, Hugh. ❤️
Good advice! I don’t push myself to post, have always just posted as I “get” a response to my few favorite prompts. I am being a little more mindful and will schedule a post to time things better. In so much, less can be more, and too much too much.
Same here, D. Now, I only post when I have something to say. Gone are my days are feeling pressured to publish something.
I appreciate the blogging advice!
Glad it’s helped, Michael.
Blogging advice in a story. No twist there. Good one, Hugh!
Thanks, Norah.
Some wise advice, Hugh. 🙂
Thanks, Diana.
I think she might. She writes some wonderful stories and poems. She gets them all down so fast (not like me).
I’m looking forward to engaging in the March story Chat. I was actually just checking this morning to see was it published yet.
No, not published yet. It should be in the next few days, though. It’s great to see that Year 2 is fully booked with authors. Hopefully, there will be a year 3 starting in October, but that will be up to Marsha.
This is a really clever analogy Hugh, too much sunlight/water can kill the plants – it needs to be spaced out so they have time to grow!
Too much sunlight and water is another excellent way of putting it, James. I like that a lot.
Thanks so much.
6 hours?! Sheesh! I’d say more like six days! Nothing against those who strive to post daily (or more often) but I simply wouldn’t be able to keep up with them. Nor could I myself maintain that kind of schedule and keep up any semblance of quality. But to each his own. Or hers.
Likewise, Walt. I can’t keep up with bloggers who publish more than one post daily. I admire what they do (so long as the quality of posts does not suffer), but I never feel guilty for not reading all those posts. I’ll read maybe one or two a month and continue to enjoy the blogging experience rather than allowing it to overwhelm me.
Very clever, Hugh, to write for the challenge while giving us some blogging tips! I’m like you, posting two or fewer per week. I get distracted by actually “farming” my quarter-acre property, LOL!
That’s a big space to farm, Terri, but I am sure you’ll enjoy every moment of being in the garden. I love being in the garden too but prefer to relax and watch my partner doing all the work. He’s very green-fingered, so he loves it.
Great post and advice Hugh! I try to do this with writephoto entry reblogs (space them out over the week), Sue taught me that 🙂. KL ❤
I got many of my blogging tips from Sue, KL. She’d been blogging longer than me, and she was a font of knowledge of how it all worked. I miss seeing her but was delighted that I met her in person.
For the first time, I cleaned up a 4-year-old post. I didn’t realise how scattered my writing was in the beginning. It’s by no means perfect now, but I can definitely see an improvement.
I’m definitely not a cluster blogger. These days I’m a daily poster, only because I’m doing #The100DayProject. I’ll probably hate my blog by day 100. (But I hope not)
I have nothing against bloggers who publish daily, Gloria. However, I have seen some bloggers get very stressed out by it, as it becomes a chore rather than the fun it’s supposed to be. That’s usually when the quality of the posts also suffer. I have even seen bloggers write, ‘It’s almost midnight, and I haven’t published today’s post because I’m so ill, but here it is…’ It’s almost as if their life depends on whether they publish a post or not.
I admire anyone who takes up a challenge and publishes quality posts daily. I have been asked to participate in some of these challenges, but I know it would only stress me out, so I always have polity declined.
On the other hand, cluster-blogging is something I can’t work out. I used to know one blogger who would publish up to eight posts within an hour, and then nothing for weeks on end. I don’t see her publishing blog posts anymore, so maybe she gave it up, but I’d love to have known why she published posts that way.
The world of blogging is a very curious place.
I wanted to do something for the challenge that I enjoy, but also something that would involve my daughter, age 10.
I love writing about the old days (my novel is 50s/60s) and Lucy loves to sketch.
I wouldn’t let the blog stress me out though. My holistic blog was starting to feel like a chore. I lost the passion for it and at first I felt guilty, but then I decided to just carry on enjoying my fun blog. It’s less stressful.
Fiction is fun!
Hugh, I’m working on my story for Marsha. We’ve been communicating and I’m hoping my story will be the September Story Chat.
That’s lovely that you involve your daughter. Do you think she’ll become a blogger?
Blogging is all about fun and enjoyment, Gloria. When it becomes a chore, it’s time to change how you blog, and you did just that.
I’m delighted that you’re contributing a story for Story Chat. Marsha mentioned that it would be published in September, so I look forward to reading it, Gloria. Thank you for taking up the offer.