People who enjoy their gardens might well tell you that untended plants are doomed to die. Some can be left to their own devices, and will come back miraculously every year. But most of those that really adorn a garden need regular attention, and a little love too.

Much the same applies to your blog. Put up a few random articles, ignore the likes and comments, and you will soon discover that it will not flourish. Don’t bother to reply to people, fail to read their blogs, and don’t invest in being part of the community, and you can be sure to see your blog wither away on the screen, until you might just as well delete it.

If you want to get the most out of blogging, you have to regularly add relevant content to attract readers and followers. Then you have to engage with them, show them that you value their involvement and input. Ignore this advice, and you will soon be posting everything for just one reader. You.

If that is what you intended, that’s fine. It is not compulsory to bother with anyone else. Just blog for yourself if you want to. But is that really why you started? Didn’t you want to connect with people, maybe some like minded bloggers from all around the world? To express your thoughts or opinions, promote your writing, tell strangers what you were feeling, or where you had been? If so, you really do have to tend that blog, just as a dedicated gardener will care for their cherished rose beds.

Many of you will know that I have another blog. Some of you even follow it, and I thank you for that.
https://redflagflying.wordpress.com/

This was always intended to be an ‘occasional’ blog. Something different, and a change from what I write about here on beetleypete. I deliberately only post now and again, as the mood takes me, or an issue makes me angry or interested enough to comment. It is very much an ‘untended’ blog. Only 153 posts in six years, and just 237 followers listed. Most days, it is lucky to receive four views. The average daily viewing figure is just one. (1!)
During July, it had no views at all on ten days of that month, and archive posts older than one year are almost never explored, read, or commented on.

That’s fine with me. I have my main blog, and this other one is just a ‘toy’ at best, and rarely played with. But it stands as a good example of an ‘untended’ blog.

So if you want to get the best out of blogging, and to find it rewarding, fulfilling, and most of all, enjoyable, learn from the gardeners.