Blogging Pass Along - Why We Write



I don't know why I chose this photo for this post -
other than I don't have a lot of others to include that are relevant.

A few days ago, new-found blogger friend Terryn Drieling at Faith Family and Beef tapped me to participate in this Blogging Pass Along to provide readers with some insight into how/why I write. I hadn't really given thought to a lot of these questions beforehand so I surprised myself when I sat down and started thinking about my motivation to blog and the process by which I create content.

Thanks for including me, Terryn!

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What are you working on relative to writing?
Right now in the hopper, I have a post about working from home, a Chipotle post [because they, unfortunately, supply a never-ending stream of anger inspiration], a wrap up post about my Alaskan vacation [that was more than a month ago], two recipe posts and a rodeo post. Those are in addition to 101 in 1001 updates and Wordless Wednesdays. Since my blog addresses agriculture, rodeo, K-state and my life in general, my post topics are often sporadic and all over the board. Some may view this as a setback because I might push away readers who only care about agriculture when I post about rodeo and cooking but I hope that it gives people a glimpse at my many different interests and this blog also provides me with a place to catalog thoughts and events I think are important.

What makes your work different from others' work in the same genre?
Well, I don't think I am anything special. I am a small blog and I enjoy writing about my opinions of agriculture and providing fact-based information. That being said, I am not afraid to dole out the truth and lay on the sarcasm, so maybe that differentiates me. I think my real-life marriage blog posts make me a bit different too because I don't sugarcoat it!

How does your writing process work?
It has started to take me a lot longer to develop content that it used to - when I first started blogging, about five years ago, I would think of something, pound it out and post it in the same day. I didn't put a lot of thought into the meaning behind it or the value to my readers and I definitely didn't put any effort into SEO. Now, I might think of an idea and write out a few paragraphs to begin with but not finish the post for a week or more. Instead of focusing on the quantity of content, I am focusing a lot more on quality; I may only post once or twice a week but those posts are planned and not just filler [most of the time]. I think this development happened during grad school when I became a much better writer and learned that every word must have a purpose and value.


If I'm not at a rodeo, I prefer to be in the saddle
 taking care of cattle alongside my family.

Why do you write what you do?
Five years ago, this blog started out as a way to answer consumer questions about agriculture [and it still holds that primary objective]. Over time I added in rodeo and K-State because I am extremely passionate about those topics, too. I strive to be a reliable, trust-worthy source on animal welfare, livestock and rodeo because there is far too much misinformation floating around. If we, as bloggers and advocates, don't tell our story loudly and often, HSUS and Peta will do it for us.

Now that you know a little bit more about me and why I write, I am passing this along to a couple of bloggers I follow:

Melissa at Born to Pharm, has a unique story to tell. She and her husband are farmers and raise cattle here in Kansas but she's also a board-certified pharmacist. You can imagine how important the health of their cattle is in addition to her family's own health!

Jessie at Ranching with Rhinestones is a fabulous gal. She's a rancher/rancher's daughter from Nevada and is currently working on her PhD at Texas Tech - this gal knows meat and how to safely prepare it! She blogs about her faith, ranching and life and is dang good at it!

Hope you enjoyed learning some more about my blogging origins and I highly encourage you to check out the two lovely ladies listed above. They are experts in their respective fields and offer unique perspectives on farming, ranching and being a working woman!

Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~

 

Blogiversary - The Big 3 and A Freebie!

Three years ago this coming Sunday, I started a blog with this post about one of my favorite agriculture traditions.

And boy oh boy, I had no idea the things that would come of this little ole blog.

Over the past 3 years and almost 300 posts, I have learned far more about blogging and social media than I ever imagined possible. I have gained followers from all walks of life and from all over the world. I have found friendships with people I have never met but feel like I've known a lifetime. This blog prompted my signing up for, and eventual addiction to, Twitter (@brandibuzzard). It has also sparked a journey that led me to my career today, so without any more insightful crap mushy memories, here's a list of things that have come of this blog:

- The development of my writing skills which led to freelancing opportunities with:
    -- Farm Talk
    -- Grass and Grain
    -- DRIVE magazine
    -- SwineWeb.com
- Master's of Beef Advocacy Blog of the Month - August 2010
- Blogging on these other sites - YPC Beef Blog, Food For Thought 
- Social Media Coordinator for NCBA's Young Producer's Council (which led to):
- Co-Chair Communications Committee NCBA YPC
- Featured twice in articles by Chuck Jolley in Drover's Cattle Network -- October 2009 and March 2012
- Featured in a BEEF Magazine article by Jamie Purfeest in the October 2011 issue
- Because of my vocal advocacy of agriculture on this blog and Twitter I was an invited to speak about agvocacy at the Australasian Pig Science Association (APSA) Conference in Adelaide, South Australia in November 2011. There were a lot of different demographics and ideals in the room but I think everyone benefited from the experience.
- The freelancing and blogging experience led to a job with K-State Research and Extension incorporating several of my favorite things into one amazing experience: K-State, agriculture, writing, social media - whammo. Perfect.

The Hardcore Stats

My top 5 all-time posts are:
1. Temple Grandin - HBO Biopic: 4570 views - A post announcing the release of the Emmy award winning film about Dr. Grandin's early years
2. Buzzard's fly, they don't ski: 3469 views - This post was about Ninja and I getting engaged so while I would like to think that 3500 people were concerned with our lives, I am assuming some other search term like "buzzards flying" brought them to that post.
3. Who Are We to Judge Horsemeat: 1791 views - A post about how American's don't set the tone for what other countries eat and we shouldn't condemn those that don't rely solely on beef, pork or chicken.
4. Grillin' Ain't BBQ'in: 1149 views - A surprisingly popular post about how the terms grilling and bbqing are often interchanged and misused.
5. In Honor of Pigs and Pork: 847 views - Again, a post which garnered a lot of attention for some unknown reason. This contains a lot of factual information about pork. It was written during Pork Month.

Where y'all be coming from?

The top ten countries that visit Buzzard's Beat are:
1. United States
2.  Russia (surprising)
3. Australia (not surprising)
4. Canada
5. United Kingdom
6. Germany
7. Netherlands
8. France
9. India
10. Brazil  

Whatcha lookin' for?

The 10 most popular search terms used to find this blog since its inception:
1. Temple Grandin
2. Buzzard
3. Turkey Buzzard (thanks Sharita)
4. Buzzards
5. Horse meat (which I'll not be eating)
6. Fiji (probably stems from posts of this nature)
7. BBQ
8. Buzzards Beat (hooray you remembered my url!)
9. Mini pigs (whaaat?)
10. Trevor Brazile (hahahaha - I love me some Trevor Brazile)
Those that didn't make the top 10 but are still funny were: vet (uh, no), great American desert, school lunch policy, 80s girl, article on global warming and my personal favorite: bone in cow heart (twice!).

Ok - so now to the part that you all really came to the blog for....

A friend of mine makes western jewelry with copper and silver. It's gorgeous - her company is called Silo Silver and you can find her on Facebook. She has generously helped me out with a pair of these gorgeous feather earrings with turquoise and copper to giveaway to one lucky reader. For the fellas, you may not think they'll look good on you but what about that lucky lady in your life???

Enter by following the instructions on the easy peasy Rafflecopter thing - (Sheridan introduced me to these and they make giveaways so much easier). Entries will close on Halloween - then I'll announce the winner the next day! It'll be a spooky surprise, but not really spooky.

****This giveaway is now closed - the Rafflecopter widget has been removed****

Thanks so much for your loyal readership over the past three years. It's been quite a journey and I've loved it and hope to be able to continue sharing my opinions, sarcasm and passion with you for years to come (did I say years? yikes).

Until next year (kidding, I'll post again before then),
~ Buzzard ~

p.s. the picture above is from my Instagram feed - here is my shameless plug. Follow me - @brandibuzzard!