AgWired

Trent Loos is launching a new contest to feature the best and brightest young people in agriculture. It’s called the “Hot Peppers in Agriculture,” contest, and it calls for tasteful, fun photos that will make food producers “cool” again. Follow-up articles will highlight the interesting lives of farmers and ranchers. Photos can be sent to trent@loostales.com. To support this cause, join the group at facebook.com. Here is an excerpt from his column at Loos Tales.

With all of the challenges that we now face in regard to the future of American Agriculture, I am still convinced that the number one challenge is encouraging young people to return to production agriculture. For the past five years I have been amazed at how “our kids” are treated in public settings. I am frequently told about kids who attempt to hide the fact that their parents are farmers or ranchers. The stereotype still exists that we are bib-overall-wearing simpletons. So how do we turn around the public sentiment and set the story straight about the good-looking, smart farm kids that all other kids should look up to and admire?

I am launching the “Hot Peppers in Agriculture” contest and requesting your tasteful photos of people in agriculture that might get someone to stop and look and say, “Hey, I would like to find out what this person is all about.” By the way, I am not talking about a gender biased scenario here, I am requesting male and female photos be emailed to me. I am not restricting it to young people. There are some hot moms and dads in American Agriculture and we need to get them in the limelight as well. My goal is simple here: I want to capture the attention of the non-farm audience and let the world now that it is “COOL” to be agriculture and I predict we can turn around the negative stereotype that has clouded the image of our great industry ever since Grant Wood painted the American Gothic in 1930!

What is it about blogs that are so addicting? Is it the ability to write about whatever your passions are? Is it the opportunity to peak inside the life of someone else? Is it a break from the work routine, a chance to escape and think about something fun? Is it a great way to be informed and meet with others that are interested in the same things as you? Is it a replacement to daily news reports? What is it?

I have been blogging since 2006, and it took me awhile to figure out their appeal. My first blog took forever to develop a following. Over time, I have learned so many lessons in how to make and write an effective blog spot for readers to enjoy. Here are a few of the tough knocks I have learned along the way.

1. Be open, honest and completely transparent. Being a blogger gives a person the opportunity to write anything, and it would be easy to dramatize the stories shared on a blog. However, it’s best to be yourself; people will like you for who you are. Write honestly and openly, and people will learn to trust what you have to say.

2. Linking! Linking back to previous articles within the blog is the best way to help readers navigate through old blog posts. Of course, linking to other articles that support your blog post topic is a great tool to add credibility, but if you can tie back to something you have already written, readers will learn more about your blog and stay longer.

3. Write, write, write…often. What’s the best way to develop a constant readership? Be someone that people can count on. Committ to writing everyday, or develop a routine that keeps readers coming back. Of course, readers can utilize RSS feeds to keep track of your work, but keep them coming back for more with your steady updates.

4. Interact with your readers. Reply to their comments. Conduct a voting poll on a topic of interest. Host a contest. Ask open-ended questions in your blog. Start up a conversation.

5. Include photos, videos, podcasts and your personality. Add the extras that make a blog post, a destination. Switch it up to keep the interest of all of your readers. Have fun and be creative!

So, what about you? What have you learned in your blogging efforts? What did you think about blogs when they first became popular? What do you think about them now?

In advance of the upcoming NAMA convention and our breakout session on social networking, this Nielsen Online report (pdf) is very timely and interesting.

Now visited by over two-thirds (67 percent) of the global* online population, “Member Communities,” which includes both social networks and blogs, has become the fourth most popular online category – ahead of personal email. It is growing twice as fast as any of
the other four largest sectors (search, portals, PC software and email), according to The Nielsen Company’s “Global Faces and Networked Places,” a comprehensive report published today revealing the new global footprint of social networking.

Other key findings include:
– One in every 11 minutes online globally is accounted for by social network and blogging sites.
– The social network and blogging audience is becoming more diverse in terms of age: the biggest increase in visitors during 2008 to “Member Community” Web sites globally came from the 35-49 year old age group (+11.3 million).