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Garden on Social Media with Tom Coleman
69 Plays1 day ago
Ever thought about sharing your garden online, but not quite known where to start? This episode is for you.
Mykal sits down with Tom Coleman, a social media specialist working within the horticultural industry, to talk about how gardeners can show up online with confidence. From the do’s and don’ts of posting your garden, to staying authentic and enjoying the process, this conversation goes beyond algorithms and focuses on sharing your love of plants in a way that feels natural and sustainable.
Whether you’re quietly posting for fun or thinking about growing a small following, this episode will help you feel more comfortable putting your garden out into the world.
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Transcript
Introduction to Gardening Conversations
00:00:07
Speaker
Step into the gardener's lodge with me, Michael Haw. Let's explore the fascinating worlds of gardening, nature and ecology through conversations with experts, thought leaders, passionate enthusiasts, and of course, some real good friends.
00:00:23
Speaker
All from the cozy heart of the lodge. Come on in.
00:00:29
Speaker
Have you ever wanted to start sharing your garden online? Lots of people do it. Why not
Meet Tom Coleman: Social Media and Horticulture
00:00:34
Speaker
you? I'm chatting with Tom Coleman, horticultural social media expert. Tom has spent the last few years helping horticultural brands and individuals build their presence online and grow their businesses from scratch using, of course, social media.
00:00:50
Speaker
We chat today about Tom's personal gardening journey, as well as some in-depth tips about how to make posting on social media, less of a chore and more of a joy.
00:01:00
Speaker
i really loved Tom's perspective on not posting to gain thousands of followers, but posting to find the right people that connect with you. Before we get any further into that, let's hear Tom's rapid fire questions.
00:01:15
Speaker
Are you ready? I think so. Favorite plant. A bearded iris. Favourite way to connect with nature? Ooh, just, I mean, it's got to be gardening, getting your hands in the soil, right?
00:01:30
Speaker
Yeah. What is the most beautiful garden or natural landscape that you have ever visited? oh God, that's so hard. I get to go to so many amazing gardens. um Off the top of my head, I loved going to Beth Chateau's garden last year.
00:01:48
Speaker
Favourite garden tool? A fork. Can't beat getting stuck in and, you know, really turning the ground. If you could be one, plant or animal? Plant. Definitely.
00:01:59
Speaker
Nice.
Social Media's Role in Gardening Advice
00:02:00
Speaker
When you're stuck and looking for reliable information on anything garden related, where do you go for the most trusted and sound advice? Instagram.
00:02:11
Speaker
but I'm not just saying that because I'm a social media person, but um I love now how much advice there is on social media from really knowledgeable people. And of course, with all of social media and to be honest with anything, we need to be mindful that Some people might be, you know, not um the best, given the best advice or they might be misguided or it might be AI generated or, you know, whatever.
00:02:38
Speaker
But there are, as we know, some amazing gardeners out there sharing their knowledge. um And that's why i love this industry and this niche and gardening on social media, because it's just so lovely and powerful and you can learn so much from each other in this space.
00:02:56
Speaker
And I suppose the beauty about social media in that aspect is that you can find someone who's almost down the street from you or down the road from you, a couple of towns over and get like hyper localized advice, as opposed to if you go to the IHS website, it's going to be a lot more broad.
00:03:13
Speaker
Yes, exactly. And I feel like as much as obviously the RHS is sharing advice that is obviously tried and tested, you'll get advice from someone that goes, I've tried this and it didn't work for me or it did work for me. And, or, you know, here's the things that I've learned. And it just feels a bit more connected because you're connecting with sort of a real person rather than an authority. Where did you first find your love and joy of gardening in the natural world?
Tom's Gardening Roots and Projects
00:03:41
Speaker
Oh, my earliest memories of gardening are actually with my grandparents and my very stereotypical. My granddad was obsessed with veg and always in his greenhouse with I can just imagine now, even as I'm saying it, the smell of tomatoes, you know, that warm tomato in the greenhouse smell. Yeah.
00:04:04
Speaker
And he was always a bit devious in that he'd try and make me, I can remember being like as young as sort of five and sort of my granddad giving me chilies, some saying they're tomatoes and watching my reaction.
00:04:16
Speaker
But he he was such a cool granddad, but honestly, he was loving really. um But like it, it was really fun and it got me into it and got me learning some of this stuff from a real young age. And then,
00:04:28
Speaker
My grandma, on the other hand, was really you know into the flowers and her garden was overflowing with color. And she was obsessed you know with lots of pockets of bright. What we would probably say now is a bit gaudy and out of out fashion. But yeah like it was big, bright and bold. And there was always something in flower, always something on show. And she was always there, you know just pruning things and trimming things. and So again, I just picked that up from a young age and just Yeah, loved spending time outside in the garden with them. And I was always the one going, shall we go up to the greenhouse, Granddad, you know, and and get and going from there. And so I think I inherited it from that young age. And then when I started to, you know, be able to have my own properties with my own gardens, then it just felt natural that I would want to do that, really, I guess.
00:05:20
Speaker
ah What does your garden look like now? I mean, obviously it's winter i mean now. Yeah. Not much as I look out of the window. So I moved into a cottage in August last year. So I'm actually kind of in the first stage of watching what happens and where the sun lies and how the seasons change. Um, I have a little bit of a patch outside the house and some containers and things, which is like a lovely little patio area. um
00:05:51
Speaker
which I have some things in right now. And then the main garden is actually shared with the house next door, which is kind of cute, actually. And they've generally not done loads with it. So it's kind of a blank canvas. And already we were out in the...
00:06:08
Speaker
at sort of the end of summer after I moved in, like, oh, well, they were asking me for tips on their hydrangeas and things. So i think there'll be a lot of scope to get stuck in more this year as I've sort of been watching and learning and seeing what's happening in the garden. So it's, yeah, a whole new project, but that's been story of my life with gardens. Yeah. I mean, look, I'm in the exact same patch. I'm looking for a property at the moment and the garden is like the number one. The house can be an absolute wreck, but the garden for me is like in the sun and it being the right place.
00:06:43
Speaker
space is so important to me. So uh, I'm, I'm almost where you are and I'm a bit jealous that you're kind of now going to be launching into the spring and being able to kind of do a lot with it. hey ah Yeah. But that's what kind of my gardening journey has been like in that I have moved around quite a lot, um, for, that you know, for, for work and for life choices and like people on Instagram will know that I have never stood still in the whole time that people have been following me. So yeah.
00:07:11
Speaker
I have generally moved at least every couple of years, but it's been great because all my followers have then seen a new garden journey and they've seen me transform another garden or, you know, put a pond into a garden or put a pathway in or a cut flower patch. So it's been nice because they've all seen different projects. And just when they almost start getting bored of it, I move on to a different place. Keeping it interesting, really, aren't you? Yeah, exactly. It has naturally kept interesting and kept it interesting for me, I guess, as well.
00:07:39
Speaker
how would you describe your kind of design aesthetic in terms of like how, you know, this new garden that you're going to build, how is that going to look in your mind's eye?
Adapting Garden Styles to Local Contexts
00:07:49
Speaker
I mean, I think it has to be like traditional cottage garden. Okay. I'm in a thatched cottage, you know, it's picturesque. You can't not lean into that really, but I've always been led by sort of the property and the style or,
00:08:07
Speaker
Equally like where the sun lies. So like in my one of my old properties, I had a hot border because it was like full sun. And I remember people at the time hating like yellows and oranges and reds. And they are quite hard to put in a garden, aren't they generally? So I just created a whole bed that was literally like red hot colors.
00:08:27
Speaker
really going for it and they just loved baking in the sun and everyone was like wow that is insane like when it was all in full bloom um so i think i just lean into like the property and what the conditions are but i think here it's going to have to be like cottage garden core really It's interesting, isn't it? Because I think about context a lot when it comes to gardens myself, like my partner and I had a big Australian native garden, um obviously outside of Sydney. And when we decided to move to the uk he had kind of floated the idea of like, well, we can build another Australian native garden. And I was like, well, actually, I don't want to do that at all. It's going be quite Well, that exactly. But like, it's also... context, like it just doesn't fit and contextually with the landscape. So I think you're bang on with that. Like it it really is all context about what the property is. And again, the the thing with my sort of job and me getting to go and see so many amazing gardens and so many amazing gardeners is that there's inspiration everywhere, but I can't possibly
00:09:36
Speaker
do all of them you know you've only got one space so actually again me moving around has meant that I could try a different style and a different approach and probably get more in in my lifetime than I would if I'd have stayed put in one place so that's been quite fun exactly yeah that is really cool and I think that's what I've loved too and it's one of the things that I would love to have like acreage like three acres or something like that that I could just do everything I ever wanted but you know that's maybe a pipeline dream at this point Exactly. We could all be like Monty with different garden sections and garden rooms. Exactly. That would be lovely, wouldn't it?
00:10:15
Speaker
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00:10:26
Speaker
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00:10:46
Speaker
You can download your free perennial garden design as well as my free Australian native garden design at the link in the description.
00:10:57
Speaker
So i suppose you and I can relate on the sense that we both create content for, um, social media, or I'm now moving into long form stuff. Uh, how is working in garden content creation changed the way you experienced the joy of gardening? Oh, that's a great question. um I think, I mean, it's been amazing because I get to go and see so many amazing gardens and more importantly, the gardeners behind them. And I get to chat to them talk.
00:11:31
Speaker
i'm sort sort like I'm going with one purpose of filming content and on the other hand, like as a gardener, wanting to ask them all my questions. So I kind of get the best at both worlds. um It's probably made my gardening more... I mean, I was an amateur gardener at the start and now I'm...
00:11:50
Speaker
ah with no actual qualifications would say that I am much more of a knowledge gardener. I mean, when you know I'm out and i tell my friends that I tell them about a plant and they're like, how do you know so much about that plant? And I will have learned it from another gardener that I've spoken to probably filming a video or you know something like that. So I think it's made me more knowledgeable as a gardener and also more inspired by some of those people and some of those amazing gardens that I've seen. And I've seen how color combinations can work or how actually planting for the environment you have can make a much better, you know, result. So I think I'd probably say more knowledgeable because you're just naturally sponging up all the knowledge from these people, which is a great...
00:12:36
Speaker
sort of consequence of the job really, which is quite... Totally.
Tom's Journey from Corporate to Social Media Business
00:12:41
Speaker
You have built a business in which you have now taken your garden knowledge, your knowledge of building a social media brand, and you're helping other businesses and individuals build their own brands and social media following.
00:12:58
Speaker
Yeah, so my background essentially in my corporate career before was um communications, marketing, um that sort of thing. so ah But at the same time, i was obviously passionate about gardening, which I'd inherited and started putting into my own garden. So I started doing my own Instagram first of all to just show what I was doing in my garden.
00:13:20
Speaker
And especially during that lockdown period, obviously, Instagram and social media kind of blew up even more because we were all kind of at home wanting inspiration from what everyone else was doing in their garden and stuff. So that was a great for me because it really helped my sort of profile to get out there. But at the same time, I had more time. So I was putting in a pond in my garden and a cutting garden and a whole new pathway. And so I just sort of show people what I was doing basically.
00:13:49
Speaker
and At the same time, that sort of spark then was created of not just sort of doing my area of expertise in the corporate world, which I'd been doing for years, but actually I was putting it into something that i was really passionate about and something that you know I could start of to see the fruit of those results as well from.
00:14:11
Speaker
And then a few brands in the gardening world started asking me would I help them, you know, for a bit of extra money on the side kind of thing with their social media or their marketing. And I was like, yeah, sure. You know, I really love this industry and I really want to kind of get into it and do more. Obviously be surrounded by plants and flowers all the time. No problem.
00:14:33
Speaker
um so And it just kind of went from there. It grew arms and legs because, I mean, hopefully people thought I was good at it. And then the word spread and more people started saying, can you do this for us? Can you help us out? And I was kind of like stuck, like stretched going, I have a full time job over here as head of communications for a big brand. and But I also love doing all this stuff and the impact it can make with small brands in the horticulture industry and the huge impact that I can see that that's making. And also I'm really enjoying it.
00:15:06
Speaker
So ah had that kind of decision to make. And at the time, my boss in my corporate job was amazing. And she just sort of sat me down and she said, what will you regret the most? And I said, not giving it a go.
00:15:22
Speaker
And she said, well, there you then. And she was amazing. And she helped me do a whole plan of sort of how I could step down gradually sort of one day at a time and exit the business that way so I could build up my business.
00:15:34
Speaker
um But the second I posted it on social media and said, oh guys, I think I'm going to do this. a bit scared, but I think I'm going to, you know, start it as an actual business. I had to tell her that I was going to leave within a month because I was fully booked straight away, which was wow mad to me.
00:15:51
Speaker
But I guess because I'd already built up that audience and that following, there was people following me that i hadn't even you know realized that some of those businesses in the horticulture industry were already following me anyway, my gardening stuff. So they reached out straight away and was like, well, if you're going to do this, we need some help. So come and chat to us. And I was like, wow, okay.
00:16:12
Speaker
um So it just went from there, basically. That clearly shows you that the time was like, right, that this is exactly where you were supposed to be heading. um i think it was right place, right time. And it just kind of snowballed from there really. And now I'm it going into my third year of business. um And now it's a team.
00:16:33
Speaker
And there's a team of us doing it, which again, it's been amazing to sort of work with other people and help to feed their business and their careers now and again now they're they most of my team are horticulturalists or in our industry they're creators they're you know strategists but they're all kind of part of that world so it's become more than i ever even thought it was going to be now fast forward two and a half years so and that's so quick as well yeah really quick and I think it just shows the sort of need for it in this industry as well um because what that that brings me to my next question really what do you think the gardeners and you know horticultural brands I suppose misunderstand about how to use social media
00:17:21
Speaker
Yeah, I think when I first kind of came into the horticulture world, in the nicest way, it was quite old school.
Horticulture Brands and Social Media Struggles
00:17:29
Speaker
And part of me likes that, and part of me thinks that's why it thrives and why we love it so much. But...
00:17:35
Speaker
um It's built on old generations, you know, and some of the nurseries, for example, are, you know, fifth generation, been open for hundreds of years. And they kind of do things the way they've always been done, which is partly why they're so successful, but also partly then why they've ended up being a bit left behind with social media.
00:17:56
Speaker
And what we saw, especially through that lockdown period, was that gap widened because the social media gardening community just blew up overnight and suddenly there was hundreds of people sharing their gardens and basically becoming creators without knowing it overnight and starting to grow following and being really influential almost accidentally in the gardening gardening world and then the brands were kind of like over here, not even on social media and not understanding how they could tap into that or utilize that or be part of it.
00:18:31
Speaker
So that gap really sort of widened, which again was probably why it was perfect timing as well for me and sort of going into that world and because it was all about sort of bringing that together. And we instantly saw when those brands and businesses got on social media and started tapping into that world and getting involved in it, it just got even bigger and even stronger. And those businesses grew really rapidly um and sort of catching up with, you know, most of them don't even have a website or didn't at that point.
00:19:04
Speaker
Yeah. Never mind social media. So it was quite quick learning, I think, for them to almost catch up quite quickly into the sort of modern way of doing things. Did you find a fair amount of resistance when working with those sorts of brands?
00:19:18
Speaker
um Yes and no. I think some of them, like you like I say, because they've always kind of done it a certain way. There was a bit of resistance to like, well, why would I even want to be on social media? you know yeah um But again, I think ah what I found is that, I mean, when I work with people, there's always kind of three reasons why they want to work with it. It's either because they can't do it, they don't want to do it, or they don't have the time to do social media.
00:19:44
Speaker
So they fall into one of those buckets and the people who just don't want to do it literally would come on a call with me and go, we don't want to do it, but we know that we have to do it. So that's almost an easier conversation for me to be like, well, just give me the keys and off we'll go. Yeah.
00:20:01
Speaker
But it's probably the people that almost don't know how to do it but want to do it is probably the most difficult category. um But, yeah, I think there was a bit of resistance. But equally, some people were ready to lean in. They could see the power of it, but they didn't know how to tap into it and harness it.
00:20:17
Speaker
So that was really powerful, I think, what they could see it. And they were just like, we need to lean in and we need some help with this. So please, can you help us? What is it about those people who want to do it but don't know how to do it that is difficult?
00:20:32
Speaker
Um, I think but it's more difficult because you kind of then have to, um, ah you know, they want to do it with all the best will in the world, but then they don't have those skills. So it's spending the time with them to almost, you know, train them. and show them and help them to understand probably is the hardest bit is helping them to understand because if you haven't ever you know we're lucky that we've grown up in a generation of social media from the time that we can remember which these people haven't so you kind of forget that you know they're looking at a computer like where do i even turn it on never mind getting on Instagram and you know making a reel. So it's that kind of like helping them to even understand the mindset of it before it even comes to the technical skill of it.
00:21:24
Speaker
um And I think that's one of the biggest things is getting them around that mindset of, well, this is why we do things with influencers or why we make these videos that you think are really random, like 90 second videos of us dancing around a garden. But that's what performs in this world. you know yes So i suppose if a small business, is a small horticultural business, they might just be working for themselves and, you know, I see them pop up and and see that they're trying to build a little brand for themselves online. um They post three or four or five photos and then you never hear from them again. Yeah. um
00:22:03
Speaker
if For those creators, what is the process and how can they actually build a sustainable business and following using social
Building a Quality Social Media Audience
00:22:13
Speaker
media? The big thing is getting started, isn't it? Like you say, it's hard to get that momentum going. And especially at the start, yeah we've just started working with someone who's creating a brand new account from scratch. And the big thing I sort of said to him was, Like it won't be overnight. Like social media is a long game.
00:22:30
Speaker
And, you know, all those people that you see that have built huge following and big brands for themselves have been working at it for like 10 years. They haven't just kind of came on overnight, um even if it looks like they have because they've suddenly blown up or, you know, whatever. But it's the hardest when you have zero followers and you have no idea what to post and no idea how it's going to go. And it's just having the sort of tenacity to keep going regardless of nobody liking your things. um And because they will eventually, like they need to find you, they need to start to understand you and like and trust you. And gradually, one by one, they will come over.
00:23:10
Speaker
And the biggest thing as well to sort of get your head around especially at the start, but no matter what size you are really is that it's not actually about the number of followers. It's about having the right followers and the quality ones. So yeah I always say, would you rather have a hundred followers that actually support you and buy from you and love the things that you say, or would you rather have 10,000 of them that don't and they're just kind of there?
00:23:38
Speaker
Um, and that's the reality as well. You, I'd much rather build a slower following, but it's the right following for a brand or a business than for them to go viral and get a million followers of which none of them are probably going to buy anything or actually get involved or, you know, engage with posts. So it's an interesting concept because I personally with my own Instagram, I, um I posted a video of, I used to have a kind of a crazy house, uh, with really high ceilings. And I posted a video, we took a boat, um, a canoe and,
00:24:16
Speaker
raised it in the center of the vaulted ceiling and put all kinds of plants in it and had them cascading out, yada, yada, yada. Posted that to Instagram and that blew up. And TikTok for that matter, that blew up. But it blew up in the US and had almost zero benefit benefit to me. And then i have...
00:24:36
Speaker
basically had to work against that the rest of the time to ah find the followers that I actually need to engage with me and and and my business. yeah um So you're totally right. It can actually be a disservice to go viral.
00:24:53
Speaker
And I always say, like, you want to go viral with the right content, almost like going viral should be an accident. Like you created amazing content about you and your brand and your business. And if it happens to go viral, then great, because hopefully then it's going to connect with the right people versus some people, you know, try and create something to go viral and then that's fine. You will go viral, but then those people aren't going to necessarily actually care about what you're normally talking about or what your business is.
00:25:23
Speaker
that's So whenever we've had stuff go viral for clients, it's been an amazing surprise. But, you know, we've literally been sharing a tip about flower farming with one of our flower farmer clients, and it's gone to millions of followers overnight. And then we're like, great, they're all following us and they want more tips and they want to go on your courses about flower farming.
00:25:42
Speaker
That's the result that we want rather than you know, people who, like you say, are in a different country or are not relevant. So yeah, it's quite, it's, that's the way i always think about it is I'd rather go viral accidentally because I've created the right content.
00:25:59
Speaker
Not kind of building for the algorithm in that sense. Yes, like it's easy to lean into that. Like, you know, we need to do X, Y, Z to track cause that will perform. Like I could tell you the sort of content that would go viral easily, yeah but you know, that's not going to actually help your business or your brand really.
00:26:18
Speaker
Do you think gardeners put too much pressure on themselves? I guess and brands put too much pressure on themselves to be experts online. Yes. um And I think it's easy as well in our and if you just take the gardening industry and the horticulture industry because there are amazing experts out there already on social media and you think, well, these people already know everything there is to know, so I'm never going to be able to compare to that.
00:26:47
Speaker
But... There's the whole thing about social media is that it should be real and people connect with you because you don't know everything. So being honest and sort of going, I don't actually know that and I'm going to look it up or I'm going to ask or maybe do you guys know in the audience means actually so much more than knowing it all.
00:27:09
Speaker
So a big thing that we battle against generally in social media is perfectionism. You know, people want their grid to look perfect. They want their content to look perfect and they want to know everything and be the expert.
00:27:23
Speaker
But, You don't have to be. And people are more often more inspired by sort of amateur gardeners or amateur DIY projects than they are with someone who's professional and had it all professionally filmed and looks like they know everything because it's just too polished and too perfect.
00:27:42
Speaker
It's about kind of authenticity really, isn't it? Yes, exactly. Massively. were just talking about viral content before, but what kind of garden content consistently connects with an audience?
00:27:57
Speaker
value. If you can give, that ultimately with any account, it's about why do people choose to follow you? So if they find your account, they come across it, then what makes them hit the follow button?
00:28:10
Speaker
And why would you want to follow this person? And one of the easiest ways you can do that is by giving them value, by sharing tips, by sharing your knowledge, by talking about, you know, things that you, even if it's just inspiration, things that you're doing in your garden or just things that you know about or you know, anything like that, because that's going to make people think, I want to see more of this. I'm learning something. I'm gaining something. I feel inspired by this person.
00:28:36
Speaker
that's And you can never give too much away as well is the thing that I would say. So often, you know, I get asked by florists and flower farmers and people in our industry like, well, if I give all my knowledge away, then why would they buy from me? Yeah.
00:28:50
Speaker
But ultimately what I say then is you can Google anything. You can YouTube anything. You probably do a whole course yourself on YouTube these days in anything you would want to find. You know, AI nowadays could literally write you a whole lesson plan. And so it's out there already.
00:29:07
Speaker
what you're doing is proving your credibility and your knowledge. And ultimately, those people will then come and buy it from you because people buy from people they'd much rather buy from someone or invest in someone that they connect with rather than some random YouTube that they found or whatever. So ultimately, that's what it comes back to. So you can never give away too much knowledge, really. I ha yeah, I've heard the theory that kind of like give away everything for free and people will still purchase your services because what you've done has built trust authenticity, um, through connection opposed to through selling.
00:29:51
Speaker
Yeah. And that's also the thing when it comes to selling. People ask me all the time is sort of if I, you know, I'm I'm in a business and I want to sell more. How do I sell more with social media? And I say, stop selling.
00:30:04
Speaker
I remember I was yeah I was on a panel um last year speaking and said that basically into the microphone and the whole room just went and fell silent because they were like, what?
00:30:18
Speaker
Hang on. i'm Sort of trying to compute that. But yeah. the soft sell in terms of like showing people the value like you know I give social media tips away all the time on my Instagram but what that does is it doesn't stop people from buying because they're getting tips for free what they do is they go and look on my website and they go and sign up for things like I see that happening without me actively selling anything and it's the same with Any of our clients, almost the less we talk about the actual product, the more they just naturally go and find it out because we've shown them so much knowledge and value. And they think, I need to learn more from this person or I need to buy this thing that they're talking about without actually saying, hey, it's $9.99 on my website and here's the link.
00:31:05
Speaker
People don't follow you for that reason. They don't follow to be sold to. So again, it's that mentality, the whole thing, you know, with with marketing and, you know, my whole corporate career is that people don't you know, they don't follow you to be sold to. they don't They don't, you know, that's not their mindset. So it's getting into the customer's mindset of what do they actually want or what can you make them perceive that they want um rather than sort of just saying, buy my stuff, basically.
00:31:38
Speaker
Yeah. How important is personality compared to, you know, a skill level or a knowledge set? Obviously you need a bit of both, but where do you kind of rank the two?
00:31:49
Speaker
Personality for me outshines your knowledge, your credibility, you know, ah like a hundred times to one. So interesting. Because for me is that people buy from people and I've seen people start businesses with no knowledge, no credibility. you know They've never done it before. They've got no nothing they can say, oh, I've done this for 10 years or you know any of that and It's about bringing people on that journey with you. i mean, ultimately, yes, I've done so the stuff in my corporate career. But again, when I started this business, I'd never done a business myself before. I'd never actively done other people's social media. You know, I i was starting from scratch, but people came along on the journey with me.
00:32:35
Speaker
And that's made it even stronger. And people, you know, even before we started this podcast, you said that you'd followed me from before I even... made that leap and did that. So you followed me the whole way through and now invited me on your podcast. So it just shows that over time, you know, and I get that all the time, clients will say, I followed you for years and now's the time I need your help. So you never know when those people are watching, but you want to be building that
Importance of Personality in Social Media Success
00:33:01
Speaker
up over time. And the way that you're going to do that is the personality rather than
00:33:06
Speaker
sort of the knowledge or the credentials. Yes, obviously you want to show that stuff as you build it over time, but you can build that um as you gain the knowledge and you gain that experience. and But like we said earlier, there's something powerful in kind of actually going, I don't know this and I don't know everything.
00:33:22
Speaker
um One of the things people loved when I shared my business journey was that I literally said, i have no idea when it comes to accounts or you know what that's going to look like or how to do actually do this business stuff. you know And I was just honest and shared that stuff.
00:33:39
Speaker
um And other business owners connected with that because it's one of the things that now I know that comes up all the time that they go, I don't know how to do that. Help me. I hate the numbers, you know. So it builds that sort of connection basically in a shared thing.
00:33:54
Speaker
Well, I think that's exactly probably why your business is also so successful is because a good businessman, woman knows what they're not good at and where their flaws are.
00:34:09
Speaker
And so you're able to come in and go, hey, well, I know the social media stuff. Yeah. um Just as with your business, you went to an accountant to sort out all of your financial stuff.
00:34:20
Speaker
So that complete that's actually just very good business advice generally. i always say know where your strengths are and where your weaknesses are and don't be afraid to sort of hold your hands up. and so I literally actually did a session last night and I said this to them. I said, don't be there's nothing wrong with holding your hands up and saying, I hate the numbers and so I need...
00:34:41
Speaker
an accountant a bookkeeper i need some financial advice you know the same as i have a pa because i know i'm not organized or i have an accountant because i hate the numbers like they bring that strength and when i that's a weakness for me and i bring the strength in other ways that is a weakness for them that's right like you almost can't ever do everything No, you're never going to be. I mean, you'd have to be like Wonder Woman to be able to literally be perfect to everything, yeah which is none of us are going to be perfect to everything. So you have kind of got to just understand yeah where those things are and not be afraid to go, OK, well, that's where I need to invest my money because I'm good at this bit and I'm not great at that bit. So if I can get someone else to crack that, then I'm sorted. It's good advice.
00:35:33
Speaker
2026 is upon us and I have limited spaces open for my garden coaching and consultation sessions. Whether you're looking for help with plant identification, advice on care and maintenance, or tips for improving your soil and plant nutrition,
00:35:49
Speaker
I'm here to help. As a garden designer, I'll help you think creatively about your outdoor space, offering tools and ideas to give you a fresh perspective on your garden projects.
00:36:00
Speaker
My coaching and consultation sessions can happen right in your garden if you live in the UK or online if you're anywhere else in the world. My goal is to meet you where you are and support your unique garden journey.
00:36:15
Speaker
Whether you're just starting out, looking to refine your skills, or simply need a second opinion, or someone just to bounce ideas off, you have found your space.
00:36:26
Speaker
Head to the link in this episode description or shoot me an email at hello at thegardenerslodge.co.uk.
00:36:35
Speaker
How does one stay consistent with social media? Consistent in posting, consistent in making it not a chore, consistent in... Making it not a chore is a thing that I see a lot of the time because we can make it because, you know, we want to create a great account and we want people to be engaged. And then we feel like, oh God, I've got to post something every single day or, you know, whatever. The first thing I'd say is...
00:37:04
Speaker
Consistency is better than like just churning stuff out. So if you can only commit to three posts a week, then do three posts a week. It's more that you can commit to doing three every week so that your audience and the algorithm starts to get used to sort of you showing up that many times and when usually you show up.
00:37:24
Speaker
um But also that means that you're not just killing yourself trying to make content and you don't even know what you're actually going to talk about. um The second thing I'd say would be to actually make sure you have a plan, which um you know even if it's just jotting down some ideas on and bullet points on a notepad, it doesn't have to be like a whole social media plan. um but filming like with with content in mind um so you know where it's actually going and what you're going to talk about also really helps because the second you've got a list of ideas in front of you it feels so much easier to be like yeah i'm going to go out and film that stuff rather than just going out and thinking oh god what am i going to film i'm going to have to come up with something
00:38:09
Speaker
Um, so that's what I would say there. And, and just be inspired by sort of what you're passionate about. Don't feel like you have to sort of fit into the realms of what everyone else is doing or what you think that you should be doing. Just go out and talk about the stuff that you love and that you're passionate about.
00:38:29
Speaker
Um, And the other way that you can make it much easier and we're at the start of the year now, so you've got a whole year to do this is to build a bank of content, build a bank of B roll, which sort of when we say B roll, that's like the clips of you just doing stuff. So not talking to camera, just.
00:38:50
Speaker
nice shots of you watering the garden or close-ups of a flower or you know it could be anything just take a few seconds of of footage and then by the end of the year if you took one clip every day that's just two or three seconds long you'll have 365 videos at the end of the year which will go all the way through the seasons in your yeah garden and you'll be able to sit in the living room on your armchair and just think i'm gonna make a reel about daffodils and you'll have loads of footage of them um so it becomes much easier to create content i can sit and create reels just sat at home because i've got so much content and we look after a flower farmer ros at fieldgate flowers and i have
00:39:37
Speaker
Every single flower she's ever grown on her farm in every season. and it means that when she messages me and say, we need to make a reel about how we cut down the roses. I've got videos of the roses in bloom. I've got videos of them being cut. I've got videos what they look like in winter. what the nodes on them look like, you know, all angles of the roses I have covered. So I can literally sit and make that without having to go and film something brand new. So that's a great way to just sort of take the pressure off and build a content bank. Yeah. And if you do literally just a few seconds every day, it builds up before you know it.
00:40:16
Speaker
So what you mentioned before, kind of, um, the algorithm, where do we play into the algorithm?
Creating Content Aligned with Algorithms
00:40:27
Speaker
Where do we shy away from the algorithm?
00:40:31
Speaker
um The biggest thing I would say is now I'm going to probably contradict myself in this next few sentences. so But firstly, I would say, don't feel like don't worry about the algorithm because ultimately the algorithm is trying to connect you with the right people. So if you create content for the right people, you will be found by the right people. So,
00:40:57
Speaker
we get a really like con confused thinking about all the algorithm doesn't want to show my content or you know whatever or what do I need to do to play into the algorithm but actually fundamentally if you just create good content it will be found by the right people because the algorithm's you know The algorithm is ultimately a computer that is just trying to say, you like gardening, so you're like Tom's content. And I'll put the two of you together and show you that stuff. And it knows that based on the content that you've created, that it's about gardening, that it's about snowdrops in February. And it will put all of those words together and sort of add someone else up who likes seeing snowdrops in February.
00:41:37
Speaker
um So fundamentally, creating good content for your target audience is the most important thing. Because often when we start working with someone, they've been creating stuff to try and sort of fit into the algorithm, but actually they're not even talking to their own target audience anymore and their own customer. And it goes back to that thing we said earlier about, do you want thousands of followers or actually the right ones that are going to buy from you?
00:42:04
Speaker
um But then when you probably do play into the algorithm or sort of do things for it is like when you're making your videos and you've got that great content, there are just some tweaks and changes that you can make. So, for example, like having a really good hook at the start of your video. So that text that comes on screen with maybe a question or being really clear about what they're going to learn in this video can be really powerful in sort of stopping someone from scrolling and also helping the algorithm to connect you with that right person or things like using a trending sound um will make the algorithm connect you again to people who like that sound already so those are just little things that sort of just nudge it in the right direction if that makes sense
00:42:54
Speaker
Yeah, definitely. Generally, we're talking about when we're trying to build an audience, we're talking about posting reels. yeah And when we're trying to connect with our existing audience, we're using carousels and stories. What would you say if someone's, okay, someone's posting three times a week, what ratio do you think should be about posting reels and trying to gain or find your audience versus nurturing the community that you actually have in front of you?
00:43:23
Speaker
We flex it up and down for clients depending on what their current goals are. So yeah we go through periods, for example, where we might be launching something or selling something, and therefore we really want to just speak to the audience we've got and we want them to be really engaged and think, hey, we're really knowledgeable and therefore we want you to buy this stuff. Versus we go through periods of like, we're not actively doing any of that stuff. So we want to reach new people. So we're making lots of reels full of education and tips that make people go, oh, I want to follow this person.
00:43:57
Speaker
So we do go through sort of bursts of it. and flex it up and down depending. But generally as a good ratio, i think ultimately you probably always want that pipeline on of new people coming in. So and I think reels are still so much more powerful as much as everyone rolls their eyes when I say it. So for me, I'd be making two reels and one sort of carousel.
00:44:27
Speaker
Um, but more importantly for me, stories should always be, you should always be active on stories. Nice. Why do you think gardeners in particular, and like, let's include kind of garden brands struggle showing up confidently online?
00:44:47
Speaker
Well, I think naturally, us gardeners are the type of people that want to quietly enjoy our gardens and not to be all over the internet and posting know videos of our face online.
00:45:01
Speaker
So I think naturally we end up being the types people that don't want to do it. But at the same time, we do because we want to be part of this community. And especially if you're growing a brand. um So I think that's why we find it tricky. And that, you know, we talked about the fact there's so many knowledgeable people out there and so many people with amazing gardens. And then we think like, well, who wants to see my container box on my balcony that is full of pansies, you know, and we think that it's not worth anything. But again, and what we forget is that that's the reality for most people. And again, going back to that point of
00:45:40
Speaker
people engaging with stuff that is real and authentic and something like they see in themselves is really powerful. So i think that that's the thing that I always see. Now, the biggest thing in terms of sort of showing up is to sort of ease your way into it as well. Don't feel like you have to go from never having posted and you want to start a gardening Instagram to them feeling like you've got to be going on reels and talking to camera and going live and, you know, all this stuff.
00:46:09
Speaker
Just start showing your face in a photo, putting it on stories, maybe talk a little bit on stories first because, hey, they disappear after 24 hours and if they were rubbish, everyone can forget about them quite quickly. Build your confidence up before you start feeling like I've got to stick my camera on a tripod and make a really great reel. Just ease your way in, you know, dip a toe in and out and get more comfortable with it. Stories are great because you can play around and then they disappear.
00:46:38
Speaker
um And you'll build that confidence up over time rather than kind of trying to throw yourself in at the deep end. Sometimes when I'm creating social media content about gardening, it actually removes me away from gardening and the true love of gardening. You're because you're thinking about creating content rather than doing the gardening, which is meant to be mindful and taking your mind off a busy life. Exactly, exactly. So for me, the thing there would be, I often, I get asked that a lot, actually. Yeah, right. For me, I think it's,
00:47:16
Speaker
ah And even I do this. So when I film content in my garden, hopefully I'll be doing lots of that when the weather warms up in spring. Yes. Is just go out and do the gardening and stick your camera on a tripod and film it.
00:47:30
Speaker
So rather than thinking I've got to do X, Y and Z and I need to have this shot and I need to say this to camera. some You know, I'm obviously naturally would do that stuff and I have to actively tell myself to not do that. Go out and enjoy the gardening. Yes, I want to get some content, especially if, you know, a brand has given me something and I need to post about it. but Yeah, absolutely.
00:47:53
Speaker
come back in afterwards. And when you're back in work mode and you're sat at the desk, you've got a load of footage of your gardening and then you can just do a voiceover or stitch it together and, you know, zoom in on some shots or, you know, whatever. Again, just make it those B-roll clips of a few seconds of you just, you know, get a few closeups so and then put the camera away again so that you get that headspace to actually do the thing that you were doing properly, but you still come away with the content that you want.
00:48:20
Speaker
Or sometimes I'll just, if I do want to do talking to camera, you know, I built the planters outside the front of my cottage and I stood with the boxes at the start and I talked to the camera and said, you know, these plants have come and I'm going to open them and I'm going build them up. And then I just stuck the camera on a tripod and I actually enjoyed building them and making up the planters and planting them up. And then I just filmed a bit at the end and said, I think it looks great. Here's what I've planted. So I've talked it through. And then just used all the clips and put them over the top.
00:48:51
Speaker
But it meant I could actually enjoy it. That's a good idea. Yeah. I mean, i I've struggled. I mean, obviously, I asked the question and I definitely struggled with that at the same time. um And what I used to do was have a day of content.
00:49:07
Speaker
Yeah. Which feels very unnatural to be honest, but a a day of content and then the rest of the six days of the week, I just gardened for myself. And yeah, I mean, you definitely, uh, end up picking up the camera throughout that time because you're like, hang on, this is good. You know? Yeah.
00:49:26
Speaker
um Yeah, match creating is a great way to do it as well. Like you say, just go out with the mindset of I'm just filming stuff and I'm probably just going half finish a load of jobs just so I can do it on the camera.
00:49:36
Speaker
And that's ultimately what we do with a client. You know, again, going back to ros at the flower farm we do a month we do a filming day a month so we film a month's worth of content in one day so she goes around and i basically ruin her farm by making her do half jobs of everything and then go you can finish all of that actually like properly on a different day so we do exactly the same That's kind of a a month's worth of content. I mean, it it sounds like a lot, but I suppose. It's actually only 12 pieces of content if they have three a week.
00:50:14
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. It's not actually too much, you know, 12 reels that are probably only a minute long maximum. They don't take too long in the flow of sort of, okay, stand here, shoot, let's go.
00:50:27
Speaker
How long do you allot? How much time do you allot for a reel? Let's say. Well, if we're filming one. Yeah. um Maximum like 10, 15 minutes. Wow. That's very quick. I mean, obviously we we want efficiency because we want to film them all in one day. It's business. Even if i was doing them myself. Yeah.
00:50:47
Speaker
ah It's just, again, not overthinking it. So just do the thing, point the camera, say the stuff, um get the shots that you want, and then go and either enjoy it or go on to the next shot for us.
00:50:59
Speaker
um Again, forget about that perfectionism, isn't it? Yes, exactly, because it would be very easy. you know And I know other sort of content agencies or you know social media people who will go with cameras and lights and spend a whole like five hours setting up one shot. And I'm kind of like, it's social media. It's meant to be real. It's meant to be quite raw and relatable.
00:51:22
Speaker
And also, who's got time for that? like You're never going to film any content and it must cost a fortune to to have that business to do that. Well, exactly. Yeah. So for me, it's just kind of, let's just go out and be yourself and I'll point the camera at you and let's just see what comes out. And often all the outtakes and all the bits that we fudge up become the best bits of content anyway. And people laugh and they engage with them and that makes those perform really well.
00:51:49
Speaker
If social media disappeared tomorrow, what would you still get from gardening?
Balancing Content Creation with Gardening Leisure
00:51:55
Speaker
Oh, that's a great question. I mean, I think I would enjoy it more, like it like you said, and that's not because I don't enjoy it now, but I do also have that pressure of...
00:52:07
Speaker
filming it and also whenever I go to a garden nowadays, i am in inevitably filming it or feel like I have to film it. Um, so it would be great almost to go back to being a civilian again and not being part of the industry, not being part of the world, not feeling like I have to film it and to actually just enjoy it and with no other other reason than i want to enjoy this thing.
00:52:35
Speaker
That is so true. yeah, I feel the exact same way, to be honest. There is like, yeah, that little bit of joy that you're like, oh, I should film this. Or like, I've gone out to a garden somewhere and I'd be like, why didn't I bring my camera?
00:52:48
Speaker
Like my, yeah you know, I've obviously always got a phone with me. I've got multiple phones in every bag because I can never not have a phone that's charged, not have microphones, not be ready to capture some content. And it would be nice. And it is nice, obviously, you know, if I go on holiday or whatever, that I don't have that pressure and I don't have all that stuff with me and I can just actually enjoy it.
00:53:15
Speaker
And it's almost nice to go, oh, no, what a shame. I haven't got a camera. What are some of your most hated garden trends on social media?
Disliked Garden Trends
00:53:25
Speaker
Oh, no.
00:53:28
Speaker
Don't get me started. Plastic lawns. um Obviously, i mean, that's just not a social media tremor. That's just a trend. in This is a millennial trend that should die. Yes. um Obviously, i agree with the people that say that they should be banned.
00:53:44
Speaker
um Now, I do understand that they have a place for some people. They don't. But. Well, yeah, they kind of don't. But um ah yeah, that's a trend that I definitely am not keen on, obviously, for lots of reasons.
00:54:00
Speaker
um What else? Bulbs. People, I mean, i used to be one of them, so I can ick myself about this. But, you know, in autumn time, everyone's talking about doing a bulb lasagna or how to bulbs. And it's like...
00:54:18
Speaker
Right, okay. We need to think of something different to talk about. But that's only because, A, I was one of those people, and B, at that time of year, that is the thing that we're all madly buying a million bulbs and getting passionate about. um Gardening trends. I mean, I see so many.
00:54:38
Speaker
um But yeah it's equally why I love this industry and love this world because you can also see like some of the garden design trends that are coming through. and different types of materials that are being used, you know the same as you see in interiors, how people you know go through sort of cycles of um fashion.
00:54:55
Speaker
It's the same with you know what we see in gardening. Am I seeing that more wild sort of untamed sort of style coming back more, which I personally love versus the hard landscape, perfect lawns that's kind of gone away.
00:55:11
Speaker
That's an interesting point, actually, because social media, I would say, has almost heightened garden trends. 100, 200, 300 years ago, garden trends moved so slowly, whereas interiors have generally always kept up a fairly decent pace. Yeah.
00:55:31
Speaker
but Gardens now, with the influence of social media, there is definitely major design trends that come in and out of fashion, plants that come in and out of fashion. Yeah. And um not that I think, i I actually think it's a bit naff and gardens should be about the person whose garden it is, not about yeah the, you know, how up to date and beautifully on trend it is, you know. but Yeah. Like you say, plants as well, in particular, when, you know, influencers or brands can influence what plant is on trend or because it's, you know, picked up on social media. um
00:56:07
Speaker
It's kind of good in a way because we're starting to see plants become really popular that we're like, God, have you never heard of this? We've been screaming about this for years. Yeah. um And now, you know, even sort of everyday people have it in their gardens because they've seen it through social media. And then obviously the adverse of when, you know, we see gardens filled with,
00:56:26
Speaker
alliums or whatever and we're like oh god no more please because we've been doing it for years you know and we're a bit sick of it so yeah i think pros and cons to garden trends but um yeah ultimately like you say we want people to be doing their own thing and their own style the same as with their social media the same as with their interiors
Conclusion: Authenticity in Life and Gardening
00:56:46
Speaker
That's right. I think, I mean, I think perfect analogy for this episode is like authenticity, just showing up authentically through your garden, through your work on social media.
00:56:54
Speaker
Definitely. Yeah. I think that has got to be, that it should just be a trend in life. I think it be the whole thing about life. Just be yourself, be authentic because then no one can have anything to say about that except seeing the real you and connecting with you and wanting to be part of that.
00:57:12
Speaker
Exactly. Perfect way to end the show. Thank you so much. Thank you. It's been a pleasure. Thank you so much for joining me today. If you like the show, don't forget to hit the follow or subscribe button, tell a friend or two, or maybe even give the show five-star rating and a review.
00:57:30
Speaker
If you want more gardeners lodge content, you can find our website, our Instagram and our Tik Tok in the show notes below this episode. The gardeners lodge podcast is a growing media production.