Nature Blog Network

Bethe Almeras is an award-winning author and educator with a passion for play and for helping people connect with nature. When she isn’t writing, she loves to travel, meet friends for margaritas, or chatter with the neighborhood squirrels. You can learn more about Bethe on her blog, The Grass Stain Guru, and follow her on Twitter @balmeras.

Bethe, why do you blog?

I started blogging when I got laid off this past year. I wrote and ran a nature-related website for a conservation organization, so when the layoff hit me, I realized I had all this passion, knowledge, and drive, but nowhere to direct it. A week later The Grass Stain Guru was born.

As a professional educator and writer, blogging came quite naturally to me. I have written everything from curricula to distance learning courses, to marketing copy and more web content than you can shake a stick at. What is more interesting, exciting, and rewarding about blogging is the level of intimacy you can develop. It’s your voice, and nobody else’s. Blogging can be really organic and freeing – and fun. Opinions matter; your voice matters.

Also, the relationship you build with readers makes it really personal and exciting. I received more comments on The Grass Stain Guru in two weeks than in two years on the organizational site. I have a lovely community of readers that I hear from regularly, and a larger audience that is supportive via social media.

My advice: only start a blog if you are really passionate about a subject. Not because you want to make money or anything else. Blogging is work, plain and simple. For me, it’s pleasurable work – but if I didn’t have this passion to be a thought leader and advocate for unstructured play and connecting people with nature, I would have thrown in the towel by now.

What do you like most and least about blogging?

Best - interacting with the readers. Hands down. As far as what I like the least – probably content management and thinking about SEO and whatnot. Important – yes. Creative and interesting – not so much.

How has blogging changed how you think about nature?

If anything, blogging has made me think more critically about nature: what’s at the heart of time in nature and having a personal connection with it; how to get others excited about it — its wonders and restorative powers. I really am a believer in the powers of play and nature.

Blogging has helped develop my personal voice. I let my hair down and speak from the heart, not from the mission statement or agenda of an organization. I love that! Blogging to me is a great conversation. What writer doesn’t want to have a conversation with his or her readers?

How do you promote your blog and attract readers?

I am a total Twitter head! I am known as the #playoutdoors lady on Twitter, a title that makes me very happy. I also use Stumbled Upon, Digg, and Reddit to help with traffic generation.

To me, Twitter is a great place to meet like-minded individuals and really create conversations and buzz around a topic. We have a whole Play Outdoors Mafia (my little pet name for the crew) – lots of folks who care about getting outside, getting kids outside, play, and not losing the important connection to nature. It’s also a great place to learn – I swear, I learn something new every day – stuff I would have missed if I wasn’t part of the Twitterverse.

Plus it’s fun. There are some hysterical and delightful people out there that I now know via social media that I never would have met without it. Life is too short not to be delightful. Seriously.

Is there a story behind the name of your blog?

I wanted to pick something that said childhood. Grass stains are something that every kid should have – it shows they are outside getting dirty, having fun, and being kids. It also reminds us adults of our childhood memories and playful natures. I wanted the blog to be a place to discuss the issues facing children today, but also facing all of us. A place for us all to be reminded to put some life back into living and to have some fun. To me, it doesn’t matter if you have kids or not – everyone should care about the state of childhood today. It is a reflection of our society, as well as the future. We should also care about how we are living, not just from a health or wealth stand-point, but from an emotional well-being and capacity for joy and happiness stand-point.

If that sounds a bit Pollyannaish, then so be it. I see so many people that are merely getting through life or going through the motions instead of living and loving it. It breaks my heart. Restoring childhood, and saving ourselves in the process, that is what The Grass Stain Guru is all about.

Do you feel you’re part of a community with other nature bloggers?

Certainly I feel like I am part of a big community: nature bloggers, education bloggers, family life bloggers, garden bloggers, green bloggers, and on and on. I am part of the Outdoor Bloggers Summit and have made great connections with other bloggers via Twitter.

Nature blogs range so wildly (get it?!) that there really is something for everyone. I am a sucker for nature photography and nature study blogs.

Any words of wisdom for new nature bloggers?

• Study what’s out there and try and bring a new perspective.
• Share your passion and develop your voice.
• Have fun – if you are not having fun, why blog?

Anything else you’d like me to ask you, or that you’d like to volunteer without being asked?

No, I think that is plenty for your readers to wade through. Obviously, this girl loves to chat!