Cardenas 1

Norberto Cardenas

Dr. Nelson

English 1301 119

September 10, 2022

The Herbal Academy’s strategy

A lot of online businesses try to catch people’s attention, and blogs are often a way to

keep people engaged. The Herbal Academy, a business and online school, offers many services

such as herbal courses, an herbal library, herbal workshops, and a blog. These services are

accessible via their website, theherbalacademy.com. This business utilizes these few techniques

to keep people engaged. The target audience are people who use plants daily in life for medicinal

and health purposes. The word ‘Herb’ is another word for small plants. On August 18, 2022,

Paula Saalfeld, an herbalist that is affiliated with the Herbal Academy, uploaded an article to

theherbalacademy.com titled "How to Use Flower Petals in 5 Creative Ways." The article talks

about five ways to use flowers in the kitchen. This article is easy-to-follow and has four helpful

components that aid her in her message: a tag section and exciting word choice, casual language,

simple recipes, and bullet lists. These components make the article attractive to new viewers and

promote engagement in the content. Ultimately the article is set up the way it is to build the

audience of the Herbal Academy.

Saalfeld uses a tag section (a list of topic words that appear in the text) and specific

pleasant words to entice readers and create a positive experience. The tag section is made up of

eye candy words that play an important role in the experience the viewer feels. Because of the
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attractive tag section and word choice, readers will aestheticize recreating Saalfeld’s recipes.

Eventually, readers will partake in the herbal influence. In fact, the tag section kickstarts th

aestheticization of her Saalfeld’s recipes (Saalfeld). This section highlights topics in the text:

Floral chocolate bars, flower butter, and flower petals. Words like ‘chocolate’ and ‘flower’

obviously spark readers imaginations. Saalfeld does an excellent job when she Places the tag

section at the start of the article instead of the bottom. The pleasant thoughts that readers

conceive of when they read this tag section is an attention grabber. The use of pleasant words

repeats itself throughout the article; the following is one example: "These floral preparations are

not only a way to embrace the summer season, but also make wonderful gifts," (Saalfeld par.

19). The words "wonderful" and "embrace" follow this trend of appealing words. Now, most of

the people who read this article will be left with a good first impression. Saalfeld’s use of

exciting words leave an impression on readers because they create a positive attitude; hence,

Saalfeld’s message is memorable and good for the Herbal Academy.

Saalfeld uses words like "my" and "you" is casual; readers feel more welcomed and more

likely to join in on her recipes if the dialogue is casual. The relaxed feel of the article doesn’t

push away readers who easily become bored. Having a friendly tone keeps audiences engaged

because of the positivity they feel. For example, "My favorite combination is . . .," sounds

friendly since the author is giving personal advice (Saalfeld par. 9). So far, the author is trying to

use the genre to grab viewers' attention and be friendly in her text to make the audience feel

positive. The next part of the text further proposes the idea that the author wants to be beginner

friendly.

Saalfeld wants to attract and keep new users engaged with her content, so she uses simple

recipes to make readers more willing to participate in herbal creation. The recipes are part of the
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instructional section of her article where she lists them; the instructional part starts after the

phrase, "Here are a few creative ideas for using edible flower blossoms" (Saalfeld par. 6). This

section gives viewers the information needed to start implanting flowers in their food and

beverage; Saalfeld wants her audience to incorporate herbs into their lifestyles with little effort.

She wants users to commit and not give up; this is evident from this line from the text, "Blossom

butter is made very easily and quickly" (Saalfeld par. 8). Here is an easy floral application

provided in the article: “blossom butter” (Saalfeld par. 11). This recipe only calls for butter,

flowers, salt, and a lemon. “Floral ice cubes”, another feasible recipe, are made by adding

flowers to ice cubes—the most straightforward recipe in human history (Saalfeld par. 14). 

Saalfeld wants things to be understandable and easy to read because she doesn’t want to

lose her audience, so she uses bullet lists. Bullet lists provide followers with an easy-to-follow

step by step; making it easier for reader also make them feel like their needs are being met. The

bullet lists are in chronological order and instruct the user. If she had used a paragraph instead,

the instruction would be harder to follow while making one of the recipes. Bullet lists allow

someone to follow along as they recreate Saalfeld’s methods. Also, Saalfeld puts much detail

into the directions portion of the article to avoid confusion among her readers. For

example: "Transfer the mixed butter into a butter dish or onto a sheet of parchment paper. If

choosing the parchment paper, roll up to form a cylinder. Twist both ends tight and refrigerate

for at least one hour. The butter is ready to serve when cold and solid" (Saalfeld par. 11). In the

direction above, Saalfeld describes how to perform the step if the user uses parchment paper.

Detailed steps lead to successful attempts in recreating her recipes, so previous audiences will be

more likely to return to the text for her other floral ideas. 
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After reviewing this article, it can be concluded that Saalfeld wants to create a welcoming

guide that is easy to follow to increase the value of the website. Her casual text style and

structure create a helpful guide to her floral recipes. The author also does an excellent job of

attracting new herbalists. These types of articles are very common among websites that have

active communities, and it is worthwhile to identify their efforts.

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Works Cited

Saalfeld, Paula. “HOW TO USE FLOWER PETALS IN 5 CREATIVE WAYS.” Herbal

Academy, August 18, 2022, https://theherbalacademy.com/how-to-use-flower-petals/.