What You Said – Blog Survey Results

Two weeks ago, I asked you for a favor.  So many of you took the time to respond to the survey. Can’t thank you enough for your input. Like I said every time you let me know what you feel/think about the blog it is a chance for me to improve. So what did you say?

Majority of you visit daily while the others come when they get a chance. Facebook and Browser Favorites seem to be the preferred way to access the site. A close third are the email subscribers. A whopping 90% of  you prefer the current blog format and the current posting schedule (84%). You don’t know how much of a relief it is to hear this from you. I’ve been fretting over the blog format for some time now.

Now for the surprising #s. On the “what kind of posts do you like to see here” question, actually I had a hunch that it is gonna be like that, y’all said:

If I say, “I hear ya” on this it would be an understatement!  I so want to do more DIY projects but LIFE gets in the way. As you all know I work full time, so the only free time I have is on weekends after all the kids extra curricular activities are done or at night. Of which I’ve stopped doing projects at night ‘coz of 2 things; they make for bad blog pics (pics in bad lighting are a huge reader turn off) and I’m mostly using up the free time to write the next day’s post. I do whatever I can in the small amount of free time I’m left with on the weekends but sometimes a project doesn’t turn out the way you want to the first time around. If you have been following me on Facebook (as you should ;)) you would know I’m going through this exact scenario with my vintage lace chandy. Finally I think I’ve got it right on the 3rd try but the perfectionist in me wants to give it one more shot to fix the 5% error. Anyways you get the pic, a post planned for tomorrow hoping that the project will be done by then might get pushed to two weeks from now simply ‘coz it did not turn out good at all. No worries, I do post about my project snafus on here too but I wait till I know for sure it is a fail or not to blog about it. Still I’ll try to work in more DIY or at least feature the awesome DIYs that I come across.

With that out of the way, the next 2 in line;

More decorative posts – Amen to that. You too can contribute to this. If you have any topics in mind or questions then shoot me an email and I will work on it.

Home tours – I would love to. Again, you too can help by sending pics/details of any fabulously decorated home that you have come across, your’s included. 🙂

From a blogger’s point of view the next one was both vindictive and saddening to see.

First off a BIG Thank You to the 59% of you who have dropped in a line whenever possible. You really don’t know how much that means to me. Before I get into why this is saddening I should mention that in my pre-blog days I too used to read up on a long list of blogs almost daily and not utter a word. Never felt the need for it. So I totally get the rest of you and that is OK.

Ever since the day this lil blog of mine went live “commenting on blogs” took on a whole new meaning for me. Even a small word from a reader took on the role of the gentle nudge that pushed me a little closer to my goal. Hearing from you became not only reassuring but also reaffirming that I’m not talking to myself. It became a beacon of light that told that I’m heading down that right path in the blog world, you know where I’m posting things that are useful to someone. I was reading up on this topic online and this is what one of the comments (I’m sure from a blogger);

“It’s disheartening to “strut your stuff” and know that people are looking, but not commenting. Makes you start to question your taste and/or abilities. It makes me wonder if my posts contain nothing worth commenting on!”

Here is another;

“Positive comments encourage me to continue spending spare moments sharing my projects, recipes, and stories with you. You let me know that I’m on the right path; that someone out there is reading and likes what I have to say!”

Couldn’t have said it better. The first comment especially shows the frustration a lot of us bloggers have felt so many times in this blogging adventure.

Moving on….another eye opener;

Again I totally understand. What this survey result translates in terms of blogger speak is, “Need to find new ways to promote the blog. I cannot rely heavily on word of mouth publicity.” Unfortunately this ties into what I mentioned in point #1. Being a non-full time blogger I’m really pressed for time to actively promote my blog online. For ex. biggie sites like Apartment Therapy & Design Sponge will feature your project if they think it makes the cut but first you have to send it to them! To this day, I haven’t done that at all. Why? Almost all these sites prefer non watermarked pics. After editing pics for a post I saved them in the watermarked version. I haven’t developed the habit of saving 2 versions of the same pics (watermarked and non watermarked)  yet simply ‘coz it takes time. Same goes for link parities, being active on social media etc. All this while I’ve been banking on all of you to spread the word and am extremely thankful for all your efforts so far.

I did get some interesting suggestions too. ‘Coz this post is already over 1000 words will save those for another day.  Again whether you comment or not whether your share a post or not I LOVE YOU ALL. Just by dropping by you make my day.