photo: freedigitalphotos.net-Stuart Miles
Sometimes I’m a slow learner.
It is especially true when I work from a blog…a blog where I get rare feedback.
I don’t know if I talk too much and you are worn out before I finish or what, but even when I have a good question at the end of my blog , I get very little feedback.
There are some who say we should write to the woman/man/individual that represents who our reader is. I have a very general idea in terms of age…but not much more than that. The majority of my readers are age 30-50 ish. Most are women, but a few brave men venture to these pages.
Understandably, people are less desirous of revealing their locations/parts of the country where they live. This world is getting to be a very weird, dangerous place. We must be wise when we talk on the internet. Too many of the lurkers don’t reveal themselves and are often not people we want to be sharing our lives with!
NO MORE RECIPES!
I did learn one thing this year! My readers are not lovers of recipes. I thought a few of you would be, but no, not a one! I’ll retire recipes from my blog. I have tossed them in for fun on occasion, but they must not be your “thing”. After giving opportunities both this year and last for you to share your recipes, no one bit. Oh well…
I’ll keep the recipes I do have and ocasionally, I’ll add a new one, but I won’t reach and try for a group sharing of recipes. Back to the drawing board:) Usually I can take hints:)
HIDE IT IN YOUR HEART
I hope you are finding the Hide it in Your Heart feature helpful. It is offered the first Monday of the month. I haven’t gotten much feedback on that either so don’t really know if it is helpful or if some tweaking will be more helpful to you.
Please speak up. I think my contact form is working right now…I hope. If you don’t like seeing yourself in print, that is an option and it comes only to me. If there are ways this part of the blog can be more helpful to you, let me know. I have a couple of ideas for broadening its use starting in the Fall.
HONEY, IT’S TIME TO GROW UP!
This is another series I have started to develop. I’ve written a couple of posts. I have some ideas for growing it more regularly soon too. I’ve started writing a 30 part series on that one. Obviously, I can’t promise a person that in 30 days they will be a grown-up if they follow the directions! I wish I could!
Is that title a turn-off? Or does it get your attention and pull you in? For me, the many sub-topics came together under that one as I realized factors that helped me grow in maturity. They are so diverse, they don’t fit under much else. But tell me what you like/hate about the series. I don’t think I’ll be waiting until the Fall to start it. I’ll let you know when I have it ready.
SUGGESTIONS? IMPROVEMENTS?
What topics are most helpful to you? Which topics aren’t helpful?
While it is true that I don’t get any negative feedback, the problem is that I don’t get much at all. As long as you can say what you need to and be non-cussing and fairly polite in the way you say it, I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to handle it…truly.
I know I need to improve the blog…I might as well improve it in ways that are helpful to those of you who actually take the time to read it!
Thanks! I’m glad you joined me today.
I struggle with much the same thing. I think we need to remember that less than 10% of our readers comment. That seems to be decreasing almost daily as more and more of the conversation is moving off blogs and onto twitter and Facebook. Twitter admittedly seems more comfortable to the younger folks. It moves too fast for my brain to keep up with. So engagement is better for me on Facebook. And the (unfortunate) reality that we aren’t getting tons of comment luv does NOT mean that our words are not touching hearts! Or that our recipes aren’t getting followed! You might be surprised to see what would happen if you linked/pinned those recipes on Pinterest! And don’t take a lack of comments as a dislike of the recipes. Recipes tend to garner the most views and the least comments even on Recipe centered blogs! People don’t comment anymore. They like. They tweet. They pin. And we need to adjust our expectations because blogging has changed! The other thing I would encourage you to do, although it’s a mixed bag, is look at your stats (maybe monthly) to see which posts are getting the most attention! I bet you’d be surprised!
i do many of those things including pinterest. i also follow my stats. the top 7 i think they are, are listed on the bottom of the front page. i notice that a lot of people look at them. i don’t love twitter. it is difficult making the time to think thro’ my 145 characters. i have done it, it is just a pain!
i just tho’t i’d try to find some of my readers and ask them what they like, or don’t about my blog. It’s more valuable than what i read on my own blog in terms of stats, etc.
:0)…I love your place here and though I don’t respond often I AM HERE…I AM HERE!!! Getting responses is one way of telling if what you are doing or saying is making an impact. I know I “feel” better when I get responses, but I try not to sweat it when I don’t :).
I know I get more responses when I participate in link ups and have joined a few FB groups that have a similar focus as I do. I have weeded out three of the 6 groups because after time, I just sort of new it was not a good match.
Also when I generate the link to my new post on other social media options. The more people know about a post, the more will likely come, then the more opportunities to get a response :).
Just a few thoughts from a tired friend…so I hope it is not babbly :).
thanks donna. i now have more time to spend on some of the groups i have been part of…sort of…but work seemed to get in the way. now i don’t have that excuse:) with the new fb situation, i have no idea how often they actually show my posts. judging by the stats, i’m guessing they show them for about 1 week every 5 to 6 weeks! i’ll have a week that is very high, then very low numbers that are unrelated to the number of posts i write. i’m guessing that they aren’t even showing! who knows! UGH!