Monday, February 21, 2011

Week 12: More questions asked and answered...

Photo Credit

Week 12 is all about questions, and boy, do I have a lot of them.  Questions about PeachHoneyLove, PeachHoneyPreemie, and questions about the future about this blog.  I realized that while I'm writing what I want on the blog, the traffic is not so great.  I know this will come in time, and it doesn't help I'm not really "out there"... no shop open, nothing to sell, etc.  It's difficult to write what's in my heart, while trying to make it interesting for my readers.  Does anyone else struggle with this?

Until now, my I've been an art student by way of online classes and books, but it's time for a slight detour.  I'm starting the Blogging Your Way class later this month, and attending the Bloggy Boot Camp in mid-March.  I'm determined to find my voice, and share it with you.

Some questions I need answered...

1.  What do you look for in a blog? (freebies, techniques and tutorials, etc.)  What attracts you before the post content?
A banner and color scheme will usually catch my eye before anything else.  My eye is drawn to minimalistic designs, with a splash of color (I'm working on getting my blog to this point).  White backgrounds with great colorful pictures.  Brandi and Ali are great examples of this.  Here are a couple of my favorite banners.

Brandi Girl

Freshly Picked

Sleep and her sisters

Jeannie

After design, tutorials and how-to posts usually get me to stay. I guess that makes me greedy.  Laura, Jessica Van Den and Blog Tyrant are my go-to business how-to blogs.  I'm also drawn to beautiful writing... I consider Kelly Rae to be the gold standard of passionate writing.  Her words seem to flow so effortlessly, especially after the birth of her son.

2.  I got a lot of traffic from this post, and it go me wondering... What posts bring the most traffic to your blog?
I have found my tutorials, especially the vlogs, bring the most traffic.  Funny, because I was so resistant to taping videos, and didn't think I had enough knowledge to offer my readers.  I guess I was wrong... don't tell my husband I said that!!  My favorite vloggers/tutorial masters are Tiffany D, Suzi Blu, and Donna Downey.  You can find me running errands, and watching their latest video upload on my phone.

3. I'm working on an Ebook for my email subscribers... What content would you like to see in an artistic Ebook?
I have yet to find a free artistic eBook... anyone know of one?  The eBooks I have in my possession are business and marketing how-to's.  I have got quite the collection, but my favs are from Blog Tyrant, Jessica Van Den, and Allyson Stanfield.

4. Oh, and I have a random question I need answered.  I am working hard to open the PeachHoneyPreemie Etsy shop this summer, and having some trouble making some final decisions.  This may seem like a random question, but should I use iron-on or sew-on woven fabric labels?


Answer in the comment section or email me at peachhoney@hotmail.com :)

3 comments:

Brandi Hussey said...

Hey friend, thanks for the shout-out! I took Blogging Your Way last fall, and had a good time with it - I hope you enjoy it, too!

As for your questions, here goes:

1. I look for an authentic voice. Freebies and tutorials are good, too, but I first look for someone who cares about what they're doing, and who is passionate about what their blogging about. The person has to first draw me in in order for me to keep coming back.

2. The blog posts that have had the most traffic ever are my Color Palette Blog Walk posts and the blog hop posts I've done, simply because it's concentrated traffic in a short amount of time. Beyond that, my tutorial on how to buy a domain name via Blogger is next, then a tutorial on how to make a color palette.

Traffic is good, but comments are awesome and sometimes, I get more comments on lesser traffic'd posts (that sounds weird, but I hope that makes sense). Those posts with the most comments include more personal posts.

3. What do you mean when you say artistic e-book? Meaning, you'd show a technique? The problem with free e-books is that you're going to spend a lot of time on it and not make any money. Free to everyone else still costs to you.

I did a free Etsy Tips e-book, and that post still gets hits. But I opted to give it away because it honestly didn't take much effort on my part, and I used to get a lot of questions about Etsy tips. I think with a free e-book there's got to be a balance between how much you put into it and how much time it takes.

When comes to a specific technique, I honestly think I'd rather see a video instead. Could you offer a free video to email subscribers?

4. Depends. If it's clothes, I think an iron-on label would be better because it wouldn't irritate the baby's skin. If it's crib sheets, then whichever is easier.

Jess said...

Oh, my Brandi... you always come through!!! A video ebook?!?! Genious!! Definitely going to have to look into that. Thanks!!

Suzanne said...

Wow, I don't think I can top her answers. Just keep going -- you'll be flying high with your business before you know it.

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