Reader Survey Feedback + Weekend Plans
Thank you SO much to those of you that filled out my recent reader survey! I loved reading the responses! Somehow, I hadn’t done a reader survey since 2015 (?!), so this one was looong overdue. (I also lost all of the 2015 responses, sadly… I didn’t have them recorded or written down anywhere.) This time, I received 36 responses (compared to 22 in 2015, so this is awesome!), and I thought I’d share the highlights with you. There are also a couple of exciting things happening this weekend that I wanted to share with you, so let’s get going!
2020 READER SURVEY FEEDBACK
First of all, I was truly blown away by the number of you that are still reading here after literal YEARS, some since the days of my first blog. Wow! And if you’re newer here, welcome! I’m thrilled to make more friends. Most of you couldn’t remember where you found me, which is totally fine—there are many bloggers that I follow that I have no clue how I found them, haha. I mostly just asked to see how my “marketing” efforts were doing (I use the term loosely since I’m very bad at marketing my blog).
Not surprisingly, most of you read via an RSS reader (Bloglovin’, Feedly, or others). I use Bloglovin’ myself, but it seems like the site is super buggy now/not being updated and the help is unresponsive (not to mention the spam followers are out of control), so I created a profile on Feedly. I’m still getting used to it! I was surprised by how many of you come directly to the site—one third of you!
As far as favorite posts go, the top favorites were outfits and clothing reviews, and the rest of the topics were pretty evenly split, with travel posts barely coming in last. I personally love writing travel posts, so if you think they can be more useful, please let me know! Otherwise, I was surprised by how many of you liked the home-related posts considering I don’t write on that topic very often. If there’s anything more specific that you’d like to see covered there, I’m all ears! In the past, I’ve basically just focused on my organization failures and MightyFix reviews. Our home isn’t decorated all cute or anything so there isn’t much to write about related to decor, ha…
I asked about your favorite brands so that when I’m finding products to link to, I know which brands and retailers that you like or shop at the most in case there are multiple options available. The top brand was Madewell, followed closely by Target and Old Navy. Other favorites include Loft, J.Crew, Nordstrom, and Everlane. And there were a bunch of others scattered in! Many of you are limiting your shopping this year and/or shopping at thrift stores or Poshmark, which is totally understandable! I’ve been browsing Poshmark a lot myself.
One thing that I found super interesting (and it was something I had assumed prior to the survey and now know for certain) is that there is not a lot of overlap between you (my blog followers) and my social media followers. Only a third of you follow me on Instagram, and a lot fewer of you follow me on the other social media sites. It seems like most of my social media followers in general don’t read my blog. I’d like to figure out how to bridge that gap a little better (and by that I mean pull social media followers here, since this is my main platform).
You all read a WIDE variety of different blogs with vastly different niches! I am impressed! I asked this question to get a feel for the kind of content and blogger you’re interested in and, and the answers made me realize that you’re interested in pretty much everything, haha. There are far too many to list them all out, but here are the five blogs that were mentioned the most:
I so appreciate the content suggestions and kind comments. They warmed my heart! Thank you, thank you! 🥺 I’m currently brainstorming post ideas to address the suggestions. Here’s what you requested:
Early career advice
More of my usual workwear posts
Incorporate more science
How to elevate casual style
My fashion journey
Bag organization
Sustainability posts
As always, feel free to contact me if you have any other comments, questions, or suggestions in the future! I am always happy to hear from you, and it helps a lot to know that ideas I’ve been tossing around would, in fact, be useful to share.
CLIQUISH CONTENT SUGAR
Cliquish is an inclusive community for female content creators, and their virtual conference, Content Sugar 2020, is happening THIS weekend! You can get access to the conference for FREE by signing up for the monthly membership (the first month of the membership is included for free, and it costs $7 per month after the free month but can be cancelled at any time).
The conference will feature panels, workshops, and networking to help you grow your online brand by attracting an engaged audience and giving you tips on turning it into a side hustle or career! I’m signed up because my weekend plans were cancelled (see below), it’s FREE, and I enjoy learning about the business side of blogging (even though blogging full-time isn’t currently my long-term goal).
TAYLOR SWIFT’S NEW ALBUM, FOLKLORE!!!!!!!!
Why yes, I did include eight exclamation points to celebrate the fact that TAYLOR SURPRISE DROPPED HER EIGHTH STUDIO ALBUM!!! Excuse me while I scream! I, for one, did NOT see this coming. At all. Lover hasn’t even been out for a full year! I was actually supposed to be in LA this weekend for Lover Fest West, but obviously the trip got cancelled. The shows themselves were postponed, not cancelled—and I wonder what’s going to happen with them now that she has a new album?!
Anyway, I can’t believe I got to listen to a brand new Taylor album before this post went live...and I already listened to it twice! Whew! 2020 really is something. Have you listened to folklore yet? Any early favorites? Did you buy any of the new merch or special edition CDs or vinyl records? (Why the heck did she release EIGHT different versions?! I mean, I know why…but still. Hahaha.) I’ll be listening to folklore on repeat all weekend—alternating with Women in Music, Pt. III by HAIM. folklore is so different from her previous albums but so, so good. I cannot believe she started this album in April and released it three months later! What! I haven’t even been half as productive as her in quarantine…
—
And one FINAL note—last month, I promised to match and donate my June affiliate earnings to Black Girls Code. I recently received my payment ($25.50) and rounded the $51 total up to an even $55 for donation. Thank you so much for your support! ❤️ Hope you have a great weekend! xo