Wow! I had no idea I would get such an overwhelming response to my survey. Thank You SO much to everyone who took a couple of minutes to fill it out. It was very eye-opening to me and there are definitely some things I want to change up. As I read through the comments I took notes on common complaints and I'd like to address them.
More Posts and Pictures about My Projects and Clients:
I know!! This one kills me because I would LOVE to post more about my client projects. One of the biggest surprises that I've discovered when starting my business was just how long projects take to complete. I am working on a lot of projects but believe it or not there are few that are finished enough to take pictures of and show to you. I do have some coming up soon though that I'm very excited to show you. As soon as I get a couple of projects photographed I'll have my portfolio tab up on my blog for everyone to see!
More Sources for Design Boards:
This one is really tricky. I do put together a lot of mood boards for clients. But these clients pay me a lot of money to come up with a customized design for their home. I don't feel it's fair to them to start naming off where everything comes from. So out of respect to my clients I can't reveal all my sources. However, I can make a compromise. With each design board that I post I'll try to let you know where one or two things are from without giving away everything. I'm also going to try and come up with some design boards just for the blog. Design boards take a lot of time and energy so I can't do this a lot. But maybe one or two a month. I'll try my best to bring you more great sources and design inspiration!
Advertising:
I totally get it. Sponsorship posts are probably not your favorite and from the results of the survey I need to do less giveaways. This is a tricky balance that I try and maintain on my blog. The only way I am ever able to do cool things in my home to post about is because of the money I make from advertisers and clients. So if I didn't have advertisers I wouldn't be able to do any posts about things in my home or projects in my own home. I also happen to be a mom. Which means if I'm not receiving compensation for blogging then I really don't feel justified in maintaing this blog. I spent hours and hours each week writing my posts and all of this means time away from my family, friends and clients. I just simply can't do it for free. I also LOVE promoting great businesses. I try to make sure I believe %100 in all my sponsors and I try and make their posts interesting to you. I want to work hard for my sponsors but I also don't want to annoy my readers with constant sponsorship posts. This is a balance I am still figuring out how to maintain. But I promise to do better.
Blog Layout:
This feedback was particularly helpful. I happen to really love my layout but I understand that there are some people that don't. I like white backgrounds and bright colors and I think my layout reflects that. However I do plan on making some minor changes soon. I am going to work on adding a lot more tabs up top to make things easier to find as well as try and organize things better.
More Personal:
I think this is also a tricky balance. I had several people that asked to see more of Jett! I would post about Jett all day if I could but he seldom has anything to do with design. So getting him on the blog isn't that easy. I'll try to get more creative with ways to post about him and other aspects of my personal life
I think this covers the basics. I am so excited to make this blog better and better everyday. And your amazing comments are helping me to do that. I really appreciate all the nice things people had to say. It really makes blogging worth it. And just for fun I wanted to share one of my very favorite comments,
"I love your blog because you are so gracious to everyone. I don't think I have ever read a negative comment about someone else's design. That says a lot about the kind of person you are, which is way more important than the kind of designer you are. I love that you are not afraid to have evidence on your blog that you are a religious person. I love how you feature normal people's homes. It makes it seem like a nice home is actually attainable for real people, and not just millionaires. There is something so inviting about your blog...you are humble, yet very talented. You have GREAT ideas. If you feel like you need to change anything on your blog, don't change the "essence" of it, because it seems perfect just the way it is! I would love to see more of your own personal or client projects. I guess that is all I would add."
I am pretty sure I need to have this printed out and framed. A big thank you to whoever said it. I am planning on making some changes around here but I promise the "essence" of my blog won't be changing. Get ready for some blogging awesomeness!
Go here if you'd still like to take the survey. Thanks!
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