As part of my new series on Create Mixed Media, I will be conducting an online survey to be better able to provide you with information that will help you to create and maintain Your Blog, Your Way. Some of the questions will be geared toward blog owners, some toward blog readers, and some toward both. The questions will be posted on my sidebar and will be updated every few days. I will announce when questions are updated on my Facebook page. You can find the first three questions on my sidebar right now!
Thanks to everybody who participated in my recent poll and responded to my post Who Are You?. In that post I wondered out loud just who was reading our art blogs. Wondered if we were a community unto ourselves...writers and readers one in the same. Or if non-bloggers actually read our blogs as well? I think this question touched a chord because it elicited 78 comments...even more than I received for my last giveaway!
The results of the poll remain on my sidebar. The findings are clear. After 236 responses, 80% of those who answered either have a blog or website or both. 20% do not. This outcome seemed pretty obvious to most people who spoke to this issue in their comment.
I found it interesting that many who left comments focused on the issue of comments rather than on the issue of readership. Although not universally true, it seems that most bloggers are inspired by and love to get comments. No surprise there. This seems to be connected to the desire to create and maintain a community of art bloggers.
Other interesting findings gleaned from the post's comments:
1. Most people list time constraints as the biggest obstacle to leaving comments.
2. Many noted that non-artists, family members, and personal friends tended to not leave comments but to email instead.
3. Of those commentors who spoke to the issue, an equal number preferred to read posts and not comment as preferred to read posts and leave comments.
4. A number of people wrote that they tended not to leave comments even though they love to get comments on their own blogs.
5. Many people noted that the use of RSS Feed Readers lessened their likelihood of leaving comments. On the flip side, use of these Feed Readers gave them the ability to follow many more blogs as a result.
Among the first pieces I put up for sale in my Etsy shop when it opened in December were the Inconduits. There is one piece remaining in the series and it will be for sale in Etsy only until April 5. I am still hoping it finds a good home!
Sold. Thank you!
Today is the last day to vote in the poll I am conducting to find out just who reads my blog -- bloggers, nonbloggers, or both. I think the results are already in, but please vote if you haven't yet. You might find it interesting to read through the comments on this original post and/or add your own thoughts to the conversation. Look for a post sometime next week that will summarize the comments I received on this topic.
I would like to remind everybody of a new feature on The Altered Page: The Inspiration Station. Click on this button on the sidebar of my blog to be taken to the post, website, video, photograph, artwork, etc. that is inspiring me in the moment. Please note that the date of the most recent update will always be listed so you know when new inspiration has struck! I am currently being inspired by the generosity of an artist with endless talent and a heart of gold.
Thanks go out to:
Thank You Sharmon from True Adventures of an Art Addict for giving me the Lemonade Award, for bloggers who show a positive attitude and gratitude. Many thanks and much appreciation! If you are not familiar with Sharmon's blog, click the link to see her beautiful artwork, wonderful photography, and creative spirit.
and to:
Thanks also to Annie from Ink Haven who passed on the Inspiration Award to me. Run over to Annie's blog if you have never been. If a picture tells a thousand words then Annie's writing reveals a thousand pictures.
I leave you with...
Originally found on dear ada I am digging everything about this video...the performance art of it all, the music, and especially the painting. Take 3:49 out of your day to watch. You won't be sorry!
To blog or not to blog? That is the question. Well...the question really is "do you have a blog?" By far the majority of people who visit my blog do not comment. And by far the majority of people who comment are other art bloggers. Stay with me now. It makes me wonder...just who is our audience anyway? Does anybody without a blog read our blogs? Or are we a community unto ourselves? Writers and readers one in the same.
I am curious as to who you all are. Please help me figure this one out. I have added a poll to my sidebar. If you are still reading this, please vote. The poll will be open one week, until April 2. Feel free to leave a comment or send an email with your thoughts on this too. Thanks for participating!
