survey results: putting your words into action

 

As many of you know, about a week and a half ago I posted a survey on Positively Present to get some feedback on what readers like YOU want from this site. It took me awhile to go through all of the responses because there were quite a few, but I've finally looked through them all and I'm excited to announce some (what I believe to be) positive changes to the site. I've decided to take your words, the ones you so graciously spent time writing in the survey, and put them into action. 

Post Schedule

I received a lot of comments about having too many posts. I love, love, love to write and could do it all day long and write like 10 posts a day, but I know it can be frustrating when readers don't have the time to read all of my posts when they may want to. So, I've decided that I'm going to post only three times a week -- Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. In addition, on Sunday I'm going to snag an idea from my friends Lance (author of Jungle of Life) and Nadia (author of Happy Lotus) and post an inspirational quote or song. These posts will feature quotes or songs for us to reflect on and comments will be closed on these posts.

Post Length

Working through the survey responses, I saw that most people really enjoy  the content on Positively Present but would like shorter posts. Less is more -- I know, I know. This is a tough one for me because I love to write and just get carried away sometimes. However, I will try to shorten my posts and, more importantly, I will try to avoid huge blocks of text and will work on incorporating more headers and bullet points to make reading the longer posts easier on the eyes.

Post Topics

From the survey, I received some great feedback on topics you'd like to hear more about on Positively Present. Some of my personal favorites were:

• Ways to stay positive
• Things to do with friends
• Positivity and work
• Examples of real-life positivity
• Sibling relationships
• Overcoming negative emotions
• How to embrace change
• Motivation for happiness
• Being content with one's self
• Happiness in relationships
• Remaining in control emotionally
• Female self-worth

All of these ideas -- and the many, many others I received -- are fabulous suggestions and I thank you all for submitting them to the survey. I will do my best to incorporate the topics you want to read more about into Positively Present but, I'll admit, for the most part I write about what's happening to me in the moment. Often when I plan to write about a specific topic something else will come to me based on what's happened to me that day and then I'm off on a different writing path. That being said, I really enjoyed all of the suggestions and will do my best to incorporate them in some form. 

A big THANK YOU to everyone who took the survey. I know taking a survey can be time-consuming and, quite frankly, I find them pretty boring, so I truly appreciate the time each of you took to write responses and give me feedback on the blog. As much as I write for myself and receive so much enjoyment from writing Positively Present, I also want readers to have a good experience when they're visiting the site so it was very helpful to have your input. I look forward to putting these suggestions into action and, as always, if you have suggestions or comments in the future please leave them in the comments section of my posts. Stay tuned for the Wednesday post...coming soon! 

Comments

[Peggy]

Hi Dani!

I found that shorter posts work so much better...I can break up a longer piece and post "installments."

Like you, I can WRITE all day long...in fact, I'd rather do that than just about anything else!

Love your blog! Keep up the POSITIVE work :-)

[Lance]

Dani,
What I love about this is how you've looked at this whole process as a way for you to improve. I think that's awesome! And you really do have such great material, and do so well at creating material that we can all relate to. Anyway, as always, it's good to be here. And you're welcome to snag anytime, my friend! Looking forward to everything that is to come here!

[Whitney Johnson]

I completely agree with Lance. Getting feedback and incorporating. Good for you!

[Srinivas Rao]

HEy Dani,

Great ideas. I may have to run a survey on my own blog to see what people think :). I like the idea of doing something similar to Lance on Sundays.

[positively present]

Peggy - Yes, I know everyone loves the shorter posts. Even I like to read shorter posts! However, I had to remind myself that I love to write and I have a lot to say. Personally I'd rather write less often, write what I want to write, and readers can skim it if they don't have the time to read it all. I'm still going to work on shortening them somewhat, but I can't help but continue to write like me! :)

Lance - Thanks, Lance! I definitely wanted to work on improving the blog, even though the blog's primary goal is to act as an outlet for me and my personal development. I'm so glad you don't mind my borrowing your idea. It's a great one!

Whitney - Thank you! I was so grateful that so many readers took the survey and providing feedback and I certainly wasn't going to let all of their great ideas go to waste.

Srinivas - You should definitely do a survey. I'd take it for sure! It's great to get feedback and see what your readers are interested in hearing more about. I think the idea of posting a quote/song on Sundays will be great because I'll have a lot of fun choosing what to post!

[J.D. Meier]

Keep in mind it has to work for you. Sometimes a process that sounds good, won't feel good when you do it.

If you have that much content, maybe you can keep your writing pace, if it makes you feel good, and channel it to other blogs?

[Sami - Life, Laughs & Lemmings]

Dani, I think the changes sound great. All you can really do is give them a try and see if they work, both for you and your readership. Good luck!

[positively present]

J.D. - Great point. I will definitely keep that in mind because that's so true. For example, I really like to write the longer posts so I know I won't be happy writing really short posts, but I'm going to try to compromise by writing posts less frequently. What I need to do is channel that writing into my BOOK. Haha.

Sami - Thank you! You're so right. The only thing I can do is try and see how it goes.

[Laura at The Journal of Cultural Conversation]

Hey Dani - I love your new approach, but I must say that I love reading your blog every time you post! Definitely do what's right for you, but I know it also needs to be balanced with what your dedicated readers voice - an important thing to remember for sure. Just know that everyone approaches it differently and keep up the wonderful writing and inspiration that you always provide. And thank you for guest posting today on TJCC! I absolutely loved it!

[J.D. Meier]

Actually, another few thoughts:
1. consider writing shorter posts and write daily
2. consider writing longer "articles", not posts

#1 This would keep your happy rhythm of daily posting, but simpler consumption.
#2 this will make your site timeless. Add an "Articles" menu item at the top and write 300 amazing articles this year that are timeless gems.

Then you have timely, pointed posts, backed by a rich, in-depth article archive.

[positively present]

Laura - You're completely right. I have gained readers from writing and posting the way I wanted to, and I will continue to do so, but I do realize that sometimes my posts can be a bit long. You're welcome for the guest post! It was fun to do!

J.D. - I love your suggetions! Thanks so much for coming back and writing about them. I truly appreciate the feedback!

[Hilary]

Hi Dani .. it's great you summarised our ideas and thoughts coming out of the Survey. It was gutsy to do it in the first place, but it's great we all took part.

Like you .. JD's comments seemed to make absolute sense.

Thanks for thanking us for the feedback ..
Hilary Melton-Butcher
Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

[positively present]

Hilary - I'm glad you enjoyed the outcome of the survey. It was so great that so many people took the time to reply and offer feedback. I'm looking forward to see where the blog progresses from here!

[Syd]

I agree with what you posted. Shorter posts are good. And the topics look interesting. Good luck as you move forward to make your great site even better.

[Mary007]

I personally enjoy reading your blog everyday...I miss it today!! I think you're a great writer and I think it's awesome and a talent that you can express yourself in writing. Writing is and has always been a weakness for me; I have a hard time putting my thoughts together and on paper. Any advise on how I can improve?

[positively present]

Syd - I know readers definitely enjoy shorter posts so I plan to work on that, but I can't help but write and write sometimes! :) Thanks for your support here!

Mary - Thank you! I'm so glad you like the blog so much. I think it'll be good to have posts less frequently, but I'm still going to work on making the posts as inspiring as I can! :) I appreciate your compliments about my writing. The best advice I can give you for improving your writing is to read and write A LOT. The more I read, the more I write, the better I get. Hope that's helpful!

[Karen Chaffee]

Some great ideas, Dani. I also went to shorter and less frequent posting. To quench my unquenchable thirst for writing, I created several blogs and also began writing on article sites!

Blog on, dear :)

Karen

[positively present]

Karen - Thanks for your encouragement! I'm definitely going to work on shorter and less often and hopefully once I get going on the novel I'll put more of my writing energy into that. :)

[battery]

Hi Dani.
Its a great idea and its seem a new concept of performing the action by words.
Really nice concept and must be processed in many ways.

[positively present]

Battery - Yes, it really worked out well to put out the survey and to get feedback from readers. Even though I haven't done as well with keeping the posts short, I've been pretty good about keeping up with the schedule! :)

[danielasaraive]

This is the biggest frustration for all of us. We read the first two sentences of an email and have no clue why the person sent it. Scanning (that's how we read the torrent of emails we receive) the rest of the message, we still can't find the reason we received it. If it is not from someone we know, we quickly hit the delete button. If it is from a known source or possibly important.

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