Reader Survey Results

here are the results from the Reader Survey i posted on monday. a huge thank you to each of you that took a second and filled it out!! i received some great feedback and a good idea of what you like and don’t like. so thank you!! {i will leave the survey open for a couple weeks and will monitor the responses.}

here is what i took away from YOUR feedback:

Blog Design

  • almost all of you like the overall clutter free design {yay! me too!}
  •  a few hated the floating social icons on the left. {they will be removed asap.}
  • one person asked for hot pink to be added to my design.  {i have 2 boys so i tend to lean towards boy-ish colors and rarely use pink, so i was proud i slipped a little pink into this design! i’ll have to think on the hot pink suggestion ;o)
  • another person said my current design was better than the pink mess it was before. {i have to say the ONLY pink design element prior to the current design, was a small pink header when i first started 2.5 years ago and that header lasted maybe a month or two…. so i’m not sure what pink mess you’re referring to…..sorry!
  • couple comments on the font color. some liked it, some hated it.
  • several said they dislike the “Read More” feature or truncating. {i completely understand! but to keep my blog’s home page loading quickly, i need to summarize posts except for the most recent one. that post is kept full length.}
  • someone asked if i keep a list of all my tutorials in one place. {Yes! you can find my tutorial list here. {note: that page is getting a makeover this week and will be organized into categories and updated with all my new tutorials :)

Giveaways and Discounts

  • huge majority of you love giveaways and discounts. {good to know!}
  • there were a couple comments on making giveaways easy to enter. **Please Note: to enter giveaways on Craftaholics Anonymous, all you need to do is simply leave a comment on the giveaway post!! {no jumping through hoops or signing up for an FB account just to enter} all you need to do is leave a comment. period. {if you want to jump through a couple hoops, i am more than happy to give you Optional Extra Entries into the giveaway!} i have formatted all my giveaways like this for awhile now after reading this article on the legality of giveaways.
  • several of you asked that i open giveaways up to worldwide entries. i would love to!! trust me. BUT legally, i cannot. :( each country has their own set of rules and regulations when it comes to giveaways and lotteries and how each is taxed and what is actually legal and not legal in each country. {please read this article! it explains it better than me} i don’t have the resources to aid me in formatting my giveaways to be legal on a worldwide basis. so for now, all giveaways will be open to US residents only. i’m so sorry!!

Personal Posts

  • surprisingly, most of you like personal posts! {i guess you like to hear that i am HUMAN and not CRAFT ROBOT! haha although davis may claim i am a craft robot at times…..}
  • i hardly ever write personal posts on here {probably because i have too many crafts to post about! i am a craftaholic, remember?} but i will try to write a few personal posts here and there {very sparingly! this is first and foremost a craft blog!!!}

What do You want to learn in 2012?

  • sewing projects
  • non-sewing projects
  • home decorating
  • furniture makeovers/DIY {i have several posts already planned for these!}
  • knitting/crocheting {i know basic crocheting, but i do not know the technical terms, so i’m not sure i’d be much help here! maybe i’ll get a guest blogger or two to help wit this}
  • silhouette projects and tutorials
  • organization ideas
  • craft tutorials {i usually post 1-2 new tutorials each week!}
  • handmade gift ideas
  • tips and tricks for basic sewing {i guess quite a few crafters got sewing machines for Christmas. that’s great!!}
  • more printables {i’ll have to work on that one!}
  • jewelry making {not my strong point…}
  • info on tools and where to buy them
  • affordable crafts
  • crafting trends

these all sound great to me!! i’m excited!

What Can I Improve on?

  • someone asked for a list of contributors and their ideas. well, its currently a 1 woman show over here! but if/when i do have regular contributors, i will definitely list their projects in their profiles :)
  • “more ideas and they don’t need to be real easy”. {hmm, interesting. i guess you’re asking for a few Advanced crafts?}
  • decrease size of introductory photos. will do!
  • a more coherent post schedule. i guess i need to make my posting schedule more clear! i post every morning Monday-Friday and occasionally on the weekends and will throw in an extra post during the week sometimes as well. like this one :) oh and i start giveaways on Thursdays usually.

Would you like to see Regular Contributors on Craftaholics Anonymous?

  • answers were split about 50/50. i too am torn on this subject!! last time i asked, the majority said no. so i’m not sure if you guys are slowly warming up to the idea or what.
  • i blog for friendship and fun. and i love the connection i have with you. i will admit i am afraid of losing that if i brought on contributors. {and i’ve heard horror stories about having contributors!} and like some of you mentioned, my blog may lose the personal/friendly feel.
  • but i do see the value of having regular contributors and distributing the work load. and seeing the wonderful ideas and projects other crafters have! there are so many talented and creative women!!! the suggestions and ideas you guys share on CA’s FB page blow me away!
  • so as such, i am still torn. so for now, i will continue my Craft Room tours series where i bring on guest bloggers to show off their craft rooms. that gives me a little break and introduces you to new smaller bloggers.
  • yes, i just worked through my contributor issues with bullet points. what has this world come to? haha

Should I make a Craftaholics Anonymous smart phone app?

  • 1/3 said No
  • 1/3 said Maybe, but weren’t sure if they’d use it
  • 1/3 said Yes

How do you read Craftaholics Anonymous?

  • majority- Directly from the Blog
  • close second- Twitter/Facebook

****please note that Blogger will not allow non-Blogger sites {like mine!} to use Google Friend Connect starting soon. so if you use GFC to follow, please consider following along through: RSS feed, email updates {top right corner}, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+. ****

Favorite Posts?

  • by far, Craft Tutorials. {sweet! you’ve come to the right place}
  • DIY decorating and Repurposing projects were close seconds
  • almost everyone loves Tips and Tricks
  • Craft Room tours are very popular {i love them too!}
  • Kid Crafts was also one of the top rated categories
  • Craftaholic of the Month was not very popular. which i caught onto this after a couple months after i started it last year. and so i stopped doing it. i just wanted to make sure my gut feeling was right :) for some reason, it just didn’t fly. and that’s ok!

Events on Craftaholics Anonymous {Handmade Gift Exchange, Monthly Craft Kit Club, Friday Night Crafty Q&A on FB, Blogiversary Celebration, You Know You’re a Craftaholic When, and B-day Bash}

  • sounds like they are all liked about the same. sweet.
  • i am considering turning Friday Night Crafty Q&A into an all week thing….. because that’s pretty much what it has turned into! someone always seems to have a craft question every day. i am trying to space out the questions more.

so that’s a quick summary of your thoughts and ideas. i really appreciate your input! you guys are my virtual friends and i want to make sure i am listening to you too. if you have any craft questions or a concern about my blog, feel free to email me!!

Linda
Hi! I'm Linda, the craft addict behind Craftaholics Anonymous®, a craft blog. Crafting is cheaper than therapy, right? When I'm not DIYing something, I can be found taxiing around our 4 crazy kids or working out. Or shoe shopping... because you can never have too many shoes! Happy crafting! ♥
Linda
Linda

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