I am excited to be participating in my 7th Pet Blogger Challenge, hosted by Amy at Go Pet Friendly. Each year we get a list of questions to answer; it’s a great way to look back and forward on our blog to see where we’re at, and where we’re going. It also gives us a chance to support our fellow bloggers and give encouragement and help where we can. Once again, this year I’ll include some cute photos of the Wag ‘n Woof Crew, for those that might not be as interested in the technicalities of blogging!
- For those who may be visiting your blog for the first time, how long have you been blogging and what is your main topic? I have been blogging for over 6 years, having started in the Fall of 2012. My main topic is my life with my own pets, now including our farm birds (chickens and guinea hens), with an emphasis on staying naturally healthy and happy. I share personal stories, product reviews, and cover training and health topics that we deal with personally.
- What was your proudest blogging moment of 2018? Opening an online store on the blog. It had always been my plan to sell products online through the blog someday. This year I started making homemade products under our farm name – organic dog cookies, all-natural skin care, and gifts. I sell locally but wanted to expand to selling online as well.
The chickens were the beginning of our little farm! These are two of our Rhode Island Reds. - What was the biggest blogging challenge you faced in 2018, and how did/will you tackle it? See above! I procrastinated because I was so nervous about tackling creating the shop. I wanted to do it myself but knew nothing about the process. I did some research and decided on WooCommerce. They made it easy, even though I do still have a couple of glitches that need to be fixed.
- Which of your 2018 blog posts was your favorite and why? (Please include a link.) “A Happy Beagle Life” was my tribute to our beagle, Cricket, who went to the Rainbow Bridge this past March. Cricket had such a happy life, that writing about it was joyful for me even though heartbreaking at the same time.
In 2017 my favorite post was my tribute to our golden retriever, Sheba. Two beautiful girls, now at the Rainbow Bridge together. - Which of your 2018 posts was most popular with your audience? Why do you think it does so well? “Teach Your Dog to Crawl – Trick or Treat Giveaway Hop”. It’s obviously because this was part of a group giveaway. The truth is my most popular posts are all from previous years! That’s something to think about for sure.
- Did you implement a new series, feature, or practice on your blog in 2018 that you’re enjoying? I’m posting less than I was, averaging 3 days/week and therefore I’ve taken a little pressure off myself. Also, with only one dog and one cat now, I find myself writing more about my farm and our birds. Readers seem to be enjoying that as much as I do.
Our senior cat Samantha and her catnip plant. - As the social media landscape changes, how are you promoting your blog posts and connecting with new readers? I’m not doing anything different, other than sharing all my posts on my social media channels and trying to share more photos on Instagram as well. Promotion is ever challenging for me, and clearly I DO need to do something different!
- Looking forward to 2019, if you accomplish only one thing through your blog, what do you hope it is? I simply need to get more eyes on my blog, leading to more eyes on my store, and hopefully more sales!
While the Momz works on the blog, I’ll be working on this stick. - What steps are you planning to take to ensure you reach your goal? Working on that promotion! Lately Pinterest seems to be drawing the most people to my site, and I’d like to use that more. I’m not even sure why that is happening, but I feel like if I focus more on it, I can do even better with it. Facebook is next, but I find Facebook so frustrating! I’m actually amazed it draws anyone to my site, considering the fact that my Facebook posts are seen by so few people.
- Now it’s your turn! How can we help? Is there an area where you could use some advice, or an aspect of your blog that you’d like input on? Share it here, and we’ll answer you in comments! For those other bloggers who also sell products through their blog, what have you found is the best way to promote that, without a lot of financial investment?
Thanks for reading! This challenge is a great exercise for me, especially since I hadn’t really put much thought into what my goals were for the blog this year. I had hoped to be more settled into things and better focused by the end of 2018, but it hasn’t really happened yet. This helps me to get my thoughts together and come up with at least somewhat of a plan!
Thanks for sharing your dog blogging social media tips! And congrats to your blog’s 6th year anniversary 🙂
Thank you, Anna, and thanks for stopping by!
Hey, this is awesome!
Your dogs are super cute, and I’ve always wanted to try chickens.
Good luck with the blog.
Thank you, and thanks for stopping by!!
Concats on the shop! I’ll have to check it out. We all need more eyes on our blogs. For some reason, FB seems to be a big draw for my blog lately. One of the bloggers in the Blogger group I belong to blogs all about chickens and has like a million followers. I know I’ll see you around but have a great and successful 2019.
Thank you so much! You are one of the lucky ones with Facebook it seems. 🙂
I’m not sure anyone actually understands Facebook anymore. 🙁 I have a gratitude page that I post on every night and at least once a week, Facebook tells me people haven’t heard from me in a while. Yet the blog page, which I rarely post on, never gets notified. LOL
It always tells me that such and such a post is performing SO much better than others, that I MUST boost it. Which doesn’t even make sense – LOL.
Hi! New here from the pet blogger challenge. Your post made me happy because it reminded me of when my kids were young and in 4H. We had chickens and they brought us so much joy – especially our bantam cochins. We still have chickens, but this batch is a grumpy group and only make us happy when they lay eggs, lol. Nice to “meet” you!
Nice to meet you too! I’m glad our group of girls seem happy, and are not of the grumpy variety. LOL
I am trying hard to take Facebook seriously and it just isn’t working. I will not throw money at them until I may or may not get the demographic right, or reach the right people, maybe.
I need to have more fun on Pinterest, you make it sound as though it is one of the places to be!
I feel exactly the same about Facebook, though I may still try a “boost” and see what that gets. At least it’s cheap. LOL (and they’re practically begging me to try it all the time)
I am definitely thinking Pinterest is the place to be, and I’m going to put my focus on that this year!
Nice to “meet” you through the blog hop! I’m always excited to find pet bloggers who successfully blog about “other” types of pets. I mostly write about my dogs, but keep exotic pets too and have struggled with whether or not I want to include them on my blog. I love writing about them too, but feel like a lot of people visit my blog for the dog stuff. Anywho, your site looks great and I wish you all the best in 2019!
I felt the same reluctance to start writing more about our birds. But people really seemed to be interested, and when we lost our other dog, I needed more material. I’ve gotten great feedback and support about including them, so you might want to do the same….just start out with a little bit and see what kind of response you get.
Nice to meet you too, and thanks for coming by and for your positive feedback!
Pinterest was a game changer for me last year. After organic search it beats my social media traffic and I have a lot of followers on Instagram which tells me I need to focus more on Pinterest instead of Instagram.
So much to do – and the great thing is the blogger community is so supportive. Here’s to a great 2019!
Same to you! It is definitely sounding like Pinterest is the way to go, and I’m excited about getting to work more on it!
That stick will keep you busy for a whole 5 minutes, right, Luke?
It did, and now it’s buried out there in the snow. Maybe it will be of renewed interest when the snow melts again. 🙂
One big challenge for all of us is the shrinking number of bloggers and blog readers. I scarcely know what Pinterest is… maybe I should learn.
I love your farm oriented posts… but I also love reading about Luke. In general, I enjoy all of your posts – you are a very engaging writer.
Thank you so much, KB!! It is so encouraging to me when someone gives compliments like that. It’s much needed, trust me. ♥
Your store looks good! I think I may have stumbled onto this site before joining the blog hop and I’m very excited to read more blogs this year. I’ve used FB ads before for experimental purposes and the dynamic is interesting. I spent $5 for a campaign for a store I was trying to open and found that if you target the right demographic, you can achieve lots of followers on the page but converting into sales was different. That’s just my experience. Either way good look and looking forward to 2019!
That is great to know about the FB ads, since that is something I was considering. Thank you, and I’m so glad you found us!
Great job with this challenge. I think you’re doing a great job with the store. Marketing through social media is definitely a challenge. And as someone who has a FB page for the blog, I agree, it doesn’t seem to help direct folks to our shop. They keep trying to get me to ‘promote’ it for far reaching potential. Good luck reaching all your goals this year and keep sharing your successes on the blog. Love the stories about the farm and of course, sweet Luke’s adventures.
Thank you, Monika! I am considering doing an ad on Facebook, or maybe a “boost”, since I don’t understand their advertising structure at all. LOL!
I’ll always have a soft spot for stories about Luke, but I have definitely loved reading about the birds this year! They have so much more personality that I knew and I’ve loved learning about them (and wishing that I could have some without driving my neighbors crazy!). I wish I had some advice, but I only know about buying things online and not about selling them–I will say that I’m a sucker for Instagram ads and I spend way more time browsing and buying because of them than anything else, so you might try the Instagram business account?
I’m so glad you love reading about Luke and about our birds.
Feedback from anyone that buys online is great – that is a big help! I do have my Instagram account set up as a business, but I haven’t used it for advertising yet. That definitely sounds like something I should look into, thank you, Beth!
I enjoyed reading this post. What a huge accomplishment to add the store! I love your pictures and talks about your farm as its fun watching you with yours as I have a hobby farm too or will when I get my bird population back. lol
I can’t wait until you get your birds back, I loved reading about yours too!!
Good luck in 2019!! I love your blog and posts!
Thank you, Lynn!!
I always enjoy your blog and have learned much about guinea hens and chickens from reading your posts. I don’t have an online shop so can’t be of much help there. I will definitely be doing some shopping in your store soon – just have to get over the holiday spending. LOL.
Pinterest has been a great source of traffic for me as well the last few months.
Thank you, and especially for your interest in our store!! ♥
I am so happy to know that people enjoy our farm bird stories! I love sharing about them.
I love Rhode Island Reds – those are some fine birds!
Sounds like you have accomplished a lot and have some good goals ahead – good luck!
Thank you!! We love our Reds too!!
Your store looks great! Congratulations on getting that set up.
When I published my book last year, my email list was my most successful tool to reach people interested in buying. I developed the email list by publishing a monthly newsletter, so that may be something to consider. As you bring out new products, you could feature them in your newsletter and maybe do a giveaway to a few of your subscribers. Thanks for taking the Challenge again this year, and much luck to you in 2019!
Thank you, Amy! That is a good idea, and something I am definitely putting on my list.
Nice to make your cyber acquaintance. I am in the pet blogger hop and love to meet new folks in pet blogging.
You forgot to link to your popular post! However, I thought it sounded like fun, so here it is: https://www.afarmgirlsfinds.com/teach-your-dog-to-crawl-trick-or-treat-giveaway-hop/. Trooper needs to learn new tricks, and this sounds right up his alley.
Urban chickens are a new thing around here. Not sure what to make of it yet.
Good luck with the store. I look forward to reading your success story about it this time next year!
Thank you!!
Yes, backyard chickens seem to be becoming quite the rage these days. I wonder if it’s just a fad that will fizzle out eventually?
We are hoping they will be part of our retirement plan. 🙂
Sorry, I forgot that link! I need to come up with a new trick for Luke too, to help keep us busy on these long, cold winter days.
Kudos for participating for 7 years! I have been blogging almost 10 years and never have participated!! In the early years I kept saying I would, now I don’t bother even saying it since I am the Queen of Procrastination lol
I understand that!! 🙂
I sell ebooks on my site and the best way to promote those by far is through my email list. Secondary for me would be linking to the product where it makes sense in the posts with the most traffic and in other related posts and then sharing those posts.
Great tips, thank you, Lindsay!
I hear you on the traffic thing – Pinterest is most of mine too and I’m trying to diversify.
Your Samantha is a pretty kitty – my Shadow has a similar look.
I’ve never understood what the stigma is with black cats, have you? They’re beautiful!!
I learned more about you today. I do love your blog and living on a farm is awesome.
Have a fabulous day and week. ♥
Thank you, Sandee! And thank you for all you do to bring bloggers together with all the hops. Even though we don’t always participate, we do enjoy them. ♥
Nice to learn more about you. I know what you mean about FB, they want you to pay to promote posts otherwise hardly anyone sees them. My favorite posts are about Samantha 🙂
I wish I could post more about Samantha. But the old lady just doesn’t do a lot – LOL, and she’s so hard to photograph in the house! Maybe we’ll venture out into the snow on a warmer day. She hasn’t been on snow since the days she used to escape the house at our old home! 🙂
We enjoyed reading your answers and we always love hearing about life on your farm, we’re a bit jealous of farm life.
That’s so sweet of you to say, thank you so much, Brian!
Your shop looks beautiful. And such a nice selection of products. My computer battery failed before Christmas so I did no online shopping. But I see things I would have been proud to give as gifts.
I’ve been experimenting with Pinterest for some of my clients. Apparently, Pinterest is a good place to find people ready to buy. Have you created a few pins for your store? You can pin them with a link right to the store page.
I’m sure if you read up on selling using Pinterest you’ll find lots of expert advice.
BTW, did you see the entry from Greenhill farm in the Pet Blogger hop? That blogger also has lovely pictures of her farm. You might find it interesting to check out.
Can’t wait to see what you do in 2019.
Thank you so much for your compliments on my shop, Pamela! And for the tips on Pinterest. I haven’t done anything like that yet, but now that is my #1 plan.
I will also be going to check out that Greenhill Farm – I always love meeting fellow farmers and seeing their places! 🙂
I love your blog and really enjoy reading about life on the farm! I m not sure what this year will bring to us. I’m starting to babysit the grandchildren this week so it’s going to be a fun challenge!
Thank you! Babysitting will definitely be an adventure for you, and I’m sure you and Skip will enjoy it very much!
I’m no Pinterest expert, but when I do make an effort, I find it does bring me traffic and also adds to my Pinterest followers. Do you make images for your posts that are specifically for pinning? I try to do that on at least half of my posts. Regular sized images aren’t as loved on Pinterest. I enjoy creating the images, but it is just another time consuming task. Sometimes I make images and use them on Pinterest but never even have them in my post. I suggest working more on that for traffic. I’m sure with your products and farm photos you could create some real eye catching pins to drive trafffic.
Thank you, that is great advice, Joy. I have been making pin-specific interests for some posts, but not nearly as often as I should. I am definitely going to focus on that now.
Good luck and watch out for the Rhode Island Reds. We use to have some and they can be pretty mean!
Our Reds are really nice to us, but they are sometimes mean to the other birds! Overall, we feel like they are good birds though, and it helps not to have a rooster I think.
Yes the roosters are mean and would chase our kids lol.
love it… and I LOVED the post about your cricket…and we wish you a truckload of success with the store…
Thank you so much! It’s so nice to have a place we feel like we can go back and “visit” our furry loved ones that are gone, doesn’t it?
Good Morning! Just a heads-up: I don’t see your link in the blog hop linky list at the bottom of your post.
I hear ya about promotion; but for me, personally, it’s no big deal since I don’t post on a regular basis any more.
I look forward to some day just blogging for the fun of it, and whenever I feel like it! Good for you.