share your journey. connect with hers.
Greetings Connected Women:
Early in 2024 we posted a reader survey and asked for feedback on what we were doing wrong/right in order to try to gauge why the blog followers etc. have not grown consistently. The blog has existed for 10 years in 2024 (March) so it was a good time for clarity. I spend a lot of time on the blog even though it’s not a business or revenue stream, – to be honest, more than I spend on my actual design business. It is something I have always enjoyed just doing just because. I am also running the blog solo while running my business and working full-time in the real world. I also changed jobs with my agency in January so I am still getting acclimated to my new role as well. So the survey was a way of aligning more with what the very people I try to highlight and support are interested in and streamlining things that they weren’t interested in. What I got from the responses, was exactly the clarity I needed.
The responses, and I will share one below, said our organic support was stagnant for several reasons:
- That we were not doing enough to make the blog engaging or inviting. We aren’t providing potential readers with anything such as freebies, giveaways or downloads etc. of things that are interested in.
- Features and articles were not enough to make anyone want to visit the blog, including for their own feature.
- Many who are featured have no vested interest in CWM including the blog beyond their feature.
- The IG page does not post enough engaging content or follow current engagement trends.
- The features and articles alone are not fulfilling to potential readers and nothing makes them want to connect or return back often to read more.
Now some of these things I had picked up on even before the survey. Many don’t even bother to visit the site even for their own feature and will ask us for the direct link before they ever set foot on the website. Many may have been PR pitched for the feature and simply had no knowledge or interest in the blog itself or what CWM is about nor do they promote their feature when it launches. But I think I was hoping it was just a few and not the majority. But the survey put the spotlight on the issues and forced me to accept the reality.
Read one survey response here.
And I say all that to say, that I realize I am only one person and I simply don’t have the time to invest in nurturing the organic growth by working on all the things that are hurting it. So I want to reduce the “footprint” of CWM so that with less to maintain I can cater to the small group of supporters who are interested and who do engage. Facebook will be our go-to platform. People will be able to see updates and click features and article links if they want to visit the site. So, I will be streamlining some things as needed to make it more manageable and less pressure-driven. I don’t want to lose the joy I get from being the creator or stop the blog altogether. I want to take the time to decide what other steps to take to make it better in the long run.
So I hope that you- if you’re reading this- will stick around and continue to make the connection. I am so grateful for anyone who has supported this past decade. You are and always will be appreciated.
