Monday, November 9, 2009

One Blog or Two? Opinions Wanted!!!

Whether you visit my blog to see pictures of my kids. . . to read about updates and stuff I'm doing. . . to enter giveaways and read reviews. . . all of the above reasons. . . or just because I comment on your blog and you feel guilty not commenting on mine. . . I want your opinion please!!!

I've been playing with the idea for awhile now of separating this blog into two different blogs, one for giveaways/reviews and one for my personal blog. I know some people really think I should separate them, but I want to know what more of you think!

Here are the reasons why I enjoy combining them into just one blog:

1. I really like mixing it up! I think it's fun and unique, because most review/giveaway blogs don't include personal posts. I think my blog has a lot of variety and I like it that way!

2. I would have to get a whole separate blog for the giveaways/reviews, and I don't think there's a way to combine my followers onto two blogs. I really don't want to lose any followers! I love you all!

3. Since many of my giveaways/reviews include cute pictures of my kids, I'd hate to have to post the pictures twice on each separate blog.

SO. . . here's what I want to know. . .
*If you come to my blog to read my personal posts and see my pictures, do the reviews and giveaways bug you? Do you just scroll right past them? Or are they interesting and fun to read too?
*If you come to my blog to enter awesome giveaways and read reviews, do you enjoy reading my personal posts as well? Or do you just scroll right past them? Would a separation be better?
*If you come to my blog for BOTH, I still want to know what you think and what you'd prefer!

I welcome all opinions and honesty is appreciated! I kinda can't wait to hear what everyone thinks. :)

And just because I can't stand to post stuff without pictures. . . here's a little sunshine from my neck of the woods. Yep, we're in the full swing of the rainy season in Seattle, and we've had a lot of rainy days lately. Call me crazy, but the rain is like sunshine to my little soul. So even though it may look dark and gloomy to most people, to me it's raining sunshine. :)

31 comments:

  1. I am totally addicted to giveaways and that's how I found your blog. However, I have a VERY large family and TONS of little ones in my life and I just love kids. So I read both types of posts and don't think you should separate the two!

    I someday hope to do giveaways on my blog but also continue to do what I do now....promote handmade stores and etsy users. btw - do yo have any advice for getting started with giveaways?

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  2. I am with the above poster. I came here for the giveaways. I return because I like your posts! I read both while I am here and am happy to catch updates on life.

    I subscribe to you in google reader and when a post title catches my eye.. I pop over and read it.. and not just the giveaway posts. So I like both.

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  3. I love your blog the way it is! I love seeing what your family is up too. I love the giveaways. It would be so much work for you to do two blogs. So, my opinion is don't change a thing!

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  4. I have my blog set up that shows what your latest post is - since I'm family, I only click on over when it's more of a personal post, and not the give-aways. But for times sake, I say keep it all on one post - seems like double duty to post on 2 blogs. Cute Halloween pics by the way!

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  5. i love it how it is and agree with what the others have said. I love to read and learn about you and the giveaways & reviews are fun too..I think its great as is :)

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  6. I think you should leave it as is. It's a great mixture!!

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  7. I like the mix, too! Although giveaways are fun, a straight up giveaway blog can be kind of boring.

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  8. It's hard doing more than one blog. And I like the family stuff, and the giveaways. I probably wouldn't look at the giveaway blog much, and therefore miss out on some great stuff.

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  9. I say do what YOU want to do. Good luck on your decision. I wouldn't worry about losing followers. They will follow whatever you do and if you DO lose some, MORE will come eventually.

    I am not much of a follower of giveaways (I can't keep up with them all).

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  10. I love your combination blog! Don't change!!! That'd just be a TON of work for you and my guess is that MOST of your followers don't mind at all that it's combined! And those who do, well, it's simply NOT hard to scroll past posts that they are uninterested in! :)

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  11. I am more likely to scroll past the giveaways myself, but I think it would be a lot of work to run two blogs. The only thing I'd worry about is all the traffic you get specifically for the giveaways - people you don't really know - seeing your children's names, your location & pictures. I'm sure almost everybody is super nice, but I'm personally wary of sharing much info. You do a wonderful job w/ the reviews. btw. I would never find the time!

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  12. I'm more interested in the family updates, but I enjoy reading your commentary on the reviews & giveaways even if I don't enter. And I don't mind scrolling past if I'm not interested in reading a review. Either way, do whichever is best for you! =)

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  13. I would not split them, if I were you. I had to split mine because of the restrictions of my blogher ads on my personal page, but that doesn't seem to be an issue for you. And if you start a new blog, that will drop the statistics on your new blog way down, and PR reps from a lot of the companies do look at that.

    And it's fun to see all the pictures of your girls, they're such cuties!

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  14. I like it the way it is, although I have never entered one of you giveaways I have thought about it, I don't have a twitter account and it is just one more thing to worry about. I like our pictures of your girls and the cute little things you review. I really like some the the headbands recently. I would leave it the same.

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  15. I would keep it the same. Why complicate your already busy life? Honestly. =) ps...check out my craft blog! I will be hosting some giveaways as well!

    http://lovelycositas.blogspot.com/

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  16. I agree with everyone else! It's just more work, and I like reading both (though more of the personal posts since most of the giveaways are baby stuff--but they're good for future reference).

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  17. I scroll passed the giveaways. I'd prefer a seperate blog, but it's really not much work to scroll passed, whereas it would be a lot more work for you to post seperate blogs.

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  18. You COULD do two, it would make sense, but I come to your blog to read your updates and see cute pictures of your kids AND I come to read about your product reviews and giveaways. I think you're ok doing it the way you are now but if you changed it to two blogs, I'd still read both.

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  19. I vote two! But I would still look at all three if you did them seperate ;)

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  20. Not that my opinion matters, but I don't look at giveaway blogs. I like to enter, but I like reading inbetween!

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  21. I say leave it like it is! :) Too much work to do 2 blogs and it's more fun to get a mixture of things. That's why I always mix the two on mine also...giveaways on Friday's, crafting, personal, photos, recipes, all the other fun stuff the other days. WAY easier and I think more interesting for people to read! :)

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  22. At first I found the reviews/giveaways a little... in the way, I guess. But I love how you showcase your beautiful girls when it's relevant, and it's easy to scroll past stuff if I'm not interested. The titles of your posts always tell me if it's personal or not, too, so all in all I vote to keep it the way it is. I think you do a great job keeping both kids of readers interested!

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  23. If it were me..I would separate the two just for my childrens internet safety..however I like to read them b/c it does to mix it up and makes your blog personable!

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  24. I read your blog to get updates on your life, so I normally scroll past the reviews and giveaways. Once in a while I'll check out a giveaway, but I read your blog because I care about you and love to see how your little family is doing. :) Separating your blog wouldn't make a huge difference to me, because I will read all your personal posts either way, and it's no big deal to scroll past the reviews. Sometimes it takes a little longer because I don't want to miss any personal stuff, but the way you title your posts makes it clear and easy to see which is which (personal or review post), so I don't mind. :) I'll keep reading your blog either way - it's so cute and fun! :)

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  25. Hmmm...that is a predicament...I think if I were doing as many giveaways as you are, I would separate the 2 blogs. I think the reason being is sometimes when I haven't been on blogger for awhile and you have a lot of updates and posts, I think I miss a few of them. But you're right, it would be SOOOOOO much more work. The only thing that I would worry about it letting one thing slide. One of my friends has a giveaway blog combined w/ family blog and her family posts are few and far between from her giveaways. Hard choice though!!! Good luck deciding! :)

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  26. I have to admit, I usually just like reading your personal family posts. Your giveaways look fun, but I'm not really into that.

    Do whatever you like, though. I'll still keep visiting!

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  27. I like a blog with variety. I think that the blogs that are only review/giveaways are kinda dry and I usually avoid them. Plus writing and monitoring two blogs would be a lot more work for you. Keep it the way it is, that's my vote!
    :~D

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  28. It's been a long time since I have visited your blog! (Or anyone's blog for that matter.) Life has been crazy!!! But, I really love your blog! It's fun to read about your family and the giveaways. I vote for keeping it the way it is!

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  29. I skip right past most of the giveaways since it's mostly baby stuff.

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