Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts in last week’s reader survey. It was the first survey we’ve done here since July 2012, and I had so much fun reviewing the (538) responses. I felt like I had a pretty good idea of who reads this blog, mostly because of the lively comments section, but you all surprised me with some of your answers.
I promised I’d share the responses with you. Here you go.
First, some basic demographics.
Three-quarters of readers are between 26 and 44.
85% of readers are married. This surprised me a lot. Â
69% of you have children living at home.
63% of you found MMD when another blogger linked to it. (Thanks, bloggers!)
53% of you said the books and reading posts were your favorite, but many of you went on to say you didn’t want to choose just one. More on that below.
Most of you read this blog via email or RSS.
Feedly is your RSS service of choice. I expected Bloglovin’ to be the more popular choice, but it wasn’t even close.
Now, the fun stuff.
I asked you, “What other blogs do you read regularly?” and got a wealth of responses. The top ten were:
- Simple Mom
- Joy the Baker
- Young House Love
- Money Saving Mom
- Ain’t No Mom Jeans
- Conversion Diary
- Chatting at the Sky
- Laura Vanderkam
- Hollywood Housewife
- SortaCrunchy
I’m familiar with all those blogs, and most are actually in my reader. (I even included some in my short list of my favorite mid-sized blogs earlier this week.)
You also listed a ton of blogs I wasn’t familiar with. I created a new category in my reader for the blogs you all recommended and filled it right up:
Among the additions: House Unseen. Life Unscripted, Memories on Clover Lane, Everyday Reading (doesn’t that sound up my alley?), and Darling Magazine.
My second open-ended question was “What other feedback do you have?”Â
Hands-down, the most frequently mentioned thing was the variety. You said, over and over, that your favorite thing about this blog dabbles in a little bit of everything, but still manages to hang together.
When given the opportunity to say whatever you wanted in the free form, you said you loved the personality posts, the twitterature link-up, and Stitch Fix posts. Several of you pointed to specific posts from the past year that made a big impact on you, or a new favorite book you found through this blog. (Hooray!)
The phrase “kindred spirits” appeared with regularity. I love that.
My very favorite comment just might have been this one: “I feel like we are friends. Is that weird?” (Nah.)
Quite a few of you wanted to know a little more about my family. You might have noticed that I’m kinda sorta talking about everybody by name a little more often these days. Now that I’ve been blogging for two and a half years (!!) I’m thinking of writing a post formally introducing them all to you. Maybe.
A couple of you said you had trouble subscribing by email. I’m so sorry. I switched services a few months ago: would please try using this new link and see if that works for you?
Thanks again for participating in the survey! If there’s anything you want to tell me that you didn’t tell me there, feel free to leave it in comments.Â
20 comments
Awesome – I did think we had something of an overlap in readership! I look forward to checking out some of the blogs your readers mentioned that I’m not familiar with. They look fascinating.
Anne, you do have something very special here.
Ain’t that the truth,
Thanks, ladies!
I see that my responses fell into the majority occasionally, which shows what good company I keep. For the categories where I was in the minority, I consider myself there to be among the elite. It’s a win/win for me!
Cheers,
Tim
I like the way you spin it. 🙂
I thoroughly enjoyed this post – such interesting information & awesome pie charts. I appreciate your method of disseminating data!
Well, thank you….but that’s just Google Docs, not me. Credit where credit is due. 🙂
You’re such a great blogger! Honestly, I have about .2 seconds to write this comment…but I have always admired your professionalism and yet also your vulnerability and heart. This was a fun post! Great job on all that you’ve done here 😉
Aw, thanks Cynthia! That means a lot, coming from you. 🙂
Such a fun post. And, I am so glad you found Dwija’s blog. She is such a wonderful person 🙂
I’ve read Dwija sporadically for years but never remembered at the right time to add her to my reader! You all reminded me to finally fix that problem. 🙂
I am so so flattered to be on this list. I discovered your blog through someone sharing your summer reading guide earlier this summer, and have been a loyal reader ever since!
Hi Janssen! I didn’t know you were hanging out here–welcome, and I’m glad I found you. 🙂
I personally love the beauty/fashion posts. I am a mother of 2 (under 2) and anything that can inspire me to get up and look good is always a plus. I constantly need that motivation 🙂
NOTED. Thanks for sharing! (And I get that. 🙂 )
Fun to read the stats! It has been really neat watching your blog grow.