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The Great Blogger Survey

It's Friday afternoon. Work is going slowly. Very slowly. I've been writing about some truly exotic destinations today for work and all it is doing is reinforcing the fact that it is NOT sunny outside, I'm NOT on vacation and I'm NOT in a financial position to be staying in any of the private villas that I'm advertising. Whomp-whomp.

So to take my mind off that, I present you with...The Great Blogger Survey. And yes, "great" is relative. I just made it up. Like, right now. And I'm the only person who has taken the survey so far. But I'm pretty sure it's awesome.

Blogging is tough work.


How often do you update your blog? I try to post every day, and usually I post in the evenings after dinner. Lately I have been skipping a day every week or so, just whenever I don't have time or I simply have nothing to say. 


How long do you spend writing each post? Between uploading pictures and typing up the post, it takes me anywhere from 30-45 minutes each day. 


How long do you spend reading blogs each day? I probably read blogs for 90 minutes every day. Yes - I realize that's A LOT of time. I read some in the morning while I eat breakfast, some at lunchtime and then a little more before I head to bed each night. 


Multi-tasking: Petting cats and reading blogs. 




What other social media sites do you use? Facebook - and that's it. Unless you count email? I can't fathom adding on another one, although pinterest and Twitter are calling to me...


What is the first blog you started reading? Hungry Runner Girl. I had no idea people even had blogs until I found hers. 


How do you read blogs? Phone/iPad, dashboard, Google Reader...? I usually click on them from Dashboard in Blogger, although Google Reader seems much easier. Everything happens on the Mac, my phone is for nothing but calling and the occasional text. 


How many blogs do you follow? I couldn't even say. Hundreds. Most of them rarely post, but there are still way too many. 


You're on a week-long vacation. Do you a) pre-set posts for the time you're away, b) blog every day on vacation, or c) organize guest posts in advance? I've only been on two short vacations since I started blogging, but I had guests posts. It's nice to get away from blogging completely for a few days at a time. 


Have you made money off of your blog? Yep - thanks to the Foodbuzz ads. By the way, if for some reason you DON'T want to contribute .0000001 cents (something like that) to my bank account every time you click on my blog, read it in Google Reader. You can't see the add, so it won't count. You won't hurt my feelings, I promise. And let's be honest, it's not a significant income anyway. 


Would you quit your job to be a full-time blogger, if it meant cutting your salary in half? NO. Mostly because if you cut my income in half either me or hubby would starve.


My new full time job.




If you feel like playing along, answer the questions yourself - either one or two here or the whole thing on your own blog. I'm really curious how much time other people spend blogging, how they blog and if anyone has considered monetizing their own blogs.

If anyone is curious why every picture I have in this post contains cats, ask my husband. Apparently me on the computer is boring (fair enough) but me on the computer with a cat nearby is super exciting. Who knew?

Have a great weekend!



Comments

  1. Fun survey!

    I post 4-5 times per week usually and rarely on weekends. I rarely read blogs on weekends either - I just need a break all-together! I feel guilty reading without commenting, so it can be time-consuming.

    During the week I would say I easily spend an hour to two hours reading/commenting on blogs daily, and half an hour to an hour on my own.

    I don't have ads or anything, though I did apply for Blogher. Who knows if I will ever hear from them!

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  2. How do you make money with the foodbuzz add? It it through adsense or is it through foodbuzz themselves? I am signed up real foodbuzz but don't really use it often at all.

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  3. I make zero moolah from my blog, but I like it that way because it makes me feel legit. :) One day I'll get my book deal, mwhahaha

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  4. Great idea! I'm posting this on my blog right now!

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  5. I tried doing advertising but I hardly made any money so they de-activated it. haha. I spend about 15 minutes doing posts, but I don't edit my (crappy) pictures or anything! I post 3-4 times a week, sometimes more consistantly than others. I follow Hungry Runner Girl too! Love her!

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  6. This was fun to read because I'm pretty new to the healthy living blog thing, so I'm interested in what other people are doing blog-wise. I make zero money from my blog because I don't have any ads or anything. Maybe someday I will if I get more readers!

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  7. P.S. Do you not have a search button on your blog? I wanted to make that veggie dip with greek yogurt you talked about. I can't remember what you put in it.

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  8. I'll play!

    How often do you update your blog? I try to post every day, I usually post after the girls go to bed. Sometimes I will post during the day.

    How long do you spend writing each post? It takes me between 15 and 30 minutes each day, depending on how wordy I'm feeling or if I'm including pcitures.

    How long do you spend reading blogs each day? A lot. I probably spend at least 90 minutes reading blogs every day.

    What other social media sites do you use? Only Facebook

    What is the first blog you started reading? Yours is the first fitness related blog I started reading. Before that I read Because I Said So and Jennsylvania.

    How do you read blogs? Phone/iPad, dashboard, Google Reader...? I almost always use the dashboard. Sometimes I'll use my phone if I see that there is a new post on Facebook.

    How many blogs do you follow? A lot! About 75.

    You're on a week-long vacation. Do you a) pre-set posts for the time you're away, b) blog every day on vacation, or c) organize guest posts in advance? IDK. I'd probably try to find a guest poster and do one or two posts while I'm gone and just let the blog have a break the rest of the time.

    Have you made money off of your blog? Nope

    Would you quite your job to be a full-time blogger, if it meant cutting your salary in half? No way! We have far too many little people to cut my salary in half! It would be fun not to have to work, but I need to and I like my job so it's ok by me.

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  9. If Mike is taking pictures for the blog, he always makes Bungee get in the picture too. Husbands are weird.

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  10. ok, teach me how to post in 45 minutes or less. Thats impressive! i take FOREVER!

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  11. the pics with your cats are too cute! oh man. blogging seems to me to be as much a journey as anything else. when i first started blogging i just thought it was supposed to be an online journal that no one would ever read. then shell introduced me to HRG and i was like wow...she knows 500 people that want to read her journal?? for me it still is a journal but have realized how fun it is to "meet" people through blogging! i went from posting 1x per month to every day to now 3-4 times per week. i dont like when it feels like a job and i like to be able to enjoy my weekends. and for some reason i always feel guilty...like if i post...i need to have at least read my most favoritest blogs first. its all a process i guess...but for the most part a very positive one!

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  12. These days I usually post 3-4 times a week. It takes me about 45 minutes to take photos, upload them, and write content for each post. If I don't use photos it might take a little less time or if I have a lot to say and am struggling with how to word it or the tone of a post it might take me longer. I probably spend about an hour a day reading blogs - 30 minutes with coffee in the morning and a couple of 15 minute work breaks during the late morning or afternoon.

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  13. Fun! I might do it on my blog - I love to stockpile ideas for the many times I have nothing to say!

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  14. This is such a fun idea. Sunday is my compter day off so I usually schedule something for that day and I think this is a fun post for a lazy Sunday.

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  15. Fun survey I will have to try to get to it this weekend. Love the cat in all the pictures!

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  16. I passed on the bloggy love :)
    http://mystorychapter2.blogspot.com/2011/12/chapter-2-page-492-gourmet-runners.html

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  17. :)
    Live Write is free to download and super easy to use! Fun post!

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  18. I don't make money from my blog. Yes, I'd work if I got paid to blog...otherwise I'm a stay at home mom (still would be), but the kids are going to all be in school next year so that would be sweet. To run and blog for a living...heaven! I'm sure it must stink to write about awesome vacations while sitting in the cold. I LOVE to vacation...wish I could do it more often...don't we all!?! :) Hope you have a fab weekend. Jess

    runningtobeskinny.com

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  19. I don;'t remember all the questions but I don't make money off my blog, I get free stuff...does that count?

    first blog I ever read was Matthew goods. then threw him I met "raymi the minx" one of Canada's first bloggers (she's a bitch) and then I met tony pierce (from busblog) I started bloggin back in 2008 ....I ended up stopping b/c it took up so much of my life.

    I found meals and moves and threw janetha found hungry runner and decided I wanted to blog again.

    I spend 30-50mns blogging. I post daily. I spend as much time as I can reading other blogs. It varies depending on my day. At least 1hr a day!

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  20. I like this! Expect to see it on my blog very soon!

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  21. Whew! It is taking up way too much of my time! I write 2 blogs: Eat, Run, Sail and We can begin to feed

    I have the 2 because I really wanted to do a food/recipe blog for my WW friends and then I started the ERS to basically diarize the year leading up to my big birthday next May. I may not write it anymore after that. Will see.

    I love Twitter, have just started flirting with FB but only for my blogs, and have not looked at Pinterest at all!

    I have limited my food posts to 3 per week, and the ERS posts sorta come when I feel like I have something I want to write about. It varies.

    I read so many I cannot keep track of the number.

    The first running blog I ever read was Julia's Pain, Pride and Perseverance. I think she may have been the first person to comment on my food blog, too.

    Money? Not. Foodbuzz doesn't pay for Canadian hits and most of mine are. Canadians cannot be part of the Tastemakers program either.

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  22. How often do you update your blog? Umm it comes in waves... everyday for a bit, then every other and then I take a whole dang week off.

    How long do you spend writing each post? Sheesh 10 minutes to an hour. You can usually measure this by typos. Whoops.

    How long do you spend reading blogs each day? Probably 1-2 hours. I read blogs in my daily carpool and during my lunch break.

    What other social media sites do you use? Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter although I am so not hip on Tweeting ya'll.

    What is the first blog you started reading? Crap, no clue. I probably found you and HRG pretty early on.

    How do you read blogs? Phone, laptop, work computer, carrier pigeon.

    How many blogs do you follow? hmm 60? 80?

    You're on a week-long vacation. Do you a) pre-set posts for the time you're away, b) blog every day on vacation, or c) organize guest posts in advance? None of the above. I just say "peace out" and do expect to be missed much. Distance makes the heart grow fonder... right?

    Have you made money off of your blog? Nope, no plans to monetize.

    Would you quit your job to be a full-time blogger, if it meant cutting your salary in half? Like you, I couldn't afford to live on HALF my salary, hell that wouldn't feed my cats. Plus, if blogging were a job... I probably wouldn't find it as relaxing.

    Thanks for the surveying. Fun to read all the responses!

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  23. hahaha...okay, i'm stuck on the last one: would u be a pro blogger if it meant cutting ur salary in half!! man, i'm right with u...and it would be ME eating the cat food! ;)

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  24. OK, this is fun, here we go….

    How often do you update your blog? I approach it like working out, I plan to do it everyday, but don't worry if I miss a day here or there. I started blogging as a hobby and I want it to be fun, if I don't have anything to say or start feeling stressed about getting a post up if I'm busy, I let it go!


    How long do you spend writing each post? This varies and I've only been at this for just over two months….but initially it took me longer and I have gotten the time down lately, but it is still more time consuming than I would imagine. I would probably say most posts take 30 - 40 minutes.


    How long do you spend reading blogs each day? This varies A TON, depending on how much time I have to do so! I'd say anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours, but probably on average about most days I spend 60 - 90 minutes reading others' blogs.

    What other social media sites do you use? I use FB, got a Twitter account for my blog, and am on Pinterest….however I don't really see how Pinterest connects to my blog and I definitely don't make as much use of Twitter as other people, but I like having the outlets to communicate and post.


    What is the first blog you started reading? I actually started with cooking blogs and I think my first was Orangette after I read Homemade Life (the author of the book created a blog) and I've read Kara Goucher's…but I don't think that's the same thing as all of us :) I can't actually remember how I discovered all of the fitness/healthy living blogs…..


    How do you read blogs? Mostly in GR, I think it is so much easier than Blogger. Sometimes on my phone, but I don't think I have found the best app to do so and then it's hard to comment and I have to remember to go back and comment…which I don't always remember to do :)


    How many blogs do you follow? I have no idea! Well over 100…but I have different "levels" of what I follow - those that I make sure I read and look for them to post (you fall into that category!), those that I read when I have the time to do so, those that I actually don't normally get to read and I just reset my GR to "all items read"…and those that fall in-between :)


    You're on a week-long vacation. Do you a) pre-set posts for the time you're away, b) blog every day on vacation, or c) organize guest posts in advance? I don't know….haven't gone away since I started. If I were just traveling, but still on my computer and connecting with the real world, I would likely still post, but maybe not as much. If I'm in Mexico on a beach, or something, I might not post at all or maybe check in once or twice with something really short and lots of pictures :) I like the idea of setting up some guest bloggers!


    Have you made money off of your blog? Not yet


    Would you quit your job to be a full-time blogger, if it meant cutting your salary in half? Uh, NO!

    Thanks for the questions! Love your kitties :)

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  25. I just saw the length of that and realized that maybe I should've taken your suggestion and created a blog post out of this….oops :)

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  26. Loved these questions! I blogged about them here: http://runcookreadblog.blogspot.com/2011/12/great-blogger-survey.html.

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  27. Okay here goes...

    -I blog 3-4 times a week, I used to blog daily on my first blog which is why it didn't last long
    -I spend about 20-25 minutes on each post
    -I read blogs for about 2 hours a day
    -Carrots N Cake was my first blog I ever read
    -I read blogs on my laptop through Google Reader


    There's some of them :)

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  28. I love your blog! I think it's one of the best! I used to update my blog a lot more frequently but I have sufficiently slacked off for a good portion of the year due to my life being turned upside down! But it's getting back on track and so am I so I know that blogging will be happening a lot more in the coming months! :)

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  29. Pinterest is addicting/amazing. There are tons of great ideas for crafts, recipes, decorating and more :)

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  30. You and your cat look so cozy! I agree that 90 minutes SOUNDS like a lot, until you split it up over the course of a day. Then it goes by so fast... I could get sucked in for a lot longer I'm sure!

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  31. two questions: 1) how did you find hungryrunnergirl if you weren't reading other blogs? I'm curious because the only way I ever find blogs is...from other blogs.

    2) why do you read so many blogs? Ever consider whittling it down to the 70 or 60 or 50 that you really enjoy? Or do you really enjoy every 100+?

    Thanks :)

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  32. Fun! I did it :) http://lifeasaconvert.blogspot.com/2011/12/great-blogger-survey.html

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