Good evening! I’ve received about 50 survey responses and am loving the feedback! It’s strange to see myself through other people’s eyes. Obviously there were a few comments that were a bit rough, but the anonymous honesty is greatly appreciated. I can’t thank y’all enough. If you haven’t had a chance to fill out the 10 question reader survey, please visit this blog post. [Thank you in advance!]
I am in the process of creating a document that organizes everyone’s thoughts…and really analyzing what people want to see more of, less of, etc. I won’t be able to make everyone happy, but hopefully I can create a more even spread. 🙂
As far as sponsored posts go, I figure I should clarify since there were mixed feelings shared in the surveys. Usually companies will send me an item for free, and I will review it, wear it, etc, but I don’t get paid. I don’t agree to review an item unless it’s something I would actually eat, use, share. Does that make sense? A good example is the dog toy giveaway. The toys were free, but I wasn’t paid to enjoy them. Well, for Sam and Osa to enjoy them. [[There a cat toy giveaway coming soon, too!]] I apologize if these posts seem fake. That’s my own fault.
While I have been blogging for over a decade, sponsored posts are relatively new to me. I am part of a few websites that do pay me, but I apply for these “shops.” At first I applied for a variety of products…testing the waters, trying things out. Lately I will only apply for relevant sponsorships: dog treats, cat food, human food, greeting cards, haircare, fitness related items, etc. My day job pays just fine. I can get through some bills, as well as house upkeep…but for the amount of trips I want to take, and miles I need to drive [roller derby], a little extra spending money goes a long way.
This school year has already been off to a hectic start. I thoroughly enjoyed my time in the classroom and definitely miss it…even though students have drastically changed in the 4 years I’ve been out of the classroom! I was so frustrated the first week while I was grading. We’d spend about 15 minutes taking notes on scientific notation with negative exponents, and every answer I received was positive exponents. What did we just do! Turn your brains on! And then by the end of the day I was so brain dead that I’d make myself crack up, which made the kiddos think it was okay to be funny the rest of the period…oops! A little too much positivity on my end. 🙂 But for the most part, I followed my own tips to the T.
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| Thanks to Heather for the photo! |
Other news: I am co-captain of the Bayou City Bosses for the 2015 season and have a couple Knockouts games in the next couple months! I try to stay away from roller derby during the off season to keep myself from burning out, but I’m not sure how far I will be able to stay this time around. Luckily everything is pretty evenly dispersed. Other than roller derby, now that I’m not quite as exhausted from teaching, I hope to start back at Crossfit. A two week break is just a bit much. I can feel my muscles getting wimpy already! 🙂 I can’t wait to share some fitness tips, too. That was definitely a survey interest!
Is there anything else you’d like to read about? Of course I’m going to share a before and after of our home with the new tile. 😀 Squee!!
I loooove when you post about roller derby, I find it so fascinating!
I really do think that honest straight forward reviews are great! And you make it obvious that you chose what you accept to review, and write about things you actually like. I always think it's positive to know that someone has tried something and to hear what they have to say about it… Makes it easier to know whether you might want it or not 🙂 Besides, you post about things that aren't that common, and I love finding new things out there 😉 Keep up the awesome blog :*