By Zazie Todd, PhD
This year, thank yous to some encouragement from Eileen Anderson of the wonderful Eileenanddogs blog, I’m taking business office inwards the Pet Blogger Challenge organized past times Amy Burkert of GoPetFriendly.com. It’s a peril to reverberate on where my weblog is at as well as where I’d similar it to become from here. Please experience gratuitous to add together your comments at the end.
For those who may live visiting your weblog for the commencement time, how long conduct hold yous been blogging as well as what is your primary topic?
I started blogging inwards 2012. At the time, I had ii dogs as well as ii cats (one of the dogs has since passed). I thought it would live fun to honor out what scientific discipline has to tell almost how to conduct hold happy dogs as well as cats. It turns out this is a rapidly-developing champaign that is rattling relevant to ordinary people as well as how they aid for their pets.
I conduct hold a novel post every Midweek as well as a newsletter every month. Once a twelvemonth – inwards June – I host the Train for Rewards weblog party to encourage people to purpose reward-based grooming methods (look out for details inwards mid-May if yous desire to conduct hold part). I keep a listing of research resources on domestic dog training, where yous tin give notice honor a listing of scientific articles on domestic dog grooming as well as weblog posts almost them from across the web. There’s immediately a corresponding cat grooming inquiry page too! And thus there’s the book club, which reads 10 books a twelvemonth almost animals, as well as the related Animal Books Facebook group which is for full general majority chat as well as has less of a commitment from members.
What was your proudest blogging minute of 2018?
My proudest blogging minute was genuinely a consummate surprise. I looked at my weblog analytics i twenty-four hours as well as saw some page views coming inwards from the Washington Post. I assumed it was referral spam, but they kept coming. So thus I clicked as well as constitute out that had been profiled inwards the Washington Post! I was absolutely thrilled as well as delighted.
My proudest writing minute was turning inwards my majority manuscript to my publisher dorsum inwards April. Since then, I’ve worked rattling difficult on ii rounds of noun edits, as well as it’s non quite done yet. You’ll conduct hold to hold off until early on 2020 to acquire your hands on a copy!
What was the biggest blogging challenge yous faced inwards 2018, as well as how did/will yous tackle it?
I recollect my primary challenge is mutual to most bloggers – finding the time. Don’t acquire me wrong, I dear writing my blog, but it gets harder as well as harder to represent it in.
One of the things I did to aid was start a Ko-fi page. Ko-fi is similar a tip jolt where people tin give notice purchase a java for creators whose move they love. I chose this rather than a patreon because the indicate is that I desire to move along blogging where the populace tin give notice read my posts, rather than brand subscriber-only content, as well as I definitely don’t conduct hold the fourth dimension to brand extra content precisely for subscribers. I am rattling grateful to everyone who has supported me on Ko-fi thus far, as well as also for the form messages yous conduct hold sent. It genuinely agency a corking deal.
Which of your 2018 weblog posts was your favorite as well as why?
My favourite post was What is desensitization as well as counter-conditioning. I wrote it because this is such an of import technique to aid fearful animals but it’s also i that I oftentimes encounter people cope with. I wanted something I could yell people to if they needed a lilliputian help. Even though the post is almost domestic dog training, i of the suggested readings at the halt is a majority almost cats that happens to explicate it genuinely well. I similar that because it’s an of import reminder that grooming isn’t precisely for dogs!
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| One of the things I bask almost blogging is choosing the photos. Photo: Xseon/Shutterstock |
Which of your 2018 posts was most pop alongside your audience? Why do yous recollect it does thus well?
The most pop post alongside my audience was Don’t punish your domestic dog for peeing inwards the house. I was genuinely surprised at how pop it was, but I recollect it did thus good because menage grooming issues are thus common. So many people recollect the domestic dog is beingness spiteful or stubborn as well as thus it genuinely helps for people to conduct hold skilful advice on this.
Did yous implement a novel series, feature, or exercise on your weblog inwards 2018 that you’re enjoying?
For the commencement time, I tried having a laid of posts around a theme, how to aid fearful dogs. Normally I don’t excogitation posts that far inwards advance but this required me to do that, including setting upwards some interviews to live business office of the serial as well as thinking almost what each post would be. I wasn’t certain if it would move or if readers would acquire bored of the topic as well as want I’d moved on to something else, but luckily it worked well. Maybe if I tin give notice honor fourth dimension to sit down downwards as well as plan, I’ll do the same i time to a greater extent than this twelvemonth but on a dissimilar theme.
As the social media landscape changes, how are yous promoting your weblog posts as well as connecting alongside novel readers?
This is such a pertinent query because it changes all the time, as well as sometimes thus abruptly. Traffic from Facebook particularly has genuinely fallen. Pinterest traffic has fallen. Google too; an algorithm alter inwards Apr led my google traffic to plummet, though it came dorsum upwards i time to a greater extent than afterward some other alter inwards September. And thus Blogger got inwards on the human action inwards belatedly Oct alongside an termination that meant some mobile views via Facebook were non beingness recorded (they acknowledged the termination but at fourth dimension of writing even thus conduct hold non said if or when they recollect to prepare it).
The most of import affair for me is my electronic mail listing (you can subscribe to here). I even thus purpose Feedburner to ship out emails because it’s gratuitous (I looked at some alternatives final calendar week but they were pricey). Then I purpose Twitter as well as Facebook.
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| Photo: Bill Anastasiou/Shutterstock |
Looking forrard to 2019, if yous attain exclusively i affair through your blog, what do yous promise it is?
If I’m completely honest, I experience similar my primary aim is precisely to move along going! To acquire to the halt of the year, having even thus managed to conduct hold a post every Wednesday. But I’m feeling tired, thus perchance I'll come upwards up alongside some meliorate ideas during the year. And having said that, I conduct hold read some genuinely cool scientific papers late that I’m looking forrard to blogging about. So long every bit at that spot is exciting scientific discipline out there, I human face I’ll move along on going! The vantage is knowing it makes a departure to the welfare of our companion animals. I dear learning novel things as well as my readers do too.
What steps are yous planning to conduct hold to ensure yous orbit your goal?
I’m trying to excogitation ahead as well as brand fourth dimension inwards my diary for my blog, non precisely for the writing business office but also the social media as well as technical part. I can’t write last-minute posts, I demand fourth dimension to recollect almost each one, thus I demand to move along that infinite inwards my diary. Also – as well as this won’t audio related, but it is – I took upwards running again. I’m having to create upwards rattling like shooting fish in a barrel because I conduct hold a dodgy ankle, as well as I’m rattling slow, but it’s doing me the globe of good. Being inwards front end of my estimator all the fourth dimension is non good for yous thus I needed something to counterbalance that.
Now it’s your turn! How tin give notice nosotros help? Is at that spot an expanse where yous could purpose some advice, or an aspect of your weblog that you’d similar input on?
People move along telling me I should live on Instagram. Is a skilful way to ship traffic to your blog? What do I demand to know to become far work?
This is also a corking fourth dimension for readers to tell me if at that spot are whatever burning topics yous would similar to encounter covered inwards 2019.
Thank yous to Amy for running the Pet Blogger Challenge!
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Zazie Todd, PhD, is the writer of Wag: The Science of Making Your Dog Happy
. She is the founder of the pop weblog , where she writes almost everything from grooming methods to the human-canine relationship. She also writes a column for Psychology Today as well as has received the prestigious Captain Haggerty Award for Best Training Article inwards 2017. Todd lives inwards Maple Ridge, BC, alongside her husband, i dog, as well as ii cats.Useful links:
- Check out what the Animal Book Club is reading this month
- Get merch
- Support me on Ko-fi
- Visit my Amazon store
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