F.A.Q.

My e-mail inbox fills up every day with questions from readers. I end up answering a lot of the same questions over and over again, so I thought a page with Frequently Asked Questions might be helpful. If there’s anything you don’t see here that you want to know, ask in the comments and I’ll add the answer to this page as soon as I get a chance. Thanks!

Q: I love your family room. Can you tell me what paint color you used?

A: It’s “Pecan” by Eddie Bauer. Check out the post about My Favorite Paint Colors for photos and more info.

Q: I need advice on decorating my living room/bedroom/bathroom/you name it. Can you help me?

A: Many people write me asking me for decorating advice. I’m sorry, but I am not a decorator. I’m not a designer. I’m just someone who admires other the work of other people who have true talent!

Q: What else do you write, besides this blog? As a writer, how do you get work? How did you break into it?

A: I got my B.A. in English and have been a freelance writer and editor since college. I love being able to work from my home office! It’s a great gig for a mom because I’m always here for the kids when they need me. Among other things, I write content for marketing and business textbooks, and I’m a regular contributor to Kiki, a magazine for creative girls who like art and fashion.

As for how I get work, well, it tends to be word-of-mouth between editors I’ve worked with over the years. I get recommended for various projects. But I have also sent query letters for articles that have been published occasionally, too. And I have submitted short stories that were accepted, as well.

Q: How did you promote your blog in the beginning?

A: When I was starting out, I mentioned my new blog on a message board that I was active on and immediately started getting hits from it. I got a lot of encouragement from them to keep going.

I sent out an e-mail to everyone I knew who might be interested, telling them to check out my new blog…but hardly anyone did. I got responses like, “What’s a blog?” and “I don’t read blogs,” and “I’m not interested in houses, thanks.” And this was from my friends and family! I knew I’d have to branch out if I wanted to find readers. (Ha.)

I left comments on other blogs that I liked and almost immediately started making friends with other bloggers who were generous enough to add me to their blogrolls.

I think a lot of luck is involved. Sometimes you just get “discovered” by a site that has a large readership, and one mention from them can send your stats through the stratosphere.

Also: I joined every blog carnival I could. And I still do! This is a great way for new readers to find you. (I now host Hooked on Fridays blog carnivals each week–my way of passing some of my traffic along to you. Join us if you haven’t already!)

I think it helps to be on Twitter (I’m @hookedonhouses if you want to follow me!). If you are a blogger who isn’t on Twitter yet, you’re really missing out. This is sort of where all the bloggers hang out and talk about stuff “behind the scenes” of our blogs. And we help each other whenever possible, giving advice and “retweeting” each other’s links.

It’s good to have a separate Facebook page for your blog readers, too. I have a fan page, which means anyone can see it and “become a fan” without sending a request.

But, bottom line is, you have to have great content that keeps people coming back, makes them want to link to you and tell their friends, inspires them to Stumble you, etc, etc.

Q: What program or site do you use to find out your statistics, and how do you know who is linking to you?

WordPress–the platform I blog with–comes with statistics built in. I also use Google Analytics, which can get really detailed information for you, such as how long the average reader spends on your site and how many posts most people read during each visit.

The other way I know who’s linking to me is by checking my page on Technorati.

Q: My question is how the heck does Technorati work? And… what is it useful for?

A: Technorati basically ranks all of our blogs to let us know where we stand in the blogosphere. The lower your rank (closer to #1) and the higher your authority, the better. It takes into account how many other blogs are linking to you and how many people have added you to their “Technorati Favorites.” (Here’s my page on Technorati.)

However. Technorati breaks down a lot. So it’s not always accurate. For example, it doesn’t always update my blog in a timely fashion and might be a week behind (it should always list your most recent posts). That can get really frustrating.

But you can see who is linking to you and get an idea for where you stand compared to other blogs similar to yours, so I think it’s worthwhile to register your blog there.

Q: What are the advantages of changing platforms like you did several months ago? I believe you were on WordPress and now you have your own domain?

A: I changed to a self-hosted WordPress.org blog in October of 2008 because WordPress.com does not allow you to have things like ads, Mister Linky code, polls, Amazon Associates widgets, or anything like that on your site. I found it limiting.  I also made the decision to start accepting private ads in the fall. So I had to switch.

The difference is that I now own my own domain and have to make any updates or changes to the blog myself (WordPress used to upgrade everything for me automatically). I also have to pay an annual fee for my domain, whereas it used to be free, but I think it’s worth it. The ads pay for my expenses.

Q: What web host provider do you use?

A: Bluehost. I had some trouble with them in the beginning when my website kept crashing, but they have moved to new servers, or added servers, or something since then, and I haven’t had any problems since. Their support staff has been great when I had questions, too. I went with them because they were recommended for bloggers who use WordPress.

I hope you found the answer to your question here. If not, feel free to ask what you need to know in the comments!