Behind the Scenes of My Survey: What I’m Changing Because of YOU

When I sent an email last week, asking you to fill out a short survey I felt like the suspender-wearing nerd asking the cheerleader to prom.

I’m still not sure why it made me feel a bit silly, but part of the reason I contemplated whether or not to survey my readers was because I know you’re busy. I don’t want to pile on another to-do to your already overwhelming task list.

So, I want to start today’s blog post with a BIG THANK YOU.

I didn’t expect that hundreds of you would fill out the survey. More than half the time when someone asks me to fill out a survey or review a product, I skip right over it, thinking that I don’t have time.

I appreciate you so much if you took a few minutes to answer my survey questions. And, I also appreciate you if you passed over it, thinking that you just didn’t have any extra time that day. I get it.

Whether or not you filled out the survey, I thought you might find the results interesting.

Here are the top 10 most common requests (and how I’m incorporating them into my business):

1. Share more behind-the-scenes type of content.

This wasn’t the most common request from the survey (that’s #2), but I thought I’d start with this one because I wrote this post based on how many of you asked for more behind the scenes type of content.

Some of you said that you loved my ‘Behind the Scenes of CreativeLive’ posts and wished I’d pull back the gauzy curtains and show more of the stuff that goes on behind running my business.

I think I’d bore some of you with my day-to-day life. That’s why I only share that kind of stuff when I think it’s exciting (like the CreativeLive posts), but because many of you requested it, I’m gonna do more of it (while still trying to keep it interesting—I don’t want anyone falling asleep in their Cheerios).

I thought it would be a great start to show the results of last week’s survey.

And, I’m considering uploading a vlog every once in a while (not daily or weekly—maybe more like once a month) to show you what some of my days look like. If that sounds interesting to you, let me know in the comments below and I’ll give it even more consideration.

2. Add a search option so it’s easier to find content on your site already! Come on, lady!

This was overwhelmingly the most requested change in the survey.

The last question on the survey asked if there was anything missing from the Blacksburg Belle website that would be useful.

At least 100 people said that they wished I made it easier to find archived content.

One person wrote: “Add a search option. Seriously. I’m sick of going to Google to search for your older posts.” (I laughed out loud so hard when I read this, so thank you to whoever put this so bluntly. You cracked me up and I’m going to change this so you don’t have to be so frustrated with me.)

And, I hear you. I’m currently working with a website designer to completely refresh Blacksburg Belle (which is part of the reason I sent out that survey) and we’re definitely adding a search option. Hooray!

If I’m being completely transparent, (and isn’t that what a behind the scenes post is all about) I used to have a search option in the navigation bar. The reason I got rid of it is because pages on my website were coming up in the search that I didn’t want people to be able to find (like a thank you page for purchasing one-on-one consulting or an old sales page) and I didn’t know how to include a search option while making those pages unsearchable.

But, don’t you worry. Come the end of the summer you will all be able to search my website to easily find what you’re looking for.

Can I get a high five?!?

3. I miss your videos. Please make more.

After the search option request, this was next in line for the most requested change.

Some of you said that you miss the weekly “Wednesday Wisdom” videos I used to publish.

Some of you said that you found me through CreativeLive and that you wished that I made more videos like that. While I don’t have a camera crew living in my guest room or a flying video camera to use at my disposal, I do want to publish more videos.

I have a few reasons that I stopped making weekly videos: a) I made the process of making videos harder than it needed to be by creating a new background for every video and I couldn’t keep it up any longer b) My health issues got worse and it was harder for me to get myself “video ready,” record and edit and was easier to write my blog posts c) It stopped being fun and I was enjoying writing more.

Now that I’ve had a break from weekly videos, I definitely miss it.

I’m not going to bring back “Wednesday Wisdom” videos but starting in June, I’m going to upload one to two videos per week on my YouTube channel.

Every Monday, I’m going to post a short video (less than five minutes) to get you motivated and inspired for the week. I’m calling it Monday Motivation.

Some weeks, I’m also going to post another video on Thursdays but these are going to vary. One week you might find a writing tip, the next week a vlog, the next week a book chat on a business book and the next week a tutorial.

I’m committing to this until the end of the year and then we’ll see. So, if you’ve missed my videos, make sure you subscribe to my YouTube channel so that you get notified each time I upload a video.

4. I need help with productivity, goal setting and just getting shizzle done.

The most common area that you wanted help with was getting stuff done.

You want productivity tips, help with time management, figuring out what to prioritize, tips on balancing a full-time job with your business and more that falls into this category.

I combined your request for more help in this area with more videos. That’s why I decided that I’ll post one video a week that has to do with productivity and motivation. I’m keeping those videos short, because if you need help in this area, you probably don’t have time to watch 30-minute videos on how to get more done.

5. If I were to join a membership site, I’d want to join a community—a place to get feedback and ask questions—with a leader who’s actually involved.

If you don’t know already, the next big thing I’m working on is a membership site for creative entrepreneurs.

I want to create a space where you can get support and encourage each other over a long period of time so that your relationships continue to grow, where you can get your personal questions answered and where you can find lots of helpful information that gives you the tools to reach your business goals.

My plan was to include a couple of Q&A calls each month. You’d be able to ask any question and get a personal response. For those of you who’ve ever attended Q&A calls with me, you know that I stay on the call until everything is answered and I give thoughtful answers (that can be quite lengthy if needed).

I’m still going to include a Q&A call each month, but I’m also going to include other types of live calls.

Like feedback calls. A call where you can join me on video to share a business idea and get feedback from the other women on the call.

Maybe chats on specific topics or lesson follow-up calls. After you’ve had a chance to digest a short-ish lesson for the month, we hop on a group call and I answer questions about that specific topic.

Maybe deep dive member calls where I pull one or two members on and we do a sort of one-on-one consulting type of thing but with other members watching and also providing feedback.

I haven’t decided on the specifics yet, but I got so many other ideas from those of you who filled out the survey.

I know the membership site will be better for it so thanks for all the feedback.

6. More worksheets and workbooks please.

Many of you said that you love my CreativeLive workbooks and would love more.

They take a lot of time, but I’m confident that I could add more worksheets to my weekly blog posts and some workbooks into the upcoming membership site. And, even though they take a lot of time, I enjoy creating them. Each time I’ve taught a CreativeLive course, I’ve looked forward to putting the workbook together.

This is something I’ll keep in mind each week. If I think a downloadable worksheet could help, I’ll do my best to include it.

7. I’m still stumped about the whole target market thing.

This was the other topic that many of you requested more information about. One of you said that people talk about the concept of a target market like you’re supposed to already know all about it and what it means.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t remember learning about what a target market is in elementary school.

I do have some previous blog posts that might help:

• How to Really Find Your Target Market
• How to Easily Get to Know Your Ideal Customer
• Are You Selling to the Wrong People?

And, I’m brainstorming upcoming content to help you get to know your target market better.

If you have specific questions about the topic of target markets or ideal customers, leave them in the comments below and I’ll try my best to work them into upcoming blog posts.

8. I’d love more in-person events.

Many of you said that you’d like to meet with me and other creatives in this community in person. But, within the same sentence or paragraph, many of you said that you’d like these types of events to be inexpensive.

While I love the idea of working with more of you in person (and love every opportunity to do so like past CreativeLive courses and retreats), most in-person events that are high-quality and helpful take a lot of energy and time to put together and cost a good chunk of money to host.

I don’t think in-person event and inexpensive go together.

Because so many of you included something about meeting up with other creative entrepreneurs in person in your survey answers, I came up with an idea that might be helpful to some of you.

Within the membership site, I’m going to include two member directories. One of them is going to be based on niche so that you’ll easily be able to find other members who do similar work as you and you can connect if you want to.

The second directory is going to be based on location, so that if other members are in your area, you could find each other and meet up.

It’s not the perfect answer, but I think it’s a pretty good one.

9. I got so much out of the three detailed marketing plans and want more content like that.

This was the most surprising consistent response that I received.

I wrote a blog post in which I wrote out three detailed marketing plans for different creative businesses. It wasn’t my most shared and most commented on blog post, but it seems to be the one that’s stuck out to readers as being the most helpful.

I’ve already taken this into consideration while planning upcoming blog content. I’m thinking about doing a detailed launch plan, some content calendar examples for different creative businesses, some examples of social media plans for different businesses and more.

If you would like to see a specific example of something, let me know in the comments below and I’ll try to work it in.

10. Thanks for all you do.

The most common response fell into this category.

Many of you thanked me for past CreativeLive courses, the work I put into my blog posts, the encouragement I give you and more.

Those responses filled my heart to overflowing.

I was so inspired by all of the positive messages and support while reading through the responses this past Friday afternoon that I sat down to write this blog post at 5pm on Friday.

Usually, I’m reading or painting with watercolors or working on my Alabama Chanin project when Friday afternoon rolls around. I like to reward myself for working hard during the week. But this week, I was super inspired to work on this blog post instead. THANK YOU for that.

Those were the ten most common responses that I got.

I’ve read every single answer and if you didn’t see something you wanted on this list, don’t worry. All of my upcoming blog posts revolve around what you’ve asked for.

After reading through your responses, I wish I would’ve asked for you to include your names and email addresses, because I wish I could’ve emailed some of you to thank you for what you said or your idea.

Please know that I really appreciate it. You’ve got me buzzing with new inspiration!