A FFSBR Reader Survey: What do you think?

I’ve been wanting to do this for a while now, but always forget about it when I’ve got something else on my mind to talk about. Today, I was working on the new banner at the top of the page and I remembered that I wanted to get some opinions about the direction of this blog.

I’ll start by telling you what (most of you) already know…I’m typically a goofy person, and therefore a goofy blogger. I’m not all silly-string and bouncy barns, but when I’m feelin’ right with the world it’s hard not to be silly. I think life is way too short to take everything so seriously.

That said, it may shock you to know that I’m somewhat of a deep thinker. I try not to bore you guys with that stuff on this blog, but you may see a little of that creep into an entry from time to time.

So that leads us to the part where I ask for your help:

What brings you to FFSBR, and what brings you back?

I suppose I could just do a poll, but those are so impersonal. I like to read the thoughts of my friends and followers, not see blue bars stretching across the screen indicating a yes or no answer.

Is it the humor? The photos? The more serious ( however rare!) entries? Do you come to see how crazy I’ve been today? Or to find out if there are interesting links? I used to post up alot of “deals” that I’d find around the internet on fly fishing gear. Do you miss those? Are you coming back because of the great group of regulars that comment here? Is it the fishing reports and videos?

What do you like about FFSBR, and what do you hate? What do  you think would make it better and how can we keep you coming back?

I could spend hours doing internet searches on how to make a “killer blog” but I think outdoor bloggers and outdoor readers are a very special group of people and alot of the information out there ( OK, ok, i HAVE spent hours reading about how to make a killer blog…for what it’s worth, much of it was just alot of time wasted, IMHO) isn’t really geared toward fishing, hunting, hiking or camping blogs. The stuff you find on “how to make a great blog” is almost always geared toward movies, tech, food and gossip. But I’d rather talk trees and rivers and deer and sunsets. My guess, since you’re reading this, is that you would too!

So let me know, guys…how can we take FFSBR to the next level?

I can’t wait to read your suggestions! ( And your snarky quips…umm…cough-riverdamsel-cough…  🙂 )

Thanks for spending some of  your day here with us. We enjoy havin’ ya.

owl

What did I do right on December 31st?

This is not a fishing entry. Let’s just get that out of the way. It’s an entry about blogging where I admit to you that I don’t know as much about it as it may seem like I do, and where I also fuss a little teeny bit about some things I don’t like about WordPress. Don’t you have stuff that just bugs you about WordPress or Blogger? It’ll take five minutes tops to get this off my chest.

( Warning: that’s 10 min. in “Owl Standard Time” – just ask my fishin’ buddies! 😉 )

So, it goes something like this: On December 31st, FFSBR (in it’s current WordPress form) got the Most…Hits….Evar. So, even with today’s flurry of activity we’re only at about 60% of the Dec. 31st total. I’m pretty sure of two things: One, that I posted four or five articles on that day; and two, that I’m too lazy to actually go and look. Was it the multiple articles that caused the spike? Or was it what was in the articles? I suppose I should go and look. Of course, then there is the distinct possibility that it was a rash of “Happy New Year” comments, too. Or maybe I posted naked pictures. Of brook trout. I don’t know. I just know that we seem to be stuck at a specific level, and while I am EXTREMELY grateful for the followers and readers that I have, I’d like to have a few more. ( Feel free to send out invites on our behalf to everyone you know! 😉 )

 

As for what to do about this desire of mine: I’ve read so many “How to Make Great Blog Posts” articles on the interwebz that I’m starting to think about writing one myself. It appears that each one is almost an exact carbon-copy of the other 4,533 I’ve already read, so it doesn’t seem like it’d be that hard. A little copy, a little paste and ta-da! I’m providing “How to Make Great Blog Posts” article # 4,534! I also had the thought that maybe I actually went fishing that day or maybe the day before. Maybe that was what caused it – actual fishing content and not just some old fool blathering away from his keyboard?!

 

This Bear was such a picture-hog. And he grumbled about Blogger just before he ruined our hero shot!

Whatever did it, I’m hoping I can do it again. Heck, I’d like to do it every day for you guys. Content worthy of your time is always my goal, and though I fall miserably short of that sometimes, rest assured it’s always in my mind and something I’m always working to improve. Thus, the switch to WordPress.

WordPress has alot of advantages to Blogger. It also has some “issues.” ( When fishing, and things aren’t going just right, we call them “fishhues.” Feel free to use that. No charge.)

1. WordPress sends you these neat little emails telling you who posted a comment. You can even approve, delete, spam, or trash it right from the email. That’s pretty cool, but sometimes I do these actions from the “Dashboard” and then later on when I get the email it’s hard to remember if I’ve approved it already or not. Just to be sure, I approve it(if it’s worthy! bwahahaha!) and it sends me to the Dashboard with a cute little note that says ” This message has already been approved.” I guess I’m just going to have to learn to ignore the Dashboard “Pending” link when I’m inside the “guts” of FFSBR, and go read my email more often.

2. Where is the “follower” widget? Hello? How am I supposed to prove to the world that not every person who staggers in does so because they followed an email link sent to them by a friend that featured some poor woman singing “Sweet Home Alabama” in the worst possible way? Maybe they have an app for that if you’re not using their .wordpress.com url thing? I dunno. Maybe I’ll find out someday. 😉 Ooops. Did I say that?

3. No matter how I try to input photos, I always end up having to go in multiple times to resize them. And if you want a border on them or spacing around a photo, you have to click another link deeper from the main photo input screen to do that. And when you get to that input screen, it’s a 1/4 page pop-up with a scroll bar?! I mean, what? You couldn’t make it bigger, WP? It takes you at least 8 clicks to insert a photo! Annoying? Yep. Especially when you’ve got a red-hot topic that you’re trying to get published before Friday night!

So, there ya go. That was five minutes (Owl Standard Time) of what’s on my little furry brain today.

Well, that’s not everything that’s on my little furry brain, but it’s what I feel brave enough to bore you with today. I hope you guys that visit the site and read the entries continue to do so – and feel free to take this opportunity to fill in suggestions, complaints, etc. in the comments section on this post. As a relatively new blogger, I’m open to almost anything short of posting photos of Mel’s backside, Quill’s beard or CoFisher’s face. Not that I have photos of any of these things, mind you!

 

Two Up with Dad on "The Wolf" near Hwy 129...

Two friends from "Georgia Sportbike"

 

What I photograph when not photographing fishing stuff...

So, if you have a suggestion that might improve FFSBR – or even something you’d like to see here – feel free to let me have it!

Even you Peter A. Whatever-Your-Name-Was.

Did I mention that I’m going fishing tomorrow? 🙂 🙂 🙂

Who is (actually it’s Peter) A Swanson, and why does he hate me?

Well, it was bound to happen – and maybe you saw it first hand. My first spam post. Actually, it was less spam and more hate-mail, but whatever – it’s all the same…just useless drivel from some poor soul who must be terribly unhappy with his own life. At least, that’s the only reason I can come up with. I know, I know…I fully realize that you either “love me” or “hate me.” I wear my feelings on my sleeve, always speak my mind(well, almost always), love my liberty(what’s left of it), have strong political beliefs, consider my faith in God inseparable (yet never perfect) from everything else I do…..so I’ve got alot going for me there – or alot to hate, depending on what kind of person you are, I guess.

So, tonight just as I was rambling on about the “good old days” on the internet, forums I’ve been banned from, people who’d rather spit in my face than just agree to disagree….I got a lovely email from an IP address and gmail account that led to a “Peter A. Swanson” who apparently lives in some yankee town up north. Michigan, Minnesota……something like that. He was apparently upset that my fly tying site “OMG It’s Fly Tying!” wasn’t up to his standards. He spewed out something that sounded like ” Hey, you’re tinkling with malice on the history of fly tying….”

Maybe I’m just that clueless. I have no idea what he’s talking about. Or, maybe he’s upset that I’ve got plans. Or that my mother loves me. Or that his doesn’t love him. I have no way to know, because as far as I know I’ve never met Mr. Swanson – although another message of his leads me to believe that he does indeed know me from the internet. Maybe we should meet up on Match.com sometime? ( yeah, right! 🙂 )

So anyway, that got me to thinking……how do you handle rude comments as a blogger? It may seem like I know what I’m doing, but I’ve only really been blogging a couple of months and I’d like to hear how you veteran bloggers handle your hate-mail. That is, if you get any hate-mail. I don’t think I’ve posted anything ( or tied any flies, no matter how imperfect) that would require a response akin to what Mr. Swanson gave me tonight. ( OK, except maybe that one about me crashing a whole website with a post someone didn’t like…:) )

So how do you do it? Do you just delete it? Mark is as spam? Do you ever post it and reply? Is that a fool’s folly? Should I just say that his email is lawdog@gmail.com and he likes junk emails so please sign him up for as much junk as you can? I really don’t know what to do when someone nuts up like that? ( Tonight, I simply deleted his comments and marked them as spam…)

I’m sure it’s not the last hate-mail I’ll get, no matter how open and friendly and helpful I try to be around the ‘net. For whatever reason, that “love me” or “hate me” thing has been with me a long time and I don’t see it changing in the future….