Happy New Year &

The Go Pet-Friendly

2017 Pet Blogger Challenge

Can you believe it’s 2017?!  I am amazed at how fast time seems to fly and it seems to get faster and faster every year.  Since we started in 2004 we have watched and learned from the yearly pet blogger challenge from GoPetFriendly.com. If you have a blog, you understand it can be difficult (but imperative) to find your voice and focus. We finally feel ready to participate, though as we all know, a blog is consistently a work in progress.

To set the scene, this is a chance to step back and evaluate our site and goals. Connecting with other pet bloggers we can learn from, supporting and sharing our experiences. If you are not a blogger, you can learn more about us here since we will be answering some great questions about why we are here, how we started and where we are heading. On that note, we would love to hear from you. What do you think about our plans? Are there topics you would like to hear more about? Please comment and let us know!

Enough musings, let’s start the challenge.

1. When did you start your blog and, for anyone who is just seeing it for the first time, please provide a description of your site. Would you say your blog focus more on sharing stories with your readers, or providing a resource for your audience?

November 26, 2013 was an exciting day, my 1^st self-published book “Not Like the Others: Harley’s Story-Having a Pet with Special Needs” was published. After the publication (better late than never…right?) I was reading two books: Katie Davis’ “How to Promote your Children’s Book” (I can no longer find it on Amazon) and Midge Raymond’s “Everyday Book Marketing: Promotion ideas to fit your regularly scheduled life” (see affiliate link below).  Both suggested starting a blog so in April 2004 with a post “A “Happy Mother’s Day”  www.denisegruzensky.com was born. Looking back, I had no idea what I was doing. We have come a long way and finally have our focus.

Denise’s Dog Dish is a health and wellness resource for dog lovers.

Shasta’s Yorkie Yap is a fun place for all things dog featuring Shasta.

We are PAWsitively trying to make a difference!

2.  What was your proudest blogging moment of 2016?

Breaking 3K page views in a month was my proudest moment of 2016.

The most fun moment every year for the last 2 years has been attending the BlogPaws conferences (this is not an affiliate link, we just love the conference and already have our tickets for 2017)!

3.  Which of your blog posts was your favorite this year and why? (Please include a link)

I enjoyed many of my posts but my favorite is How to tell if your child or dog has Diabetes? This probably should have been the 1^st post on my site. It is the theme where EVERYTHING, including my book, began but took me 3 years to write (I have probably been composing it in my head for the last 3 years). I am a Nurse Practitioner, therefore health and wellness comes naturally to me, and was an easy flow into the same for pets, especially after Harley’s diagnosis of Diabetes. You would think that made it easy to find our focus/stride; but alas it did not.

4.  Year after year, one goal that we all seem to share is that we want to reach more people. What one tool did you use or action did you take this year that had the most impact on increasing traffic to your blog?

Becoming part of a wonderful Mastermind Group (though I still tend to think of it as an accountability group). I adore these women, who I connect with every 2 weeks. We learn, grow and support each other. A few of us joined together to launch our 1^st Holiday gift guide and giveaway, which produced a significant influence in growing my page views and e-mail list.

5.  Which of your blog posts got the most traffic this year? (Please include a link) Have you noticed any themes across your most popular posts?

The Holidays, Hounds and Hot Buys Giveaway was the most popular post. However, it is amazing to see (I know I know it should not surprise me) writing about things I am passionate about are the most popular, even when they are reviews.

Help your dog find traction with Dr. Buzby’s Toegrips

Dog Allergy answer-Natural Paws

Keeping warm this winter with Teckelklub’s Sierra Waterproof coat

6.  What blog do you find the most inspirational and how has that influenced your blog? (Please include a link)

Wow, I am supposed to choose just one? There are so many! Ok, since I have to choose one in 2016; Kristen Avery’s The Daily Pip was inspirational. Additionally she eloquently showed how to effectively combine my love for special needs/senior pets and rescue through her series “The Specials”.

7.  What is one thing your readers don’t know about you or your pets that would surprise them?

We have been trying to expand our family for several years and have been through several cycles of IVF. Often, when there is an extended period of time when I seem to be a bit absent, we are working on another cycle. A patient recently gave me a very special gift, a sign that says “The Best Things in Life are Rescued”. Soon (hopefully) that will not only apply to our furry family members but also adopted humans as well.

8.  What is something you’ve learned this year that could help other bloggers?

I saw this on Facebook and hope I give credit appropriately.

It came from Evolver Social Movement, words of wisdom wildwoodlove:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9.  What would you like to accomplish on your blog in 2017?

Being more consistent in my posting schedule. I’m working on the Epic Blog workbook (see affiliate link below) and the Kol’s Notes 2017 Best Life Pet Planner to be more accountable in my posting schedule. Hopefully leading to reaching 5000 page views in a month.

10.  Now it’s your turn! You have the attention of the pet blogging community-is there a question you’d like answered, or an aspect of your blog that you’d like input on?

I am also starting a blog for my Legal Nurse Consulting business. If you are an LLC, what were some of the key factors that went into your decision to go that route?

Special thanks to Go Pet Friendly for hosting the yearly blog hop and being our go to place for all things pet travel!

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