Can we talk YHL, post book tour?

[hesitantbride]

This is a statement of the obvious, but the blog has been SUCH a snooze lately. Today's post about *another* fake roman shade (or whatever) is just a repetition of things they have been doing. I realize they have been traveling so much on their book tour, but they said the blog wouldn't suffer.

Well, I think the blog has been suffering since last year around this time, when they "redid" their kitchen. I can't think of one really compelling project they have done in a year's time (well, for my taste).

Obviously, I need to move on from this blog (and I mostly have), but I was wondering what you ladies think might happen after their book tour/tropical vacation early next year. Do you expect the content to get better?

Anyone else notice a sustained decline in content since the last Holiday season?

[Deleted]

|-)

I'm kind of bored and low on funds these days though so I might make one of those shades for my kitchen. Which is better than the nothing I have on the window now. I do already have fabric I can use.

[heygrey]

I can't imagine how hard it is to work on your home all day. I'd get bored myself and start phoning it in.

It is slower, but I'm not sure what I expect them to do differently.

[ssmjlm]

I wish I could say it was them, but I find myself unsubscribing from A LOT of blogs lately. And I'm talking about ones that I used to be so die hard about. Most are phoning it in, all about sponsored posts, etc.

I'm just wondering if it's YHL or the state of DIY blogs in general.

[hesitantbride]

Nov 26, 2012 12:55:28 GMT -5 ssmjlm said:

I wish I could say it was them, but I find myself unsubscribing from A LOT of blogs lately. And I'm talking about ones that I used to be so die hard about. Most are phoning it in, all about sponsored posts, etc.

I'm just wondering if it's YHL or the state of DIY blogs in general.

Oooh, this is a really great point. I think you are right that this is a larger state of blogs, especially as the blog writers turn from being personal diaries of sorts to money makers. I can't even look at Making It Lovely anymore.

[pitterwoo]

that is a good point. I've been thinking maybe it was just me that I'm not as into decor blogs anymore. I do think some of it has to do with a saturation level. Just a few years ago almost any blog project was new to me. Now, I've seen all the window treatments, DIY reupholstery/slipcovers, yardsale furniture transformations, etc.

[SusanBAnthony]

This post is depressing me! I don't subscribe to any blogs, just read about them when people post on here. I was thinking I should start subscribing to some since we are going to be buying a house and working on it fairly soon. My main complaint is when they are full of giveaways, freebies, etc. I am happy to only read one real post a week if it can just stay on topic!

[ssmjlm]

Nov 26, 2012 13:11:12 GMT -5 SusanBAnthony said:

This post is depressing me! I don't subscribe to any blogs, just read about them when people post on here. I was thinking I should start subscribing to some since we are going to be buying a house and working on it fairly soon. My main complaint is when they are full of giveaways, freebies, etc. I am happy to only read one real post a week if it can just stay on topic!

Some of my still favorites are:

Sawdust and Paper Scraps
DIY Diva

These are some building ladies and not just decor.

I also still love Bunny's blog 86in It too.

But many of my tried and true favs have gone by the unsubscribed wayside. Also if you truncate your feed I've had to say bye too.

[Deleted]

I don't think it's YHL in particular, although I think they definitely jumped shark a long time ago and now border on dull and even ridiculous with many of their projects. Their blog has suffered horribly with the book project and I don't know if they will be able to salvage it or if it will just continue to decline until they quit and move on to something else.

In general I think that the web is saturated with DIY blogs now. Nothing is fresh, nothing is new. It's all been seen/done before. I am constantly cleaning out my Google reader because so many blogs all look alike and it's all a snoozefest. Most of my web time is spent on Pinterest and recently I've gotten into YouTube vlogs.

[bunnymendelbaum]

Thanks ssm!

I think it is the nature of DIY blogs. Once you have all the big reno's done you have to move or it gets old.
Plus, with sponsorship and ads you are obligated to post a certain # of times per week. More posts= more page views= more $$.

I think a lot of bloggers get sucked into that. I don't make jack off of my blog, but I still get sucked in and post nonsense sometimes.

Honestly, I'm also leery of posting tutorials for fear I'll forget a step or explain something wrong and be professionally liable. I think that's why a lot of the blogs are either showing easy stuff you see everywhere or don't go into detail.

I'm sort of excited to finish this house & sell it then blog the new house construction and stop blogging (or at least stop regular blogging.)

[bunnymendelbaum]

Oh and I agree the sponsored posts are out of control. It is SO uninteresting!

[pitterwoo]

My least favorite thing about sponsored posts is when I go to a blog and read about whatever the item is and then click on the next blog in my reader and see that it's the exact same item and repeat that 5 times.

You'd think the companies would know that there are a lot of overlap readers and they would be better off having their product mentioned regularly throughout a year instead of having the same launch date on all the blogs. Right? I mean unless it's a contest thing, I don't know why they have sponsored posts all hit on the same day. It totally makes everyone seem disingenuous no matter how clever the post about laundry detergent is when you click on the next blog and read about the same product right away.

[jayhawkbecca]

Nov 26, 2012 16:39:40 GMT -5 bunnymendelbaum said:

Thanks ssm!

I think it is the nature of DIY blogs. Once you have all the big reno's done you have to move or it gets old.
Plus, with sponsorship and ads you are obligated to post a certain # of times per week. More posts= more page views= more $$.

I think a lot of bloggers get sucked into that. I don't make jack off of my blog, but I still get sucked in and post nonsense sometimes.

Honestly, I'm also leery of posting tutorials for fear I'll forget a step or explain something wrong and be professionally liable. I think that's why a lot of the blogs are either showing easy stuff you see everywhere or don't go into detail.

I'm sort of excited to finish this house & sell it then blog the new house construction and stop blogging (or at least stop regular blogging.)

Don't stop blogging!! I love your blog !!

Sent from my SCH-I500 using proboards

[pinkeggs]

I really like John and Sherry. Considering how big they hit it, I think they still come off as down-to-earth and grateful for that they have. I'm also jealous that they manage to both be home with their daughter all day. (Although I am NOT jealous of the lifestyle; every time they post a day-in-the-life type thing, I want to take a nap. They never really turn off)

That said, the book killed the blog. At least for now. And I am only partially kidding when I say that Sherry is going to have to get pregnant again for them to rise above the past few months, readership-wise.

A few that I have been enjoying lately. Nothing groundbreaking, but decent:

www.cape27blog.com/
www.ourfifthhouse.com/
www.tealandlime.com/
www.thebusybudgetingmama.com/

[aimeedyan]

I am tired of the same giveaway/sponsorship on 4-6 blogs I read. Surely, they is much overlap between the readership! Such a waste of money and honestly, COMPLETELY turns me off on the product. I know that's silly but it's so fake and mass produced in it's presentation that I want nothing to do with it after seeing it so many times.

I'm finding myself less patient with blogs. There are just too many good ones out there for me to put up with truncated feeds, multiple giveaways and sponsor posts a week, more than 1-2 posts a day, etc. I think Design Sponge had good things but I can't handle 6 posts a day; it was just too much.

And when Honey We're Home recently shared that she deleted her entire inbox - reader emails and all - I removed her immediately.

YHL has their issues - I agree - but after scanning through some other blogs, they aren't so bad

[housegeek]

I'm a little annoyed they are like, here is our $8 15 minute project! And then 90% of the materials they already had, and some of the stuff ( like the wood dowel and wood top piece) were already cut. They seem to do that a lot.

[Deleted]

I haven't read their blog since I think Clara was born, so I cannot comment on the state of things there. But I sure hope someone here will be kind enough to tell me this if my blog ever starts to suck balls (or already does LOL).
Or if I ever use the terms bones in reference to money. Then you can delete from your feed with no questions asked.
Much appreciated!

[peach]

Holly, your blog is one of the few that remained real. I remember once you did a post about dog food and I was like NOOOO not holly too! I was all scared you were going to jump ship but you didn't. LOL but you have stayed interesting and normal...I appreciate blogs that minimize sponsored posts and fake posts using this awesome new product they were provided with. It has a time and place, and I appreciate giveaways or when a company gives a blogger a challenge to do something creative.

And the word bones is the least of their terrible writing style now. they have gotten so cheesy, Sherry has named herself the Sherdog or something like that....ick it's so bad it's like reading an article in Cosmo about sex.

[Deleted]

LOL, thanks peach! The dog food post was not super exciting, I admit but the real reason I did it was to improve my blog, not for the $15 or whatever those things pay. They provided me with a new HD video camera to shoot a 15 second video of Mungkee. Totally lame but I figured that it was worth it to be able to do video posts going forward. But obviously in the moment you can't write "please, don't hate me for this post, I promise it's for the greater good!!!" lol. But yeah, not the highlight of my blog writing in that post.

[peach]

haha, that makes sense. I remember being at that, but it was the one and only post of yours I've ever seen like that. which is rare in the blog world...sigh...so many good blogs are going to crap.

[ssmjlm]

Nov 26, 2012 20:58:35 GMT -5 aimeedyan said:

And when Honey We're Home recently shared that she deleted her entire inbox - reader emails and all - I removed her immediately.

Wow, that's pretty ballsy. I stopped reading that blog when it became more and more sponsored posts.

[bunnymendelbaum]

Nov 26, 2012 23:24:20 GMT -5 @holly said:

Or if I ever use the terms bones in reference to money. Then you can delete from your feed with no questions asked.

Haha!

Holly what is your blog? Bet I already subscribe!

[Deleted]

Nov 27, 2012 7:35:02 GMT -5 ssmjlm said:

Nov 26, 2012 20:58:35 GMT -5 aimeedyan said:

And when Honey We're Home recently shared that she deleted her entire inbox - reader emails and all - I removed her immediately.

Wow, that's pretty ballsy. I stopped reading that blog when it became more and more sponsored posts.

Wow. It's one thing to do it, it's another thing to tell you readers you can't be bothered with their emails. I haven't read her in a while but I did click on that post from my reader and the blog says it doesn't exist. Did she get a lot of backlash and take it down?

[jhawks482]

I think what will hold the blog together through ebbs and flows is their charachter. They are nice, sweet people who share a lot of their personal life. It's hard not to like them, even if you don't "like" their blog content 100% of the time. I also like Isabella and Max (house of fifty) for this reason. She just seems SO genuine, and a good mom. Same with you, Holly- I've been reading yours from day 1, when we were pregnant at the same time. Our styles are much different but I love your blog, your success story, and most importantly, YOU. Character is important to me- I can always find DIY stuff on pinterest and Martha Stewart.

[Deleted]

Someone please post a link to Holly's blog!

[princepissedalot]

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I'd much rather have Reader Redesigns as filler posts while they're dealing with book stuff.

[ssmjlm]

Nov 27, 2012 10:06:55 GMT -5 downtonali said:

Someone please post a link to Holly's blog!

If it's the old Holly from D&R then it's: www.inthefunlane.com/

But it might be another old nestie.

[jhawks482]

Nov 27, 2012 10:15:18 GMT -5 ssmjlm said:

Nov 27, 2012 10:06:55 GMT -5 downtonali said:

Someone please post a link to Holly's blog!

If it's the old Holly from D&R then it's: www.inthefunlane.com/

But it might be another old nestie.

Yep, that's her!

[sailorgray]

My gripe with blogs is when they fall off the face of the earth. I used to read Darby Stickler's blog www.flythroughourwindow.com/ but her last post was in July. She has 3 kids and her H's job has caused them to move for a bit, so I totally get it. She has said that she wants to focus more on her family and less on the blog, so it makes sense. I just really enjoyed reading her blog. Kinda dramatic, but it's like losing touch with a friend.

[electricmayhem]

Nov 27, 2012 9:29:12 GMT -5 downtonali said:

Nov 27, 2012 7:35:02 GMT -5 ssmjlm said:

Wow, that's pretty ballsy. I stopped reading that blog when it became more and more sponsored posts.

Wow. It's one thing to do it, it's another thing to tell you readers you can't be bothered with their emails. I haven't read her in a while but I did click on that post from my reader and the blog says it doesn't exist. Did she get a lot of backlash and take it down?

I read her blog and was really turned off by the deleted emails post. Then GOMI did a post about it, so that day I went back and read the comments she got, which must have been heavily moderated, because there were ~20, all variations of "You go girl!" 8-D

I haven't been back since but I wonder if she deleted not too long after GOMI called her out.