Thank you SO much to everyone who participated in the Cupcakes and Mace survey

I started a couple of weeks ago. I had more responses than I thought I would, it was nice to get a range of responses from people that are Cupcakes and Mace lovers and read everyday, through to the people that are just passing by stopping in once and a while.
An extra big thanks to everyone who left comments with explanations for their answers, and tips and advice.

As promised here are some results and information I took from your responses.

Cupcakes and Mace regular posts

• Some of the results were expected. You all still like Pick N Mix the most with almost 70% of people marking that they love Pick N Mix posts.
• People were split about Hier Und Jetzt (which is Here and Now in German). A few people love it, a few think it’s OK, but most like it. It’ll be sticking around and I’ll make tweaks as I go. It’s the most diary part of this site.
• Results were spread evenly between love, like, and OK for the Indie Finds, Things I Love, and Things I Loathe posts. Many of you can’t stand the Gala Darling style Things I Love Thursday posts, and while a few of you love Things I Loathe Thursday I think the majority prefer not to read that type of negativity. I’m going to keep these types of posts to a minimum or combine them with Hier Und Jetzt. I don’t particularly like the way I’ve done Indie Finds so there will be no more of them until I think of a way to make them interesting and pretty.
• You were also split over the Short and Sweet reviews with equal numbers loving, liking, and thinking they are just OK. I really like doing them so I’m going to continue to do them, but I’ll make it more obvious that they are written they way they are because I’ve only given myself 30 words for the review. I’ll also try to warn about spoilers (sorry!).
• Most of you love ‘Because You Asked’ and ‘The Week In Photos’ so they will be sticking around and I’ll work on remembering to take more photos to share. There were a few requests for Daily Outfit shots as well, I’ll work on actually getting dressed and leaving the house and then start on taking photos. :p

Prefered style of posts

In the love column:

1. link posts
2. photo posts
3. how-tos for cooking and crafting

In the like column:

1. reviews
2. cool finds
3. wishlists
4. things I love
5. things I hate
6. advice
7. quotes and short statements
8. how-tos for business and blogging
9. outfit posts

In the OK column:

1. music recommendations

Extras

• When you think about the Cupcakes and Mace blog you think about links, bright colours, jewellery, quirkiness, humour, rebellion, and attitude. Seems that my point is getting across!
• The majority of respondents have been reading Cupcakes and Mace between 3 and 6 months and subscribe to the RSS feed.
• Over 80% of you want to hear more about the jewellery business, with one specific request for more pics of my jewellery.
• One commenter noted they didn’t like my header. I didn’t either, I’ve simplified it a lot now. Thanks :]
• Another commenter requested a more thorough about page. Will be working on this too when I can think of some interesting things to say about myself.
• Gratitude was expressed for my no bullshit way of writing. That’s something you can continue to expect from me. If I start sounding like I’m a marketing manager please tell me to stfu.
• I realised before I started the survey that regular content was taking a back seat to all the regular posts I’d been doing. It was one of the main reasons I felt compelled to survey you about what you want. Hopefully you’ve seen a bit of an improvement in the past couple of weeks. It’s something I’ll continuously work on.

Alrighty. Take from that what you will, use it to improve your own blog if my audience is one you want. And please let me know through comments, emails, tweets etc if you’ve got any requests or constructive criticism for this blog.

It’s hard to put yourself out there knowing that all you can do is wait and hope that people respond positively, but it’s worth it. As long as you remember to take everything with a grain of salt.

When you first start out blogging and push publish on your first article it’s like walking into a crowded meat market, you want people to notice you so that you might be able to get a date. Those eyes on you are the visits to your blog.

You might meet a couple of people and give them your number, in the same way you visit other blogs leaving your website address.

Then you keep an eye on your phone hoping the boys with your number call. Just like you check your emails hoping to find a new blog comment.

Eventually you’ll have people calling more regularly because you’ve gotten better at meeting new people, matured, and are more confident.

Then you hit the jackpot, you get noticed by famous bachelor or you get a big payday. You’ve never had so many people watching you or calling, except how do you tell who is genuinely interested and who is just after the fame?

My little baby is slowly starting to grow. But now that I’m a full time blogger crafter type it’s time to put some real work into the blog.
I have a short survey for y’all and I will be so grateful to find out what you think.

Take the survey

All of the questions are voluntary, and anonymous (unless you choose to give me your details at the end). You can answer as many questions as you like and they’ll all be counted.

Depending on the number of responses I get I’ll share the results on the blog and let you know if there is going to be any change in direction.

I’ll make this post sticky for a week or so so you can find it easily. Newer posts are below.

Thanks in advance!

If you’re a blogger you may have read about Problogger’s 31 days to build a better blog challenge. This has already been run by Darren a couple of times and I happened to be reading his older challenges the night before he announced intentions to run a challenge for 2009. I’m going to be leaving my secure full time employment shortly so there is no better time to assess and make my blog better. If you haven’t already signed up you can join heaps of other people already signed up to the newsletter, or follow via the Problogger website.

It’s been going for a couple of weeks now, and I seem to be following it haphazardly, hoping I’ll have time to do all the tasks eventually. Even though I’ve not been doing the challenges religiously, I have been reading them and it’s been great to think about what I’m doing here a bit more.

Day one’s task was to write an elevator pitch for your blog. This will help you understand what your blog is truly about and will mean you no longer have to fumble around for something to say when people ask you what you do (and you don’t want to tell them you’re in a dead end job that you hate). I’ve been getting asked that a lot lately with people wanting to know what I’m going to do when I leave my job. The jewellery side of Cupcakes and Mace is easy to explain. I’m offering a tangible product, and that’s something most people can relate to. I’m always wearing my jewellery too so I can show them my real life product.
Explaining blogging to someone that’s not familiar with it is much harder. Even if they get the blogging part it’s hard to explain a women’s lifestyle blog centred around my life without sounding overly narcissistic, boring, and a bit of a dick really. I get kind of embarrassed trying to tell someone that yes actually, there are people interested in what I have to say, and I have subscribers! :S

This is what I’ve come up with:

Cupcakes and Mace: Reporting on all the things that affect, influence, inspire, and entertain alternative young women. It’s about embracing your life with attitude. It’s remembering that you’re only as old as you feel.

What do you think? Do you have an elevator pitch? I want to read all about it!

Hi lovelies.

I’ve just updated the WordPress theme used on Cupcakes and Mace. Hopefully the differences for you are minimal (and hopefully it means more control at my end). I’ve tested as much as I can at the moment, but if you see anything big or small that isn’t working, looks weird, annoys you, or any features you’d like added please leave me a comment or send me an email.

Thanks for your help!

xxoo

I’ve just taken the plunge and purchase Sarah Prout’s ‘Secret of an Online Empress’, Sarah seems like a pretty cool chick. I like the design of her website and she sounds like she’s doing well for herself, so I thought this ebook could offer some insight and tips on making more of an online presence for myself.

Unfortunately it didn’t live up to the hype I’d created. I think it would be great for someone brand new to the blogging or online marketing world, but that’s not me. I’ve read a lot of stuff about online marketing from many different free websites and ebooks which provide much of the same information.

There were a couple of social networking sites that I hadn’t heard of that I’ve decided to sign up to, but there were also a couple of links that didn’t work at all.
Most disappointing were the references to the book ‘the secret’. While gratitude and positive thinking are important in order to create the right mindset to get what you need, the “law of attraction” advice is not something I want to pay for when trying to learn business secrets.

Sarah offers a full refund for anyone not happy with the book which she gave to me promptly after I emailed her. I did ask to swap it for an ebook copy of her other book Sprout the Life You Love if she had one (currently only available in hardcopy) but she didn’t answer my question. Must be doing well for herself to ignore my request to let her keep my money!

I’m still interested in getting a copy of Sprout the Life You Love if you’re reading this Sarah :D

CupcakesAndMace.com is currently under construction. I’m in the process of moving from wordpress.com so you’ll have to bare with me while I make everything pretty.

You could subscribe and automatically get the new stuff when it happens :D

Subscribe in a reader

People that have been here before may have noticed the sudden name change today from I’d Rather Be Wrong.

It’s step 1 in a series of steps to move to my own site!!!!!!

I’ve got a fantastic geek relative who is letting me use some of his server space so I will be putting that together in the next little while. The address will be … CupcakesAndMace.com.

Yay.

I’m really quite happy with it, think it sums up my aesthetic quite well with the cutesy shiny side and the rock loving, steel capped boots wearing side.

My new email address will be kim(at)cupcakesandmace.com.

I’m so proud. My first domain and personalised email address :D

HELP! Uploaded by FrizzText on 20 Oct 07, 8.35 NZST.

The big announcement was made today.

What announcement was that you ask?

Well nothing that concerns you much but it concerns me greatly. The new General Managers were announced today.
We’re currently going through a restructuring and therefore most of the people hired this year have been hired as contractors. Therefore we have been lucky (?!?) enough to get to know some of the people who have been made permanent employees…before they were made permanent.

Unfortunately this meant that my team had already decided that if this particular contractor was hired as their permanent GM then they would be leaving.

That was the decision handed down to us today.

I know I cannot work under this woman.

She reminds me of my old boss (the reason I left my last job). She micro-manages and does not realise she’s not an all knowing god and that other people have areas of expertise that she could draw on and use to enhance the company.

So therefore, sooner or later I will be leaving this company in pursuit of more exciting tasks.

What tasks are those you might ask?

Well, hopefully blogging. I HATE applying for jobs and being made to feel like I suck just because someone can talk themselves up better than I can. But I do love blogging and connecting with and help people. So you may be seeing a lot more of me in the next few months.

Any support or advice you can offer would be gratefully appreciated.

What would you like to hear about that you can’t find anywhere else?

I am heading into a very revealing phase of my life. I think I may be heading to the discovery of that holy grail…the true purpose of my life.

The journey of self discovery is being helped along by a couple of successful bloggers, Steve Pavlina and Tina Su. I’m a way off yet but a few articles on their blogs are giving me a lot to think about.

Finding a mission and a purpose

Tina’s entry on Think Simple Now titled Life on Purpose: 15 Questions to Discover Your Personal Mission gives a 15 question guide on how to discover your own mission.

Steve’s entry on StevePavlina.com, How to discover your life purpose in about 20 minutes, is the one I’m really interested in though.

Steve says it’s as easy as heading up a page with the words “What is my true purpose in life?” and then writing. Writing sentences, words, short answers to that question until you find one that makes you cry.
I haven’t got there yet. There have been mini-surges (as Steve calls them) but no crying.
But Steve has something to say to all the people that doubt the merits of the exercise

The exercise is fairly pointless if you don’t take it to completion. You can debate the possible merits of it until you’re blue in the face, but you can’t really gauge what the water is like until you’ve gone for a swim.

I encourage you to go read the post and give it a try. Please let me know how you get on

Do something you love and you’ll never have to work a day in your life

That’s going to be a whole let easier to manifest once I’ve realised my purpose, but for now Tina has this advice:

• Have a clear vision of the result you want and why you want it
  It has to be measurable
• Write it down and date it
• Plan the steps
• Take action

Tina has just left her high paying job at Amazon to run her blogs fulltime so I know it CAN work.

Setting my own goals

I would like to be doing something I love, fulltime, that doesn’t feel like work (like blogging) within 2 years time. I’m going to start with a date of June 2009 for the first steps, and as a time for re-evaluation. I have a tendency to get bored with projects after about 6 months, so if I’m still going strong then I will have found myself a winner.

In that time I need to find a niche or purpose to focus on. I’ll need to move from a free blogging platform to something I can wholly own. I will need to monitise and I’ll need to get my name out.

Wish me luck :D