Today I’m joining the fifth Pet Blogger Challenge hosted by Go Pet Friendly. It is my third year to participate in this challenge and I have to say I learn so much from other blogs each year through this blog hop, it’s wonderful! If you aren’t familiar with the Pet Blogger Challenge, there is a list of questions for bloggers to answer. By reading through what other bloggers have to say, one can learn a lot, get some tips, and find out more about fellow bloggers. I have the questions and my answers below.
- How long have you been blogging? And, for anyone stopping by for the first time, please give us a quick description of what your blog is about. I started blogging in November 2011, so I’m in my fourth year already! Time blows by like I was chasing a wabbit! My blog is to bring awareness to my rare breed, the GBGV, we promote dog health and fitness, and we aim to bring smiles and laughter to our readers. We are a happy place to visit and are always rated “G”.
- Tell us one thing that you accomplished on your blog during 2014 that made you proud. We did a lot of work to try to connect with a few brands we really wanted to work with and it has paid off as several of them noticed, and are now working with us.
- What lessons have you learned this year – from other blogs, or through your own experience – that could help us all with our own blogs? We’ve learned to be more selective and to just say “no”. We’ve also learned the power of working with other bloggers on projects like giveaways as well as just working with and supporting other bloggers. Pet bloggers are not fierce competitors who keep to themselves, sharing and mulling over questions and ideas with each other is so helpful! The help and support in our blogging community is a precious resource.
- What have you found to be the most successful way to bring traffic to your blog, other than by writing great content? For the second year in a row, Facebook has been our biggest referral provider, but we are using Pinterest and Instagram more and more. We do a lot with Twitter, but it doesn’t drive a lot of traffic to the blog.
- What was your most popular blog post this year? Did it surprise you that it was your most popular? I was totally amazed! It was Feb. 11, Luvcakes for your Valentine https://mygbgvlife.com/2014/02/11/luvcakes/ It got double the views I normally get on my posts! I had a few other posts like the $200 PayPal Cash giveaway or my birthday/giveaway post that I would have picked. They both made the top five but not number one!
- What was your favorite blog post to write this year? It is really hard to pin down one post as we had so much fun with many of our reviews taking photos and making a story out of them. The one specific post that comes to mind was our coloring Easter eggs post https://mygbgvlife.com/2014/04/14/dog-bunnies-color-easter-eggs/ Mom said Bailie and I came out looking like Playboy Bunnies. Our blog is really a compilation of short stories based on photos and we simply love coming up with fun stories for any topic. We have serious topics too, but we try to write things in a fun way no matter what.
- Has your policy on product reviews and/or giveaways changed this year? Not really, except we have become more selective. We really only want to work with products or giveaways we believe in. We are sticking with our current niche which isn’t always what everyone else is doing, but it works for us.
- If you do reviews, what do you find works best, and what doesn’t work at all? My GBGV Life is where people go for smiles and laughs, but also to learn something. We do serious posts, but with reviews, we try to take a silly spin on the product or service which is really brought out with our photos. Readers usually love it, my photos are often shared which is good for the review and people remember it because I tend to be memorable in what I do as a dog! No one knows what I will come up with next which keeps everyone coming back for more and we always have a blast with our review posts (pretty much all posts for that matter).
- If you don’t do reviews, is this something you’d like to do more of? What hurdle is getting in your way? n/a because we do reviews
- What’s your best piece of advice for other bloggers? Figure out what you are about and do it. If the world wears green and you are all about yellow, wear yellow. It is hard sometimes to not run with the masses, but it is what makes your blog unique.
- What goals do you have for your blog in 2015? We want to give the blog a facelift, hopefully in the first quarter of the year for starters. Nothing major, but a new look, a bit cleaner, perhaps.
- If you could ask the pet blogging community for help with one challenge you’re having with your blog, what would it be? The age old question of how to get more traffic to the blog. We are growing, but I feel like there should be something we could do to get seen more, just don’t know what it is yet. Also, since we want to make some changes in our blog, what do you like and not like about My GBGV Life?
that was great to read. I look forward for fabulous product reviews and I can’t wait to see ya in the kitchen creating tasty things … seems I’m a macho hahahaha
Easy, it is easy with you…all about the food 😉
it is always good to look back – especially helpful to people you have recently come across your blog. One of the things we have found is often when people revamp their blog they also tend to slow them down. I know there are a few blogs we don’t visit as often as we use to because their blogs load so slow or don’t load properly or just hang up loading.
We despise it when blogs are slow to load. Hopefully that will not happen, but if you ever notice it, please wait for it to load and leave a comment. We are all about speed on the internet.
Great and fun to read.
Thank you.
You are the only blog I read and I love it!
That is a definite compliment, thank you! We try to be fun, with some fun stories and some that are messages or useful tips. It seems everyone always wants to know what I will be up to next.
I LOVE your blogs! I study the pictures – the backgrounds, the outfits, and the “props.” I like knowing that Bailie is in this world and I am not the only naughty scent hound. Katie looks (deceiving) like a soft pillow. Emma, I love your serious expressions, and when you cook you remind me of this lady called Julie Childs! XOXO Sparkle the PBGV
🙂 Thank you. We have so much fun with our photos and stories to go along with them. I probably should change it all around and just do a cooking dog blog, but Mom says that would be way too much work and people might get bored if I was in the kitchen all the time. By the way, paws crossed as I say this, Bailie has been on a good behavior streak lately. We are hoping she has turned the corner, but time will tell.
I don’t know how you could ever pick a favorite post to write – they all look like so much fun! I always enjoy my time on your blog and seeing what hilarious things you will be up to!
I definitely agree about the pet blogging community. We haven’t been around long but have already made many great friends and everyone is SO supportive. There is no reason why we can’t all be successful!!!
Can’t wait to see your redesign in the coming months!
I think fun is our biggest problem. We always have so many crazy ideas! We are always taking photos and writing stories to go along with them. Our biggest hope is that we will never lose the fun because it would ruin the blog. The redesign is a scary thing, but we want to revamp after three years and catch up with the times a bit more.
Great read! Your pictures and spin on product reviews are definitely unique and amazing. I love the look of your blog. I would maybe see if you could widen your writing area so everything is spaced out a bit more, but otherwise, I love how clean and simple it is!
One of the top points on the new look list is to have the blog be screen width without those dead space borders. This is the theme we started with at wordpress.com which we migrated over when we switched to self hosted. It is time to just spiff things up a bit, but we want it clean and simple. We will see what we can come up with. We do have a “unique” way of going about things with reviews, but it seems to make them memorable and it definitely sets them apart from most other reviews. Companies enjoy our spin as well. If a company is looking for serious, this is the wrong blog.
I’d be hard pressed to come up with anything I don’t like about your blog. You have the best and most creative reviews, and one of my favorite things are your recipes and seeing you all in the kitchen making them. Your active lifestyle is always inspiring to me.
I like the fact that you’re being more selective in your reviews, I’ve been trying to do that more too. I’m hoping BlogPaws will help me connect with some of the brands I’d like to work with.
I think learning to say no was the hardest thing we learned to do this past year, especially with paying campaigns, but how can you write a good fun post about something you don’t really believe in? It also is not what we want to do, so we are happy now with doing things that fit us and are fun. If we can make some money too, all the better. Thank you for the compliments, we are glad you enjoy our blog. We feel a bit connected with you with the three dogs and young ones around the same age.
I feel that connection too, and sometimes I can’t believe the ways in which our households are so similar!
So true!
I love everything about your blog and the help you have given me at times. You are so creative with your pictures I just love them, you must have a whole basement set up for props. I have a dresser full and need a bigger dresser.
Thank God for basements in Minnesota, and in our case unfinished basements. Mom stores some stuff down there, but 70% of it is set up for our nose work, and another area is where I house all my hats and things. Really, it doesn’t take up that much space, but I just keep accumulating. Mom says if we ever quit blogging we will need to have a garage sale for all my stuff!
I’ve always been a huge fan of your creativity and the fact that your pics and posts always make me smile. I can only imagine the time and effort that goes in to putting these posts together. Congratulations on a great year!
Thank you. It does take time, but the most time is photo sorting and editing, resizing, etc. My sisters and I are really good models, so the actual pics go real fast.
I think one reason we all like it here, is you have a true to you voice. And your very entertaining, and always cute.
Oh boy, Mom will now say my ego is even more inflated! Thank you. We want to be a fun, happy place.
I love you!
LeeAnna at not afraid of color
Awww, thank you! I love everyone that comes by to visit me, you all make me so happy!
Thanks for sharing and congrats on 4 years. Love the dog and computer photo.
Thank you.
Thanks for the summary Emma – as you know, we don’t miss a day on your blog – or at least we try not too, so we’ll be her through 2015!
I hope we will all be here through 2015 and beyond!
What a great bunch of answers Emma. We enjoy your blog, and can’t think of a thing that you could change!
Thank you. You guys are always so nice and fun!
Great post!! I have really enjoyed getting to know you the past few months!! I love your nose work posts and fitness posts!! Your pictures always crack me up! When I’m having a bad day all I have to do is come to Emma’s blog and I get cheered up almost immediately. I really admire your work and I hope my blog can be as nice as yours some day!
Thank you. Everyone has their thing and the silliness fits what we do. I’m blown away by your dogs’ tricks. I can’t imagine doing all that stuff. We really love other blogs that promote fitness and fun, and you fit that bill perfectly.
Of course we love Emma and the rest of the family, but its your amazing sense of humor and imagination that just blows us away sometimes. I mean how do you think up some of the things you do, and then get the dogs to do it? It’s one thing to think up something its a whole other ball game to actually follow through on it successfully like you do. I think a facelift would be great and can’t wait to see what you come up with! Love Dolly
Mom grew up dressing her stuffed animals as little people, and she always read books where the animals were like people, so she has had it in her head her whole life. Luckily, I love the camera and could care less what she wants me to do, I just do it, and Bailie is pretty much the same way. I get very jealous if I hear the camera shutter and I am not there. I have started some fights over it. Weird, I know, but it is how it is at our house. We just have a blast, Mom gets her visions, and we help her create them. Hopefully the facelift will work out. We hope to start working on it next week…hiring someone, Mom is too scared of messing things up to tackle it herself! Can’t wait to see how your blog grows and changes with your new siblings.
We could not agree more about being selective about working only with the brands we believe in (especially FOOD brands!). And, uhmmm, Playboy bunnies? ‘scuse us, we gotta go see this!!!!
That is what Mom said, especially Bailie! It is hard to be selective at first, but then it starts feeling good.
I think our blog is perfect. I would like to see a big photo of you on your header, but that’s because I love you. ♥ Wait, Mom says that everyone loves you, so yes a big photo of you! ☺ ♥ Great post.
Thanks Bentley! I have to see what template I will chose and then go from there. Appreciate the input.
Ok, I will re-read before I hit publish again. I think YOUR blog is perfect! LOL!!
That was great and interesting too. We always love how y’all make us smile!
Yay! It makes me smile when I make others smile!
I’m glad the Easter eggs post came up – I still can’t get over how fun that looked. I always feel so inspired to go out and have fun with my dog when I visit this blog – it gives me so many great ideas of new things to try with her. I love that. You’ve got such a great community feeling here, and it’s obvious that your fans are walking away with the same inspiration that I am. The only suggestion I’d have to try and grow traffic is by looking into some guest posting opportunities – finding a magazine or popular blog that has an engaged audience. I think your posts would attract some new loyal fans.
That is a good idea. I have people wanting to post on our site sometimes, but I never thought of posting on other blogs. I would love to find magazines but it is pretty difficult. Thank you for our thoughts and so glad we help inspire you!
I love the advice. I wrote something similar! It’s so important to find your voice and figure out what you’re trying to convey through your blog. I also agree that the blogging community is a precious resource!
http://www.dogmomdays.com
Being you and only you is so important but you have to really commit to it or it is easy to stray to follow trends.
Your blog is always so cute and fun! Your pics always make me smile, Emma. You and your sisters are such good models. Making the blog look just a tiny bit simpler and cleaner sounds perfect. It’s so darn close to perfect already! And we agree, it’s fun to work with another blogger on a project, and everyone is so nice and helpful!
For one, we want the blog to be wider, right now this theme has wasted space on the sides and we want some footer space too. This was our first theme, so it is time for a bit of an upgrade. We are always so happy when people visit us for their “happy” of the day!
Can only think of one thing I’d change. In the top picture, I read from right to left and saw words on the picture frames: “woof” “wuff” and “Vaio.” You need to figure out how to make your computer say Woof too. 🙂
LOL! That is funny! It took me a minute to get it, but then… Thank you.
Although I didn’t participate in the challenge this year, because I started mid September I felt I didn’t have much to say about my blog yet. I am however very grateful that we have connected through Blog Paws 🙂 I always look forward to seeing what Emma is up to each week. Your pictures always make me smile, they are so creative, it really is the stand out of your blog!
Thank you. You are doing a great job for having recently started. Are start took a bit longer, but once we heard about BlogPaws it started getting better, and after attending the first conference, things grew and exploded. Now we need another boost like that! Thanks for coming by and it makes us happy as clams when people enjoy our stories and photos because we have so much fun creating our posts.
Emma, my favorite thing about your blog is how friendly you are to other bloggers. I am always impressed that you respond to every comment – very admirable! And of course, I love the photos…can’t get enough of ’em! 😉
Thank you. We feel if someone takes their own time to visit and to leave a comment, we owe them a response. We also try to comment on other blogs we read, or at least share posts and we try to visit many blogs on the blog hops we join. It is time consuming, but we feel it is what we should do, and we enjoy it.
My favorite thing about your blog is your photos! You get Emma and Bailie in such cute poses. I am lucky to get my two to stand still for treats 🙂 Looking forward to checking out your new “do” later this year.
Thank you. We love doing photo shoots. I guess for many dogs it is not a favorite thing, but if Mom says photo shoot, I come running and I also get mad when I hear the camera and I am not the subject. A real diva says the Mom.
Congrats on a great year. Best of luck on another great year.
Paws crossed!
Thanks so much for taking the Challenge again this year! It sounds like you’ve got a great 2015 in your sites. If you haven’t already found someone to help with the blog facelift, Julie Melfi is fantastic at these types of things. You can find her at Leg Up Creative on Facebook. And, in answer to your question on growing traffic, you and I are in the same boat. Facebook is my #1 source of traffic as well, and now they’ve changed things again to make it ever harder to reach our audiences. I don’t have the money to start boosting all my posts, so I’m going to invest more time in Pinterest. I think that would be a good fit for you, too! I hope to see you over there – and all the best for the new year!
Thank you for the name. I have a few ideas, I will see if I need someone else to help out or not. I’m trying to get more into pinterest, it is all so time consuming, but I’m working at it. Thank you for hosting this every year!
You have a niche and you have that going for you – along with a formula for fab pics and feeling like you really relate to your readers. Let’s chat longer at this year’s BlogPaws conference, okay?
Thank you for your comment. Would love to chat at BlogPaws this year! Hope you can squeeze in a few minutes, you are always so very busy!
Congratulations on connecting with brands this year! Building new relationships is on my list of things to do this year.
As far as traffic goes my top traffic source is search traffic. My best advice there is to find problems in your niche and solve them. These types of posts seem to draw the most traffic.
Best of luck to you in 2015!
People do like to be helped, you have a good point there! Thank you for your thoughts.
I love this, “It is hard sometimes to not run with the masses, but it is what makes your blog unique.” It’s true, I had someone tell me once that I was competing with certain bloggers, um…no I’m not. I am unique and what I bring to the table is unique as well.
I think you’re doing a great job with your traffic, and you have lots of engagement on your blog, so keep up the good work.
Thank you. We don’t see any blogs as competitors, we all do our own thing and have our own place for readers. Sometimes we “compete” for campaigns, but it really isn’t a competition. Pet bloggers are the best because we tend to work together.
“If the world wears green and you are all about yellow, wear yellow.” Love this quote!
Thank you. Maybe it will make me famous some day?
I could see it. 🙂