Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Our First Pet Blogger Challenge





We're very excited to participate in the 2012 Pet Blogger Challenge!





 Oh yes! And we might even let Mommy answer a few questions...for a price (hey Mommy, those tuna flakes are reeeeeally nommy...(HINT!)



OOOOH! And don't forget to catch my good side when you take pictures of my bling to show, Mother. Mother?



Gee thanks guys. Can't tell you how your generosity warms my heart... *grin*


Here are the questions - with our answers following:

1. When did you begin your blog? The blog began in October of 2010.

2. What was your original purpose for starting a blog?
Initially it was to give Ryker more than 140 characters to voice his opinions and spread his charm.


3. Is your current purpose the same?
Not really. About 15 days after we began, Ryker died quite suddenly.

I know many folks who are comfortable "tweeting" for their pets who have passed across the Rainbow Bridge, but I'm not one of them. Initially it was because it was too painful (it still is!) but later on, it just became more important to write about animal advocacy issues.

And then came Da Boyz in our lives - Maxwell & Faraday. For those of you who haven't met them, these guys are the first kittens my husband has ever known. So he got to name them (with a little direction from me). He's a physicist, so he chose to name them after 2 famous physicists. That is, of course, after I vetoed his first choice: naming them after the particles Lepton and Tachyon (I did mention he had a little direction from me? Sorry, but I refuse to own a kitty with the nickname of "Tacky").


For the past year, the blog has been evenly split between articles advocating for cats and random slices of kitty life in our home.

If not, what’s different?   oops, I kinda answered that already :-)

If so, how do you feel you’ve met your goals?  

We participated in Be The Change for Animals' "Blog The Change" events once every quarter.  And we also participated in Petfinder's promotion in September: "Adopt a Less Adoptable Pet". This was actually a blog marathon that we partnered with Sebastian the Sensitive Soul on - and it was our first foray into hosting guest bloggers on our site (very cool experience!).

We also recently wrote our first promotion of a "product" we feel very strongly about in a positive way: Animal Planet's' show, My Cat From Hell.

4. Do you blog on a schedule or as the spirit moves you?  Both scheduled and spontaneous.

If the former, how often — and what techniques do you use to stick to it? We try to have a Worldess Wednesday and a Saturday Blog Hop post every week - even if it's just pictures or videos of Mischief & Mayhem -- err, we mean Faraday & Maxwell. Allie, of course, is a Complete Angel. Excuse me, I think I hear Faraday choking....

If the latter, do you worry about… well, whatever you might worry about (e.g. losing traffic, losing momentum)?

5. Are you generating income from your blog? No.

If so, how (e.g. sponsor ads, affiliate relationships, spokesperson opportunities)?

If not currently, do you hope to in the future — and how? We're not sure - but we won't refuse if the right thing for us comes our way.

6. What do you like most about blogging in general and your blog in particular (bragging is good!)?  From a design standpoint, I guess it'd be the way each cat has his/her own voice and can interact within each post through the use of integrated avatars. From a content standpoint, it would be the opportunity it provides to educate, and to help spread timely information that will be beneficial to animals in general, cats in particular.

7. What do you like least? That with my schedule, sometimes I'll be so time constrained that blogging becomes almost impossible for weeks. Also my learning curve - I think there's still a lot I can learn about how to make a blog more effective.

8. How do you see your blog changing/growing in 2012?  That's a good question - one I don't have a complete answer for. (eek! don't tell my high school English teacher I just ended a sentence with a preposition! ;-)
I'll be doing my very first book review at a publisher's request, so that will be a "first." And I hope there will be more firsts as 2012 progresses!


16 comments:

  1. What a loving tribute to Ryker. I have to say I sort of like your husbands ideas for names, Tachyon particles is pretty neat (but I might like it because I am such a trekkie).

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  2. We are sorry about Ryker. :( We lost a kitty over here recently, Magic, and we've yet to talk about her passing. We know it can be painful.
    And very interesting about Maxwell and Faraday's names. :)

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  3. I think you have done a great job with the blog, especially considering how short a time Ryker was a part of it.

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  4. That's the great thing about blogging ... no one even notices when you end a sentence with a preposition!

    My condolences on Ryker's passing. I can't imagine how difficult that must have been only two weeks after you started the blog.

    Thanks for participating in the challenge, and good luck in 2012!

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  5. hi...this is my first time to hop into an all-cats blog...i didn't know this site if not for the pet blooger challenge... i'm so interested in kitties so i'll drop by from time to time here...too bad Ryker crossed the Rainbrow Bridge after 2 weeks of blogging...i think Maxwell is a cutie... xoxox- Bean

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  6. I too participated in this blog challenge - http://sandpipercat.blogspot.com/2012/01/second-annual-pet-blogger-challenge-my.html.

    I have a similar type of blog background - the cat who the blog was about was pregnant when I started and the first night we had her (after my first post too) she miscarried all of her kittens.

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  7. That was a very interesting read. Love the reasons for the names and did suspect somehow it was to do with science!!! Leppy and Tachy are great names too lol

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  8. Yay - a cat person! I was getting lonely for a little feline companionship ;-)I love what you've done with the blog - how you've integrated Allie and Da Boyz into it. I know how hard it was for you losing Ryker, but his spirit does live on through the blog. BTW - I always wondered how Faraday got his name!

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  9. @tubby3pug and @Amy and @pinkpixie786 THANK you for stopping by our blog and saying hello!!

    @tubby, we agree ... Mommy thought it was pretty darn cool that Daddy's a physicist, even though he has a hard time with most SF (he winces through most of it since most of today's SF isn't very believable - he has a hard time with "willing suspension of disbelief, LOL!).

    @Rachel, HI!!!!! Good to see you again!

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  10. Great post for the challenge - I really enjoyed learning about how your blog began and how it's changed. I can only imagine how tough it must have been to continue blogging in the wake of Ryker's passing - my heart goes out to you.

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  11. Thanks for taking part in this challenge -- it's very nice to e-meet you. You have a wonderful, honest "voice" and good sense of humor. Good luck in 2012.

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  12. I have to agree with Edie. Your voice is (voices are) distinctive and witty.

    Good luck meeting your goals in 2012.

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  13. Really lovely to hear about the start of your blog, and how you kept going even after Ryker's passing. Such a sad beginning to your blog, but I'm glad to see it is still going, and the boys are providing you content and inspiration.

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  14. We found you through the pet blogger challenge. My mother will be thrilled to follow a kitty blogger. We're puppy bloggers, but my mom is all about her cats. I'm going to send your link over to her so she can get her cat fix.

    By the way, I love your header image...sister's not allowed. Reminds me of our household :)

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  15. Maxwell: Hi Stetson! *waves paw* Nice to meet you!

    FaRADaY: Oooh yeah, you gotta watch out for those sisters - they're a MENACE.

    Allie: *eyeroll* I'm still bigger than you, Pipsqueak, and not afraid to Take You Down. *flexes pink clawtips*

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  16. You have a great blog for your kitties! I have become sister to three of them myself...and Mommy says she can understand completely the loss of your precious little one. My sister Morgan was with her for 15 years and I wish I could have met her.
    We are following your blog now...you have visited before my friend, so always good to see you!! Stop back by mine when you get a chance for Wordless Wednesday.

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