Happy short week! I hope you guys enjoyed the long weekend. Mine included fun in Boston, a trip to the U.S. Open and good times with friends. It was the perfect unofficial end to summer in my opinion!

In today’s post I’m excited to be sharing some of the key results from this year’s reader survey. I’m so grateful to those of you who took time to complete this year’s survey! Thank you for taking the time to do so. I’ve finally combed through them and wanted to share my takeaways. Selfishly, it helps hold me accountable to share back what I thought was the most meaningful feedback!

Reader Survey Feedback

When I started this year, I was having a real emotional crisis as it related to wit & whimsy. I was feeling burnt out and I was feeling incredibly inferior within the blogosphere. I opened up about all of this in this post and you guys really helped to lift me out of that place. So I took a step back and took time to chart myself a course of action and think critically about what changes I wanted to bring to this site and my presence in this world overall. I shared what those changes were in this post and think I’ve been true to myself while also managing to reinvigorate my wit & whimsy world. I thank you guys for seeing me through that period.

Honestly I teared up a little reading some of the feedback this year! Under the question “Since this is anonymous, I want to take the opportunity to tell you this, Meghan” the comments were so heartwarming that I was almost taken aback! I wanted to share a few of those comments quickly that really, truly made my day.

• “Thanks for sharing all you do! I don’t know you, but I still feel like I look up to you!”
• “I’m rooting for you! Love your realness, style and heart. Keep it up girl!”
• “I love ya, I live vicariously through you, so glad I found your blog, you remind me of my friend, Pam, which is probably why I like you so much, keep it up, don’t stop doing the weekly round up: if I miss every other day, I will NOT miss the Weekly Round Up!”
• “You are such a hard worker! You consistently produce high quality and beautiful content–which has to get exhausting when you’ve done it for a while. I also wanted to thank you for checking in with us like this and for always responding to comments and Instagram DMs so quickly and kindly!”
• “I used to regularly read and follow a number of bloggers, but have become so disenchanted with the blogging world in the last year or so—its become so disingenuous, in my opinion. I feel like so many bloggers are just pushing the same products…even the same life, to be honest. It’s all THE SAME. But I continually keep coming back to your blog (every day!!) because you seem SO genuine and clearly know your taste and style and don’t just do what everyone else is doing. I also love that blogging is not your full-time job—props to the girls who do blog full-time, but your blog is so much more well-rounded to me because of it. I also love that you don’t feel the need to post everything on Stories or buy endless amounts of clothes all the time. That’s no one’s real life! What I’m trying to say is—I love your blog and I want you to keep doing what you’re doing because it’s incredible! You have a lot to be proud of.”
• “Thanks for opening up this year, it has been re-engaging as a reader to see more of you come through in the content. Thank you for being courageous and sharing on such a large stage. I love stopping by and it’s refreshing to see another woman with a classic style who isn’t succumbing to every advert opportunity and/or trend.”

Thank you, thank you for these kind words! They mean a lot to me. Now, onto the rest of the feedback…

Content:

I loved all the post ideas you guys shared! A few that rose to the top that I’ve noted on my list of running post ideas included:

• Favorite affordable beauty products
• How I honed my personal style
• How I clean out my closet
• Styling ideas for one piece
• Blogs I follow & why
• Dressing for your body type
• An updated day in the life
• Behind the scenes of blogging
• Tips for online shopping
• My packing strategies
• How I manage work/life balance
• Thoughts on being single
• New Home Tour
• How to start making wardrobe investments

One reader requested a thyroid post which helped push me to do so recently and one requested a fitness related post about how I stay “trim” while eating out so I also did that here. You guys also requested more lifestyle posts. So I’ve been working those in with posts such as my go-to recipes, books I’ve loved recently.  And earlier this year I also launched my Noteworthy series for monthly things I’m enjoying. I hope you guys have enjoyed this influx of lifestyle content. One thing I wanted to call out is that, truth be told, sometimes I struggle with the content-related feedback. Because, since I’ve been blogging for so long, a lot of things requested are things I’ve previously shared. That being said, I’m thinking about ways to bring these older posts back to life so stay tuned for that!

Outfit Feedback:

One of my favorite pieces of feedback was the person who shared that they’d like more detail on sizing / fit of pieces I’m wearing. And also more affordable options if something I’m wearing is more of an investment piece. Ever since reading that comment I’ve been trying to incorporate this more which hopefully has been helpful to you guys! There isn’t always a good, affordable option for pieces that I feel comfortable recommending. But if I can find one, I’ll include it.  I also got feedback about sharing more casual outfits and a request to share more styling options for the pieces I’m wearing. Check, check!

A few mentioned less outfit photos per post so I’m attempting to be conscious about this. I pay a lot of money for photography so always feel like I need to use the images I liked and paid for. But I hear you – sometimes so many aren’t needed.

Affordability:

This theme really resonated with me and to the person who noted the insane consumerism that blogging pushes, I hear you. At 33 I am rather over “fast fashion” and my M.O. isn’t to push my new “favorite” something every week – that’s just not me. And trust me, not everything I own is a favorite. I buy a lot more investment pieces (and have for the past five years). But I also understand that $500 boots isn’t realistic for everyone. I wear a lot of my things over and over again which is why I justify them. But that’s also because I have rather streamlined style. This also happens to make outfit photos hard – ha!

I’m not a blogger who is buying a bunch of stuff under $100 to shoot it every week to make a quick buck and I’m not a blogger who buys stuff, shoots it and returns it (Yep, it happens a lot.) Overall, this whole fast fashion, shoot a million outfits is something I struggle with. This blog is a business but I’m also not going to buy things just because they are a certain price that I think will sell. I’m all about investment pieces you can wear and re-wear. And yes, I do spend more than the average person on shoes and bags, in particular.

That being said, I still love stores like Zara, Mango and Topshop. My closet is very much a mix of those brands and more designer brands that I shop for on Shopbop (Shopbop is my #1 spot!) Also a quick reminder that I share monthly budget friendly finds in this series and also have a Under $100 section of the shop I updated regularly and also a Pinterest board of Under $100 items!

Personal Posts:

Last year one of my goals was to get back to writing and opening up. After all, I started wit & whimsy because I love to write! While I can’t sit down five times a week and pen a personal post, I am trying to make time for this ideally once a week. I’m also trying to remember I can use outfit posts for this purpose. (I think this post is a good recent example of combining the two.) Anyhow, SO many of you guys said how much you liked these posts. A few you called out were this one, this one, this one, this one and this one. YAY! I’m truly so happy to hear these resonated with you. I will continue to open up and share my thoughts on topics you all may find relevant as frequently as I can.

Instagram Stories:

I loved seeing your feedback on how I use this feature – it was so positive which made me really happy! I’ve been really trying to up my game here and figure out what kind of snaps feel worthwhile. I previously felt paralyzed by fear of not looking put together or hating the sound of my voice but earlier this year I tried to just tell myself to get over all those anxieties and be ME. It seems to be resonating with you guys and I feel like since I stopped caring so much what others may think, I’ve been engaging so much with you all on DMs and in comments.

It’s bringing new life to how I create for you all and really makes it so fun so thanks to those of you regularly reply/inquire & comment! Please know that every “like” and “comment” is so appreciated by me. I I’ll keep doin’ what I’m doin’ here!

. . .

There were lots of other great pieces of one-off feedback that I’m putting into action, too! Those of you who got super detailed – THANK YOU! I can’t tell you how helpful it is. Overall you guys like the amount of content posted and you like the content mix which is music to my ears. I feel like I’ve been in such a good rhythm the last couple of months and it was great to have this feeling validated through your feedback.

Some Reminders:

One thing that surprised me is that people aren’t really using The Shop portion of the site. I started updating it regularly this year (after re-designing it last year) and it is super curated. (I’ll admit it previously lay dormant all too often.) I mention updates here and there in Weekly Roundups but know that it is usually getting updated every week so if you’re ever looking for recommendations or you get overwhelmed when you land on Nordstrom.com or Shopbop.com for example, know that my favorites live in The Shop!

And a friendly reminder that if you’d like to get new posts in your inbox and my monthly roundup newsletter featuring each month’s highlights, you can sign up here! (The monthly newsletter I’m still getting in the mode with / learning the Ins & Outs of Mailchimp but I’m getting there!) And do you know someone who may like wit & whimsy? I would absolutely LOVE for you to spread w&w with your circle! Coworkers, friends, family – the more we build a community here via Comments on posts and on Instagram, the more my heart surges in size and I stay motivated to continue to produce posts that leave you happy and fulfilled!

Finally, I can’t stress enough how much I love hearing from you! You can always email me or submit a question here and I’m pretty quick usually at replying. Thank you, each of you, for being a part of wit & whimsy. I’m always honored you spend some of your week with me. It makes me grateful every day that I’ve continued this blog for so long now.

xx,

Meghan

p.s. how I’m doing on my 2018 goals and a letter to my younger self.