Grew The Journal, from the workbench

John and I frequently ask ourselves this question. How did we go from blogging-about-our-impending-kitchen-remodel-to-our-friends-and-family-as-a-hobby to writing-to-thousands-of-people-about-interior-design-and-home-improvement-every-day-as-a-bona-fide-job? And since this same question seems to be popping up in our inbox more and more lately (and even in Tuesday’s reader survey) we hoped to take a stab at answering it. So for all of you aspiring professional bloggers or curious readers out there, here goes nothin’…

In a nutshell: we attribute our journal’s growth to a combination of plenty of good old fashioned hard work and a series of lucky breaks (of which we are eternally grateful). We did not start the journal with hopes of creating a business, we simply hoped to share our kitchen renovation with our friends and family without constantly filling their inboxes with photos and stories. We figured a journal was a pleasant way to allow them to drop in on us whenever they liked, and because we are never ones to do anything half-heartedly we excitedly jumped into telling our story and breaking things down into pointers and walkthroughs for our friends and family from the start (even though we were learning as we went). Soon our family-&-friends-only readership turned into friends-of-friends and then (surprisingly) strangers-welcome. And with each encouraging comment, inquiring email or complimentary mention on another journal we got a little boost to keep going. Even if they were few and far between at that point.

Our first mega-boost came in December 2007. John had entered us into a home improvement blogging contest on a whim in the hopes that we’d make some new journal friends and gain two or three more readers along the way. So when we got a call congratulating us on winning the grand prize (to the tune of $5K, no less) we looked at each other and realized that perhaps we had a knack for this blogging thing… and perhaps someday it could be more than simply a hobby! Consider us insanely flattered and immensely inspired at that still-surreal (and heavily photoshopped- yes, we brought in the crowns and the flowers and the sashes) moment.

We think blogging as a couple has been a large assist to us a well. Not only because John stands out as one of the few husbands in the home journal world, but because it means we can journal as a team. We are able to divvy up the tasks of writing (in the beginning we alternated writing a post each night). We are also able to support and motivate each other. When writer’s block hits or projects seem endless, at least we each have a built-in cheerleader of sorts (although John would want me to clarify that he does not in fact jump around with pom-poms). And because it is a shared hobby, spending hour upon hour blogging together seems to strengthen our relationship instead of neglecting it (which may have been the case if only one of us was involved and the other had twiddled their thumbs and waited to be included).

By the time we reached the end of our journal’s first major home improvement project in January 2008 (the big kitchen reno), we began noticing some fairly steady growth in our readership. So we chose to keep writing. And as our post topics expanded – design dilemmas, reader redesigns, house crashing – we saw our names pop up in some fairly remarkable and unexpected places. The Washington Post included us in their “journal watch” feature, big time blogs like Real Plain and Apartment Therapy began to mention us and local glossies like Richmond Magazine and national ones like Do It Yourself Magazine began calling us to author our quite own columns with them! We even lived to see our mugs on the cover of a national mag this spring! We never solicited these mentions or paid for advertising; people simply heard about us through the grapevine of friends, blogs, Google and who knows where else. And it seems as though they truly enjoyed our journal and our writing, which still has us blushing to this day. All of it still feels quite miraculous, meaning we still pinch ourselves quite frequently.

Why did these writers and reporters care to talk about us? You folks are likely better suited to answer that than we are. All we know is that we have never plotted a business plan or hunted for a journal niche to fill – we simply write about what we care about: our home, our relationship and, okay, our eight pound chihuahua. That is not to say that we do not put plenty of time into figuring out how to keep things lively and interesting around here, but when you are writing about things that you are crazy interested in, it is not hard to do and it tends to come naturally. Heck, we cannot even go on walks or long car rides without ending up brainstorming projects to do or topics to journal about. It is a sickness. We simply feel so blessed that what interests us also interests so many of you, and that you keep dropping in to see what we are up to.

We’d like to believe that some of what keeps you coming back has to do with our writing style. We are both writers (I used to be an advertising copywriter and John did plenty of creative writing in college) which means we both enjoy finding the words to narrate the regularly occurring adventures (and misadventures) here at Casa Petersik. And since writing is half of the lively for us, we have no trouble churning out over ten posts a week. Plus, we have been lucky that our inherent enjoy of creative and unexpected projects that are doable for cheapskates like us (ex: using low-cost Ikea tables to make a headboard or wardrobes to create bedside built-ins) seem to line up well with these times when being budget conscious is all the rage (and being a cheapskate is in fact something to be proud of!).

We also realized fairly early on that good content and photos are essential, but if people cannot find things easily then you are doing yourself a disservice. So we are constantly trying to make it plain for you folks to hunt down your go-to posts. From the How To tab full of walkthroughs to our House Tour page so everyone can easily see our home’s transformation in one fell swoop, we trying not to let things collect dust in our archives. Hopefully you find these features helpful, and hopefully we will stumble upon more ways to make our site user friendly and straightforward to navigate.

We also try to learn as much as we can about the technical side of blogging. John designed our whole site (which is nothing that he learned how to do in school) so that meant plenty of library research, googling when things went haywire, and general nail-biting while we waited for things to load (we have been known to chant: “please make it centered, please make it centered, please make it centered” from time to time). John also whipped up our Turbodizin logo in about two hours (he would not let me look over his shoulder while he worked, so when he at last said “ready” and revealed his little sideways heart thing, I squealed with excitement) and is also in charge of video editing and a lot of other technical things that keep YHL humming. Needless to say it is strong to have a self-trained IT guy as 50% of the staff.

We are not gonna lie- it is the hardest job we have ever had. The biggest misconception is that our journal is a part time thing that we spend a few hours a day on. When friends and relatives picture me out on the patio with a magazine and a cocktail I snort with laughter. It is hard to put into words how we manage to spend every waking moment working on the journal, but we are essentially writing over 45 posts a month AND taking and uploading photos AND running an online shop AND offering design services AND coordinating giveaways AND answering up to 100 email and comment questions a day AND making & editing videos. Not to mention in fact doing the projects on our home that we then photograph and write about. It is fairly much a never ending to do list! In all honesty, I am a million times busier than I ever was in my old New York City 60+ hour a week job. We work nights, weekends and on vacation (after all, the internet is 24/7!) so sometimes it can all be quite exhausting. And I do not make as much as I used to. I in fact took a fairly hefty pay cut to see this full-time blogging thing through.

But I would not have it any other way. I feel nothing but thrilled and honored to get to do what I enjoy every day – and to do it with John right by my side (at least when he’s not as his 9 – 5) is truly a dream come true. This little old journal truly is our passion and we feel so fortunate to be able to turn a hobby into a bona fide career- and we are so thankful for the support and enthusiasm that you folks provide every single day.

So our advice to anyone who is looking to grow their journal or turn it into a career is to: 1) work hard, 2) do it because you enjoy it and 3) be patient. It likely will not happen overnight (if it does, please share your secret!). You may feel like you are talking to no one for ages (we had about zero point zero zero comments after our first few months of posting). But if you are dedicated to it (long-term, not looking to get rich swift) and passionate about the subjects you cover, you are bound to slowly but surely attract people who can sense your enthusiasm and get excited right along with you… and they’ll enjoy what you are putting out there sufficient to pass it on. Then after about a year or so (which is when we truly began to see a lot more growth) you will hopefully have an expanding readership and plenty of lovely people stopping in more and more frequently.

And speaking of lovely people, we cannot possibly talk about how our journal has grown without recognizing how remarkable our readers are. You folks have helped spread the word about us and have encouraged us to keep at it from day one! Many of you are the reason YHL has grown since you’ve personally told your friends and family about us and even emailed us with kind words to keep us going after a long night (or a soul crushing how-did-those-posts-erase-themselves? moment). So thank you, thank you, thank you for dropping by and making our day for the last 730 of ’em. Here is hoping we have many more years to share the goings-on of our crazy house with each and every one of you!

Update: Big announcement! Check out how our journal baby grew even more nearly a year later right here.