It was fun to open up a little of our personal “stuff” last Tuesday for this post about the real $herdog (yes, I’m still waiting for that nickname to catch on) and John’s J-Boom version. A funny thing happened after sharing those: not only did they attract over 1,200 thoughtful and encouraging comments (note to self: apparently you’re not a social pariah if you admit to sometimes having strawberry cream cheese on your ear and impersonating Cindy Lou Who), but we also received dozens of emails asking how to handle criticism and respond to negative comments. So this post was born.
Sharing those quirky details seemed to encourage readers to reach out about struggles they face, and one comment thread in particular sparked a lot of conversation. Most of the emails came from people who run small blogs and suddenly found themselves with a much larger audience—often after being pinned on Pinterest or featured on a bigger site. The common theme in almost every message was the same: a not-so-nice comment appeared, and it stung.
More readers naturally bring more feedback—both positive and negative. Consider this short set of guiding principles I follow when criticism lands:
- It’s your blog.
- Be who you are. That is enough.
- Give the positive feedback as much weight as the negative.
- Do everything with love.
It may sound corny, but those four ideas have helped us navigate the “I can be anonymous and tell you what I think” phenomenon. Over the years we’ve heard it all—requests and complaints that often contradict one another:
- I’m not interested in posts about _____; skip them.
- Do more small projects; big projects are boring.
- Do more big projects; small ones feel like filler.
- I want more Clara and Burger and everyday posts.
- I want less Clara and Burger and more projects.
- That paint color/art/room is ugly or wrong.
- Stop using certain words—they make me cringe.
- Spend more money on projects.
- Be more frugal; stop spending so much.
- Move faster—I’m bored.
- Move slower so people can catch up.
- I’m disappointed in this choice/idea/you.
- This blog used to be better because ________.
- I will no longer read this blog because ________.
See the contradictions? If you tried to satisfy every opinion, you’d lose your voice. After publishing thousands of posts and blogging for years, we’ve learned that pleasing everyone is impossible—and trying to do so risks losing what makes your site yours.
Tip #1: It’s your blog. A blog isn’t a magazine staffed by a large team aiming to please the largest group. A blog is your outlet to write what you want, share what you care about, and do it in a way that feels natural to you. Whether you post daily or once a month, your primary job is to be authentic. Those who resonate with your voice will stick around.
We’re two people with a dog and a kid who write about what’s happening at home. That authenticity brought readers to us—5 million hits a month felt surreal—but if we tried to appease every commenter we would lose our identity. Trust your voice; your vote should be the loudest.
Tip #2: Be who you are. That is enough. It’s natural for readers to want more—more posts, more projects, more content. That desire can make creators feel pressured to produce relentlessly, which leads to burnout. You can’t control every reaction, but you can control how you blog. If blogging stops being inspiring or becomes a source of exhaustion, you risk losing the joy that made your site work in the first place.
Blog at a pace that keeps you creative and energized. Doing things well matters more than doing them faster to please a few impatient readers. If a piece of content makes you uncomfortable—especially when it involves family photos or personal details—trust that your boundaries are enough. If it feels wrong, don’t do it.
Tip #3: Give the good feedback as much weight as the bad. Most bloggers receive far more positive comments than negative ones, yet a single cutting remark can overshadow that balance. Look at the bigger picture: if 99 people praise a post and one person criticizes it, that’s a 99% success rate. Those are excellent odds—focus on them.
Even if many readers dislike something you love, it’s okay to keep doing it. This is your platform. If it resonates with you, continue. Your enthusiasm will show and attract the readers who appreciate it.
Tip #4: Do everything with love. This sounds cheesy, but responding from a place of kindness has changed how I handle criticism. Reacting with venom rarely helps and usually makes things worse. Trying to see where someone might be coming from—bad day, stress, personal pain—can soften your response and keep interactions constructive.
Responding with humor, a brief explanation, or even goodwill—“Merry Christmas to you and your family!”—keeps the tone positive. Growing up, my mom emphasized that kindness was more important than popularity or success, and that lesson guides how I interact with readers. Passing that on to my daughter matters to me.
That’s my brain dump on dealing with criticism as your audience grows. I hope it helps anyone navigating increased visibility. For us, blogging is about sharing projects, solutions, and the occasional behind-the-scenes moment in the hope of helping others. The support from readers has been incredibly meaningful—so much so that when we wrote the thank-you section of our book, thinking about you made me cry.
The enthusiasm and encouragement we receive are life-changing. Sometimes we like to crack open ourselves beyond DIY to share personal pieces, and your responses make that worthwhile. Share a family saying or piece of advice that stuck with you—my mom always said, “always wear nice underwear in case you end up in the emergency room,” and, well, she was right.
Update – We often get questions about professional blogging—how we built our site, grew traffic, and turned blogging into a full-time job—so we shared details about how we started a blog, grew our traffic, and made it sustainable.