The Dark Side of Blogging

This week something happened that doesn’t happen often. I got mad. Not to say I don’t have bad days, but I rarely get in a pissed-off, mad-at-the-world mood. But this week I did.

Don’t get me wrong- I have days where I wish I kept my cool with my kids, or wish I stayed calm or got more done, but I don’t get truly angry very often.

I also typically try to keep my emotions in check, but today they were most definitely not and my poor husband had to bear the blunt end of my rant/venting session.

What made me mad?

The Dark Side of Blogging

Not my blog specifically (I love you guys, my readers, and I love to write) but the idea of blogging, the profession of blogging and all the things that happen behind the scenes that readers never see or hear about. The things that bloggers get sucked into and are forced to deal & compete with.

To preface, I should explain that the part that made me most angry is the perceived “selling out” of bloggers in various ways. This made me upset because I pride myself in writing ALL my own content, doing all my own research, making sure each article is super high quality and everything I ever link to, suggest or promote are products I personally use and love.

It makes me mad when I see other bloggers not extending their readers the same courtesy.

Here’s the thing…

From the outside, health bloggers often appear to be perfect human beings who cook gourmet meals three times a day, have impeccable style, washboard abs, and an incredible personality. We aren’t (at least not all of those things all the time).

Think about the pictures posted on facebook or instragram. You put your best foot forward. So do bloggers, but many of us are even more “filtered” since we are potentially exposed to and judged by thousands of people each day.

I sincerely hope that no mom ever comes to my blog and feels like she isn’t good enough because it seems like I “do it all” or “am a great mom all the time.” I assure you I’m not. I have laundry baskets full of clothes in my bedroom right now and yesterday’s clothes are still on the floor. We’ve eaten organic hotdogs three times this week because the Wellness Mama Cookbook (and dealing with Amazon) has taken over my life.

I don’t always cook three meals a day. Occasionally, I order Pete’s Paleo or from a local Japanese restaurant out of sheer convenience.

I don’t always make my own detergent and cleaning supplies. Sometimes it’s just easier (and saves time) to buy (natural) products at the store or online.

Sometimes I cry because of comments I receive on my blog or facebook (sometimes happy tears, but usually tears of sadness, hurt, or pain). I’m very much not a perfect mom. Nor a perfect human.

I blog to share things that have made my life easier or better and to hopefully help other moms, but I hope that everything I write encourages and uplifts and never makes another woman feel like she isn’t doing enough or isn’t good enough.

If you’ve ever felt that way- trust me…. you are good enough. You are doing enough. You are a great mom, and one lesson I’ve learned the hard way lately is that your children, your family, need you. Imperfect, wonderful, you.

Back to Blogging Though…

Certain things I’ve seen in the blogging world lately have really upset me because I felt like they crossed that line with their readers. Don’t get me wrong, I have no problem with bloggers making money. But I do have a problem with:

I have a problem with bloggers making money in a non-genuine way at the expense of their readers.
I have a problem with incestuous back-room affiliate deals. I have a problem with “I’ll promote your product if you promote mine.”
I have a problem when people duplicate my blog exactly for themselves, the design, every post and picture on the site, strip out my affiliate links and add their own, then claim everything as theirs.
I have a problem when other sites pull every post and picture of mine to use for themselves… to get more traffic so they can charge more for ads.
I have a problem with people copying content (both my content and that of others), stealing ideas and writing in an unauthentic voice solely for the goal of pushing more content out to the search engines. This annoys me because it isn’t about Google. It is about you. The readers. I don’t write for Google, I write for you!
I have a problem with the 100+ emails I get a day from people asking me to promote their stuff to my “list” (the people who subscribe to my email newsletter)

I don’t have a “list.” I have readers. I have friends. I have you. And you are the most important part of blogging to me.

And you know what? I’m not the only one who feels this way about the dark side of blogging.

I’m extremely aware, appreciative and grateful every single day for the amazing community that has grown through Wellness Mama. It is so much bigger than me. It is a group. A sisterhood. A family of moms who quite literally have the power to change the world. I don’t take that lightly. It annoys me when I see bloggers in the industry who do.

For me, blogging is really about creating a change for our kids. It isn’t about the money (though if that happens, it is great since we have six kids to feed, clothe and put through college one day) but that isn’t the goal. It is about making a healthier future for my children so they have decades and decades of health after college and so I get to live long enough to meet and enjoy my grandchildren.

I like to think/hope that I don’t have the amazing community that has developed here because I’ve written good articles about certain topics, but because I care about you. Because I want an actual (online) relationship with you. Because I care about the future for your kids as much as for my own.

I don’t want to be a “celebrity” from blogging (as some bloggers seem to want). In fact, this would utterly terrify me and get me so far out of my comfort zone I wouldn’t know who I was anymore. My goal isn’t to make millions, it is to HELP millions.

Someone else could copy my writing, copy my posts, copy all my ideas, but it wouldn’t be the same because the passion isn’t there. Because the world doesn’t need another blog post about how to make lip balm or magnesium body butter (which I did invent, btw), but the world needs more passion. It needs more people who care. If that is you- I am forever grateful for you… really! If you are passionate about your own goals, your own life, your own family and their health… you are changing the world more than the bloggers you see making tons of money and looking perfect on Instagram.

Because here is the deal… at the end of the day, it isn’t about me (and I’m super glad it isn’t!). I don’t use my last name. Not because I’m ashamed of it or have something to hide, but because it isn’t important (and because I value privacy for those six small children I mentioned). And because the movement, the “wellness mama idea”, is so much bigger than me.

I’m here because I want to make a change, not become famous.

My Blogging Struggle

It takes an incredible amount of time to make Wellness Mama what it is. Researching for posts. Taking photographs. Writing. Editing. Moderating comments. Social media promotion & communication. Etc.

It costs a lot of money to keep it running. Design & development costs. Hosting. Upgraded servers when traffic grows. Premium plugins. Email service. Etc. Etc. Etc.

The list goes on.

I’ve struggled with the fact that I could implement ads with the click of a button and make much more money that would help support my family and help fund a charity I’ve wanted to start for a long time (to provide sustainable food and clean water worldwide and to help distribute leftover food from farmers markets to soup kitchens, schools and food banks), but I’ve never made the jump because I personally hate ads and feel this would be “selling out.”

I want to make sure I’m always focused on you, but sometimes I don’t know the best way to do this. I make sure I don’t use spammy tactics to try to sell you things you don’t need. I don’t white label products that I didn’t create to make money. I moderate every comment so that the community is an uplifting and healthy environment for you to learn. I prominently display my affiliate policy so that readers are aware of my quality standards, practices, and promotion requirements.

I’ve struggled with the fact that I’m very much imperfect. WellnessMama.com has grown beyond my greatest goals and expectations. The blog gets a lot of traffic and in turn makes money through some of the products and resources I recommend.

I still feel like a failure because I’m not the perfect mom or the perfect wife. I think we all do. I’ve said it before, but I don’t think any mom goes to bed feeling like she has the whole wife/mother thing under control. I know I don’t. In fact, every day, I stress because of this incredible community that I love so much. Because I don’t always look, act and behave the way a “perfect” mom should. I think we all do.

So- long story short. Thank YOU so much for reading. For putting up with my rant. For caring about your family and the future of our children and our world.

At the end of the day, I don’t give a damn about just having your email address on my list. I want you to actually adopt the healthy changes I write and email about. To put in the time. To make a lasting change for your family. To say that your family’s life has improved because of changes you made. That is what matters to me.

2014 has been a tough year in many ways. The blog has grown. A lot. But I’ve made mistakes. I promoted a course (against my intuition) for someone that wasn’t a good fit… because I was too competitive. I started promoting an essential oils company (against my better judgement) because I thought there was an opportunity to help some friends make money. I self published the original Wellness Mama Cookbook, even though I had numerous offers from traditional publishers for upfront advances. And it’s wreaked havoc on my thyroid condition.

At the same time, 2014 has been an incredibly wonderful and rewarding year and I am grateful for everything this year has brought. I’ve made awesome friends who started as online friends and are now real life friends, like Heather, Genevieve, Emily, and Kelly (go check them out- they are amazing!). People like Sean, Steve & Jordan, Mary, and Christa. I finally found an amazing doctor who has helped me find answers for my thyroid struggles. And I finally finished writing my book!

My Pledge to You and a Question

So here is my pledge to you: I’m going to stop trying to be the “perfect” mom on the blog and social media. I’m going to stop stressing about answering every comment and start deleting those that don’t meet my requirements. I’m going to spend more time with family, even if that means I don’t post quite as often. I’m going to only create the most valuable, most helpful things I can and share those. I’m going to stop deleting posts because I feel like they aren’t good enough or might be met with resistance. I’m going to stop censoring my writing to meet the “squeaky clean Wellness Mama image” and let the real me shine through.

Because at the end of the day, I rarely feel like I’m good enough.

I feel inferior because I don’t look like Jennifer Aniston with the patience of June Cleaver and the culinary skills of Julia Childs. I feel imperfect because I don’t have 28 hours a day to get everything done that I want to accomplish.

In the coming weeks:

I’m going to be moving away from most “JV promotions” because they just don’t seem genuine to me.
I’m going to start creating more ebooks, courses, and products. Things that I enjoy doing and things that I wish I’d had when I started out…
I’m going to focus on creating more helpful and useful content for you.
I’m going to focus on enjoying my family and having balance and enjoying things more and stressing less.

This crazy world of blogging has led me to wrestle with several internal struggles lately, and rather than try to face them on my own, I figured I’d ask for your advice (it has never failed me before, so no pressure!).

I Want Your Opinion

1. What do you consider “selling out?” If I were to allow advertisers (carefully selected of course) would your opinion of WellnessMama.com as a trusted resource change?

2. How much of the “real me” do you want to see? Do you want more of the raw, uncensored Katie, or prefer the squeaky clean, “Wellness Mama” image?

3. Do you want me to create more courses, ebooks, and products for you or just recommend others?

4. What type of content and information will be most helpful to you moving forward? How can I best provide simple answers for healthier families for you?

Sources

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About Katie Wells

Katie Wells, CTNC, MCHC, Founder of Wellness Mama and Co-founder of Wellnesse, has a background in research, journalism, and nutrition. As a mom of six, she turned to research and took health into her own hands to find answers to her health problems. WellnessMama.com is the culmination of her thousands of hours of research and all posts are medically reviewed and verified by the Wellness Mama research team. Katie is also the author of the bestselling books The Wellness Mama Cookbook and The Wellness Mama 5-Step Lifestyle Detox.

Comments

759 responses to “The Dark Side of Blogging”

Layce

April 14, 2015

I came to your site via Dr. Axe course I am taking. He speaks so highly of you and I see why but I had not yet discovered your site. I love your site. I actually came here to search “time management” since I figured you having 5 kids and running a business….you would ‘get it’. I didn’t find that information, but stumbled across this post. I am about to launch a blog and I’ve really struggled with the things you have mentioned here also. We live in such a pressure washed world and I believe people are really searching for REAL. I would say authentic, but that word has come to mean plastic these days. I too write because I love it. You can really feel that in your blog. You are REAL and with social media (which I love and hate), I’ve decided the next trend is going to be people searching for anything ‘real’. Not posed but transparent and real. Being a parent is ‘real’ and it’s hard. Working and parenting ‘real’ and is hard. There are very unglorified moments in all of it. Life is messy and real and the trenches are what they are but you said it so eloquently….we are here to support each other.

I don’t know you….yet I feel like I do. I know you’ve heard that. But you have created that with your content and your genuineness. We need real. We need the messy, non photo-shopped life because moms and people around the world are comparing themselves to the unattainable. It isn’t REAL what we see on social media or very often in peoples words. They post their gratitude moments but are not nice people in real life. This is the world we sometimes live in and if we all just start being a bit more real….we can make it okay to ‘be real’. Women struggle with this anyway. There is no such thing as perfection. It is what it is…we are all growing, changing and we should be helping each other along the journey.

Just wanted to share that…it was in my heart. Your post was awesome!

You aren’t selling out (unless you say or feel you are in your spirit), by adding adds. Living and doing and helping a charity is a pretty good reason to do what works. We only sell out when go against our internal leading. You have a sense of this, it’s posted all over all your content. You cannot buy the flavor and integrity and feeling you put in your blog. You have created it…and what a gift.

Thanks for sharing and being not afraid to SHINE!

Continue on in the most REAL way you feel you need to. The answers are always within…but then you know that because you share it. We need to talk about real moments, how we have overcome, how we have blown it, how we fixed or repaired it. We are spiritual beings having a physical moment….and we are here to love and share our TRUE selves.

Spend time with your family. You have people that adore you and will support you because you’ve become a REAL voice. Best of luck on the journey. You are such a great example what what it looks like to live your truth. Share your truth. Be your truth.

Reply
Sunny

April 9, 2015

I’ve noticed in the past that there are a couple blogs out there that seem to copy your design and ideas. That would make me mad too! Don’t worry, we all know you’re the real deal <3

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Becky

March 27, 2015

Katie,
I think you’re amazing. I like to hear that you aren’t perfect. I was starting to feel overwhelmed by everything you do, and everything I want to do. I like to hear about how it really is on some days. I think that advertisements if they make you some money would be okay. I can’t even imagine how much time you spend on everything on here and have spent. I’m sure it’s like a full time job on top of the full time + job of being a mother (especially since you don’t just go to the store to buy everything you make most of it yourself). I honestly hadn’t even realized that there were not any advertisements until I read this. I think it’s so normal to see them everywhere that most people just ignore them. Thank you for all that you do. I’m not against you making money at all. As long as the items you have links to purchase are good healthy things that you use or would use.
Thank you for all that you do.

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Elizabeth

March 25, 2015

I truly believe the best gift/jewel anyone can give to mankind is knowledge. True usefull information of any kind is a treasure that has no equal value. Example to feed someone vs to TEACH someone how to feed themselves. See the difference in value? Anyway… I need to buy all these great ingredients you suggest, I am starting from scratch therefore I don’t know what brands are reputable, etc. so some advertisements of certain brands that you PERSONALLY endorse/agree with would be very helpfull and if it benefits you also why not win win? Nothing wrong with everyone winning here! I hate visiting sites that have advertisements and state: we do not condone or endorse any of the following, THAT IS selling out to MONEY only. But if you do endorse them, THAT IS BEING HONEST and HELPFULL to me 🙂 because now I know who I can buy from without having to search for other reviewers. I can have yours.

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Debbie Magney

March 23, 2015

Hi Katie,

I hope this email isn’t too long but I want to say how much I enjoy your way of writing as well as your Podcast.

A couple of years ago, while I was studying to become a nutrition counselor, I came upon your website as I was researching for different classes. I have to say I didn’t end of going to your site because I figured the content wouldn’t be ‘science backed…researched’, or ‘authoritative’. (Not to hurt your feelings but Wellness ‘Mama’ sounded too ‘unscientific:)
So a few years have passed and I was researching to start a podcast. I came upon your podcast. I enjoyed it so much. I enjoy your sincere, gentle approach. Your honesty and research really comes through.
Then I was researching to start a blog and your blog was listed as one of the top 60. So again I started to read, and read. Your sincerity and ‘research’ comes through.
I read your blog ‘the dark side of blogging’. Probably the reason it has taken me so long to start a blog is what you’ve outlined…It’s such a commitment.
In any case I appreciate the work you are doing. And I was glad to read you were going to make it your priority to spend more time with your family…I had wondered how that worked out because of the time I realized all your research must take.
I’m sure I will be checking out your site, blog & podcast more often…Thanks so much!
Debbie

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Amanda

March 22, 2015

Dear Katie,

I started reading your blog last spring when my family moved to a new town in a new state and I decided it was time to start some new healthy adjustments to our typical routines. I have used countless of your recipes and recommendations and love many of them. When I began the journey to convert my family to a more natural way of life I felt completely overwhelmed but I found that if I just read one article/post each day and tried replacing one thing with a more natural replacement each week it was manageable. With that being said I will answer your fist question about advertisements on your site. I personally, would like to see those advertisements if you can monitor and recommend those who would be advertising. I wish I knew all you know about the natural lifestyle but I absolutely do not! I have been at this for a year and I still am constantly amazed by what is out there for us to use naturally. If you were to include advertisement for products you believe in and we could feel safe clicking on the links and purchasing those product I think that would be so helpful, just like the links you post within your blogs.

In answer to you second question (which I don’t believe is a question) I can’t imagine many people wanting to see anything other than the real you. I personally want to know how a ‘real’ mom provides a healthy lifestyle for her family. I know the perfect moms can do everything perfectly all the time but that isn’t and never will be me. I loved that you said that your family ate hot dogs three times in a week and I loved it because now I know that when I am having that kind of crazy week I can go buy a healthier fast option for my family rather than ordering a pizza or grabbing a package of regular hot dogs. (I didn’t even know that organic hot dogs were an option! I guess I just thought that no one who was eating naturally, organically would even want a hot dog so I never bothered to look.)

I will leave the final question to those with more experience with your other products. I have not made it past your blog but I am sure anything you create will be amazing.

God bless you and your family. Whatever choices you make about your life/career will be the right ones as long as you make them based on what you believe is right and what is best for your family.

Amanda

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Cynthia Parker

March 20, 2015

Dear Katie,

I have been watching your site for several months. It is the only wellness blog that I have bookmarked and return to often. These are the things I admire about it:

1) Your posts are about solutions that have worked for you and do not subject us to product ‘testing’ (read as promotion).
2) Links are provided in your content to products that you use. This is advertising and you should be compensated for providing them, but they do not detract from your message. A few discreet and appropriately placed advertisements would not be a problem, but I usually leave a site immediately if I cannot tell the difference between the ads and the content or I feel the ads have been placed or formatted purposefully to trick me into clicking on them. I’m confident that any advertising you elect to include will be honestly presented and actually helpful. Please do what can do with integrity to support your journey and your ability to share it with us.
3) The overall tone of your site is encouraging and welcoming. I’m impressed with the way you monitor the comments and keep the discussions respectful and kind. I very much enjoy the absence of negativity and the judgmental bashing of products, people and choices.
4) In all the content I have read, you have never seemed to me a perfect person, but rather a work in progress, like the we all are. If you feel that you need to expose yourself further to be authentic, please do as you need to, though, now that some time has passed, I recommend that you carefully re-examine the events that suddenly caused this to be an issue.

Thank you for providing content with integrity.

Thank your for forging a path through the wellness wilderness and allowing me to follow along!

Cynthia

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Denise

March 13, 2015

Katie – I just want to say that I love your site. It is the most informative and well written health site I’ve found. I have only been following you for a few months but I refer to your site and your recipes regularly. I am a recent empty nester, not a young mother but am passing on to my children and their spouses what information they will accept. I have tried many of your recipes for my granddaughter. The one for cradle cap worked great for her. I use the toothpaste, oil pulling, and lotions regularly.

I am not perfect either and am working to incorporate more healthy habits into my lifestyle. I need to change my diet and that will be my next undertaking. I really don’t know how you do it as a mother of five. Embrace your imperfectness. It is what makes us human. I would love to see more of the Real Katie.

I’m fine with some carefully selected adds but the supposed health sites/bloggers where completely unhealthy and unrelated adds appear, really bother me. I get off those sites quickly. You are providing a service and you should profit from it. I’m not that into the ebooks but love the articles, insights and recipes. You have the most thought out, well researched posts and recipes I’ve found.

Thank you so much for all you do. I have told many people about your site and look forward to your continued work. Enjoy your family. Balance your life. And find a way to profit that makes you feel good. We all deserve to be compensated for our work and yours is terrific!!

Sincerely,
Denise

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Chrissy

March 11, 2015

What a WONDERFUL post.. Being a blogger too I completely feel your pain! I would be completely fine with you adding ads to your site to support yourself.. particularly if you would be handpicking them. As far as NOT being perfect.. please join the club.. Genuine you is who we all want to connect with and great posts are much more important to me than LOTS of posts.

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Christina

March 11, 2015

Hi Katie!

I found your blog just a couple days ago and I can’t seem to get off. I’ve been right on the edge of transferring to a more natural and holistic lifestyle but knew I lacked the knowledge to do so. Now that I have found your blog, I feel like I can officially move forward with this step. I even went out last night to stock up on jars and vials 🙂

I’ve also been dabbling with the idea these past few months of starting my own blog. Just to track my journey of being a recent graduate in her young 20s trying to live a balanced and healthy life. After reading this post and seeing how passionate you are about blogging and how happy it (usually) makes you, I think I’m going to do it! Thanks for being such a sound source of motivation for me 🙂

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Elaine Thiessen

March 10, 2015

Katie, I see you have had lots of replies, but can you ever have enough people saying “I like you just the way you are.”?
Thank you for not being perfect or for pretending to be perfect. Thank you for making my life better. Thank you for taking your gifts and investing them in a better way of life for anyone who finds you. You are great!! God is smiling on you.
Elaine

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Hana

March 2, 2015

Hey Katie!
You have an incredible blog! I want you to do everything that makes your heart sing! You should be able to sleep happily every night surrounded by the Love of your 5 babies and your husband. I just wanted you to know you changed my Life as well. I see others’ comments saying it, and truly, You have.
Be the Real you. Post Ads that can help Everyone! and do the things you Love, make those ebooks and how-tos!
If you are honest, we are honest. So my honesty is, I don’t make a lot of money, I’m 21, I live with my boyfriend, and I read your blog at work for hours, to better our lives. It makes me feel more Beautiful, taking control and care of my body, reading your blogs, stories, and recipes give me energy and happiness to try things I always wanted to try but didn’t have the time to research. So THANK YOU, for your endless research. We are all imperfect humans, built wonderfully. Sending you a bunch of Love and Endless Gratitude!

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Ginny

February 27, 2015

Hello Katie!!

I was looking for your e-mail address because I just wanted to say thank you for writing this and making the world a better place with your existence and truthfulness. I’ve discovered your blog through Pinterest a while ago and OMG am I hooked…., you are an inspiration, and this post is so full of empowerment and I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate it and how it has helped me and my husband. My haven’t been born children thank you as well.

Not only is your research rich and neat and well presented but your blog is clean, attractive and the information is priceless. I admire your project so much you have inspired me to pursue my wishes of writing and stop procrastinating about it because I don’t feel-think much about my content.

I’ll be mentioning you a lot in the near future hehe now about the questions, though you’ve had enough feedback already, here it goes….

1- Selling out is stacking one’s site with overwhelming ads and doing things one wouldn’t normally do just for the sake of selling. I think from what I’ve read that you would only allow products or services you carefully analized and I wouldn’t have a problem with it. Perhaps a dedicated section(instead of sprinkling it around the blog) could get the honesty you are striving for where you point out your personal experience with the product and a review of it?

2- I have the same problem with what voice to use when writing, if you want community go for uncensored Katie, if you seek broadening your audience then squeaky clean mama. Difficult, right?

3- Create as much as you can handle, the world will be a much better place!
The most helpful thing for my family and in order to move forward has to be small choices in order to make changes one at a time, and how to make them affordable, I understand the importance of investing but so many of us are eager to change and the only limit is not being able to satisfy every meal without going over the budget. I’d like to buy bulk but since we’re just two, things go bad and paying more for something than we usually do, it leaves us with less to have for the week. Advice on this area would be extremely helpful. I’d like to know more about: healthy lifestyle, food, meal planning for dummies, eating well in a tight budget, vegetarian options.

Thanks again for your commitment and the neatness of your work.

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shawn

February 26, 2015

Wow. I never comment on these sorts of things, but I figured that I would take the opportunity to thank you for me and my family as we always seem to find the best stuff here! You are appreciated in this house for sure. Be Blessed!

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Alison

February 23, 2015

Honestly your blog and one other (which is no longer up) are the only blogs where I have ever used affiliate links, but I try to make a point to do that here because I have gained so much knowledge and want to support what you are doing, same reason I bought your cookbook (I never buy cookbooks, just use the internet). Your contribution to society through this blog and through your integrity is so valuable. Just keep following your instincts and sticking to your morals and values in all your endeavors and you can’t lose, after all that is what got you to this place to begin with. Thank you, Thank you for your hard work.

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Szabolena

February 8, 2015

I found your site when I looked up Bone Broth. I was impressed with the extensive detail you provide. In parts I thought it over-done, “doesn’t everyone know to do such-and-such…” but from reading comments I quickly realized, no, we all have different needs but you kindly give every last thing that seems appropriate to the topic.

I laughed out loud as I listened on a podcast while one guest touted the benefits of dairy products and (on the next podcast) another adamantly eschewed them–and eggs, too. It was a reminder to me that each of us have that different journey to make. That’s a useful insight to remember.

I have come to really enjoy your site, the podcasts, the referrals to others I’ve received. I trust your recommendations–and I’d feel betrayed if you recommended worthless garbage. I expect products you promote meet the excellent standards I’ve come to expect from your site. Be true to yourself. Raw and uncensored is absolutely fine by me. You’re beautiful and kind. Pop always told me, “Lead by example.” Your example is awesome–as in I am in awe of the gentle and kind tone you take with the information you share with the world. Thank you.

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Karen

February 7, 2015

I actually found your blog on another blog that supports ‘less than helpful ads’. That blog had shared a tip from your blog and credited you for the information. I read the other blog but would cover the ads with my hand because the pictures were inappropriate or they flashed…which is very annoying.

I have visited your blog many times since then. You have so much to share and I learn something new each time I visit. I wish I had started studying healthy living years ago but it’s not too late. I’m taking baby steps and your blog helps tremendously.

I really appreciate your links on what you buy. Those links are so helpful because some of the products you mention are completely foreign to me. I love your health/wellness recipes and the boxes you put around each recipe so I can quickly scan the page to find them again and again. Ads on your blog would be great if they went hand-in-hand with your recipes. I don’t know how that works but I want you to get paid so you never stop doing what you are doing…helping people like me.

I appreciate your thoughtfulness, information, time, and clarity. Thank you.

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Keagan

February 2, 2015

Katie,

Reading your blog is one of my favorite things to do everyday. I personally hate ads, but you clearly have put your heart and soul into this blog and you deserve a giant payday! And I know they will be carefully chosen, so what the heck, go for it! I have been trying to do these small changes for the last two years and it is not easy, I can only do one thing at a time. Books would be awesome to have everything in one place to reference. Like how to change your beauty routine, and lists of what to buy at the herbal markets, and shelf life, etc. An EASY, QUICK meal book would be amazing! Every minute counts in my day! A supplement book might be nice too. Food for thought. As far as perfect mama or just Katie? Be yourself, I think you would be happier, that’s what matters most!

Thank you for your blog. It continues to make a difference in my life every single day.

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Amanda

January 29, 2015

OH MY GOSH! You are my GO-TO- PAGE ANYTIME I NEED ADVICE! The AMAZING Thing, what you do and talk about WORKS!! I have used oils now in my family and they work every time!!! I’ve healed the flu and ear infections (so far) and not had to go to the doctor, except to hear him say that “everything is GONE and we are restored to great health)!! You share your first-hand experiences with us and thats what we LOVE!! You are helping so many people in this world!! You have a gift and there’s only 1 ATTACKER (spiritually) that wants to RUIN IT! Don’t let him win!!! If you feel led to promote something because it has worked for you, then you do it!! Share it please!! We want to know! This is no different than what friends do with friends! I pray showers and showers of blessings to you!

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Karla

January 25, 2015

I have run across your blog several times through links on other blogs but I rarely subscribe to blogs just because I get sooo many emails. However, after reading this post I subscribed to yours. I loved reading this post because of the rawness and the passion in it. It’s extremely difficult to stay true to your values in a world where values seem to be trickling down the drain. God bless you for sticking to your guns. There is no human on earth who is perfect. There is always someone who seems more attractive or seems to “have it together” more than we do, but they have their flaws too.

The thing about ads..I think it’s fine to be compensated from companies you promote. What annoys me and what I’ve seen on other blogs is ads that seem in complete contradiction to what the blogger is promoting. For example, the blogs touts natural remedies but there are ads promoting commercial pain relievers, etc. You know what I mean? If the ads support the values and philosophy you promote on your blog then it’s perfectly acceptable.

Good for you…for caring, for taking the time to share and for your honesty! Blessings to your and your family.

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