Non-Food

A Little Recognition

I am impatient girl with high expectations for myself. Yes, a deadly combination, I know. But as I think about that now, it’s probably a  typical personality trait of most chefs. When I started this blog, I wanted instant success and was thrilled with every stat count, visitor and comment I got. I’m a little more pragmatic now. Yeah, welcome to the real world, Kristina.
  
I’ve had to learn patience, at least when it comes to this blog. I’ve always understood that  it takes time to build a following and gain respect among my peers (it’s the same as any profession), but understanding and want are often two different things.
 
So I’m thrilled now when I get some recognition; a tweet about one of my posts, a link back from someone else’s blog, popularity of my photos on sites like Foodgawker and Tastespotting, and especially the wonderful comments people leave when they’ve tried my recipes.
 
This week has brought a bumper crop of traffic to my site. It started with someone “stumbling” my post “How to Make Marinara Sauce” on the website stumbleupon.com.  I consider myself pretty web-savvy, but I’m just not that familiar with how that site works. All I know is I had an increase in traffic in a single day which was more than I’ve had in the last 2 months combined (we’re talking tens of thosands of views here). The last 3 days have doubled the overall views on my blog since it’s creation. My post was even #1 on their “Lifestyle” section page for a while. Shocking! I find myself thinking, “You like me! You really like me!” a la Sally Fields.
 
icon_fffThen, today I received an email from the Foodie Blog Roll site that my blog had been chosen to be featured as one of their Finest Foodie Friday blogs. They have over 5000 blogs on their list, so I think that’s pretty darn nifty!
 
Finally, I got my first really nasty and mean comment. I’ve had others which were clearly spam, or just plain strange, but this guy was deliberately mean. I debated as to whether or not to post it and decided against doing it because even though the guy would have come across as the complete fool he clearly is, I really don’t want to encourage that type of “discussion.” I have no problem with honest criticism, but call me (and all my fellow Americans) an “IDIOT!” and that’s where I draw the line.  As a fellow food blogger once told me, “Critical comments come w/the territory—just means that your blog is bad ass & folks are jealous.” I love my blog friends (you know who you are) for that type of encouragement.
 
So, if you’re a new reader, welcome! I’m happy to have you here. Take your time, check out the place and please come back! If you’re a loyal follower, thanks for hanging in here with me and know that I appreciate you.

14 Comments

  • Angrboda

    stumbleupon suggests sites to their members. You get a toolbar and there is a ‘stumble’ button which will take you to a complately random website based on the interests you’ve listed in your profile and sites you’ve liked in the past. You can then give a site thumbs up or thumbs down. This is just off the top of my head because I haven’t had an account there for a couple of years now, but I imagine someone must have thumbs up-ed you and you then got suggested to a lot of other users. 🙂

    • formerchef

      Yes, from what I can tell it all started with one specific person recommending the post and then it just snowballed from there. I’ve had posts “stumbled” before, but I’ve never seen anything like this.

  • Molly

    I have been reading both your blogs for a while now and think they are great. After one of your trips, I anxiously wait for you to fill me in on your experiences. Both blogs are very well done. Your blogs are a nice little escape after a long day in a cubicle. I am sure others feel the same. Thanks for sharing!

    Patiently waiting for Day 11 🙂

  • White On Rice Couple

    Your photographs are beautiful and your writing is informative and inspiring. Knowing how much you care about food, people and your content is never deserving of “nasty” comments. People who do that never want to be part of a community, they just want to antagonize. But for what reason? For what ever their reason are, just know that they’re definitely the minority. The rest of us love and appreciate what you do!

  • nina

    I’ve had some very good responses from Stumble-upon and yes, they do create a lot of traffic. You coin on this by ging you readers a pleasant read and beautiful photos!!!

  • Vivian Boroff

    I would have deleted the comment as well. No need to fuel an argument that will probably lead to nowhere. Your food knowledge is exemplary and that comment was pretty undeserved.

    You have done such a great job with both of your blogs and it is so great that you are getting the recognition you deserve.

  • Joy

    Congratulations, Kristina! It was only a matter of time until you got more recognition for your informative and engaging posts with beautiful photos to boot. Whenever I go to your site, I can very well be assured that I will read a quality post.

    Just ignore the negative comments…the misers will move on. 🙂

  • lo

    So glad I made it over here — yours is definitely a blog to read again and again. Love the reading… and many thanks to Jenn over at Foodie Blogroll for pointing me toward your site.

  • Akila

    Kristina, I just found your site via StumbleUpon and am excited that I did. In addition to the beautiful food, I am always thrilled to find another traveler who loves food!

    • formerchef

      Akila-
      Thanks! Just checked out your blog. I’m so jealous you are about to leave on your RTW trip! It’s been over 10 years since we did ours and I would do it again in a heartbeat if I could. I’ll be following you via Twitter (as @wired2theworld), so make sure you tweet from the road! I have lots of recommendations for South East Asia if you want to email me (or look at http://www.wired2theworld.com too!)

  • faithfulfoodie

    Kristina, I really appreciate your post on recognition. I am a new food blogger so can really relate to your feelings about recognition! I am slowly but surely noticing an increase to my site and I DO know that those who find my site are trying and enjoying the recipes and other posts. Your post gave me further encouragement. Thanks!

    PS I’m going to share your link to marinara sauce since one of my followers is looking for one. It looks great!

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