You don’t need to read those if you don’t like them. You could always just sick to the recipes. You can just skip anything that says “what I ate today.” There’s no reason to leave the entire site

It’s not an opinion on how to run a business… it’s pretty well-known that that’s what successful businesses do… connect with their customers and attempt to humanize their brands to be relatable, to keep people coming back. And I was referring to the very first comment which was anything but kind, hence my frustration.

Hahaah the funny thing about this comment is that you gave your opinion about how to run a business while criticizing someone else’s opinion on the exact same topic. And you weren’t very nice about it, either – my oh my. But probably no one will refer to you as being unkind.

The link below provides a great explanation of why blogging makes a great business model… And why “free” doesn’t necessarily mean “free”.
http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/the-benefits-of-business-blogging-ht#sm.000n38gdx16jjel1vvu2kn1oq5r0i

It’s easy to dismiss someone’s negative feedback as just being a hater or whatever, but this kind of viewpoint is/should be viewed by Ali as gold. What keeps people coming to this site vs. what turns them away, and how she can adjust her business model accordingly to appeal to the largest possible audience to result in more $.

I totally agree! Sara, you obviously could have expressed your same sentiments in a much less insulting and insensitive manner but for some reason you felt the need to blast Ali, and publicly. Why is that? Think about this Sara: Ali and all bloggers, for that matter, are offering you everything they post FOR FREE. Therefore, you have zero personal investment, financial or otherwise, in this enterprise and no one is forcing you to read any or all of what she posts. So, if it’s not your thing, just go find something that is. Pretty simple. But enough with the hate.

As for you Ali, great reply!! Keep up the great work.

Love your blog and the personal side of it is what makes it special to me.

Kelley

Well thought through response. I agree with part & disagree with others but well said. Yes, people want to connect with another human … Ali … but they need to be mindful that this whole blog, inspirilized etc. is a social media based business as you said but Ali has clearly defined this from early on so it shouldn’t be a surprize. I sort of would also like a different title than ‘What I ate Today’ but perhaps social media type people respond better to that than ‘Daily Meal Plan’. Remember….majority of growth & followers are social media types so …………

I bought the vegan weekly meal plan but could use some help setting up a variety of weekly meals to save time/money so that’s where ‘What I Ate Today’ comes in for me. I don’t care what anyone eats each day, anywhere, but Ali gives me ideas I can use when I make out my weekly menu. I see these videos as healthy reality shows that I can definitely learn from.

I think that since it is a blog there are things that you are going to like more than others. Just pass what you do not like/need and focus on the delicious recipes. I think Ali does a good job at listening to what we, her followers, want to learn and know and I do not think Ali would do videos about what she eats if there weren’t any requests.