Five Questions With… Abbey Floyd

Posted on February 11, 2008 in Five Questions by DM

Five Questions With… is a series on DMweblife highlighting Des Moines area bloggers and their blogs! This edition features Abbey, who blogs about caring for fish and other small pets and who recently started a pet-sitting business!

1. What’s the main reason you began blogging, and how has your blog changed or evolved in the time you’ve been keeping it?
In fall of 2007, I launched my DSM Fish Gal blog, which was designed to serve as a place to store my own personal collection of informative links and lessons learned in relation to working with animals. Freshwater and tropical aquaria is my primary niche, though I’ve also incorporated helpful info on pet rats, mice, and cats as well. My blog also provides me with a space to share photos and stories about my own pets, all of whom are much more popular than me! LOL

The primary goal is to further my own pet-related education while passing along the lessons I learn to others whom may benefit.

2. What aspect of blogging do you enjoy the most?
I enjoy challenging myself to come up with new, interesting content on a regular basis. My targeted audience is the very clientele that comes into the pet store, so I aim to share resources and educational tidbits that they will appreciate.

3. What’s an activity besides blogging that you can’t live without?
Tending to and caring for my pets. Life without animals around is no life I’d care to be a part of. My pets keep me grounded and endlessly amused!

4. What’s the best advice - personal or professional - you’ve ever received?
I heard a Yiddish saying once upon a time: “The situation is hopeless, but not serious.” This quote helps remind me that while some things are outside of our control or even bound for disaster, I need to focus on the larger picture and tightly embrace my sense of humor to keep it all in perspective.

5. What’s something you’ve accomplished in the past five years that you are particularly proud of?
Everything feels like a work in progress at this time, so it’s difficult to define anything as “fully accomplished.” I’m still in college and will be completing my undergraduate degree later this year and am very proud of myself for sticking with it despite set-backs and relocations.

Overall, I’ve tried many of the things that piqued my interest and explored life outside of my comfort zone in an effort to expand my horizon. Developing myself into the person I want to be is on-going process, but it’s probably the one thing I’m most proud of.

And the secret sixth question I asked Abbey after reading her initial five answers:

6. You recently launched a pet-sitting business serving the west side and western suburbs of Des Moines. What do you anticipate will be the biggest challenge in getting that going and, do you have plans to tie your blogging into your business in any way?
The biggest challenge is always marketing and building a solid reputation. It takes time and requires dogged persistence to make a name for yourself, especially when you rely heavily on word-of-mouth as pet-sitters often do.

The blog will likely remain as a separate though loosely-connected venue for sharing information, ideas, and stories related to pet care. When local pet stores run sales or host events, I try to post it on the blog so as not to clutter up the DSM Pets site.

Des Moines-area bloggers: to be considered for this feature, just drop me an email with your name, location, and blog address, and answers to the first five questions I’ve asked here. I’ll reply with your “Secret Sixth Question”!

Share this with friends: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.