I’ve been slowly getting through my backlog of email this week and found some great questions from you guys and gals. I thought it’d be fun to answer them here.

Q: What program(s) do you use to track your site traffic?

A: I use a variety of programs because I think it’s unwise to rely on any one source for statistical information. I firmly believe that server stats are the most accurate; afterall, they collect 1st hand data directly from my website in real time. 3rd party providers don’t have direct access to that info and rely on data gleamed from other sources and their own nifty algorithms/voodoo. Every software package flaws and strengths. Some collect data that the others don’t. Some have nifty gadgets and others have pretty interfaces.

There are often HUGE discrepancies in the numbers reported from one source to another. Last month two of the sources had a difference of 17,000+ unique visitors, for example, and that happens fairly often among the sources I use. So I like to have a means to double-check and compare inconsistencies.

[edited to add: Here are some sources that I have used/continue to use as part of my stats analysis.]

• AW Stats and Webalizer are my primary sources because they use data directly from my server.
• Google Analytics, to some extent (though not lately because I always forget the code when I update blog themes and I really, really hate their TOS), as my primary 3rd party source
• CyStats plugin on WP
• Mint plugin on WP
• Quantcast as my other 3rd party source

Q: How long do you think you’ll do DIY Bride?

A. For the foreseeable future. I have big plans for expansion and growth of the DIY Bride brand.

Q: Is DIY Bride really trademarked?

A. Yep, it’s a fully registered trademark. You can do a search at the US Patent and Trademark Office to see for yourself if you’re so inclined.

For those of you who have not yet trademarked your business name, please do so straight away. My lovely friend, Terrica, recently lost her bid for the trademark for the brand name she’s been cultivating for years to someone who unscrupulously applied for the TM a day before she did. Read about it here and then get your butts over to the USPTO. Protect yourselves!

Q. When is your new book coming out? Can I get a review copy?

A. The Crafty Countdown will be released on 13 December. My publishers are providing a limited number of review copies to the media and established bloggers in the wedding and crafts industries. Shoot me an email if you’d like to be included on the list. Please include your name, blog URL or the media outlet you work for if you’re not a blogger.

And my favorite of the week:

Q. Why do you hate vendors so much? (This was in response to the posts about catching scammers.)

A. I don’t. I adore many, many vendors in the wedding industry. I fully support the use of vendors and advocate that my brides use vendors whenever DIY doesn’t make sense for themselves.

What I don’t like is when vendors try to take advantage of me, my site, my readers, or the wedding community. There are a multitude of unethical individuals in our midst and I have zero problem pointing them out and teaching my colleagues how to spot them on their own. The more we talk openly about this stuff, the better our industry will become and the less likely we’ll fall prey to predatory vendors and scammers.