My cousin popped round to see me last week and (after we’d discussed just about everything from nasal hair trimmers and online dating to sofa suppliers and the likelihood of a housing market crash) she piped up with:

“What’s happened to the Weekly Window Shop on your website? I enjoyed reading that when I had nothing better to do.”

Ignoring the potentially ego-damaging finale to that statement and concentrating instead on the question: what indeed has happened to the Weekly Window Shop? Well, let me tell you: I got it into my head that people weren’t really enjoying it. I have no idea why, because now, looking back at the reader numbers, it was a very decently-liked little feature. And nobody ever commented that they hated it, or tweeted “ugh, not another bloody one of those window shop things…”

You can browse all Weekly Window Shop posts here…

One of the pitfalls of writing for a large audience (or at least it’s a pitfall for me) is that often you just decide for yourself that something is or isn’t working. And really, you have no idea whether something is or isn’t working until you look at the stats and the engagement levels (comments, tweets, etc) and see – in cold hard numbers – whether people like what they’re reading.

So to prevent me from making any further dramatic chops to my editorial content, I’m going to start asking you all what you think before I make rash decisions. I’m going to make use of that poll thingy I found a while ago and stick surveys everywhere – you’ll be sick of my self-serving market research by the time Christmas comes around!

I might turn into that man from the film and not make any decisions for myself – just poll you all and allow you to run my life. “Should I go to the party or stay in?” “Take a train or take a cab?” “Should the baby be dressed in jeans and a jumper or her romper suit?”

Actually, it sounds rather nice. I’d especially enjoy not having to think about what to cook for dinner!

Anyway, shall we start with something easy? Weekly Window Shop: keep it or bin it? If you have further guidance for me on the subject or any “additional notes” then you can leave a comment below!