Why it is not always good to Post your Blog here to get advice on it.............

I personally don't believe there's anything wrong with asking for feedback and critiques of your work. To me, it's always a good thing to get some opinions as people will give you thoughts and ideas that you would never come up with on your own.

The key, however, is to be wise in whom you follow. Feedback isn't dangerous until you act upon it.

Steve

Well, in my opinion, asking for advice is never a bad thing. As long as you know what to take and what to leave, you should be good.

I give advice to people all the time.. and month after month they continue to make the same mistakes. I think a revision of what your thinking is in order.. meaning.. people shouldn't ask for advice or feedback until they are ready to act upon that advice.. otherwise it just demoralizes them.

we however need the advice of those that have made it in this market if we ar to shorten the learning curve. We can still get gems from the multitude of conflicting opinions. All the best mate.

Advice is just that, advice. You will get all that you want here but it is up to you which advice to take because as mentioned, there are many takes on any subject. For example, I read a thread here today in which people argued whether or not you should post to your own blog before Ezine or the other way around.

You will also find that you begin to take more notice of some posters than others because their advice seems good or fits in with your own way of thinking.

The skill to have, at least to my mind, is being able to take on board the advice given, or asking for more and then being able to evaluate, add your own and then (right or wrong) run with it. If you are wrong, that's fine as long as you have learned from the experience.

I wouldn't do that, you can get disheartened sometimes from people criticizing it but its up to you if you can take criticism then do it.

You're always going to get conflicting advice when asking on a forum. What works for someone else might not work for you but it might work for the next person who reads it. Take advice with a pinch of salt and give it a test if you deem it worthy, testing is the only way you can know if it works or not.

The rule of thumb is don't come here asking for advice if you really don't want it. Too many people post things here asking for opinions and then debate with everyone that gives their honest opinion.

Asking for advice is a good idea, when you're confident in yourself and know what you are doing. You should analyze feedback and see if it shows you up the situation from a different perspective; following it blindly is not a good strategy.

Some people in the design sub-forum here have had some extremely valuable advice when they've asked for reviews. It's always a good idea to get a 2nd, 3rd, 4th opinion on your new site.

I think nobody would give bad advice intentionally. I think it's because opinions and advice are subjective. What worked for them may not necessarily work for you. And that's why you have to be careful who to ask and take advice from. In most cases, look for successful IMers in the same niche.

Online environment is filled with diversity - many websites, many designs, too many experts sharing what they think it's right to do.

As you said, you wanted feedback, not mandatory instructions about what to do with your website. Knowing what others think is essential, but listening to everybody is impossible.

In the end, it's your call whether you listen to the advice given and start changing your website.

Oh, and thumbs up for your final argument: "One man's trash is another man's treasure" - so true!

As others have mentioned, the key to getting more focussed and useful feedback is probably in the way you present the situation. For example if you already know a couple things you think might be weak, to word the request targeting those things only.

Be aware also that there is a mindset that people will get into when something is presented as having a problem. I used to see this scenario in the music business where, if someone plays a demo and they say up front that it's a demo and ask for opinions, people imediately go into 'critic' mode and find things wrong. If someone had just brought in the same exact recording and said "this is the new single on Capitol, going to radio in the next couple weeks, waddaya think". Those same listeners would have a completely different opinion, because rather than being essentially asked to find fault, they would accept it as-is, perceive it differently and with more respect.

The fact that these esteemed long time warriors had such drastically opposed advice is interesting because it means that either;
1. Some are completely wrong
2. They were not all being honest (as in didn't really know the right answer but had to answer anyway)
3. There's more than one right answer but they were all too opinionated and egotistical to tell you that.

This is a good piece of advice for someone who does not trust his or her instinct or taste.
As wonderful as a blog can be, it will never be perfect for everybody. People are different and they like different things.
The idea is to look around and choose your style. Make sure it is what represents you the most. Of course, you may change your mind later on. But do not expect people to appreciate all of it all the time.

Everyone has their own opinion based on their own perception. It is never a bad move to ask what other people think, you'll get a lot of suggestions and those answers that you've gathered can help you decide on what you need to improve, it is always up to you in the end.

Testing should ALWAYS trump opinions!

Getting advice from experienced marketers only helps you get more ideas on what to TEST. The best marketers don't always do the same thing even on their own sites. They test and use what is working best for each specific website. There are so many variables such as niche, target audience, type of marketing, where traffic is coming from, what you are selling, and so on. There is no one perfect way to always build a website. I would listen the most closely to those who advise you "to try this or that and test the results."